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NEW ORLEANS, The Reuters World Service : Crews are working at night to move 64,000 tons of corn from a crippled freighter that slammed into a riverfront shopping mall nine days ago, the Coast Guard said Monday.
If the corn can be moved to barges in time, the ship may be moved Friday, a spokesman said.
More than 100 people were injured when the M/V Bright Field lost power and ploughed into the Riverwalk shopping strip Dec. 14, but no one was killed, officials said.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Tyler Johnson told Reuters workers began moving the corn in the bow of the ship Sunday evening. They work at night to lessen impact from the clouds of grain dust caused by the transfer, he said.
Experts are continuing to assess how much of the debris from collapsed sections of the multi-story mall and an overhanging wing of the Hilton Hotel are resting on the ship, Johnson said.
Since the accident, tugs have held the damaged freighter in place against the damaged wharf. The bow of the ship is aground on the Mississippi River bank beneath the Poydras Street Wharf near the historic French Quarter.
``We're estimating now that the ship will be moved Friday,'' Johnson said. He said maritime traffic, curtailed severely after the accident, was flowing smoothly.
A Coast Guard Board investigation into the causes of the accident was suspended Saturday and will resume Jan. 6.
Business owners and shoppers filed suit against the ship in U.S. District Court here last week. Its owners, Clearsky Shipping Co. of Liberia and Cosco Hong Kong, filed petitions in the same court under an 1851 maritime law to limit their liability to the $16 million they say the damaged freighter is worth.
Lawyer Daniel Becnel, who filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of businesses in the damaged shopping centre, said property damage from the accident was estimated at $250 million, with at least an equal sum estimated for business losses. REUTER@
[12-23-96 at 14:03 EST, Copyright 1996, Reuters America Inc.]
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