28 Feb

Eight crew killed by steam-boiler explosion aboard Norway

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

A steam-boiler explosion aboard the 1,035-foot SS Norway claimed eight lives and injured 19 on May 25. The incident occurred while the ship was docked in the Port of Miami after having just completed a weeklong Caribbean cruise. There were 2,135 passengers and 911 crew aboard at the time. All of the passengers were evacuated without injury. The explosion not…

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28 Feb

Washington state ferry hits a marked rock

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

Officials from Washington State Ferries are investigating the grounding of the 2,477-gt, double-ended ferry Sealth, which struck Reid Rock off San Juan Island on Dec. 24, 2004. Sealth was leaving Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, heading to Anacortes, Wash., when it struck the rock at about 2015, about 1 mile northeast of Brown Island, in the San Juan Channel.…

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28 Feb

Tanker spills xylene in Mississippi after colliding with barges

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

A chemical tanker attempting to pass a towboat pushing 38 barges on the lower Mississippi River on April 25 struck one of the barges, resulting in a gash in the tanker's hull that allowed 42,000 gallons of xylene to spill into the river. The collision occurred in darkness at 0030, as the Norwegian-flagged Bow Lion, a 549-foot-long chemical tanker, struck…

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28 Feb

Alaska tour boat evacuated after holing hull on a rock

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

The tour boat Star of the Northwest struck a submerged object and began taking on water in Resurrection Bay, Alaska, on July 25, 2004, forcing the evacuation of the 161 people aboard. Passengers wearing life vests line the rails of Star of the Northwest, while awaiting their transfer to Great Land. Two of the vessel's five watertight compartments flooded.  …

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28 Feb

QE2’s engineers devise clever solution for stopping dangerous leak

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

The luxury cruise ship Queen Elizabeth 2 avoided going adrift in the Atlantic Ocean thanks to an ingenious solution devised by the crew to stop a leak in an engine room during a cruise last year, an investigation of the incident has concluded. A leaking inlet pipe threatened to leave QE2 adrift.    Image Credit: Cunard Line The 70,327-grt QE2,…

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28 Feb

Undetected heart ailment led to fatal I-40 bridge accident, NTSB rules

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

An abnormal heart rhythm that could not be detected in a physical exam was probably the reason the captain of the towboat Robert Y. Love fainted just before his tug and tow went off course and struck a highway bridge, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The bridge piers on either side of the navigation channel had fenders to…

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28 Feb

Fisherman dies after being struck by tug and barges

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

A tug pushing three asphalt barges struck and killed a 73-year-old fisherman in a 14-foot outboard motorboat on the Tennessee River near Mile 102. The accident occurred at 0930 on June 5 as Wayne Day and a companion, Jimmy Bratcher, were fishing in a navigable part of the river when their vessel was struck, according to Chief Warrant Officer Charlie…

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28 Feb

Crew of cruise ship that hit reef faulted for failing to update charts

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

The December 1998 grounding of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Monarch of the Seas on a coral reef off St. Maarten was the result of a series of operational errors on the part of the bridge team, a joint investigation between U.S. and Norwegian authorities recently determined. Most significantly, the investigation determined that the grounding was a direct result of…

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28 Feb

Six men evacuated from bulker die when their rescue copter crashes in the Bering Sea

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

Six crew from the Malaysian-flagged bulk carrier Selendang Ayu are missing and presumed dead after a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, which was rescuing them after their ship foundered on a shoal off Unalaska Island, Alaska, crashed into the Bering Sea on Dec. 8. Selendang Ayu lies in two pieces after running aground and breaking apart off the Aleutian Island of…

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28 Feb

Crewman dies after OSV collideswith Tanker

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating an April 28 collision between the oil tanker Genmar Strength and the offshore supply vessel René I, which resulted in the death of one of the OSV's crew. The bow of René I remains visible in the Sabine-Neches Ship Channel near the juncture with the Gulf of Mexico.    Image Credit: Courtesy U.S. Coast…

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