Sunken barge blocks Houston Ship Channel

A sunken barge is blocking ship traffic in the Houston Ship Channel as recovery crews assess the wreckage near the Kinder-Morgan ship dock in Galena Park.

Now authorities expect a heavy lift cargo crane to arrive on the scene around 1 p.m. to begin work lifting the sunken vessels from the channel.

A spokesman from the U.S. Coastguard's Houston office said the 200-foot-long barge was parked, tied to a tow boat when it began taking on water around 5 a.m. Monday. The cause remain unknown. No one was on board at the time.

Coast Guard crews have laid equipment on the water surface to contain about 20 gallons of diesel fuel that leaked out of the sunken barge and tow boat.

#Developing SkyFOX is over the ship channel where a barge sunk pic.twitter.com/HIzwq1ixJp — FOX26Houston (@Fox26Houston) October 19, 2015

Barge traffic in the channel has been reduced to one-at-a-time passage through a 1,000-yard-long stretch near the wreck, and tanker traffic has been halted. The Coast Guard said four ships were waiting for the section to reopen.

The Coast Guard said the barge is three-quarters submerged and the tow boat is entirely underwater. Both are near the channel's bank.

The barge was carrying large metal sheets when it sunk.

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