Boat collision shuts Mississippi

5 of crew still missing after wreck in fog

Cain Burdeau
Associated Press
Feb. 23, 2004 12:00 AM


NEW ORLEANS - A sunken boat and the search for its five crew members
paralyzed major traffic on the Mississippi River on Sunday, stranding dozens
of large ships and thousands of cruise passengers.

The 178-foot offshore supply boat Lee III sank after colliding with a
container vessel in foggy conditions early Saturday in the Southwest Pass,
the only channel up the Mississippi River deep enough for oceangoing
vessels.

Commercial divers were expected to look for bodies today inside the partly
submerged ship about 80 miles southeast of New Orleans, near where the river
empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

There was no way to tell when the river would be reopened, said Coast Guard
Petty Officer Jonathan McCool.

"Probably later than sooner," he said.

River traffic was held up as New Orleans' Mardi Gras celebrations were
building up to their peak Tuesday.

Cruises were fully booked and passengers were either diverted to other ports
or left waiting in the city.

"It couldn't have happened on a worse weekend," said Gary LaGrange, chief of
the Port of New Orleans.

About 40 ships too big for alternate routes were waiting to enter Southwest
Pass, and about the same number were waiting to leave port, said Lt. Rob
Wyman, a Coast Guard spokesman.

Two large cruise ships scheduled to dock in New Orleans had to be diverted
to East New Orleans and Gulfport, Miss. The cruise lines used buses to get
thousands of passengers to and from temporary boarding points.

Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas and its 2,600 passengers were
stranded in New Orleans, now celebrating Mardi Gras.

Some passengers booked for a weeklong Caribbean cruise didn't mind being in
town for more parades, but others were looking to get away from the revelry.

"I just wanted to kick back and clear my head," said Tom Faraci of New
London, Conn., a nuclear-power plant engineer whose mother and brother both
died in the past nine months.

The 3,600-passenger Carnival Conquest was rerouted to Gulfport, to the
chagrin of Baton Rouge resident Leslie Tassin and his son, 16-year-old Paul.
They chose to go on the cruise to see the mouth of the Mississippi.

"It might be the only chance we get to see the mouth of the river," Leslie
Tassin said.

"We might see it at . . . What? Two o'clock in the morning on the way back?"

The past few days have been a nightmare for river officials.

Saturday's collision came just a day after the river had been reopened after
a crash Thursday about 30 miles west of New Orleans.

In that case, 22,000 gallons of oil spilled when a freighter hit a moored
oil tanker.

On Sunday, searchers in boats and in aircraft looked for the crew of the Lee
III: Lawrence Glass, 65, of Mobile, Ala., and four Texas men: Joseph Brown,
44, of Vidor; Daniel Lopez, 31, of Port Arthur; Ramon Norwood, 27, of
Galveston; and Baldemar Villerreal, 54, of Lake Jackson.

The supply boat, which delivered people and supplies to offshore oil rigs,
collided with the 534-foot container ship Zim Mexico III, which reported
damage near the bow but no injuries.

LaGrange said sunken vessels have blocked Mississippi River traffic only
twice in the past 40 years, and both were at New Orleans rather than at the
outlet to the Gulf of Mexico.