A 47-foot motor lifeboat approaches the capsized barge near Astoria, Ore. No injuries were reported. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Group/Air Station Astoria.
The Coast Guard is responding to the capsizing of a barge approximately eight miles from the Columbia River bar near Astoria, Ore. The crew of the 100-foot Canadian tug General Jackson contacted the Coast Guard to report their 295-foot barge had capsized at about 7:30 a.m.
A Coast Guard MH-60 helicopter crew from Group/Air Station Astoria and a 47-foot motor lifeboat crew from Station Cape Disappointment in Ilwaco, Wash., were sent to the scene. The barge was loaded with 4500 tons of scrap metal and contains approximately 500 gallons of diesel fuel. The Coast Guard says the scrap metal came free from the barge and fell to the bottom of the ocean. No injuries have been reported and a light sheen has been observed coming from the vessel.