26 Jul

Towing industry about to get its first look at proposed vessel inspection rules

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Publication > Professional Mariner
At long last, the nation's maritime industry this summer will learn the specifics of the U.S. Coast Guard's towing vessel inspection program. The inspection plan has reached the final step before the proposed rule is released to the public. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is studying the fiscal impact of the towing vessel inspections. The White House budget…
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26 Jul

Barge sinks after tow hits Mississippi River railroad bridge

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, Publication > Professional Mariner
Twenty-five barges broke loose after a Mississippi River tow struck a railroad bridge, and one of the barges sank. Barges with the 168-foot towing vessel Jay Luhr hit the Thebes Railroad Bridge at 2004 on March 30. The bridge crosses the Mississippi River between Illinois and Missouri. The downbound barges, loaded with rock, struck the pier to the left of…
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26 Jul

Coast Guard coxswain found guilty of dereliction in fatal collision

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, Publication > Professional Mariner
A U.S. Coast Guard petty officer was sentenced to three months in the brig and two others were reprimanded for dereliction of duty in a fatal 2009 crash involving their patrol boat in San Diego Bay. An 8-year-old boy was killed when the 33-foot Coast Guard vessel rammed a recreational boat during a holiday light parade. Five other occupants of…
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25 Jul

Reappearance of long-lost sign from repair yard brings a smile

Professional Mariner StaffPublication > Professional Mariner
Capt. Steve Kress, vice president of operations for McAllister Towing and Transportation Co., got a pleasant surprise one dreary wet and windswept day this winter. Three of his colleagues walked into his office on Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, N.Y., and presented him with a weathered wooden sign reading "Tug & Barge Dry Docks Inc." "I didn't think it existed anymore,"…
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25 Jul

Coast Guard criticizes divided command, flag state in Deepwater Horizon disaster

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, Maritime News, Publication > Professional Mariner
The U.S. Coast Guard's preliminary report on the Deepwater Horizon disaster signals possible reforms to maritime-oriented regulations governing Gulf of Mexico oil activity. In addition to several serious problems related to drilling and rig-operation safety, the April 2011 report identified weaknesses in rules related to flag-state oversight, dual-command structures on rigs and equipment needed in a water rescue. Response crews…
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25 Jul

Former Navy tugboat gets updated again as a green z-drive

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Publication > Professional Mariner, Tugboats & Towing
McAllister Towing of Baltimore has put a new spin on an old tug, Kaleen McAllister, with the installation of a single azimuthing stern drive (ASD). Actually it's the second single z-drive conversion by McAllister of a former U.S. Navy YTB in recent years. The two tugs are Donal G. McAllister and Kaleen McAllister, and it is Kaleen's second re-power since…
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25 Jul

Small towing company from Maine finds ways to make ends meet

Professional Mariner StaffPublication > Professional Mariner, Tugboats & Towing
Jon and Cindy Smith live and work from their home on a hill overlooking a small cove dotted with Maine lobster boats. Situated on Southport Island, a few miles south of Boothbay Harbor, the setting is an idyllic one, relatively free of the dense, emissions-rich air associated with larger ports. The 85-foot, 2,800-hp Lucinda Smith is the flagship of the…
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25 Jul

Management software links ship and shore decision makers

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Publication > Professional Mariner
It used to be that when a vessel left the dock, all the decisions about ship control, steering and navigation were made aboard the ship. Masters and the other ship's officers relied on their training, experience and judgment to safely transport vessels to their destinations. But technology has changed all that, first by making new information available on the bridge,…
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01 Jun

Refusal of shipyards to take leaking barge complicates salvage

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty News, Maritime News, Publication > Professional Mariner
Three months after a derelict deck barge began leaking oil in the Columbia River, efforts were continuing to clean up the pollution and remove the wreck. Davy Crockett, a World War II Liberty ship cut down to a deck barge, began leaking oil into the Columbia River upstream from Vancouver, Wash., early in January. The U.S. Coast Guard sent the…
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