In my experience, the freight company (in this case AML,) maintains the barge and all its gear. Of course, if something happens mid voyage that needs attention, the tug crew will take care of it. Reefer containers are powered by portable gen sets on the barge, and are inspected daily whenever it’s possible. Remote monitoring of the reefer function and temp is a thing. Lashing is done by both shore gangs employed by the freight company and the tug crew.
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A sad loss of life there. How old was that ship that famously wound up in some poor guys back yard a year or so ago? Did they have a “fully manned” wheelhouse?
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Neither of these vessels would work. The large one couldn’t get into Bethel, Saint Paul, or any number of other Western Alaska ports because of size. The smaller ship might fit, but couldn’t carry enough containers to make it worthwhile. Barges have a relatively shallow draft, are readily loaded with forklift or crane, and are 100 percent flexible with what can be loaded. It’s not that companies haven’t tried to use small ships for this work in the past– they have, but I suspect the experiment failed because they couldn’t carry enough containers to be profitable.
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I wonder what the draft on the barge was? If the barge was holed it’s reasonable to believe the tug had already passed over the same spot unless the barge was getting dragged off to one side or the other.
I have no idea of west coast conditions but the Columbia Coastal barges usually stayed behind us fairly well unless it was honking
My understanding is that the mate of the watch and the AB/Quartermaster had been married previously and were engaged in severely berating each other as the needed turn was missed. (either that or the QM was giving the mate a BJ out on the bridgewing)
Who the fuck knows?
Not only Norwegians, the rest of the world use feeder vessels, not tug and barges to distribute containers from hub ports to secondary ports.
This is especially so over long distances and in areas with rough weather.
-THE END-
Tugs and barges rarely follow each other that closely so that exactly the same piece of ground at the tug went over is covered by the barge and the area that I’m talking about has pretty severe cross currents that would have a much greater effect on the broad side of a barge then it would on a tug. It’s also critical that the tow wire is shortened appropriately before going through those places in order to keep the barge right behind the tug and not yawing.
If it was the rock at Parry Patch that I had mentioned previously then I believe it had been struck by a barge owned by Northland in the 1970s but I can’t recall if the barge was lost when that happened as it was before my time. I somehow do recall it hurting the company severely when it happened however searching the Internet hasn’t yielded me anything. If I remember correctly it’s about two wraps that most tug skippers will shorten up to before entering but it has been a very long time for me since I towed a barge through there. It is definitely one of the squirriest spots to transit with a barge on the wire behind and most all masters will be on the bridge regardless of his mate’s previous experience.
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The barge in question is a “newer” version freight barge with the notorious “hydro-lift skeg”. The skegs truly help the barge to go fast in a straight line, but when it comes time to tow inside and around the rocks, experience with a given barge is critical. They tend to wander a barge width outside of the tug’s track when turning, and it’s exacerbated by speed. Slow down, stay in the middle, and anticipate the barge’s swing. A standard barge with standard skegs will follow like a hungry puppy by comparison.
This is the chart of the area in question
The rock has only 23’ of water over it a mllw
This is a smaller scale version showing the whole channel north to south. At the top left is Princess Royal Channel and the bottom right is Findlayson Channel. The minimum width of Tolmie Channel is approx 0.5mi but like with most of the inside, the sides of it are very steep and you will still be in 100fm when 100’ from the trees
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About 22miles South of where Tolmie Channel meets Findlayson Channel is Vancouver Rock which a barge struck back in the 80’s however there is all the room in the world to the west of it and only those who lack any due caution pass it close
Can anybody help me here? I simply cannot find anything online about that barge hitting Vancouver Rock. I remember it being one of two triple deckers which ran from the Duwamish River up to Whittier. They were owned by the Woeck family who were using GoM mariners on their tugs and it was from lack of Inside experience which led to the accident. Simply can’t recall the name of the operation but it went belly up soon afterwards and I believe the two barges were then bought by Trailer Bridge where they operate today.
Which is why I say the men who tow these barges loaded with containers slacked five or six high are worth every single penny they are paid and really quite a bit more not just from their ability to tow them through these kind of waters but to be able to stop, catch and then dock them without assists in all weather any time of the year. I might be able to do it but my bunghole would be so chronically clenched it would be in the back of my throat.
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Circling back to the Pilotage issue. Canadian tugs need the same pilotage waiver that the US boats need. The waiver is to the company, and individuals within that company. Switch companies, and reapplication by the individual is required.
As far as feeder vessels, Coastal Transportation provides service to many canneries. The tonnage is exceedingly limited. I have heard these boats making trips with under 600 tons breakbulk often. The cannery product generally is shipped on (wait for it) Barges.
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Where did that image come from? Is it connected to this accident? Why did you write nothing explain what you are trying to convey?
Average tonnage is about 1810 per voyage. Palletized, not break bulk. A subtle but important difference.
The palletization is an advantage when the fish processor doesn’t know where he will sell his product before it arrives in Seattle. Once it is offloaded in Seattle different pallets of different types and grades of fish can be easily loaded into different containers/trailers for distribution.
Dock space, time constraints, and market uncertainty make the same process difficult at port of origin.
We carry all sorts of northbound to towns and processing plants. Then we bring frozen seafood back to Seattle.
The other big difference between our service and tug service is speed. We can maintain sea speed in weather that often slows tugs down.
Our captains are very experienced and can keep voyages to a 24-day window even in winter, which makes the service appealing to seafood producers who are on a rigid schedule to get product back east to places like Gortons, etc.
Part of that ability to maintain schedule comes down to the IP. The route from Seattle to Western AK runs right off the BC Coast . In bad weather you can either get delayed by heavy seas off the coast, or you can use the IP, which is virtually the same distance. But in winter the difference can be 4-foot seas versus 40-foot seas.
That’s why waivered companies worry about losing their waiver. The waiver gives you a commercial advantage. Or rather, losing your waiver puts you at a commercial disadvantage.
The alternative to having a waiver is hiring a pilot. But, depending on the route, that can be about $50k for a single passage. Provided you had room aboard your boat for pilots for 48 hours. Which most tugs don’t. And provided the PPA had pilots. Which they probably won’t. They maintain their pilot numbers for their present book of business, and aren’t interested in expanding their numbers.
unfortunately the company involved in this is 99% likely to lose their waiver. it’s a good company. I feel for them.
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It’s less about interest and more that they simply can’t keep up with both expanding demand for pilots for “regular” shipping and the waves of retirements, just like many other places.
BC Coast Pilots are up to something like 115-120 pilots with lots more in training, but lots retiring too. The expanded business up there (Kitimat, Westridge) is putting strain on them to keep up safely. The last thing they need to do is handle US coastwise traffic on the IP.
One possible alternative the PPA could come up with is to setup a system similar to how they handle large foreign yachts up there and license a limited number of experienced mariners (likely from the towing industry) to pilot just the American traffic and let the BCCP guys continue with the conventional shipping.
It really is a mess with no perfect solution to keep everyone happy. Still though, as you pointed out, the most serious modern navigation blunder up there, which also claimed lives, was one completely Canadian born and bred. It’s not a forgiving stretch of water (and rocks).
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I’ve been in the waiver program off and on since the 90’s. The water and hazards haven’t changed since then, but the traffic certainly has. While towing, if weather permitted, I would try to avoid the higher traffic areas, like Fitzhugh, Bella Bella, and Boat Bluff. Principe allowed me to not have to work as hard. Unfortunately, it wasn’t always possible.
The worst times I had, was in the general vicinity of Seymour Narrows, and trying to avoid the cruise ship parade, both north and southbound.
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Looks like the flooded compartments in the barge have been dewatered and trans shipping containers in now underway
It looks like this incident is headed toward the best possible conclusion. Fingers crossed. So the tug appears to have been in full compliance of the pilotage waiver, there is no claim of mechanical issue, they reported the incident, and they responded in the fullest possible fashion to prevent any damage to the environment. Another company or tug captain might have been tempted to just do a long “barge check”, pump out the compartment(s), and haul ass to Seattle. Certainly some remedial boat driver classes are required, but the company’s first-class response shows that they don’t deserve to have their waiver pulled.
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Trust me when I say that I don’t want to see Dunlap towing getting dragged over the coals but I want to ask where have you seen that they were in full compliance of the pilotage regulations?