(NEW ORLEANS) — A Mel Oliver apprentice testified that the captain was absent from the tugboat because he had returned home to solve a problem with his girlfriend, the television station WWL reported. While the captain was gone for two days, the tug was involved in an oil spill that closed the Mississippi River for several days in July. The apprentice, who was steering the tug without a license, testified at a Coast Guard hearing that the boat was in poor condition and the steering locked up when he tried to avoid the collision with a ship.
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