St. Rita sinks on Miss.; 5 rescued

NEW ORLEANS – The Coast Guard and good Samaritans responded to the sinking of the towing vessel St. Rita on the Mississippi River near Laplace, La., in the afternoon of May 7. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a report that the St. Rita, owned and operated by Marquette Transportation Company, sank on the bank on the Mississippi River. Five crewmembers were rescued by the Good Samaritan towing vessel, Rod C, and transported to shore. There were no reported injuries. The CG is working with federal, state and local partners, and Marquette Transportation, to oversee salvage and clean-up operations with minimum impact to the transportation system and environment, according to Cmdr. Zachary Ford, chief of the CG sector’s response department. The St. Rita is estimated to have some 13,000 gallons of diesel on board. A CG MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew reported a visible sheen from mile markers 132 to 117. CGS New Orleans’ Incident Management Team was deployed and conducted a visual shoreline assessment with the company and confirmed a silvery, rainbow colored non-recoverable sheen on the river. There was no reported impact to vessel traffic, and the river remained open. The cause of the incident is under investigation. Source: Coast Guard 03/07/19) Marquette Transportation Company HQ is in Paducah, Ky.; Gulf-Inland Division offices: Harahan, La; and Off Shore Division offices in LaRose, La.