Photo of Duck tour boat being over-run by fuel barge

[EbbTide]

duck boat fuel ba&#.jpg

Disturbing photo of the Duck tour boat being hit by fuel barge. This is every Captains worst nightmare, whether he's running the small tour boat or pushing the fuel barge.

The pic comes from a CNN web site story, and found on Professionalmariner.com ..the marine casualty page, the one place you don't want to see yourself profiled on.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/12/pen...index.html?hpt

[anchorman]

duck boat fuel ba&#.jpg

Disturbing photo of the Duck tour boat being hit by fuel barge. This is every Captains worst nightmare, whether he's running the small tour boat or pushing the fuel barge.

The pic comes from a CNN web site story, and found on Professionalmariner.com ..the marine casualty page, the one place you don't want to see yourself profiled on.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/12/pen...index.html?hpt

Very Sad. You can't hear the radio with your head up your ass, but by reading the quote below it's pretty evident there was one person piloting the tug. With tugs being allowed to run with so few crew, this wont be the last time this happens - very unfortunate.

"One of five crew members of the Caribbean Sea, meanwhile, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and declined to meet with investigators, the safety board said."

[Kingrobby]

By looking at the photo it's amazing that only 2 didn't survived. It looks like they all should have died. Crazy!!!! Hope they figure out exactly what went wrong here.

[seadog6608]

Say a prayer for those lost and for everyone involved.

[Capt. Fran]

Horrifying to imagine being there. I second the call for thoughts and prayers for those lost and for everyone involved in this tragic accident.

[uberTurtle]

.....it's pretty evident there was one person piloting the tug. With tugs being allowed to run with so few crew, this wont be the last time this happens - very unfortunate.

In my experience on both the left and right coast, that's the size crew you will have - one guy (mate or captain) in the pilothouse and a deckhand on watch, with the engineer floating as needed. Not too surprising.

[New3M]

I like how the news immediately latched on to "At least one crewmember was sleeping" as if that was the reason for the crash. I only saw one article that stated that it wasn't uncommon for a crewmember to be sleeping during the day "due to their schedule."

Still, a tragedy for those involved.

[Tugs]

The Barge involved is owned by the City of Philadelphia, it's used to move sewage to a treatment plant. The Tug is owned and operated by KSea.

[Tim]

WOW... that is an intense photo.

My thoughts go out the friends and family of the people lost.

[nebraskathomas]

t1larg_enhanced..jpg

I've been told most accidents occur close to home.... or in this instance in very familiar territory for this captain? I wonder how many times this captain made this same trip up/down the river? Complacent? ......yup.

Prayers to all the families involved.

[tugmstr]

Where was the Look out? Surely, on a 6 on 6 off watch schedule or other watch rotation, one of the deckhands would have been positioned on the bow of the barge with a radio. Good Seamanship and the COLREGS demand nothing less. Once again, has human life has been lost through inattention to duty?-Text messaging?, writing / reading email?, talking on a cell phone? or just "Poor Bridge Resource Management"(the overloaded one man wheelhouse)?. I am sure that the NTSB and <ACRONYM title="United States Coast Guard">USCG</ACRONYM> will determine the cause of this tragic collision and it will not reflect well upon our industry. How would you like to be one the parents of those students lost in the collision, waiting for an answer?

[CMA_Decky]

I have a friend tat works for the same amphibious tour company, except in the SF office. He said that the tour boat had had to shut down it's (gasoline) engine because it had feared a fire for whatever reason and was worried about vapors in the bilge. While the Captain and deckhand had been busy with that they hadn't bothered to keep an eye out for the barge coming down. Also, company policy in case of becoming disabled is to call the company operations manager and then the operations manager calls the coast guard who makes the radio announcement. So in all likelihood the towboat wouldn't have known that the tour vessel was operating not under command (they don't have anyway of putting up daymarks either). While I agree that the towboat should have seen it coming and avoided it, I also think that the way the tour boat operated, and it's emergency procedures were a bit idiotic.

[dougpine]

...and it's emergency procedures were a bit idiotic.

Gasoline?! Wow, I would have thought diesel.

I'll bite my tongue regarding the rest of your post.

[CMA_Decky]

Gasoline?! Wow, I would have thought diesel.

Yeah, apparently the philly tour boats/buses are the only ones in their fleet that are gasoline engines.

[Captain Electron!!]

Should I chime in here with some of my "I've been both a tug Captain and a Duck Captain" Stories?

[Captain Electron!!]

Seattle is still a mix, but everything new is Diesel . . I think there are 3 gas boats left

[Capt_Anonymous]

Should I chime in here with some of my "I've been both a tug Captain and a Duck Captain" Stories?

Ok, Capt E, I'll bite. Does a Duck's quack echo?

[OICUR12]

[QUOTE=tugmstr;39955]Where was the Look out? Surely, on a 6 on 6 off watch schedule or other watch rotation, one of the deckhands would have been positioned on the bow of the barge with a radio. Good Seamanship and the COLREGS demand nothing less.

Come on, really?

I don't know where you been workin or what you been workin on but that is the first thing an inland towboat operator will usually get hit for is not having a proper lookout posted. It is just not practical to have a man on the head of the tow 24/7.

Sketchy areas...yes. 24/7 no.

We ain't talking about a 1000' MSC ship at sea with nothing better for the OS to do than sit in a little dog house on the bow and play lookout.

Sometimes i would like to see better manning requirements also but some tugs just can't accomodate a large crew.

I have worked a lot of tugs where it was just one wheelman and one deckhand on watch together at a time. sometimes only one deckhand on call watch.

It is hard to keep a boat running today with a big crew unless you have a good contract paying really well for your crew and your boat.

As long as the wheelman was well rested manning should not even factor into this one.

Very sad yes.

Due to improper manning or lookout? I think it would be better to wait for the ntsb investigation.

[New3M]

Those damn kids and their texting machines...

[tugmstr]

Yes, really. I would not want to defend myself before a NTSB investigation, USCG License revocation hearing and god knows how many civi suits with the following answers: Q.Mr Helmsman, Did you have a look out posted? Is a lookout required by the COLREGS? Does your company require a lookout? If a look out wasn't posted, why not? Did you sound the danger signal? Did you have unrestricted visibility? If not, why wasn't a deckhand with a radio posted as lookout on the bow of the barge? A. I don't know where you been workin or what you been workin on but that is the first thing an inland towboat operator will usually get hit for is not having a proper lookout posted. It is just not practical to have a man on the head of the tow 24/7.
I have worked a lot of tugs where it was just one wheelman and one deckhand on watch together at a time. sometimes only one deckhand on call watch.It is hard to keep a boat running today with a big crew unless you have a good contract paying really well for your crew and your boat.
I think you should take the 5th.We do agree on one point, the facts will come out in the investigation.