Early in the evening of Saturday, February 10, the M/V Tom Frazier was southbound on the Ohio River from Paducah, Ky., with a tow of 15 empty barges at River Mile 355.1, when the barges broke away, and the towboat began taking on water.
With its engine room rapidly flooding, the captain was able to ground the towboat near the town of Portsmouth, about one-half mile upriver from the U.S. Grant Bridge, while the barges, still secured together, drifted against the bank nearby.
Thanks to the captain’s quick thinking no one was injured in the grounding of either the towboat or the barges, and 72,000 gallons of diesel fuel and lubricants aboard the vessel were kept from polluting the river.
The Crounse Corp. towboat M/V Debi Sharp was in the area of the Carl Perkins Bridge, about a mile away, and immediately launched its yawl to assist in taking off the nine members of Frazier’s crew.
The day after the incident, divers were on-scene to make repairs, and all 15 barges in the tow were recovered, according to a public affairs spokesman at the Coast Guard’s regional office in Louisville.
River Salvage Co., Inc. was given priority lockage February 12 on a southbound trip from its base at Pittsburgh, Pa., with salvage equipment being brought to Portsmouth to patch the Frazier and pull it offshore.
Tom Frazier, a twin screw, 6,140 hp. vessel built in 1979, was successfully refloated and towed to a repair dock in South Point, Oh., by the McGinnis Inc. towboat M/V Garry Lacey.
Though the towboat is painted in Excell Marine colors, the vessel is owned by American Commercial Barge Lines.
The initial distress call from the boat was routed to the Coast Guard’s Louisville office, which called the Scioto County 911 dispatch center, according to Scioto County Emergency Management Director, Larry Mullins.
A conference call was set-up with the 911 dispatch center in Greenup County, Ky., as the State of Kentucky has jurisdiction over most of the Ohio River.
The Kentucky center then alerted nearby fire departments, which sent marine and ground units to the scene.
The Valley Township, Washington, and Rosemount Fire Departments responded with boats, as did the South Webster Fire Department.
The Scioto County Swift Water Rescue Team also deployed, while Portsmouth Fire Department and crews from Portsmouth Ambulance and EMT-Ohio were also on-scene.
Mullins said the rescue and recovery operation “showed considerable cooperation between multiple agencies in Kentucky and Ohio at the state and local levels, along with the U.S. Coast Guard and industry professionals.”
The exact cause of the partial sinking remains under investigation.