Professional Mariner – December 2024 – Page 2

Navigating the Erie Canal from end to end

Staying on course was not a worry for Capt. Brad Winchell on this voyage at the helm of Carver Marine Towing’s CMT Otter. The entire trip would happen in buoyed channels, mostly those of the New York State Canal System (NYSCS) — commonly called the Erie Canal — currently in its 200th season. Winchell has worked on the Erie Canal…

Wheelman in Columbia River pier strike dozed due to unrecognized fatigue

The tugboat Cindy B was upbound in the Columbia River pushing a single barge loaded with aggregate when the veteran captain needed a bathroom break. He asked the deck hand, who had spent the last six months training at the helm, to take over. The deck hand had been on watch since midnight and reported feeling alert and up to…

NTSB: Mate misjudged nighttime approach to Lake Charles pier

The mate helming a towing vessel misjudged a nighttime approach and struck a dock in the Port of Lake Charles, according to federal investigators. At 2326 local time on July 8, 2023, Danny Terral was pushing six loaded barges northbound on the Calcasieu River when the starboard lead barge hit the pier while docking at the Port of Lake Charles…

Severed facing wire cited in West Memphis barge breakaway, pier strike

Federal investigators believe “undetected damage” caused a facing wire to snap and two barges to break away from their tow in the Lower Mississippi River near West Memphis, Ark., earlier this year. The 200-by-35-foot barges, ACL23401 and ACBL2549, remained tethered together as they drifted downriver with the current and struck a Port of West Memphis dock at about 1240 on…

American ports are making steady progress toward decarbonization

Across our blue planet, ships transit the oceans and waterways to connect far-flung economies. Their cargoes help to house, power, move and feed billions of people. Cost-effective over long distances in the way no other transport system is, sea transport is vital to global prosperity and underpins our modern way of life. But our way of life needs to change…

The time has arrived for safe, drinkable vessel emissions

My wife and I were planning to spend the day in Port Townsend, Wash., and were among the 20 or so passengers waiting for the Washington State Ferry to arrive when we heard someone calling our names. It was Garrett, a friend who makes a very good living putting in solar and wind power installations, going over to check on…