Semi-Autonomous Barge Spills Fuel on Belgium's Albert Canal

A semi-autonomous barge has spilled fuel oil into a canal near Antwerp, prompting a cleanup operation and temporarily shutting down marine traffic on the waterway.

On Tuesday evening, the barge River Drone 4 passed through the Olen lock complex on the Albert Canal. Soon after, it began to leak fuel, and it released an estimated 10,000 liters into the water before the leak stopped.

Antwerp's municipal water utility draws drinking water from the canal, downstream of the spill site, and the city's mayor told Belgian broadcaster VRT that the damage from fuel contamination in the water system would be "incalculable." Luckily, the Olen lock complex was between the spill and the city, and there was no risk of transfer across the lock (so long as it remained out of operation). The waterway was closed, both to enable cleanup and to keep the lock complex shut.

A marine services company responded to the scene and began removing the fuel slick, first by containing it and then by absorbing it with sorbent booms. Work proceeded through the night, and marine traffic resumed at 1400 hours on Wednesday.

The Mars Food factory in Olen - which makes prepackaged rice for the Ben's Original label - temporarily shut down production because of the strong fumes from the spill. "To protect our employees and products from the odor, we preemptively halted all production," spokesperson Kathy Heungens of Mars Food told VRT.

The vessel itself reportedly sustained a puncture in a fuel tank above the waterline while transiting the Olen lock, Mayor Gebruers told HLN, and it should be easily repaired. The circumstances of the leak are under investigation, and the master of the barge has been questioned by Belgian authorities.

River Drone 4 is a 3,800-tonne inland barge with semi-autonomous capability, according to operator Naval Inland Navigation. Naval's fleet is fitted for remotely controlled navigation with the use of SEAFAR technology, a system that allows an offboard crew to operate the vessel from a shore control center. It is not yet established whether the vessel was being operated by an onboard master or an offboard control operator at the time of the spill.

Last December, sister vessel River Drone 5 had a collision with another inland vessel near Rotterdam. At the time of that collision, River Drone 5 was under the control of the onboard master, not Seafar's navigation system.

Top image: Barge traffic on the Albert Canal (Michielverbeek / CC BY SA 3.0)