A barge in South Whidbey Harbor being used as a platform to pound pilings for the marina expansion project partially sank Wednesday morning.

Jon Beck, deputy fire chief with South Whidbey Fire/EMS, said the district got a call of the barge going down just before 9 a.m.

A slip collar around an on-board piling used to secure the barge supposedly locked in place. It didn’t allow the vessel to rise with the tide and the barge began to take on water.

Ed Field, operations manager for the port, confirmed a large crane was not secured and fell into the water when the barge began to tip.

A fuel containment boom has been put into place around the barge and early reports suggest there was little fuel on board.

No leakage has been seen so far.

Port Commissioner Curt Gordon said the barge company, Neptune Marine, also does salvage work and will begin raising the vessel today.

Additional updates will be posted online as information becomes available.