casualties – Page 3 – Professional Mariner

25 Oct

NTSB urges fire upgrades for small passenger vessels

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime Newscasualties, NTSB, safety

(WASHINGTON) — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended Tuesday that engine-room fire detection and fixed fire extinguishing systems be installed in small passenger vessels previously exempted from U.S. Coast Guard regulations in Subchapter K. The NTSB issued the recommendations after investigating an engine room fire aboard Spirit of Norfolk during a sightseeing cruise near Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on…

10 Oct

Coast Guard recovers remaining evidence from Titan

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime Newscasualties

(WASHINGTON) — Marine safety engineers with the U.S. Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) recovered and transferred remaining Titan submersible debris and evidence from the North Atlantic Ocean seafloor on Oct. 4. The salvage mission, which was conducted under an existing agreement with U.S. Navy supervisor of salvage and diving, was a follow-up to initial recovery operations following the…

04 Oct

12 rescued after cargo vessel grounds off St. Thomas

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime Newscasualties, U.S. Coast Guard

(ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands) — A U.S. Coast Guard boat crew rescued 12 people Wednesday morning after they were forced to abandon a cargo vessel that was taking on water and ran aground just south of the airport in St. Thomas. All 12 people aboard the 195-foot Bonnie G, a Vanuatu-flagged roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) vessel, were reported safe. No injuries…

15 Sep

Interim rule steps up safety measures for duck boats

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime Newscasualties, safety, U.S. Coast Guard

(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Coast Guard has issued an interim rule as the first step to implement the statutorily mandated requirements for DUKW amphibious passenger vessels, commonly known as duck boats. This statutory mandate was enacted after the sinking of Stretch Duck 7 on July 19, 2018, which resulted in the loss of 17 lives on Table Rock Lake, Mo.…

06 Sep

Coast Guard rescues 18 after tour boat grounds near glacier

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime Newscasualties, U.S. Coast Guard

(ANCHORAGE, Alaska) — The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 18 people from a passenger vessel that ran aground last week near the Columbia Glacier in southeast Alaska. At 4:35 p.m. Thursday, Coast Guard Sector Anchorage command center watch standers overheard the ferry Aurora communicating with a vessel in distress. The watch standers relayed communications through the crew of Aurora and determined…

01 Sep

NTSB pushes Coast Guard again on passenger vessel SMS

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime Newscasualties, NTSB, U.S. Coast Guard

(WASHINGTON) — Four years after the fire aboard the Conception dive boat claimed 34 lives, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) renewed its call for the U.S. Coast Guard to require safety management systems (SMS) for passenger vessels. The recommendation, which the NTSB reissued following its investigation of the Sept. 2, 2019, fire aboard Conception, remains open. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer…

11 Jul

Fire on Newark con-ro extinguished after nearly a week

Rich MillerMaritime Newscasualties, U.S. Coast Guard

(NEWARK, N.J.) – The unified command consisting of the U.S. Coast Guard, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Newark Fire Department and Gallagher Marine Systems has successfully concluded shipboard fire response operations at Port Newark and is transitioning to the investigation and salvage. As of Tuesday morning, the fire aboard the cargo vessel Grande Costa D’Avorio has been…

06 Jul

Two killed fighting fire on vehicle carrier in Port Newark

Rich MillerMaritime Newscasualties, Ports, U.S. Coast Guard

(NEWARK, N.J.) — The Newark Fire Department, the U.S. Coast Guard and multiple state and area agencies are continuing their response Thursday to a fatal fire in Port Newark on the vehicle carrier Grande Costa D’Avorio. Coast Guard watch standers at Sector New York received an initial call of a fire on the multi-level vessel at 9:38 p.m. Wednesday. A…

29 Jun

Coast Guard recovers debris from Titan wreck site

Rich MillerMaritime Newscasualties, U.S. Coast Guard

(WASHINGTON) – The U.S. Coast Guard received debris and evidence recovered from the seafloor at the site of the Titan submersible when M/V Horizon Arctic arrived in St. John’s, Newfoundland, on Wednesday. After consultation with international partner investigative agencies, the Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) intends to transport the evidence aboard a Coast Guard cutter to a port in the…

27 Jun

Reflections on the loss of the submersible Titan

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime Newscasualties, safety

In every issue of Professional Mariner, we have a casualties section that highlights maritime incidents. The purpose of this section is so that we can learn from the challenges and mistakes that others had to deal with in hopes of either not making those same mistakes or knowing how to deal with similar events. As the timeless adage goes, “Those…