Professional Mariner - December/January 2022 - Professional Mariner

Ship identified as possible cause of damaged California oil pipeline

The Coast Guard has identified the owner and operator of the containership MSC Danit as “parties in interest” in the damaged pipeline that leaked oil off Southern California. The service is investigating other possible vessels of interest in the incident, Coast Guard spokesperson Lt. j.g. SondraKay Kneen said. Those ships have not been identified. Authorities believe the anchor of…

NTSB cites poor communication, inaccurate AIS data in fatal collision

Both towboats involved in a fatal collision in the Lower Mississippi River near Destrehan, La., in early 2020 broadcast inaccurate tow lengths over AIS, according to federal investigators. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which investigated the collision involving Cooperative Spirit and R.C. Creppel, also cited inadequate communication between pilots helming the two tows in the minutes leading to…

Human error, insufficient training cited in Golden Ray capsizing

The vehicle carrier Golden Ray capsized in St. Simons Sound due to a crucial vessel stability miscalculation and inadequate training and safety procedures, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded. Investigators said the chief officer entered incorrect ballast levels into a shipboard computer, indicating the vessel had more water than it actually did. As a result, Golden Ray’s center of gravity was “significantly higher” than calculated. “Golden Ray capsized because it did not possess enough…

NTSB: Sudden storm caused New Orleans containership breakaway

Powerful winds from an unexpected thunderstorm blew a containership free from a New Orleans pier and damaged shoreside gantry cranes loading the vessel, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined. The 1,099-foot CMA CGM Bianca was moored alongside the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal on Aug. 2, 2020. A sudden downburst from the thunderstorm buffeted the ship with 70-mph winds at about 1400. “The vessel…

Coming ashore (for good) takes preparation and perseverance

It was during my last hitch that I decided I would not be coming back to shipping. It was not because of bad experiences, because I had plenty of good ones, too. I wanted to get married, have a family and be able to go home every day. The decision was years in the making and not one I made…

Cruise ships are not the answer for more U.S. maritime jobs

Editor’s note: The following letter responds to Capt. Sean Tortora’s article “Americans pay for cruise industry’s flags of convenience” that ran in Professional Mariner’s Oct.-Nov. issue. Capt. Tortora wonders how many Americans planning on cruising would be appalled to know there is only one U.S.-flagged ocean cruise ship, while all others operate under flags of convenience (FOC). The answer: They wouldn’t care. Cruising is popular because the model…

3D tugboat design comes to life

Signet Maritime Corp. has begun construction on the first commercial vessels in the United States developed using a purely 3D design process. The tugboats will be built to the Advanced Rotortug design by Robert Allan Ltd., which places two azimuthing drives forward and one aft. The concept was first developed by Dutch company Kotug, and tugboats outfitted with this propulsion…

Working the holidays can pay — in more ways than one

We had just cleared the Panama Canal’s Miraflores Locks westbound on the Pacific side. I was the second mate on a tug pulling a loaded 450-foot petroleum barge from Lake Charles, La., and Beaumont, Texas, to Long Beach, Calif. It had just turned midnight, the start of Christmas Day. Jerry, the able seaman on my watch, came up to the…