Six people were rescued after a barge tow collided with two powerboats in the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) east of Galveston, Texas. The 1,800-hp towboat Lucy Hannah was towing two 297-by-54-foot barges when part of the tow contacted the two powerboats on July 30 at about 2126. All six people in the two boats ended up in the water near…
Tore Hoem looked across the vast fjord on a frigid Arctic afternoon on Svalbard, some 1,250 miles north of Oslo, Norway, and predicted the weather would hold. “The sea looks OK,” said Hoem, the adventures director for tour company Hurtigruten Svalbard. “I don’t expect too much wind. We might have a bit of waves. Let’s see.” Moments earlier, he guided…
Joseph Jeffrey Hazelwood, captain of the tanker Exxon Valdez when it ran aground in Alaska in 1989 and spilled an estimated 11 million gallons of oil, died July 21. He was 75. His family is planning a future memorial service. The tanker was carrying more than 1.2 million barrels (more than 50 million gallons) of oil when it struck…
One of the great things about being a merchant mariner is that it’s possible to travel and see the world. Being able to experience other cultures, enjoy the foods and music of far-off lands, or connect with friends and family thousands of miles from home makes our profession very special. Unfortunately, I have seen mariners who never get beyond the…
The Crescent Towing tugboat J.K. McLean emerges from fog in the Mobile River in early 2019. Fog shut down the Port of Mobile while the tug’s crew prepared to assist an outbound ship off the dock.