Barge loaded with crushed cars arrives at destination after repairs

Emergency responders talk boat-to-boat next to a listing barge laden with scrap car hulks anchored near the northern shore of Commencement Bay, in Tacoma, Wash., Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013.

SEATTLE -- A barge loaded with crushed cars reached its destination Monday after emergency repairs fixed a leak that caused the vessel to list and drop several of the cars into Tacoma's

, the


The barge was moved to

, Lt. Ryan Beck said. That's where the load of scrapped cars from Canada will be unloaded for recycling.

There's still no exact count of how many cars fell into the water Sunday, state

spokeswoman Linda Kent said late Monday.

The first priority is getting the rest of the cars off the barge, she said. Then officials can figure out how to get the dumped cars out of 242 feet of water.

Officials were initially concerned with stopping the barge from sinking as a sheen of oil appeared on the water's surface.


No more sheen was observed Monday, Kent said.


barge, about 200 feet long, carried a load of flattened cars stacked more than 10 layers high with other metal debris on top. It was bound for the Schnitzer metal recycling yard on the Hylebos Waterway, company spokeswoman Louise Bray said.


to make emergency repairs. They fixed a crack in the hull that was about 15 inches long and a quarter-inch wide, Kent said. After they pumped out water, the barge was stable again.

The barge with scrapped cars from the Vancouver area was making a routine trip to the Tacoma recycling yard, said Amix President Clarke Longmuir.


The state and Coast Guard are investigating how the barge developed a leak. The barge will be inspected again before it returns to Vancouver, where Amix plans a thorough evaluation.

-- The Associated Press