Crews worked into the night to seal the leak and keep the oil that had already escaped from spreading.

They deployed 4,000 feet of booms in the vicinity of the tanker Eagle Otome and the barge that put a 15-by-8-foot gash in one of its starboard compartments near the bow. The two vessels remained entangled Saturday night.

Only one compartment of the double-hulled tanker was compromised.

“It's in a fairly boxed-in area now,” said Ross Penton, assistant regional director for Texas' General Land Office. “That's good news. It's a very cut-off part of the channel. Our deal tonight is contain, contain, contain.”

While 11,000 barrels — about 450,000 gallons — were missing from the Otome's tanks, officials hoped much of it was trapped within the ship's outer hull.

Jefferson County Emergency Management Coordinator Greg Fountain said he believed about 1,000 barrels, or 42,000 gallons, ended up in the river.

An additional 10,000 feet of containment booms were on standby. Special vessels designed to skim oil were expected to be used today in an effort to intercept the oil before it spreads into nearby lakes and marshes. Environmentalists consider the wetlands especially sensitive because they serve as home to juvenile shrimp and fin fish.

“It's really a question of keeping it off the wetlands and more fragile ecosystems,” said Houston-based environmental attorney Jim Blackburn. “With a little bit of luck and some good planning, I think the chances of containment with minimal damage are pretty good.”

The 807-foot Eagle Otome was carrying crude oil to a nearby Exxon refinery when it inexplicably lost power about 10 a.m. Saturday. The drifting ship collided with one of two chemical-laden barges being pushed by the tugboat Dixie Vengeance. Neither the second barge nor the tug was damaged, and none of the barges' chemicals were released. No injuries were reported.

Waterway at standstill

The oil spill brought a halt to all traffic along the Sabine- Neches Waterway on Port Arthur's riverfront.

“This is very upsetting to us,” said Capt. Richard Russell of AET Tankers, the company that owns the Eagle Otome, which was delivering crude oil from Pemex, the Mexican national oil company. “We have the whole width and breadth of the company attacking this.”

Despite initial fears that caused the evacuation of residents living within 28 blocks of the spill, and the certainty of some adverse environmental impact, officials were hoping that the spill would not spread much beyond the two-mile area first affected.

Modest winds were helping the containment efforts, and the warm water meant the oil would not congeal as it did when the Exxon Valdez hit a reef and spilled 11 million gallons of crude into Alaska's Prince William Sound in March 1989.

“This is nowhere near the Exxon Valdez,” Coast Guard spokesman Lionel Bryant said.

Federal, state and local officials converged near the collision site, which was within sight of shore, but no one could say how much progress would be made today or how much economic or environmental damage will be inflicted.

“So many goods come in and out of there,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Renee Aiello said. “The (Port Arthur) port is of great importance to Houston.”

Oil being transferred

At least some of the crude remaining in the Eagle Otome was offloaded, Aiello said.

The ship can hold up to 30 million gallons of crude; officials did not know how much it carried or how much, if any, was still on board. The company said it already had its own contractors on site to assist in the cleanup.

“It's our ship and our product, and we'll clean it up to the state and Coast Guard's satisfaction,” said AET spokesman Darrell Wilson. “The Coast Guard will conduct an investigation, which they always do, and we're fully participating in that investigation.”

So far the Coast Guard has called in four 25-foot response boats, an 87-foot cutter, a heli­copter and significant additional personnel.

Coast Guard Capt. J.J. Plunkett was hesitant to predict how long the cleanup will take.

“It's very difficult right now to estimate that,” Plunkett said. “If Mother Nature cooperates, it could be short. If not, it could be long. We are working to get it cleaned up, address safety concerns and get commerce moving. Right now, our assessment of the situation is that it's stable, but that could change.”

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said he plans to visit the site today and fly over the spill.

“This is the most serious oil spill since we began the Oil Spill and Prevention Program at the Texas General Land Office in 1991,” Patterson said. “Our teams are working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard in a unified command to get this situation taken care of quickly. We hope to contain this spill while these hydrogen sulfide fumes dissipate overnight. Right now the tides and the winds are in our favor, but that could change. That's why containment is the key.”

As of Saturday night, 118 residents from the 28-block area evacuated by Port Arthur authorities had checked into a shelter set up at the Port Arthur Senior and Recreation Center on Ninth Avenue. The city provided free medical care.

The high-sulfur crude that spilled carries the overpowering odor of rotten eggs.

That odor sickened many people, including Port Arthur Mayor Deloris Prince. She was at a city event when the odor reached downtown.

Residents of an apartment complex about a mile downwind from the accident complained of the smell and worried for their health. They were asked to keep their windows closed and to turn off air conditioning. Many were seeking alternative shelter.

“It stinks horrible, and I grew up around the refineries,” said Leona Granger, 34.

Ships backing up

Neighbor Freida Hayward, 42, was worried about herself and her three daughters. “I got a headache. I'm itchy,” Hayward said. “My chest has been hurting and I'm nauseous. It smells like rotten, rotten eggs.”

An extended closure of the channel would be disastrous to the local economy and could have an impact on gasoline prices nationwide.

The Sabine-Neches Waterway is the region's liquid and economic link with the world, with half the jobs in Jefferson County directly or indirectly linked to its commerce.

The waterway is responsible for $4.7 billion in personal income and $1.3 billion in federal, state and local taxes.

Plunkett said that some ships were still queued up, waiting to bring products into the channel.

Exxon Mobil statement

Texas and Louisiana are home to roughly 40 percent of the nation's nearly 18 million barrels per day of refining capacity, and the Port Arthur area has some of the country's biggest fuel-making complexes. One belongs to Exxon Mobil and can produce 344,500 barrels per day.

“Exxon Mobil is very concerned about this unfortunate incident,” the company said in a prepared statement Saturday night. “The vessels we charter to transport our products meet rigorous safety standards. We continue to monitor the shipowners' response efforts to minimize the effects on local communities and the environment. We are in communication with the appropriate local authorities and are prepared to provide assistance to the responders. We do not anticipate an impact to our operations at the Beaumont refinery.”

Staff writers Mike Tolson, Brett Clanton and Jennifer Radcliffe contributed to this report, which also includes material from the Beaumont Enterprise.

paige.hewitt@chron.com

dane.schiller@chron.com