15 Aug

Fire damages anchor-handling supply vessel under construction at Bender shipyard

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News
Smoke billows out of the pilothouse of Seacor Sherman on May 14. Three firefighters were injured while trying to bring the fire under control. The vessel may have been undergoing dock trials when the fire started. [photo by Nickolas Jurich] A stubborn fire seriously damaged a 265-foot anchor-handling tug-supply (AHTS) vessel during construction at Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Mobile…
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15 Aug

Paddle-wheeler runs aground in fog

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News
A paddle-wheel excursion boat with 20 passengers ran aground in a California lake after a freak fog reduced visibility to almost zero. An official who manages Big Bear Lake said Miss Liberty should not have sailed in such conditions. The 64-foot tour boat grounded near the lake’s shoreline after the captain lost his bearings. Miss Liberty’s propellers were damaged in…
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15 Aug

Three killed by gas leak in ship’s hold

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News
Three Port Everglades dockworkers were killed when one of the men entered a ship’s hold to investigate a gas leak and became unconscious, prompting the other two to try to rescue him. The Coast Guard and other federal agencies are investigating whether the men were properly trained to handle hazardous material — in this case, a tank containing argon. The…
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15 Aug

Crew fired for alcohol use after their tug hits a Calif. refinery pier

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News
The pilings of the refinery dock were hit by Independence's bow. [photos courtesy U.S. Coast Guard] Inattentiveness in the wheelhouse after the crew had consumed alcohol likely caused a tugboat to slam into a refinery pier along Carquinez Strait, investigators said. All three crewmembers of the oceangoing tug Independence were drinking alcohol before the May 14 accident near Martinez, Calif.,…
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15 Aug

Towboat grounded to avert disaster

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News
The captain of the towboat Omaha was credited with averting a disaster after he intentionally grounded the vessel when it began taking on water in the Missouri River near West Alton, Mo. The twin-screw boat had bumped an unknown obstruction near Mile 12 on May 30, said McNational Inc., the parent company of Omaha’s operator, Excell Marine Corp. The Coast…
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15 Aug

Four crew on crane barge injured

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News
Four crewmen were seriously injured on the deck of a derrick-crane barge when a large wave struck their vessel in the Gulf of Mexico. The Coast Guard said the accident happened March 24 on the 300-foot-long barge IOS 800, 65 nm south of Sabine Pass, Texas. The vessel was facing 8- to 10-foot seas and 30- to 40-knot winds when…
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15 Aug

Storm-tossed galley gear kills captain

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News
Russel W. Peterson came ashore at Rehoboth Beach, Del. The research vessel, a former lift boat, is equipped with three spuds. The vessel's distress may have begun when one of those spuds snapped off during the storm. One of the boat's two engines also failed. [photo courtesy Robert J. Lewis] One of the two captains of the lift boat Russell…
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15 Aug

Alaska cruise boat touches bottom

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News
The Coast Guard is investigating why a cruise ship with 41 passengers ran aground and damaged a rudder in a cove near Alaska’s Tracy Arm. Spirit of Alaska, a 143-foot vessel owned by Cruise West, needed repairs to its starboard rudder after the June 4 grounding. The company reported that Spirit of Alaska briefly touched bottom during the process of…
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