Winds Disable 4 Vessels in Gulf of Mexico

Rough seas driven by high winds in the Gulf of Mexico disabled four vessels carrying 123 people Sunday night, sending Coast Guard vessels and good Samaritans scrambling to help, officials said.

Two of three anchor lines on a 140-foot trenching barge, used to lay pipelines or cables, snapped in rough weather near Pascagoula, Miss. The barge, with 106 people on board, was in danger of being set adrift in 8- to 12-foot seas, the Coast Guard reported. Winds were gusting at more than 45 mph.

A large tug nearby was the first boat on the scene. It threw over a line to help stabilize the barge, a Coast Guard spokesman said. A Coast Guard cutter and another good Samaritan ship were on their way to the barge late Sunday, the spokesman said.

Elsewhere in the gulf, the 300-foot motor vessel Manzur, a German-flagged ship carrying quicklime and other chemicals, caught fire, he said. Three civilian vessels, one with firefighting capabilities, responded to its distress call, and the Coast Guard was escorting the ship 90 miles to anchorage.

Officials were not certain what other chemicals were on board or what was burning, but they said the fire was contained in one hold. None of the 11 crew members was injured. The vessel was bound for Mobile, Ala., from Houston.

Two tugs, one in Mobile Bay with two people on board and one in the Intra-Coastal Waterway south of Pass Christian, Miss., with a crew of four, were reported sinking, the Coast Guard said.

The crew of the second tug was airlifted to safety, and the disabled boat was being towed to shore.