Does anyone have more info in it?? I saw the blurb on gcaptains Facebook earlier but nothing else since then.
It seems the engineer has died RIP brother.
Kenny- I’m Master on the tug Bowditch of Abaco Marine Towing LLC, we did the salvage on the Patrice McAllister. It was bad, totally burned out, adrift and abandoned on Lake Ontario. The heat was intense, and made connecting up the tow tough. Rudder was jammed about 10 degrees to port, so she didn’t tow very well. Patrice McAllister is berthed now in Clayton, NY for all the investigations, etc. If you google it, there are a bunch of news reports and even a picture of me docking her on the wire in a pouring rain/sleet storm at 0300 this morning.
Thanks for the info, I’m at McAllister of Va, and a bunch of us were wondering what’s going on.
Hello Kenny- Video:
The engineer died yesterday of extensive 3rd degree burns. He was with my company last year and had previously worked on the Patrice when she was the Tug Cleveland. He was the uncle of one of my AB’s. Say a prayer for all involved fellas. Thank you redandwhite for posting the video. I live about 90 miles from Clayton.
Thanks for the info…
My prayers with the Chief’s family. Fire onboard a tug is a scary thing.
Does anyone know what she had for Main Engines? From the pictures and the report of trying the CO2 I wonder if she had some sort of fuel leak that got out of hand. I know I used to beat safety into the heads of all of my Assistants.
I dont remember where I saw it but I think some one said there was a high pressure fuel leak that was spraying on a manifold.
That not confirmed, however.
[QUOTE=KennyW1983;66142]I dont remember where I saw it but I think some one said there was a high pressure fuel leak that was spraying on a manifold.
That not confirmed, however.[/QUOTE]
This makes me wonder if it has Alco Mains. They have caused more then one Engine Room fire that I know of.
The boat was built in 1999, I dont think ALCO was around then.
So, I googled Patrice McAllister to see what the tug looked like before (I was wondering if she was painted the Mac colors and the paint burned off or if she was white to start with) and I came across something interesting. Seems like they need to retire the name Patrice
http://www.tugboatinformation.com/tug.cfm?id=677
Granted, this fire is much worse, sad to hear of a loss of life. Some what creepy though…
After searching a little more, I found another Patrice McAllister that didn’t enjoy a full tug life as well
Caterpillar main engines.
3516’s If I remember right.
To confirm, they are 3516’s freshly rebuilt, with only a few days running on them. It’s a shame…
Master, [B]Bowditch[/B]
I work for the company that bought the tug and know the captain well, that was on board. I feel so horrible for the chief that passed away. I couldn’t sleep once I heard what happened…the other crew members where " new" hires and I did not know them. Seems this was the first time those guys even met. I just hope that boat wasn’t "pushed"to leave before it was ready. This is the third time in less than a year I keep shaking my head. The Iona was rushed out, steering failure happen
Happened, causing a death on board…the Beth was rushed out to be sent to Puerto Rico… lost power and was adrift for 18 hours and had to be towed in…
Friend of mine said he heard through the grapevine at the company it was a crankcase explosion. CO2 was used but the chief went back into the e/r afterwards causing a reflash. Not confirmed, just what i heard. Very sad to hear… RIP.
Another friend a few days ago who works out of Houston had a e/r fire on a fairly new z-drive tug. Really surprised me as i spent a few days working on those z-drives before and they are all less than 5-6 years old with spotless engine rooms.
A good reminder to us all that we work in dangerous environments and not to get complacent!
Yea I first heard the same thing, but now I’ve heard it was a high pressure fuel line that came loose.
Saw the Rowan is going to get her & tow her back to NY.
They are going to fix it? I would think that the steel would be to distorted by the heat for it to be any good.