Casualty News – Page 2 – Professional Mariner

Groups express ongoing concerns about Red Sea attacks

Nine American maritime labor organizations have voiced their concerns about ongoing attacks on U.S. ships operating in the Red Sea in a recent joint letter to Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, commander of the U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM). While expressing “gratitude towards federal leadership for their efforts to date to safeguard U.S.-flag ships,” the groups offered their endorsement for U.S. military…

Marine casualty report requirements summarized

The U.S. Coast Guard has issued a summation report laying out the mandates for the reporting of marine casualties involving commercial vessels, as well as the ramifications of violating the rules as laid-out by federal law. Title 46 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 4.03-1, defines a “marine casualty” as “a casualty or accident involving a vessel – other than…

Houston ship fire claims two lives

On January 8, a late night fire on board a containership at Port Houston claimed the lives of two crew members, while a third sustained injuries that required hospitalization. The fire broke out on the Panama-flagged M/V Stride as it was docked at Port Houston’s Barbours Cut Container Terminal, one of eight public facilities sited along the 52-mile Houston Ship…

Undetected corrosion blamed for crane wire failure

Federal investigators believe undetected deterioration caused a crane wire failure during the offloading of a 76-ton wind turbine nacelle from the 530-foot Thorco Basilsik at the Port of Houston on July 23, 2022. The Swiss-flagged heavy lift vessel arrived at Dock 4 at the Greens Port Industrial Terminal the day before with a cargo of 11 wind turbine nacelles, turbine…

Undetermined electrical ignition blamed for spud barge fire

The 150-foot steel spud barge Kokosing V, owned and operated by Kokosing Industrial, was built in 2020 and outfitted with a Liebherr 895 crawler crane equipped with a clam shell bucket and drag line for dredging. On September 23, 2022, the barge – accompanied by the Justin, a 73.8-foot-long tug operated by Skiff’s Creek Towing – arrived at its work…

Fishing trawler sunk in collision with containership

Lack of a proper lookout and maintenance on critical equipment while underway led to the collision of a containership and fishing vessel, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. On October 28, 2022, while the 1,066-foot-long containership MSC Rita was transiting southbound in the Atlantic Ocean, the fishing vessel Tremont was transiting north-northeast in the same area. Tremont passed ahead of…

Loss of steering caused Mississippi barge grounding

Marquette Warrior was downbound on the Lower Mississippi River with 35 barges in tow when the interior lights started flickering. Five minutes later, at about 12:10 pm on November 21, 2021, the vessel lost its steering around a river bend near Greenville, Ms. The pilot helming the 166-foot, 8,000-hp towboat backed on the engines to slow down in the fast-moving…

NTSB issues report on 2022 liftboat listing

The National Transportation Safety Board has issued its report on the investigation into the listing of an elevated liftboat caused by a November 2022 storm with gale-force winds and high waves in the Gulf of Mexico. The incident occurred at 12:55 pm and involved the L/B Robert, which was stationed alongside an oil platform near South Marsh Island Block 137, about 80 miles southeast of…

Virginia tour boat fire traced to engine room ignition

The fire that started during a Norfolk, Va., harbor cruise began in the engine room near a generator exhaust pipe, federal investigators said. Spirit of Norfolk was halfway through a lunchtime cruise on June 7, 2022, when crew saw smoke coming from portside engine room exhaust vents, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The crew aboard the 169-foot…

Tanker fire linked to lithium handheld radio battery

Federal investigators believe a “thermal runaway” in the lithium-ion battery of a handheld radio caused a fire on an oil tanker docked at a Baton Rouge, La., fuel terminal. The captain of the 800-foot S-Trust discovered a fire in the bridge at about 3:30 pm on November 13, 2022. Crewmembers mustered in firefighting gear and extinguished the flames about 20…