The U.S. Coast Guard has just announced that the Matagorda Ship Channel is now open for vessel traffic following the successful removal of cutter suction dredge Everett Fisher.
According to the Coast Guard report, USCG lifted the safety zone and reopened the Matagorda Ship Channel to vessel traffic Tuesday evening near Port Lavaca, Texas.
The closure began Monday evening when Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi watchstanders received notification that the dredge began taking on water.
Due to the location of the grounded vessel, the Coast Guard established a safety zone from mile marker 51 to mile marker 66 to vessel traffic.
The dredge Everett Fisher was successfully raised and removed from the channel.
As a precautionary measure containment boom was put in place throughout the salvage operation and Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi personnel monitored the situation to ensure the vessel was safely removed from the channel.