NTSB: Flooding through open hatches sank towboat, killed two near Memphis

After the towboat Ricky Robinson was raised, investigators found hatch covers missing (left) and an engine room door tied open. NTSB photos.

Water coming over the bow and downflooding through open, unsecured hatches likely caused the Dec. 8, 2017 sinking of a towboat near Memphis, Tenn., that killed the captain and deckhand, the National Transportation Safety Board reported.

The 66.5’x24’, 1,400-hp Ricky Robinson, operated by Wepfer Marine, Memphis, was manned by pilot Keith Pigram, 35, and his deckhand and stepson Anquavious Jamison, 19, when it capsized and sank at 11:42 a.m. near mile marker 733 on the Mississippi River.

The body...

https://www.workboat.com/news/coastal-inland-waterways/ntsb-flooding-through-open-hatches-sank-towboat-killed-two-near-memphis/

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