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Crews continued to work overnight Wednesday to contain an oil spill which took place after a barge and an oil tanker collided in the New Orleans area, resulting in almost 10,000 barrels of heavy fuel oil leaking into the Mississippi river.

The incident occurred Wednesday at approximately 1:30 a.m local time when the Tintomara, a 600-foot Liberian-flagged tanker, rammed into the 61-foot barge carrying over 419,000 gallons of number 6 fuel oil onboard.

The tug Mel Oliver, which was operating without a properly licensed pilot, was pushing the barge when the accident took place.

The Coast Guard, which is investigating the incident, has released few details, but confirmed that none of the tugboat's crew had the proper licenses to operate on the river.

In addition to the Coast Guard, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark V. Rosenker and a six-person team of safety investigators arrived in New Orleans late Wednesday to investigate the collision.

The barge had recently picked up the fuel oil from local supplier and distributor John W. Stone Oil Distributon Inc., which supplies marine fuel in the New Orleans area. The fuel oil was being held in three separate tanks. Investigators are unsure whether all three tanks split open during the collision but are said to be assuming the worst-case discharge of all 9,980 barrels on board.

Michael Wilson, President of Houston-based ship management company Laurin Maritime (America) Inc said the double-hulled Tintomara was loaded with approximately 4.2 million gallons of biodiesel and nearly 1.3 million gallons of styrene, but no leak had taken place.

The tanker, which had only suffered minor damage, was scheduled to transport the styrene and some of the biodiesel to Rotterdam, whilst the rest of the biodiesel was due to be shipped to Hamburg.

Wilson said the tanker was fully manned with a crew of 22 when the incident occurred. The tanker is said to be owned by Whitefin Shipping Co. Ltd. of Gibraltar, whilst the tug is reportedly operated by DRD Towing Co., LLC, of Harvey and the barge owned by American Commercial Lines Inc.

The fuel oil spill is the largest on the Mississippi River in the New Orleans area in nearly a decade. Shipping traffic was halted yesterday as state environmental officials mounted a massive effort to contain the oil spill and prevent the fuel oil from drifting further south.

American Commercial Lines is said to be coordinating much of the cleanup effort. It has contracted the services of four oil spill response companies bringing in approximately 250 people in total and using floating boom rings to protect local water intakes and marsh areas and bring the oil to shore where it can be removed.

Officials said it could take several days before the stretch of the river could be reopened after the collision.

"I would think in terms of days as far as opening the river, and weeks as far as cleanup," said Coast Guard Captain Lincoln Stroh of the Port of New Orleans.