Spill blocks 60 ships from upper Houston Ship Channel: U.S. Coast Guard

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A total of 60 ships can neither enter nor exit the upper Houston Ship Channel, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Monday, because of clean up of a spill into the waterway connecting the busiest U.S. petrochemical port with the Gulf of Mexico.

Thirty ships were waiting to enter the ship channel and 30 ships were waiting to exit as traffic is stopped while a spill of chemicals from the International Terminals Co fire in Deer Park, Texas, is contained and cleaned up, the Coast Guard said.

(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)