Publication > Professional Mariner – Page 142

26 Sep

Pilots welcome new international rules to enhance safety of boarding ladders

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Publication > Professional Mariner

New international standards for pilot ladders and related gear should make the most dangerous part of a pilot’s job a bit safer. The new rules, which took effect July 1, were originally adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2010 as revisions to SOLAS, the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. John Gormley Capt. Dave Germond…

26 Sep

New rules on trash disposal at sea address a growing problem

Professional Mariner StaffA Mariner's Notebook, Publication > Professional Mariner

My first seagoing job was as a deck hand with a large West Coast towing company. As the junior member of the crew, I was in charge of “sanitary duties” such as taking care of the trash. On a trip from Los Angeles to Portland, Ore., with an oil barge, I remember throwing every bag of trash over the side.…

22 Aug

Instead of holding up, towboat was moving ahead before collision, NTSB says

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, Publication > Professional Mariner

A collision between an empty oil tanker and a barge at a Texas channel intersection happened because the towing vessel moved too close to the ship after a passing agreement, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said. The impact in the Aug. 17, 2011, accident in the Bolivar Roads area carved a hole in a ballast tank of the 900-foot…

22 Aug

On British Columbia’s rivers, tug captains learn to read tides and currents

Professional Mariner StaffPublication > Professional Mariner, Tugboats & Towing

Tugs have been towing aggregate-laden barges out of British Columbia’s Pitt River and on down the Fraser River since the days of wooden scows and steam-powered tugs. Since the earliest days the boats have had to contend with the railway bridge about three miles upstream from the Pitt’s confluence with the Fraser River. Over the generations, skippers have learned a…

22 Aug

ATB damaged in grounding on surprise shoal at Michigan breakwater

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, Publication > Professional Mariner

Undetected shoaling led to the grounding and flooding of an articulated tug barge in Lake Michigan, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to the tug’s engine room and tail shaft. The tug Invincible ran aground at 0545 on April 14 as it departed Michigan’s Manistee Harbor. The U.S. Coast Guard found that reduced harbor depth caused the grounding…

22 Aug

Rotating winch proves it can keep escort tugs more stable

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Publication > Professional Mariner, Tugboats & Towing

The Auto Position Escort Winch (APEW) system, pioneered by JonRie InterTech, represents emergent technology that allows escort tugs to assist with utmost maneuverability, increased safety and better reaction time for a pilot or ship operator to act in the event of a steering or propulsion failure. Escort tugs include the Voith Schneider Propeller system and azimuthing stern drive (ASD) systems…

22 Aug

First-ever lightering support vessels prove to be nimble

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Publication > Professional Mariner

In mid May, Capt. E.J. “Junior” Breaux was at the controls of AET Excellence, the second in a four-boat series of purpose-built lightering support vessels (LSVs) constructed at Leevac Shipyards in Jennings, La., for AET Offshore Services of Galveston, Texas. Excellence was preceded by AET Innovator (American Ship Review 2012), and followed by AET Partnership and AET Responsibility. Above: from…

22 Aug

NTSB: Towboat pilot in barge crash failed to adjust for rainy weather

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, Publication > Professional Mariner

The pilot operating a towboat with six barges lost contact with his lookouts in heavy rain and collided with two barges moored along the side in the Port Allen, La., channel, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said. Three barges were damaged in the collision on Feb. 1, when one of the barges in the two-wide-by-three-long tow of hopper barges…

22 Aug

Shipyard blames valve failure for sinking dry dock, capsizing tugboat that was inside

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, Publication > Professional Mariner

A tugboat capsized inside a Seattle dry dock after the dock partially sank due to a faulty check valve. The 127-foot ocean towing tug Invader, owned by Crowley Maritime, was in the Vigor Industrial yard for routine maintenance, which had just been completed. Shipyard personnel discovered the accident at approximately 1200 on March 18. Apparently the dry dock had…

22 Aug

World’s most famous crane? Shuttle move shines spotlight on Weeks

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Publication > Professional Mariner

With a late afternoon storm threatening, the space shuttle Enterprise made its final atmospheric flight in the form of a crane lift from the deck of a Weeks Marine barge onto the flight deck of the retired aircraft carrier USS Intrepid. There are not that many famous cranes around, but Weeks 533, a 500-ton capacity crane on a 300-foot crane…