22 Aug

Excursion vessel carrying high school oceanographic students runs aground in Alaska

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News
The passenger excursion vessel St. Nicholas grounded in Berner's Bay, Alaska, about 40 miles from Juneau on May 19.The vessel's owner/operator, Allen Marine Inc., of Sitka, Alaska, notified the Coast Guard at about 1215 that day that the vessel had grounded in about half a foot of water on a sandbar about 45 minutes earlier.St. Nicholas was on charter for…
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22 Aug

NTSB recommends firefighting training requirement for crews of small passenger vessels

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, Maritime News
Recent fires aboard small passenger vessels have prompted the National Transportation Safety Board to recommend that the U.S. Coast Guard require crews of these vessels to have firefighting training and that the fire detection systems on these vessels be constructed with approved components. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) cited the case of the 2004 fire in the engine room…
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22 Aug

Cruise ship fire leads to call for stricter rules on materials, monitoring

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News
Following a March 23 cruise ship fire that is believed to have started on a passenger balcony, investigators have called for stricter regulations concerning the construction and monitoring of external areas on cruise ships.One passenger died from cardiac arrest and 11 passengers were injured when a fire broke out aboard the 109,000-ton cruise ship Star Princess, which is owned by…
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22 Aug

Industry searching for better ways to reduce ballast tank corrosion

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News
Improving the protection of ballast tanks from corrosion is an issue of increasing importance to regulators, shipyards and ship owners.In January 2006, Intertanko and the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) announced new revisions would be made to the IACS standards for corrosion prevention coatings in seawater ballast tanks.The purpose of the new guidelines is to "assist IACS inspectors in…
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22 Aug

Fast shore response to engine room fire helps save ATB on the Hudson River

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News
An engine room fire disabled Crowley Maritime Services' ATB Pacific Reliance approximately 110 miles south of Albany, N.Y., on May 21.The ATB was southbound on the Hudson River enroute from Albany to Baltimore with a cargo of 51,000 barrels of ethanol. A fire-rescue boat from New Hamburg, N.Y., was first on the scene.After boarding the tug, the firefighting crew from…
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