GALVESTON - Oil washed up on tourist beaches in Galveston Monday, two days after the collision of a barge and a tanker spilled an estimated 168,000 gallons of oil into the Houston Ship Channel, an official said.

The oil on Galveston beaches was in the form of tar balls, relatively easy to clean up, primarily on the east end of Galveston Island, said Charlie Kelly, Galveston's emergency management coordinator.

Meanwhile, authorities prepared to send a test vessel into the channel to see if it could navigate the waterway without encountering oil. If so, the channel could reopoen to at least some traffic later Monday, officials said.

The ferry between Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula, closed since the spill, was expected to reopen by 6:15 p.m. Monday, officials said. For now, services will be limited to between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

A total of 81 vessels waited Monday to move through the channel as authorities continued efforts to contain and recover oil.

As of 6 a.m. Monday, the command said in a statement, 43 outbound vessels and 38 inbound vessels were waiting for the channel to be reopened.

On Sunday, salvage vessels finished pumping about 750,000 gallons of heavy marine fuel oil from a partially sunken barge that leaked thousands of gallons of thick, oozing sludge into Galveston Bay after a collision with a tanker.

Oil from the damaged barge spread as far 12 miles into Galveston Bay as wind and choppy water made containing the spill impossible, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.

Vessels spent the day skimming oil, and 69,000 feet of containment boom had been used to limit the oil's spread.

But changing current, winds and weather conditions forced officials to extend containment and recovery plans further into the Gulf of Mexico and south along Galveston Island.

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Oil washes up on Galveston tourist beaches