Investigators piecing together causes of the fatal 2017 barge explosion that killed two crewmen near Port Aransas, Texas, traced a string of serious problems in the Bouchard Transportation Co. fleet, despite passing ABS surveys and Coast Guard inspections, according to the National Transportation Safety Board
The B. No. 255, a 488’ oceangoing tank barge and its 127’x37’x20’, 6,140-hp tug Buster Bouchard, were getting underway from an anchorage off Port Aransas, Texas, with a cargo of crude oil...