He says they don’t know yet exactly what is leaking, or how much is leaking, but a Coast Guard helicopter flight Saturday indicated there’s an area of discoloration in the water that’s 400 yards by 20 yards.
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Shipwreck hunter Tom Kowalczk talks about a sunken barge he discovered in late August near the U.S.-Canadian border in Lake Erie on Sunday, October 25, 2015, in Toledo, Ohio.
A crew from Coast Guard Air Station Detroit conducted a flyover on the weekend and reported a 400-yard discolouration of the surface water around the site on Saturday that was not visible on Sunday.
They warn boaters to stay away.
The Argo, located about 12 miles northeast of Sandusky and about eight miles east of Kelleys Island, is believed to be leaking oil.
“We’re fairly certain there’s a leak”, said Cmdr.
Canadian Coast Guard spokeswoman Carol Launderville said both the Coast Guard and Transport Canada are “closely monitoring the situation and are in frequent contact with the (U.S. Coast Guard) on this issue”. It’s about 44 feet below the surface of the water.
A side scan sonar took this image of a sunken barge in western Lake…
According to investigative records Mr. Kowalczk cited, the Argo’s two crewmen reported being struck by a series of waves, the last of which flipped the barge onto its side.
One other thing that suggests the wreckage is the Argo is that there are no reports of another tanker barge being lost in the same area, he said.
Shipwreck researcher Jim Paskert said the Argo, built in 1911, was not created to travel on open water and was operating illegally when it sunk.
Before long, his boat’s crew observed tiny bubbles of oil appearing on the surface, then rapidly dissipating.
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A Unified Command of federal and state authorities is being established. The Coast Guard also wants to make sure the area is safe before underwater contractors begin searching for the source of the leak and trying to plug it. That work could begin as early as Tuesday.
