Towing Vessel News

The Towing Vessel Inspection Bureau (TVIB) announced that Rio Marine, Inc. has become the first maritime services provider to achieve certification under the American Waterways Operators’ (AWO) Responsible Carrier Program (RCP).The RCP is a safety management system for the tugboat, towboat, and barge industry that sets standards for safety, environmental stewardship, and continuous improvement. To earn certification, companies undergo a third-party audit evaluating policies, procedures, employee practices, and operational performance.Capt. David A. Foret Jr.

NATO chief Mark Rutte mocked Russia on Monday over the "limping" condition of one of its submarines as Russian authorities denied it had been forced to surface because of technical problems.Russia's Black Sea Fleet said the diesel-powered submarine Novorossiysk had surfaced off France to comply with navigation rules in the English Channel, and rejected reports it had suffered a serious malfunction.But Dutch authorities said at the weekend that the submarine was under tow in the North Sea.

“In a global marketplace, supply and demand in one area of the world can greatly impact the agricultural production in another. American products are shipped worldwide …” is how the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) describes the backdrop for international trade. The inland and coastwise waterway systems serving the United States (where agricultural cargoes are an important component) are sometimes regarded as insular highly specialized marketplaces. However, they are indeed elements of much larger trading networks that are influenced by global economic…

Anticipating a strong cross-current that never materialized, an experienced tow pilot deviated from the sailing line on the Mississippi River and struck components of the Fort Madison Bridge near Fort Madison, Iowa, the National Transportation Safety Board has concluded.The towing vessel Joe B. Wyatt was pushing 13 loaded hopper barges and two empty tank barges downriver on May 9, 2024, when the tow struck the bridge’s protection cell and fendering system and broke apart.No injuries or pollution were reported. Damage to the protection cell, fendering system, barges and the Joe B.

A tow pilot’s distraction caused by personal cellphone use resulted in a collision last year with moored barges on the lower Mississippi River, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.The towing vessel William B Klunk was pushing 22 loaded hopper barges on April 17, 2024, when the tow collided with moored barges at a fleeting area near Baton Rouge. Thirteen barges broke away from the William B Klunk tow and three barges broke away from the fleeting area, resulting in damage to the barges, a fleet crew boat and two mooring dolphins.

A towing vessel grounded on a submerged jetty last year after the captain maneuvered too close to a bank of the Ohio River, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded in its analysis of the incident.The towing vessel Tom Frazier was pushing 15 empty hopper barges near Portsmouth, Ohio, on Feb. 10, 2024, when the vessel grounded, damaging the vessel’s hull plating, framing and bulkheads and flooding several spaces. The nine-person crew was safely evacuated to shore. An estimated five gallons of oil were released and the vessel sustained damage estimated at more than $250…

Severe weather caused an overwhelming towline force and unrecoverable heeling that led to the capsizing and sinking of a towing vessel near Galveston, Texas, last year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has concluded.On May 13, 2024, while towing the barge Marmac 27 astern on an 800‑foot‑long wire, the towing vessel Baylor J. Tregre encountered severe weather, listed to port, capsized and sank. The four-person crew abandoned the vessel into a liferaft and were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. One crewmember sustained minor injuries. There was no pollution reported.

A pilot of a towing vessel on the Mississippi River left the helm unattended for several minutes, leading to a grounding near Thebes, Illinois, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has concluded.While the towing vessel City of Louisville was upbound on the Mississippi River pushing 11 barges on July 29, 2023, it ran aground in a charted shallow and rocky area. The grounding caused fractures to the vessel’s bottom plating underneath the engine room, leading to water flooding into the engine room, machinery and aft accommodation spaces.

A catastrophic engine failure led to a fire aboard a towing vessel on the Tennessee River last year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reports.An engine-room fire broke out on January 30, 2024, aboard the towing vessel Johnny M, which was pushing four barges on the Tennessee River near Grand Rivers, Kentucky. The six crewmembers aboard were unable to extinguish the fire using the CO2 fixed-fire-extinguishing system and abandoned ship to a Good Samaritan vessel.Local fire departments extinguished the fire. No injuries or pollution were reported.

A vessel collision resulted in a barge breakaway and one sunken barge on the Lower Mississippi River near New Orleans on Sunday night.Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a report at approximately 9:20 p.m. Sunday that the Panamanian flagged Motor Vessel Isla De Bioko and the US flagged Towing Vessel Ginny Stone were involved in a collision at mile marker 110.Following the collision, six barges broke free and began drifting down river while one barge loaded with urea sank.

A barge tow struck a vane dike on the Ohio River last year because the pilot did not effectively compensate for the outdraft current while navigating out of the McAlpine Locks in Louisville, Kentucky, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has concluded.The towing vessel Amber Brittany was transiting the Ohio River on March 8, 2024, pushing 15 barges when the tow struck the vane dike at the upstream end of the locks. The tow broke apart, with 10 barges floating down the river…

If the dynamic positioning (DP) system went down on an offshore supply vessel, it could result in a collision. On a dive support vessel, it could result in injury or death for a diver. On a drilling rig, it could result in a blowout with loss of life, pollution and fire.Built-in redundancy is key to avoiding failures, and this in turn determines the thruster, electrical and engine configurations that are designed to enable DP systems.“There is no single, universal solution,” says Lauri Tiainen, Director Thrusters and Propulsion Control Systems, Wärtsilä Marine.

A steel cutting ceremony has been held for a new RAsalvor 6500 at Rizhao GANGDA Shipbuilding (Shandong Port) in Shandong Province, China.Designed by Robert Allan Ltd. for Smit Lamnalco, Australia, and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, the new emergency towing vessel will provide first response capability in the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait – some of the most precious marine environments in the world.The vessel is also intended to provide aids to navigation services and other marine services in the region.

The Coast Guard recently investigated an engine room fire on board an inspected towing vessel which led to the discovery of issues with the  maintenance and installation of fire detection systems on board multiple towing vessels. During the investigation, several towing vessels were discovered to have defective heat detectors installed in their engine rooms. These detectors had been recalled by the manufacturer in 2019 for failure to activate within their listed temperature range.

About 150 feet of a degraded dock in Chalmette, Louisiana, collapsed into the water in 2023 after a barge contact, but it was unlikely to have sustained the force of a typical docking anyway, a National Transportation Safety Board investigation has concluded.The towing vessel Ovide J was maneuvering two loaded crude oil barges to the Chalmette Refinery crude oil dock on April 25, 2023, when the starboard barge contacted the transfer platform on one of the dock’s dolphins.A 2017 inspection report found major deterioration on the dolphin…

A captain and barge company managers not identifying the crane they were towing was too high to pass under the Mackinac Bridge near Mackinaw City, Michigan, led to the crane hitting the bridge, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has concluded.On May 7, 2023, the towing vessel Nickelena was transiting the Straits of Mackinac, while towing a deck barge transporting a crawler crane, when the crane boom struck the main span of the Mackinac Bridge. The contact bent the crane boom backwards…

Surging water from the Mississippi River led to a 2023 barge strike on a gate at Algiers Lock in New Orleans, the National Transportation Safety Board has reported.On July 4, 2023, the towing vessel Kitty was pushing two loaded tank barges into the Algiers Lock during low water conditions. The tow surged within the lock chamber and the lead barge struck one of the lock gates. The contact did not result in any injuries or pollution. Damage to the lock gate was estimated at $2 million.Before the contact…

A towing vessel was pushing a barge loaded with aggregate when it allided with a bulk liquid transfer terminal pier on the Columbia River. The Coast Guard’s marine casualty investigation determined that the operator fell asleep at the helm, resulting in more than $1.5 million in property damage to the barge, handling equipment, and the facility. The incident occurred near a pipeline that could have discharged 25,000 gallons of synthetic diesel into the waterway.The investigation also identified the failure of the Pilothouse Alerter System as a key contributing factor.

The more than half decade that has passed since the inception of the subchapter M towboat rule affords an up-close-and-personal look at how it is going. The scorecard is a mixed bag.More than six years ago, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) began inspecting towing vessels for compliance with the new towboat rules; specifically, 46 CFR Subchapter M. It has been a long road to compliance with many starts and stops, and much learning on both sides of the law.Has it been a success? If success is measured by Certificates of Inspection, then yes.

A famous racecar driver once deadpanned, “That which is in the rearview mirror is not my concern.” Here in the inland marine industry, we also like to keep our eyes on the forward horizon, but it is also instructive to look back every now then, especially with measurable metrics at our fingertips. Fortunately, the American Waterways Operators (AWO) and the U.S. Coast Guard collaborate annually to measure such important things.On August 5, 2024, AWO and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)…

Baker Marine Solutions is unveiling its newest towing vessel design and the International WorkBoat Show.The BMS 1882 - A 6000 HP Inland Towboat is designed for the inland waterway and transportation market.At a length of 170ft, the design boasts accommodation for a 10-person crew while providing ample living, recreation and leisure spaces to ensure crew comfort and habitability.Powering this 6000HP vessel can be achieved in both a hybrid diesel electric design or standard traditional design.BMS 1882 is named in honor of the largest diesel towboat currently operating on the Mississippi River…

A new RAmparts 2300 series tug designed by Robert Allan Ltd. and built at Estaleiro Rio Maguari (ERM) in Belém, Brazil was delivered to Sulnorte Serviços Maritimos in August 2024. SN Cariri is the seventh RAmparts 2300 built by ERM in recent months.The RAmparts 2300 series features compact yet powerful Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) tugboats measuring around 23 meters in length. Despite their small size, they are equipped with high-performance twin diesel engines driving azimuthing thrusters—that deliver exceptional maneuverability and significant bollard pull…

A deckhand at the helm of a towing vessel had fallen asleep before the tow struck a dock near Clatskanie, Ore. last year, according to a report published by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Tuesday.The deckhand of the towing vessel Cindy B was experiencing the effects of fatigue while at the helm on Nov. 12, 2023. The towing vessel was pushing the loaded deck barge St. John up the Columbia River when the tow gradually moved to starboard out of the channel and struck the Port Westward Beaver Dock.The deckhand fell asleep during the end of his scheduled night watch…