Engine room fire aboard bulk carrier blamed on faulty O-ring seal 

Engine room fire aboard bulk carrier blamed on faulty O-ring seal 

A failed O-ring seal likely led to a fuel leak and costly engine room fire aboard the bulk carrier Lem Verbena while the vessel was docked in Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 4, 2025, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).  In a March 2026 report, the NTSB said the fire caused $5.5 million in damage to the vessel, though…
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Oliver Hazard Perry flooded by corroded cooling pipe

Oliver Hazard Perry flooded by corroded cooling pipe

Sometime around 2100 on May 10, 2025, a freshwater tank sensor on the tall ship Oliver Hazard Perry sounded. New shorepower breakers had recently been installed on the pier, and the crew had been troubleshooting the vessel’s electrical system because the shore breakers had been tripping. A bosun investigated the alarm and made a visual inspection of the engine room…
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High water and drifting debris set stage for Ohio River barge breakaway

High water and drifting debris set stage for Ohio River barge breakaway

High water gripped the Ohio River Valley in April 2024, with swollen rivers flooding communities from West Virginia to Indiana. Near Evansville, Ind., the river was still rising when two loaded tank barges were moored overnight at a Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) terminal. Crews used “enhanced measures” when mooring barges, using extra lines and wires, according to a report by…
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MarAd honors Stena Immaculate crew with rare Gallant Ship Award

MarAd honors Stena Immaculate crew with rare Gallant Ship Award

One of the highest distinctions in American merchant shipping was awarded to the crew of a U.S.-flagged tanker in recognition of its “professionalism, courage and commitment to safety” following a catastrophic casualty. Twenty-three Crowley mariners who served aboard the 600-foot tanker Stena Immaculate received the U.S. Maritime Administration’s Gallant Ship Award during the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Maritime Day…
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SAFETY ALERT: Know your boat : Responding to an engine high-temperature alarm

SAFETY ALERT: Know your boat : Responding to an engine high-temperature alarm

An engine high-temperature alarm is often treated as a maintenance problem, but according to the U.S. Coast Guard, it can quickly become a life-threatening emergency. In a June Safety Alert, the Coast Guard highlighted a fatal fire aboard a small passenger vessel that began after the vessel’s crew responded incorrectly to an engine overheating alarm. While attempting to cool the…
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Fatigue, autopilot scrutinized in $15.8M bridge strike

Fatigue, autopilot scrutinized in $15.8M bridge strike

A s the nearly 290-by-55-foot Mackenzie Rose tow approached the Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad Bridge on a calm summer day in 2024, the tow began to swing to port at a turn rate of 12° per minute. The mate — who investigators would go on to determine was likely experiencing cumulative fatigue from an extended hitch — was…
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Cellphone use cited in collision of towboat with bulk carrier on Lower Mississippi

Cellphone use cited in collision of towboat with bulk carrier on Lower Mississippi

The bane of distraction-prone automobile drivers for decades now, and no shortage of mariners over that time, claimed another apparent victim in late 2024 as a captain’s cellphone call coincided damningly with his Mississippi River towboat’s last seaworthy moments. At 84 feet in length, the steel-hulled Patrick J Studdert was no match for the 738-foot-long bulk carrier Clara B when…
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Quick response limits damage from crane-cab fire

Quick response limits damage from crane-cab fire

On Dec. 1, 2024, the pipe-laying ship Deep Energy was at berth undergoing extended maintenance when the fire alarm panel on the bridge sounded, indicating that a smoke detector within the knuckle boom crane cabin had activated. A crewmember confirmed the presence of smoke and flames inside the cabin. As the master sounded the general alarm and mustered fire teams,…
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ATB generator failure sparks fire on Lake Erie

ATB generator failure sparks fire on Lake Erie

The articulated tug and barge (ATB) Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder was anchored on Lake Erie, near Cleveland, Ohio, in the days before New Year’s Day 2025, when a fire broke out in the generator space aboard Pathfinder. The crew secured the space and discharged the vessel’s fixed fire suppression system, extinguishing the fire. A report from the National Transportation Safety Board would…
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