Professional Mariner Staff – Page 1975

28 Feb

Bulker breaks loose from its mooring

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

One of the most dramatic stories to emerge from the chaotic events surrounding Hurricane Katrina involved the efforts of the 107-foot tug Mariam Walmsley Cooper to bring under control the handysize bulk carrier Chios Beauty, which had broken loose from its mooring on the east bank of the Mississippi River in New Orleans. The Greek-owned, Panamanian-flagged ship of 34,291 deadweight…

28 Feb

Ports experimenting with vacuum pads for securing ships to dock

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

The expansion of coastal shipping in the United States may have moved a step closer to reality with the announcement that Roadships America Inc. plans to build eight high-speed ro-ro cargo ships. "This is not pie in the sky. Roadships has finalized the high-speed monohull design, the operational considerations have moved to their final design phase, and decisions will be…

28 Feb

Pilothouse staffing levels increased following N.Y. ferry crash

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

In response to a Staten Island Ferry crash that killed 11 people, the New York City Department of Transportation has begun requiring three people to be in the controlling pilothouse whenever a ferry is leaving or approaching the dock. Damaged areas of Andrew J. Barberi were swathed in blue tarps following a fatal accident on Oct. 15, 2003. Image…

28 Feb

Lightweight carbon-fiber drive shafts becoming common on U.S. tractor tugs

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News

The rest of the world has baseball bats, bicycles, skis and sailing yachts made either all or in part from carbon-fiber materials. Now the age of carbon fiber is finally making its way down into the machinery spaces of American tugboats. As of this year, about a half dozen U.S. tug companies are using carbon-fiber shafts â€” each weighing about…

28 Feb

Helicopter and rescue boat combine to rescue burned crewmember

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

The Canadian Coast Guard and military successfully executed a complicated, long-range rescue in April of a mariner who sustained severe burns in an engine-room fire aboard the car carrier Pacific Leader while it was hundreds of miles from shore in the North Atlantic. The crew of the 603-foot ship sent out a distress call on April 23 at 1341 local…

28 Feb

History cruise aboard John W. Brown revives old memories while creating new ones

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

Call it the ship of memories. During World War II, the Liberty ship SS John W. Brown shuttled troops between battle zones in the Mediterranean. These days, John W. Brown, one of two surviving Liberty ships from the fleet of over 2,700 built during the war, still operates as a transport. Although it no longer carries young men and women…

28 Feb

Cenac’s largest tug begins service with a clean-oil barge in the Gulf

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

Cenac Towing of Houma, La., has put into service the largest tug in its fleet of 43 vessels. Introduced this spring was the 130-foot offshore tugboat O.J. Cenac, designed for offshore work in the Gulf of Mexico with a 50,000-barrel clean-oil barge. O.J. Cenac, rated at 8,000 hp, is powered by three QSK60 engines from Cummins. The engines turn three…

28 Feb

Four lost when towboat trying to recover barges is swept over dam on the Ohio River

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

Three crewmen were killed and a fourth was missing and presumed dead when the tug Elizabeth M sank on Jan. 9 downstream of the Montgomery Locks and Dam near mile marker 31 on the Ohio River. The accident occurred at around 0230, as the tug was pushing six loaded coal barges upriver toward Pittsburgh. The three survivors of the seven-man…

28 Feb

Building a new shipyard from the Ground Up

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

Kvaerner's Philadelphia shipyard has come a long way since 1997, when Kvaerner ASA, based in Norway, decided to build a modern commercial shipyard on the site of the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Manulani, the third of the containerships the yard has built for Matson Navigation, was delivered in May 2005. Image Credit: Courtesy Aker Philadelphia Shipyard Inc. The goal…

28 Feb

Harsh treatment of Philippine crew held as witnesses in Calif. sparks calls for reform

Professional Mariner StaffUncategorized

The plight of a Philippine crew stranded in California has spotlighted an issue of growing concern to mariners: the harsh treatment of crews held as witnesses to crimes that may have been committed aboard their ships. On Sept. 10, 2004, the crew arrived in Long Beach, Calif., aboard the 600-foot Katerina with a load of steel. The crew aboard the…