Search continues for missing tugboat crewman; U.S. Army Corps to use sonar

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers vessel equipped with side scan radar is on the way to the area where a tugboat sank with a crew member still aboard.

U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Matt Marler said weather would not affect the search for the sunken boat and its missing crewman.

“It should be able to operate regardless of the weather,” Marler said.

The weather could, however, complicate the efforts to contain fuel loaded onto the tow vessel from contaminating the river.

Marler said the tugboat has a 9,000-gallon diesel fuel tank and a 175-gallon lubrication oil tank on board.

According to the St. Louis Fire Department, a tugboat collided with a barge around 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson says the tugboat was pulled underneath some nearby barges.

Two crew members on the tugboat were rescued by another tugboat. They were not injured.

It was the second commercial boating accident to happen near St. Louis on the Mississippi River in four days.

On Thursday the Eads Bridge was struck by a towboat resulting in the death of a worker who was painting the bottom of the bridge deck.

The worker was on scaffolding which was struck by the pilot house of the towboat, causing the scaffolding to collapse, sending the worker plummeting to the deck of the towboat.

The Eads Bridge was closed through rush hour Friday while it was inspected. The bridge had no significant damage.

Return to BND.com for more on this developing story.

This story was originally published July 20, 2015 at 10:34 AM with the headline "Search continues for missing tugboat crewman; U.S. Army Corps to use sonar."