Laser device maker hopes its products will replace flares
07 Jul

Laser device maker hopes its products will replace flares

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Publication > Professional Mariner, Tugboats & Towing
Recall the grisly final scene in the movie Dead Calm involving a flare gun. Picture the bright flares firing briefly over the doomed Titanic. Potentially dangerous in a confined space, brief in burning duration ­— these are the sorts of risks that Greatland Laser is hoping will prompt the maritime industry to switch from pyrotechnic flares — required by the…
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06 Jul

Life on a dream ship would be safe, comfortable and well paid

Professional Mariner StaffA Mariner's Notebook, Publication > Professional Mariner
  It was a cool windy November day when I joined the vessel in Morehead City, N.C. Coming up the gangway, I was met by the 8-to-12 AB. “Welcome aboard, mate,” he called out. “Ahoy, shipmate!” I replied, “How’s it going?” He answered, “I’m draggin’ this morning. Working on this ship is a real backbreaker.” That was not necessarily what…
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06 Jul

Taking the proper steps can prevent injuries aboard ships

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Publication > Professional Mariner
When it comes to accidents involving injuries or fatalities during onboard operations, you can almost always boil the root cause down to one of three things: • The work being performed was not properly planned, • The plan for the work was not followed, • Or the scope of the work changed. First let’s address failure to adequately plan the…
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26 Jun

Wayward tug runs into bulk carrier at Columbia River anchorage

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, Publication > Professional Mariner
A tugboat smashed into an anchored freighter in the Columbia River, damaging the ship's hull. The tug Clarkston collided with the deep-draft cargo vessel Genco Marine at 0930 on April 7, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement. Genco Marine was anchored at mile-marker 102.5 on the Columbia River, north of the western tip of Hayden Island near Vancouver,…
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26 Jun

Mississippi River tow strikes bridges at Vicksburg; barges break loose

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, Publication > Professional Mariner
Sixteen barges broke loose after a tow struck a railroad bridge at Vicksburg, Miss., while the Mississippi River's water level was high. The towboat Kay A. Eckstein was southbound with 30 hopper barges when the collision happened at 1333 on March 23. The towboat struck the Old Vicksburg Bridge, causing the 16 barges to break free. One of those barges…
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26 Jun

Barge sinks in Ohio River after cable parts following pushboat's collision with a pier

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, Publication > Professional Mariner
Four barges broke away from a pushboat and one eventually sank in the Ohio River west of Pittsburgh after a cable snapped in unusually high water. The cable broke after Carl L. Johnson struck a pier face along an industrial portion of Neville Island, about 5 miles downriver from the Pittsburgh Point, said Cmdr. Richard Timme, of U.S. Coast Guard…
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