Drifting Stamford Barge Lands On Rocks In Old Greenwich

GREENWICH, Conn. -- Officials are hoping that the high tide either late Thursday or Friday afternoon will help them to float a barge that went aground off rocks in Old Greenwich just before noon Wednesday.

A barge escaped its mooring in Stamford on Wednesday morning and ran aground in Old Greenwich. No one was on board and there was no damage. Officials hope to float it off the rocks either late Thursday or Friday afternoon.
Photo Credit: *Frank MacEachern*

A crack is visible on the barge that slipped its mooring in Stamford on Wednesday morning and ran aground in Old Greenwich. No one was on board and there was no damage.
Photo Credit: *Frank MacEachern*

A barge escaped its mooring in Stamford and ran aground on rocks off Old Greenwich.
Photo Credit: *Frank MacEachern*

Frank MacEachern

05/01/2014 5:30 p.m.

“They hope that they will be able to float it out on a high tide later this evening,” Greenwich Police Department spokesman Lt. Kraig Gray said Thursday afternoon about the effort that is being overseen by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The barge broke free from its mooring inside the Stamford Harbor breakwall during Wednesday’s rainy and windy weather. It drifted in Long Island Sound to Old Greenwich, where it went aground about 200 yards south of Shoreham Club Road.

There is no cargo aboard the barge. It poses no threat from pollution or hazardous materials, police said.

The Coast Guard is overseeing the salvage operation, which is being performed by Thornton Marine of Staten Island, N.Y.

The 120-by-40-foot barge also sustained a crack midway in its underside.

There was no damage to any property in Greenwich where the barge is aground, police said.

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