Catalina Express maintenance barge taking on water

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- A maintenance barge for the Catalina Express in Long Beach is sinking after taking on water from a leak.

The sinking barge is not impacting departures for the Catalina Express; all ferries are running as scheduled. The first ferry of the day left on schedule Thursday morning.

The sinking barge was first reported by a security guard around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Long Beach Fire Department responded and found the barge taking on water. That's when more resources were called in, including the U.S. Coast Guard.

Equipment from the barge was evacuated, moving everything safely onto the dock. A yellow boom was then placed in the water around the barge for precaution.

Crews have minimized the risk of a large-scale fuel leak. Long Beach fire officials said that is not a concern.

"It's all-hands-on-deck when anything comes in like this. We want to make sure we don't have a spill of any kind. This is not that kind of a barge. We don't have fuel. We got access to a fuel-filling facility and it's not active at this point," said Greg Bombard, the owner of the Catalina Express.

Investigators believe the leak is coming from somewhere near the forward end of the barge. Divers were in the water early Thursday morning to determine the cause. It was unknown how long it would take to pump all the water out. Bombard said the process may take all day.