According to a news release by the US Gulf Coast-based Port of New Orleans, a tanker heading upriver requested to be cleaned after encountering oil. The tanker was cleaned by two offshore work boats outfitted with fire hoses. The process took approximately 30 minutes to complete, and was conducted roughly four miles away from the entrance to the Mississippi River at Southwest Pass.
The tanker was inspected further after it entered Southwest Pass, where two launch vessels equipped with pressure washers were stationed to conduct more detailed cleaning, if needed, as the ship moved upriver. A presence of oil was not detected at the secondary cleaning site.
The tanker was not calling the Port of New Orleans, but was headed to another facility elsewhere on the lower Mississippi River.
While several other vessels were inspected, no others required cleaning.
The Mississippi River remains open to maritime traffic, and no ship calls have been canceled because of the spill.