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Marine Safety Office News

20 Sep 2022

Marine License Insurance: Do You Need It?

Sponsored Content:Every year, many professional mariners become involved in accidents that trigger a USCG investigation.Imagine working aboard a vessel and, suddenly, you’re involved in a maritime accident that triggers a Coast Guard investigation. In the blink of an eye, your career and USCG license are in serious jeopardy. Every year, this scenario is reality for professional mariners throughout the U.S. Fortunately, MOPS Marine License Insurance can change that.What is Marine…

19 Sep 2022

Marine License Insurance: Do You Need It?

Sponsored Content:Every year, many professional mariners become involved in accidents that trigger a USCG investigation.Imagine working aboard a vessel and, suddenly, you’re involved in a maritime accident that triggers a Coast Guard investigation. In the blink of an eye, your career and USCG license are in serious jeopardy. Every year, this scenario is reality for professional mariners throughout the U.S. Fortunately, MOPS Marine License Insurance can change that.What is Marine…

16 Sep 2022

Marine License Insurance: Do You Need It?

Sponsored Content:Every year, many professional mariners become involved in accidents that trigger a USCG investigation.Imagine working aboard a vessel and, suddenly, you’re involved in a maritime accident that triggers a Coast Guard investigation. In the blink of an eye, your career and USCG license are in serious jeopardy. Every year, this scenario is reality for professional mariners throughout the U.S. Fortunately, MOPS Marine License Insurance can change that.What is Marine…

27 Jan 2020

Fishing for Trouble

© Rachael / Adobe Stock

Radar confusion and speed cited in ferry groundingWhile the perennial issue of commercial vessel and recreational boat collisions, near misses and allisions with navigational aids are certainly nothing new, in much of  the navigable waters of the United States they are typically associated with the warmer weather of late spring, summer and early fall when privately-owned boats abound on the nation’s lakes, rivers, bays and sounds.But even after the cabin cruisers, sailboats, jet skis…

07 Jun 2019

SAFETY: Distractions Can Sink Careers

Randy O’Neill, Senior Vice President with Lancer Insurance Company

Familiarity can and does breed contempt. You don’t need anything else added to that heavy burden.We live and work in a frenetic environment replete with a wide range of both human and technological distractions. When those two elements came together on the bridge of a towboat traveling downriver to pick up a load of empty barges, the result was career-changing for the vessel’s first mate, who was on the wheel. It was yet another costly reminder of the need for professional mariners…

28 Feb 2019

Lessons Learned: the Bow Mariner Sinking

A crew from the Coast Guard Cutter Shearwater approaches a capsized lifeboat from the Bow Mariner. U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO

The 570-foot Singapore-flagged chemical & oil tanker Bow Mariner sank 15 years ago when the ship caught fire and sustained two explosions, resulting in the deaths of 21 out of 27 crew members, 45-miles off the coast of Virginia, Feb. 28, 2004.The vessel was transporting over three million gallons of ethyl alcohol on a voyage from New York to Texas. It had previously carried methyl tert-butyl ether, MTBE, in its other 22 cargo tanks that were discharged in New York.The cause of…

20 Oct 2017

Rob Nakama: From USCG to Foss Maritime

Rob Nakama (Photo: Saltchuk)

Just two weeks after accepting the U.S. Coast Guard’s congratulations on a military career spanning almost three decades, Rob Nakama drove from Washington D.C. to Seattle to join Foss Maritime as the company’s Manager of Contingency Planning and Emergency Response. “I’ve been in the military for the majority of my life; the transition has been surreal,” he said. Nakama was born in Hawaii, growing up on the island of Maui as the son of a taro farmer who worked for the Aloha Poi Factory.

15 Jun 2017

A Legal Approach to Marine Casualty Response

© mscornelius / Adobe Stock

Maritime attorney David Russo provides a valuable primer for maritime stakeholders faced with a marine casualty. Because it isn’t a question of if, it is a question of when. Will you be ready? When there is a marine incident, the vessel owner/operator has two risks of exposure: to both civil and criminal liability. These risks can arise from a number of variables, including but not limited to (a.) a pollution event, (b.) a death or injury, (c.) unseaworthy vessels (including inadequate crew or procedures)…

27 Oct 2015

Making Sense and Taking Risks: Human Behavior in the Shipping Industry

The guide helps to identify countermeasures to avoid human errors and bad decisions. Discover how to manage the human element on all levels – from the engine room, to the bridge, to the shore. From our summary of “The Human Element – A Guide to Human Behavior in the Shipping Industry,” we examine the chapters “Making Sense of Things” and “Risk Taking,” breaking down the most relevant information. Dirk Gregory and Paul Shanahan of the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency developed the original guide. People are surrounded by vast amounts of information and need to make sense of it all.

09 Jun 2015

Insights: Capt. Novotny, Commanding Officer, USCG National Maritime Center

Captain Jeffrey P. Novotny is Commanding Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Maritime Center in Martinsburg, WV. He is responsible for all activities related to professional credentialing, training and assessments of the nation’s 215,000 merchant mariners. He graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. Prior to commanding the NMC, he was the Deputy Commander at the Coast Guard’s Deployable Operations Group. His duties included the oversight and responsibility for all personnel…

26 Nov 2014

Night Moves on America's Waterways

Overnight operations are certainly not unusual on America’s inland waterways, but that doesn’t make them any less hazardous. Onboard activities that seem so straightforward and customary in the light of day can take on a decidedly different feel after the sun sets and darkness envelopes the river and shrouds its banks. And, while navigational aids on the river and electronic equipment on board clearly assist nighttime vessel movements, many towboat and tug operators will tell you that fatigue, boredom and endless repetition in the sensory-deprived environment of darkness present very formidable challenges to even the most experienced rivermen.

29 Apr 2014

German Company Pays for Not Reporting Hazardos Conditions

A German company has been sentenced to pay a $1 million fine and another $250,000 to support environmental causes after pleading guilty to two felony environmental charges related to a cargo ship that entered the Port of Long Beach last year with an open crack in its hull that may have caused oil to leak into the port. The company – Herm. Dauelsberg GmbH & Co. KG – pleaded guilty yesterday morning and was sentenced immediately by United States District Judge George H. Wu. The…

14 Apr 2014

US Coast Guard District Chief of Staff Retires

Capt. Bingaman retirement: USCG photo

With over 30 years service under his belt, Capt. John Bingaman has retired following a ceremony held at Bay Presbyterian Church in Bay Village, Ohio. Capt. Bingaman, who grew up in Greensboro, N.C., oversaw 6,000 Coast Guard active duty, reserve, civilian and auxiliary men and women serving at 77 subordinate units and on the District staff from the 9th District Headquarters at the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building in Cleveland. He is a Marine Safety and Environmental Protection Professional.

17 Mar 2014

Marine Casualty Reports – Clarified

Jonathan Waldron

So you think you know when to make a marine casualty report? There has been a lot of confusion over the years as to when to make a marine casualty report with regard to certain incidents. Yet, although the Coast Guard constantly urges industry to make required reports, it has never promulgated national guidance to promote consistency in reporting based on uniform interpretation of the regulatory standards – until now. Specifically, the Coast Guard issued a Notice of Availability and Request for Comments (Notice) on January 14…

16 May 2013

Seattle Propeller Club Honors Veentjer and Dwyer

The Seattle Propeller Club announced the winner of the 2013 Puget Sound Maritime Achievement Award as Captain John Veentjer, Puget Sound Marine Exchange Executive Director, aboard Princess Cruises cruise vessel Sapphire Princess while berthed on Pier 66 at the Port of Seattle’s Bell Street Cruise Terminal during the 62nd annual Seattle Maritime Festival Luncheon. The Club also shared news of the selection of Captain John Dwyer, Officer In Charge, Marine Inspection and the Chief of the Inspection Division at U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound, as this year’s recipient of the Seattle Propeller Club’s Public Official of the Year Award.

08 Sep 2008

Terrorism and the Maritime Transportation System

Understanding the maritime threat requires an historical review of criminal and terrorist elements. A closer look at the methodologies of terrorism gives greater insight to the maritime condition as it stands today. Some threats have remained for years, others are practiced daily in far away places; distant from the comfort we call our homeland. "Terrorism and the Maritime Transportation System" will not pretend to provide answers to all of the threats we face - only provide greater magnification for understanding.

10 Apr 2008

Freighter Runs Aground

A 388-ft. Netherlands-flagged freighter ran aground in East Passage off reports said. The Coast Guard received a call that the freighter Alexandergracht was stuck on the side of the passage, near the Melville Marine District, and needed assistance. A 41-ft. boat was dispatched from Coast Guard Station Castle Hill in and was soon joined by the commercial tugboats Rainbow and Reliance as well as marine inspectors from the Coast Guard's Marine Safety Office in . The vessel was refloated at around the time of the 9 p.m. high tide Sunday and escorted by the tugs to deeper waters in East Passage so that inspectors could check the freighter for damage and leaks. Source:

12 Aug 2003

Coast Guard Investigating Cause of Barge Sinking on Lake Michigan

The Coast Guard is in investigating what may have caused a grain barge to sink approximately four miles off the shores of Waukegan earlier today. A team from U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Chicago will determine if last night’s weather played a factor. The 200 foot barge carrying 64,000 bushels of wheat was being towed in four to six foot seas last night when it began taking on water. At last report, the barge was floating in the water at a 90 degree angle. There were no injuries during the mishap

03 Sep 2003

News: Fraudulent Seamen Charges Brought on 5

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida has stated that five people have been indicted for bringing aliens into the United States by falsely asserting that the aliens were seamen joining ships in U.S. ports. The indicted individuals allegedly prepared false identification documents and made false statements to government officials. If convicted, the defendants face between five and 10 years' imprisonment and fines of $250,000 as to each count. Maria Machado Diaz, Larry Milton, Guillermo Vidaurre, Delber Diaz, and Marvin Joseph, Jr., are being charged with migrant smuggling. They are facing five and 10 years' imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 as to each count. The agencies have been investigating Diaz and associates since October 2002.

12 Sep 2003

Collapsed Mississippi Gulf Rig Leaves 8 Injured

Parker 14 J that collapsed off the Mississippi-Louisiana coast yesterday. (U.S. Coast Guard photo). The 41 people aboard an offshore drilling rig that collapsed off the Mississippi-Louisiana coast yesterday afternoon have been rescued. Eight people were injured in the accident and were taken by New Orleans-based Coast Guard helicopters to Gulfport Regional Airport for further transfer by awaiting EMS personnel to Gulfport Memorial Hospital. With the extent of the injuries still unknown…

12 Sep 2003

Titan Pulls Through for Abandoned Research Vessel

Measuring 152 x 25-ft. (46.3 x 7.6-m), M/V Bowstring, research vessel that had been abandoned by its owners, was moored outside the M/V Arawak Trader secured to a pier adjacent to the Matthews Bridge in Jacksonville, Fla. On the evening of May 22, 2003, the Bowstring sank and came to rest on rocks, in 16 ft. of water with a port list of 15 degrees. With the vessel’s owners seemingly nowhere to be found, the USCG, Marine Safety Office (MSO), Jacksonville, was faced with a sunken derelict of no value, leaking hydrocarbons and obstructing navigation.

23 Sep 2003

Coast Guard Investigates Diesel Spill

Coast Guard marine safety personnel are investigating a reported diesel fuel spill at mile marker 158 in the Lower Mississippi River, near St. James, La. Crewmembers of the tug Tom Jump, of St. Louis, Mo., were reportedly transferring fuel between compartments when approximately 950 gallons spilled into the water. Boom, which is a floating device used to contain oil, was deployed to control the spread of the product. There were no injuries reported. A broadcast will be issued on VHF-FM radio channel 16 to alert mariners of the spill. A helicopter crew from Air Station New Orleans is en route to provide an aerial survey of the spill site. Personnel from Marine Safety Office New Orleans will be investigating the incident.

24 Sep 2003

Vessel Sinks at Anacortes Marina, Releases Oil

A fishing vessel at the Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes sank Tuesday morning and released more than 200-gallons of diesel fuel into the water. Divers from Global Diving and Salvage were contracted to clean up the spill. They have removed approximately 300-gallons of diesel fuel from the Miss Maddy’s starboard fuel tank. Approximately 210-gallons of fuel have been recovered from the water. An oil boom has been positioned around the vessel to contain the oil. Approximately 510-gallons of fuel has been removed from the scene. The vessel is stable and continues to discharge oil. The Miss Maddy is a 58-ft. wooden hulled vessel belonging to Harold Joseph of Marysville, Wash.

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