An unmanned natural gas platform owned by EOG Resources located off the coast of Galveston sustained heavy damage Friday after being struck by a freighter, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. EOG on Friday said the platform has been shut in for about a month since Hurricane Ivan and said its lines were secured.

The High Island 207 platform houses a low-producing gas well and serves as a transfer point for several pipelines. The company’s total Gulf of Mexico gas output is 50 MMcf/d, and the platform has not threatened overall production, according to EOG.

The platform, which is located 17 miles offshore, was struck by the SCM Athina, a 335-foot freighter carrying a 16-member Russian crew, around 3:15 a.m. Friday. The freighter is registered to the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda, and it was headed from Houston to Freeport, TX, according to Nick Wong, a Coast Guard spokesman. Wong said offshore oil-supply boats already in the area quickly responded and put out a fire that started on the freighter following the collision.

There were no reported injuries, and there was no apparent discharge from the rig, according to the Coast Guard.

The freighter, owned by Sudkap Shipping, continued under its own power to an offshore location near Galveston for further inspection while the Coast Guard investigates, Wong said.

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