NTSB releases report on 2018 towboat allison on Lower Miss

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released the report of its investigation of the May 2018 allision of the towing vessel Steve Richoux on the Lower Mississippi River at New Orleans.

On May 7, 2018, the 1,800-hp Steve Richoux with five crewmembers on board was downbound on the Mississippi River in New Orleans, pushing six loaded cement barges when a steering system failure occurred. The pilot and the captain tried to regain steering control of the vessel. Despite their efforts, the...

https://www.workboat.com/news/coastal-inland-waterways/ntsb-releases-report-on-2018-towboat-allison-on-lower-miss/

NTSB issues safety recommendations to improve barge fleeting area safety

The National Transportation Safety Board’s Marine Accident Brief 19/11 published late last month contains three safety recommendations issued to the Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers, based upon findings of the NTSB’s investigation of a Jan. 13, 2018, barge breakaway.

MAB 19/11 details the findings, probable cause and safety recommendations stemming from the NTSB’s investigation of a 27 dry-cargo barge breakaway from the Jacks Run fleeting area, at mile 4, right descending bank, of the...

https://www.workboat.com/news/coastal-inland-waterways/ntsb-issues-safety-recommendations-to-improve-barge-fleeting-area-safety/

Barge explosion investigation found deficiencies in Bouchard fleet despite ABS, Coast Guard inspections

The tugboat Signet Constellation fights a fire on board the B. No. 255 tank barge approximately three miles from the Port Aransas, Texas, jetties on Oct. 20, 2017. Coast Guard photo.

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...

https://www.workboat.com/news/coastal-inland-waterways/barge-explosion-investigation-found-deficiencies-in-bouchard-fleet-despite-abs-coast-guard-inspections/

NTSB faults inattention, fatigue in 2018 Houston allision

The bulk carrier Yochow struck a moored ATB in the Houston Ship Channel in June 2018. Shipspotting.com photo

The helmsman on a bulk carrier was fatigued and the mate not paying attention to his mistakes when the ship hit a moored barge at a Houston terminal in June 2018, inflicting more than $21 million in damage, the National Transportation Safety Board says in a new report.

There were no injuries or pollution from the accident, which happened in the early morning hours of June 13, 2018 as the 590’x98’, 34,000 dwt Hong-Kong flagged Yochow was inbound in the Houston Ship Channel.

The articulated tug and...

https://www.workboat.com/news/coastal-inland-waterways/ntsb-faults-inattention-fatigue-in-2018-houston-allision/

Boeing Grounds Entire Global Fleet of 737 Max Aircraft

  • Boeing has grounded its entire global fleet of 737 Max aircraft after investigators uncovered new evidence at the scene of the crash.
  • The satellite data showed possible similarities between flight patterns of Boeing 737 Max planes operating in Canada and the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed.
  • FAA – which provides the safety certification for the new aircraft – was under intense pressure to fall into line.
  • Experts believe that Boeing’s MCAS anti-stall system may also have played a role in...

http://mfame.guru/boeing-grounds-entire-global-fleet-of-737-max-aircraft/

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/

NTSB releases Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements

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​The National Transportation Safety Board released its 2019-2020 Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements during an event held at the National Press Club on Monday.

First issued in 1990, the NTSB Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements is the agency’s primary advocacy tool to help save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce property damage resulting from transportation accidents.

The 10 items on the NTSB’s 2019 – 2020 Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety...

https://www.workboat.com/news/government/ntsb-releases-most-wanted-list-of-transportation-safety-improvements/

NTSB releases ‘lessons learned’ from 2017 maritime accidents

The wreck of the El Faro. NTSB photo.

Maritime accident investigation reports for collisions, explosions, capsizings and allisions and the lessons learned from these accidents are detailed in the National Transportation Safety Board’s Safer Seas Digest 2017, released today.

The digest contains 41 marine accident reports for accidents involving fishing, offshore supply, cargo, passenger, tanker, towing and government vessels. This includes two Coast Guard cutters, four passenger vessels, and 14 towboats, barges and tugs. Reports in...

https://www.workboat.com/news/government/ntsb-releases-lessons-learned-from-2017-maritime-accidents/

NTSB issues report on 2017 GIWW towboat sinking

The towboat Savage Ingenuity and two empty tank barges on south bank of the GIWW post-accident. Aft view shows water up to second deck on starboard side of towboat. Coast Guard photos

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued a marine accident brief on the flooding and sinking of an 1,880-hp towboat in 2017 while maneuvering two empty tank barges with the assistance of another vessel in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway near Sulphur, La.

While the tow’s starboard side was almost perpendicular to the current, the towboat Savage Ingenuity heeled to starboard and flooded through an open engine room door, the NTSB report said. The towboat sank partially, its bow...

https://www.workboat.com/news/coastal-inland-waterways/ntsb-issues-report-on-2017/