Towboat engine failure leads to engine-room fire

Towboat engine failure leads to engine-room fire

A catastrophic engine failure, which caused the venting and ignition of hot atomized lube oil, caused $3 million in damage to a towing vessel on the Tennessee River. Johnny M was pushing four barges near Grand Rivers, Ky., on Jan. 30, 2024, when a fire broke out at about 0330 local time. The six crewmembers aboard were unable to extinguish…
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Sudden severe weather sinks tugboat towing barge off Galveston

Sudden severe weather sinks tugboat towing barge off Galveston

The weather forecast initially called for a chance of thunderstorms on May 13, 2024, as the 67-foot Baylor J. Tregre was en route from Louisiana with a barge in tow toward an oil and gas lease in the Gulf of Mexico. At around 1530, when the tow was about 60 miles from its destination and amid 3-to-4-foot seas and 10-15-knot southerly winds, a squall appeared to the…
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Rudder malfunction cited in bulk carrier striking of navigational aid

Rudder malfunction cited in bulk carrier striking of navigational aid

A bulk carrier struck a concrete navigational aid in late March 2024 while transiting the St. Marys River. The 730-foot-long vessel, American Mariner, was about 25 miles south of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., when a steering system failure hobbled the ship, according to an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The steel-hulled, U.S.-flagged ship began taking on water,…
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Tow mate unaware of protruding cargo crane in crane barge collision: NTSB

Tow mate unaware of protruding cargo crane in crane barge collision: NTSB

Contact between a barge crane and a ship-to-shore (STS) crane that caused “extensive damage” to the latter outside Charleston, S.C., in January 2024 was the likely result of a towing vessel’s decision to navigate tight quarters, and lack of awareness about the STS crane extending into its path, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The 61-foot-long tow vessel…
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‘Bank effect’ pulls tanker into pier that was struck two years prior

‘Bank effect’ pulls tanker into pier that was struck two years prior

A pier at Joint Base Charleston’s Naval Weapons Station in South Carolina sustained damage after a tanker pilot navigated too close to a riverbank, exposing the vessel to bank effect. The 604-foot-long tanker Hafnia Amessi was transiting outbound on the Cooper River when the incident occurred on Jan. 14, 2024, at 1019 local time. Damage to the vessel and pier…
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Debris in lube oil cited in engine fire that burned crewmember in Maine 

Debris in lube oil cited in engine fire that burned crewmember in Maine 

A crewmember suffered extensive burns after an auxiliary engine aboard a small cruise ship experienced a catastrophic failure and then caught fire. The fire started at about 0710 on Oct. 18, 2023, soon after the Bahamas-flagged Ocean Navigator docked in Portland, Maine. The ship had 128 passengers aboard, all of whom escaped unharmed. The ship’s motorman was the lone injury…
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MSC Baltic III still aground with no apparent pollution and no option to refloat

MSC Baltic III still aground with no apparent pollution and no option to refloat

On Feb. 15, a 680-foot cargo ship en route from Montreal to Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, issued a mayday. MSC Baltic III was in the throes of a blizzard about 12 nautical miles outside the entrance to Bay of Islands, Newfoundland and Labrador, when the crew reported a loss of power. “Weather and sea conditions in the area [were] unfavorable and the vessel was…
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2 perish in engine-room fire

2 perish in engine-room fire

Two crewmembers died when they were unable to escape a fire that broke out in the engine room of a cargo vessel after an incorrect valve was installed in a pipe to a diesel oil tank. The fire started in the engine room of the 598-foot-long Panamanian-flagged Stride during fueling operations at the Barbours Cut Marine Terminal in LaPorte, Texas.…
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