Casualty News – Page 410 – Professional Mariner

01 Mar

Sole victim in tug sinking failed to turn on his strobe light

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

One crewman died and four others were rescued in late December after the tug Primo Brusco sank 17 miles northwest of Florence, Ore. The body of the dead crewman was recovered the day after the sinking. He was wearing a survival suit, but his strobe light had not been switched on. According to Lt. Marianne Gelakoska of the Marine Safety…

01 Mar

Former Navy transport becomes artificial reef, on the second try

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

Key Largo, Fla.'s Chamber of Commerce now has the artificial reef for skin divers it has long desired, but it did take longer than expected. That's because the first try at sinking the old ship chosen to serve as the "bones" of the new reef went awry. The plan called for the 510-foot Spiegel Grove, a decommissioned U.S. Navy transport,…

01 Mar

Bulk carrier patched at sea after developing crack in hull

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

A bulk carrier made it safely back to port after a salvage crew managed to patch a 21.5-foot-long stress crack that developed in the ship's hull as it was crossing the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Lake Carling was in the Cabot Straight, southwest of Newfoundland, when it began taking on water through a stress fracture that was later measured to…

01 Mar

In the aftermath of Prestige: Can industry spot problem tankers?

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

The sinking of the 82,000-dwt oil tanker Prestige off the Spanish coast on Nov. 19, 2002, has raised questions about the ability of the shipping industry to judge the condition of older tankers. Prestige drifts in two pieces off the coast of Spain before sinking with most of its cargo. The accident prompted Spain and France to ban single-hull tankers…

28 Feb

Three dead as heavy-lift ship capsizes while loading generator

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

Three crewmembers of the heavy-lift ship MV Stellamare were killed on Dec. 9, 2003, after their vessel rolled onto its port side and then sank at its berth while loading cargo in the Port of Albany, N.Y. "We believe the people onboard the ship only had a minute or more of suspicion that something was wrong, and that included the…

28 Feb

Failure to make use of electronic chart cited as factor in grounding

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

Inattention to an electronic chart system and a breakdown of communications on the bridge contributed to the grounding of the containership ANL Excellence in Moreton Bay off the coast of Queensland in 2002, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has concluded. ANL Excellence lies at anchor in Moreton Bay after it was refloated. The ship ran aground on its way to…

28 Feb

Hawaii pilot dies after falling between ship and pilot boat

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

Capt. Dave Lyman, a 30-year-veteran pilot and past president of the Hawaii Pilots Association, died Jan. 29 after falling from a ladder while debarking from the cruise ship Island Princess. Lyman had just guided the cruise ship out of Nawiliwili on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The pilot boat was operating in winds of 15-18 knots and 5-foot seas at…

28 Feb

St. Lawrence pilot faces charges in collision with sailboat

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

A St. Lawrence River pilot will face three charges in connection with an incident on Aug. 11, 2004, in which the containership Canada Senator struck the sailboat Mondisy off Saint-Nicolas, Quebec, killing two people on the sailboat. The trial was scheduled to begin on April 27 in Quebec City, according to Jacques Martin, manager of compliance and enforcement for Transport…

28 Feb

Oregon charter boat captain faces charges of seaman’s manslaughter

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

The captain of a 38-foot charter fishing boat that sank off the Oregon coast in September 2005 has been charged in federal court with seaman's manslaughter. Three people died after the boat swamped and then sank in heavy seas near the mouth of the Umpqua River. The captain is being charged under a 160-year-old statute that makes it a crime…

28 Feb

The sinking of the Civil War-era steamer Pewabic ranks as one of worst disasters in the history of the Great Lakes

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News

She is remembered as the Ghost Ship of Thunder Bay and Lake Huron's Death Ship. The memory of Pewabic has haunted mariners since her tragic demise four months after the end of the Civil War. The desire to recover her precious cargo of copper has obsessed many people and even led to the death of a few. At sunset on…