Preventing Barge Explosions
Recent casualties involving explosions aboard barges conducting tank cleaning operations alongside marine terminals have resulted in serious injuries to vessel crews and facility workers, catastrophic property damage, as well as harm to the environment. A review of related casualties has revealed that vessel personnel, facility personnel and shore side managers failed to ensure that established procedures and safe practices were followed. Specifically, the Operational Manuals and regulatory requirements were not routinely followed by those involved. As a result unintended and disastrous consequences occurred. This safety alert aims to raise awareness regarding this issue and highlight critical lessons learned from these incidents.
Ultra-Large Containership Tow: USCG Evaluate Bay Exercise
US Coast Guard Sector San Francisco advise that its personnel joined with CMA CGM – the third-largest shipping group – along with other local industry partners to test the Bay Area’s capability to tow ultra-large container vessels. The vessel used for this exercise was CMA CGM’s Centaurus, an 11.400 TEU container ship measuring 365 meters, or approximately 1,200 feet. The purpose of the towing demonstration was to test the capability of existing tug assets within San Francisco Bay to connect to and tow an ultra-large container vessel. This exercise marked the first such attempt in the United States. The demonstration was intended as…
Marine Safety Alert: Fuel Switching Safety
A Marine Safety Alert was issued to increase awareness and reiterate general guidance on fuel systems and fuel switching safety in an effort to prevent propulsion losses. After a noted decrease, there has been a recent increase in the number of reported loss of propulsion incidents on deep draft vessels within the Eleventh Coast Guard District. Coast Guard studies and review of marine casualties indicate that lack of maintenance and testing of certain systems, including fuel oil systems, is one of the leading causes of propulsion failures. Advanced planning and careful fuel system management are critical to safely switching fuels. This is especially important if fuel switching is not routine practice.
99% of Towing Operators Are Properly Licensed
The Eighth Coast Guard District recently completed Operation Big Tow, a three-month long effort designed as a result of a collision between a cargo vessel and a loaded oil barge on the Mississippi River that spilled more than 282,000 gallons of #6 fuel oil to spill into the river. Operation Big Tow was designed to ensure vessel operators were properly licensed for their respective vessel's size, type and route. An initial investigation into the July 23, 2008 collision that closed nearly 100 miles of river near New Orleans revealed that a crewmember operating the Mel Oliver, an uninspected towing vessel (UTV) pushing the barge was improperly licensed. UTVs are towing vessels 26 ft or longer and must be under the direction of a licensed master.
USCG Issues Marine Safety Alert
The Coast Guard strongly reminds the towing industry of its responsibility to properly man their vessels with adequate numbers of qualified and licensed crewmembers. Recently, a collision on the Mississippi river near downtown New Orleans between a Cargo Ship and a loaded oil barge being pushed by an Uninspected Towing Vessel (UTV) resulted in a major oil spill, significant environmental damage, a costly oil spill cleanup response, closed “The River” for six straight days, and caused significant economic loss to the local Louisiana economy. The Commander, Eighth Coast Guard District, convened a formal investigation into the incident.
Ship’s Chief Engineer Convicted in Vessel Pollution Case
Mark Humphries, the chief engineer of the M/V Tanabata, an American-flagged car-carrier ship based in Baltimore, was convicted by a jury on one count of conspiracy and two counts of making false statements, announced Ronald J. Tenpas, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and Rod J. Rosenstein, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland. At trial, it was proven that the M/V Tanabata had a removable bypass pipe or “magic pipe” that was used to discharge oily waste without the use of an oily-water separator, a required pollution control devise. The discharges were, however, falsely recorded as having been processed through the separator in the ship’s oil record book, a required log regularly inspected by the U.S.
Houston Changes Captain of Port
A Change of Command ceremony for Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston is scheduled for July 14. The event will take place at United Way Community Center in Houston. During a formal ceremony, the current Commander of Sector Houston-Galveston, Capt. Richard M. Kaser, will be relieved by Capt. William J. Diehl. Presiding over the ceremony will be Rear Adm. Joel R. Whitehead, Commander of the Eighth Coast Guard District and Commander of Maritime Defense Command Eight. Kaser, the Commanding Officer for MSO Houston-Galveston from July 2003-December 2005 and Commander, Sector Houston-Galveston from December 2005-July 2006, will relinquish his command and move on to a position as Chief, Prevention Division at Coast Guard Atlantic Area in Portsmouth, Virginia.
