GALVESTON, Texas, July 20 (UPI) -- A barge carrying about 1 million gallons of the Naphtha petroleum product caught fire after a collision off the coast of Galveston, Texas, early Monday.
The incident began at about 1:20 a.m. on the Bolivar Peninsula section of the Intracoastal Waterway shipping channel, after a tugboat carrying a barge lost power and collided with another vessel. A rupture aboard one of the barges caused the fire.
The flames were extinguished around 5:30 a.m. The Intracoastal Waterway remains shut down. There were no reports of injuries or spills, but officials continue to investigate
Naphtha is a colorless liquid petroleum product with a gasoline or kerosene-like odor that can cause irritation to eyes, nose and throat, as well as dizziness, drowsiness, headache and nausea, according to ABC News.
The last major barge collision on the Intracoastal Waterway shipping channel occurred in March 2014, when a 585-foot ship collided with a barge and caused 168,000 gallons of thick oil to spill.
