Obstructed Valve Sinks Towboat
An obstructed check valve on a bilge pump led to the flooding and partial sinking of a towing vessel last year while moored at a shipyard near New Orleans, the National Transportation Safety Board reports.Marquette Transportation's vessel Joanne Marie was found partially submerged a day and a half after being moored and deactivated at the Bollinger Quick Repair Shipyard on the Harvey Canal. The vessel was unattended at the time. No injuries were reported and damage to the vessel was over $176…
US Coast Guard Calls for Comments on Duck Boat Rule
The US Coast Guard has issued an interim final rule on mandated requirements for DUKW amphibious passenger vessels and requested comments.The statutory mandate was enacted after the sinking of the Stretch Duck 7 on July 19, 2018, which resulted in the loss of 17 lives on Table Rock Lake, Missouri.More than seven hours prior to the accident, the National Weather Service had issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the area, followed by a severe thunderstorm warning a minute before the vessel departed the passenger boarding facility.
Lessons Learned from Maritime Accidents: NTSB’s Safer Seas Digest 2017 Released
Maritime accident investigation reports for collisions, explosions, capsizings and allisions and the lessons learned within those reports are detailed in the National Transportation Safety Board’s Safer Seas Digest 2017, released online Thursday.The publication is a compendium of 41 marine accident reports for accidents involving fishing, offshore supply, cargo, passenger, tanker, towing and government vessels. Reports in the digest were adopted or issued by the NTSB during calendar year 2017.The Safer Seas Digest is a publication designed with mariners in mind…
