Now that sounds about right. Good for Genesis
Are there any Bouchard vessels still at anchor in NY/NJ? Donât know but arenât they all alongside at this point?
What about Port Arthur International Seafarerâs Center? ? Two ATBs still at anchor, donât know the status. The padre there was supplying fresh produce at last report. They take paypal.
Do they send Marine Chemists to charm school? AKA as leadership and management? Iâm thinking no.
The COTP took control of the Bouchard vessels in New Orleans.
Commander of Coast Guard Sector New Orleans and Captain of the Port of New Orleans, issued Notices of Federal Assumption (NOFA) for two Bouchard ATBs â tugs Donna J. Bouchard and Bouchard Girls and associated barges â that had been at anchor outside the port since mid-November,
It seems to me the COTP is very much at the center of this situation. The NY COTP has, deliberately or not, created uncertainty as to the status of the crews now on board when they issued the notice mentioning abandonment but not specifying how crews could legitimately leave the vessel without risk of action against their documents.
Iâm here asking for information so that I can try and help. Your response is to poke fun at me? What exactly have you done?
Charm school? I put in my time in leadership and management at a Tier 1 Shipyard, and no matter what I always sympathized with the guys at the deck-plate level doing the real work. In this case, our fellow seamen who are stuck in a floating prison cell.
Forget it. Iâll go to the arrested tugboats around here myself and ask if they need anything. Stick to your keyboard.
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I didnât intend to poke fun at you. Good to hear youâre looking to help. Thanks for that.
My point is that to get people to cooperate itâs better to not insult. Learned that in rehab.
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A Notice of Federal Assumption is not an arrest and will do nothing to help the crew recover their lost wages. They need to get a lien placed on the vessel itself at which point it could potentially be arrested by the US Marshal service. Again, this is not a function of the USCG.
I agree that the COTP will not help crewmembers recover lost wages.
However by creating uncertainly about the status of a marinerâs MMC the COTP arguably has created a situation that appears to have helped Bouchard here at the expense of working mariners.
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Looks like the Donna Bouchard is being towed into Fourchon right now. Maybe their long ordeal is coming to an end.
They were being escorted by the CG last night
It looks like the Donna Bouchard is secure to a mooring in Fourchon, on the west side of the canal.
I wonder if the crew is still stuck onboard?
3 barges and 2 tugs moored up just outside the Gowanus. 1 in the lower end of Stapleton? And I think one was outside the bridge last night. Thought I just saw a tankerman walking around out on deck with a sign around his neck âwill work for foodââŚ
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If I was on one of their units I would defiantly have a bed sheet or something hung over the side with something similar painted on it.
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Whatâs the worst that could happen if an employee did such a thing? I bet itâs impossible to maintain discipline when employees arenât getting paid & being sent home would be considered a reward? Iâd workout 8 hours, read books for 8 & sleep/nap anytime I wanted.
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If I wasnât getting paid I would not do a damn thing, Iâd be cooking over an open fire on the deck until I got a ride to the airport. What they going to do fire you from an unpaid job? I wouldnât even be on the ship unless there was jail time or license loss facing me if I went off the ship.Has the USCG in writing threatened to do any of these things to the people on Bouchard vessels or is this just people making drama out of thin air? One has to wonder about the employment situation among mariners in the USA if they put up with this crap and stay on board. Have they accepted that they are slaves on the plantation, lost their cojones or what?. There has to be something I am missing here. Geez⌠when times were slow I took a 3AE job while holding a CE license but I never would have considered working for free or a hope.
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Bouchard⌠Taking the old saying âItâs like prison with a chance of drowningâ to a new levelâŚ
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Not all of a sudden, since 1991.
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Some might remember Court lines. One ship was arrested in Canada and the master slipped the lines and sailed for the UK. A Canadian warship told him to heave to and he ignored the instructions and kept going, the ship was arrested on arrival, but at at least they were home. I think it could have been different if it had been a USN warship.
Another company vessel was arrested in Singapore and we and other ships used to send over food parcels.
Four tugs, is that typical? Was that a dead ship tow?
Not typical. One or two at the most if Donna was operational, a Master or Mate on the wheel, and a crew with fuel on board. Appears to be a dead ship tow.
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