Controversy re-ignites over Buzzards Bay oil-barge tugboat escorts

(BOSTON) — State lawmakers who enacted mandatory tugboat escorts for oil barges in Buzzards Bay complain that regulators are helping mariners skirt the intent of the law, the Cape Cod Times newspaper reported. A new law requires oil barges to be shadowed by a state-assigned tug to prevent another major fuel spill in the region. Legislators say the state environment department instead is establishing a system that would allow a tugboat to be merely on standby.
 
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By Professional Mariner Staff