The following is the text of a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard:
(NEW ORLEANS) — The Coast Guard and local agencies are responding to a collision between two towing vessels on the Lower Mississippi River near Memphis on Monday afternoon.
Watch standers with Coast Guard Sector Lower Mississippi River command center received a notification of a collision between the towing vessels Margaret Ann and William Strait at mile marker 727 on the Lower Mississippi River. William Straight sank in 20 feet of water.
A Coast Guard 25-foot small boat crew from the Sector Lower Mississippi River along with an HC-144 Ocean Sentry fixed-wing aircraft from Aviation Training Center Mobile, Ala., and local pollution response agencies are on scene responding.
A safety zone has been established from mile markers 726 to 728.
The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the incident.
