"U.S. authorities expected a 'tapered' re-opening of the Houston Ship Channel, but gave no timeline on Monday of when vessels could start moving again after an oil barge spill shut the waterway for a third day, forcing the nation's second-largest refinery to curb production.

'We will begin the process of a tapered ... not a floodgate resumption of marine traffic,' Captain Brian Penoyer, commander of U.S. Coast Guard sector Houston-Galveston and captain of the Port of Houston, told reporters on Monday.

'We anticipate re-opening the Houston Ship Channel as soon as we can,' he said."

Erwin Seba reports for Reuters March 24, 2014. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Ship Channel Remains Closed After Oil Spill" (Houston Chronicle) [3]

"Texas: Cleanup of Oil Spill in Galveston Bay Expands, With Booms Set Up to Guard Shore and Bird Habitats" (AP) [4]

"Oil Spill Disrupts A Waterway Thick With Barges And Birds" (NPR) [5]