Transportation Accidents News

On June 23, 1995, the cruise ship Star Princess, carrying 1,568 passengers and 639 crew, grounded on charted and marked Poundstone Rock in the Lynn Canal of Alaska. Although there were no deaths or injuries, the ship’s bottom was ripped open. Repairs cost $21.16 million. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause was the pilot’s poor performance, which may have been exacerbated by chronic fatigue caused by sleep apnea. Among other things, the NTSB recommended that the U.S.

For maritime security experts, there were many lessons learned after the 2011 Republican National Convention in Tampa. That’s why those experts are meeting now in Cleveland, the site of the 2016 RNC to learn from the professionals who planned and executed the maritime safety and security efforts for the Tampa event. The Republican and Democratic conventions are considered national special security events (NSSE), and for many of these major events that are attended by huge numbers of people are on or near water.

Secretary Jewell Names Former USCG Vice Admiral Brian Salerno  Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today named former Vice Admiral Brian Salerno as the Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), which provides federal oversight for oil and gas operations on the Outer Continental Shelf. Salerno, who retired from the U.S. Coast Guard last year as its Deputy Commandant for Operations, will assume his new position on August 26.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a press release citing fatigue as a primary cause of serious transportation accidents. Analyses of marine vessel casualties cite fatigue as a cause in 16 percent of accidents. "Lost sleep equals lost lives," says Marion Blakey, Chairman, NTSB.

The Navy rejected safety experts' recommendations that U.S. submarines be required to use "active" sonar before surfacing to avoid collisions like the one that sank a Japanese trawler off Hawaii. Active sonar sends out ping-like signals that bounce off objects and detects their range. Passive sonar uses a device called a hydrophone to amplify noises in a broader area. Contrary to a 1990 National Transportation Safety Board recommendation, commanding officers have complete discretion to decide which system to use under the circumstances, the Navy said. "We don't have a requirement to use active sonar," said Lt. Cmdr. Cate Mueller, a Navy spokeswoman at the Pentagon.

To the dismay of some oil companies, as well as oil, freight, and passenger shipping companies, a growing number of environmental prosecutors are seeking - and winning - fines and punishments they insist are high enough to deter pollution from deliberate or even accidental oil pollution. The U.S. consistently leads the world in such prosecutions, although Canada, Australia, and a growing number of European nations are following suit. Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL), the world's second largest cruise operator, has been the most prominent catch - paying more than $27 million in fines in the U.S. over the past two years. In court, RCCL…

o Jan 25 - A powerful earthquake rips through Colombia's central coffee-growing region killing at least 1,170 people. It measures 6.3 on the Richter scale. o Feb 6 - More than 300 people missing after an Indonesian ferry sinks near Tambelan islands 800 km (500 miles) north of Jakarta. o Feb 23-24 - Avalanches in the Austrian ski resort of Galtuer kill 38 people. o Feb 24 - All 61 people aboard a Chinese Russian-built Tupolev Tu-154 airliner are killed when the plane crashes in eastern China after a mid-air explosion. o Mar 22 - At least 150 people drown at sea off Sierra Leone when an overloaded motorized canoe capsizes off the town of Tasso. o Mar 25 - Forty people are killed in a fire that traps at least 30 vehicles in the tunnel under Mont Blanc, Europe's highest mountain.

Washington, D.C. - Transportation fatalities in the United States decreased slightly in 2004, according to preliminary figures released today by the National Transportation Safety Board. Deaths from transportation accidents in the United States in 2004 totaled 44,870, down from the 45,158 fatalities in 2003. “Although it is always gratifying to see transportation fatalities decline,” NTSB Acting Chairman Mark Rosenker said, “the yearly toll, especially on our highways, continues to be unacceptable. Highway transportation, which accounts for the largest portion of fatalities, decreased from 42,884 in 2003 to 42,636 in 2004. The number of persons killed in all aviation accidents dropped from 710 in 2003 to 651 in 2004.