Coast Guard searching for 4 missing crew members after ship hits propane pipeline in Corpus Christi

[Elderberry]

CNN by  Kay Jones and Steve Almasy 8/21/2020

The US Coast Guard is searching for four people after a dredging vessel hit a propane pipeline Friday morning in the Port of Corpus Christi Ship Channel in Texas, officials said.
The Coast Guard said in a news release that four missing crew members are missing.
Six crew members were injured, Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales said in a statement. Four were taken to hospitals by ambulance and two others were airlifted to a hospital by the Coast Guard.

According to Canales, the explosion occurred around 8 a.m. CT in an area where 18 people were working.

"The current focus must be on containing the fire, accounting for all people involved, locating and caring for the injured and safeguarding the scene by securing ship movement, cargo transfer and pipeline operations," Canales' statement said.
Canales said the fire has been contained, and commended the work being done by the Corpus Christi Fire Department and the Refinery Terminal Fire Company.

More: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/21/us/corpus-christi-missing-crew-ship-hits-pipeline/index.html

[Elderberry]

Coast Guard press conference on latest pipeline explosion information

KRIS6 8/22/2020 By: Tim Griffin , Eddie Cruz , Ryan Garza , Ana Tamez

https://www.kristv.com/breaking-news-alerts/firefighters-respond-to-major-fire-along-refinery-row

Two bodies have been found of the four missing people reported after Friday's pipeline explosion.

The bodies were found at about 2 a.m. and 10:45 a.m., Saturday.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the impacted crewmen and their families," said Sean Strawbridge, CEO, Port of Corpus Christi. "A full investigation is underway; however, search and rescue efforts are our first priority. It will not be clear for some time the cause of this accident, and any definitive statements to the contrary would be premature. We will continue to provide updates as the situation progresses."

Two people remain missing, and six were injured after an explosion at the Port of Corpus Christi on Friday morning.

A port spokesperson said a dredge called the Waymon L. Boyd hit an underwater natural gas pipeline, causing the massive explosion that sent plumes of black smoke into the air at about 8 a.m. Firefighters said the fire ignited the dredge and spread from the pipeline to a nearby grain elevator.

More at link.

[PeteS in CA]

From the article in the second post:

Port of Corpus Christi Chief Executive Officer Sean Strawbridge said in a news conference Friday that the dredge was working for a private port client and was not involved in work on behalf of the port.

I'd have at least a couple of basic questions based on that:

1. Was the dredging operation approved by the port authority or not?

2. How in Hades did the dredging company and the dredge crew not know that propane pipeline was there?!