May 14, 5:43 PM EDT


Shipping Canal Closed After Collision



CHESAPEAKE CITY, Md. (AP) -- Cargo traffic along a shipping
canal was halted Monday after a sailboat sank in a collision
with a tugboat, authorities said.

The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, a transit point for cargo
ships headed to and from the Port of Baltimore, was closed
while crews removed the wreckage of the sailboat at 3 a.m.
near Chesapeake City, about 30 miles southwest of
Wilmington, Del.

A 3-foot section of the 45-foot schooner's mast jutted out
of the water, said Scott Winslow, a search and rescue
controller with the Coast Guard in Baltimore.

Winslow he did not know how long the canal would be closed.

"That's the million dollar question," he said.

The 14-mile canal cuts through the northern
Maryland-Delaware peninsula, connecting the Chesapeake and
Delaware bays. It provides a shortcut of about 300 miles for
marine traffic between Philadelphia and Baltimore.

By Monday afternoon, the closing had affected two large
container vessels, as well as six tugs and barges, Winslow
said.

Three people aboard the Heron, based in Port Monmouth, N.J.,
were treated at a hospital for minor injuries and released,
Winslow said. The Coast Guard reported no injuries aboard
the tugboat.