The National Transportations Safety Board today released its preliminary report on its investigation into the April collision between a barge and a passenger tour boat boat in the Delaware River near Philadelphia.
While the report does not provide any analysis regarding the incident, it does shed light on some interesting facts as to what went on that day. Below are some key facts that were touched upon in the report:
[ul]
[li]At the time of the collision, the [I]M/V Caribbean Sea[/I], operated by K-Sea Transportation and under contract by the city of Philadelphia, was being operated by the mate, with a deckhand and an engineer also on duty. Off duty and in their living quarters were the master and another deckhand.[/li][li]Based on AIS data transmitted just minutes before the accident, the [I]Caribbean Sea[/I] was near the center of the river’s navigation channel and traveling at about 5.8 knots.[/li][li]The Master of the [I]DUKW 34[/I] tour boat briefly turned operations over to the deckhand.[/li][li]However when the master smelled an odor and observed what he thought was smoke coming from the ventilation ducts for the engine cooling system, he quickly resumed his position in the operator’s seat and initiated emergency procedures, which included shutting down the engine and making a call on VHF radio channel 13 to alert other vessels in the vicinity that [I]DUKW 34[/I] had broken down and lost propulsion.[/li][li]The master of the [I]DUKW 34[/I] ordered the deckhand to deploy the anchor to prevent the vessel from drifting and used his mobile phone to notify the tour boat company of the situation.[/li][li]A person, according to recordings from the Burlington County Bridge Authority, can be heard calling out to the northbound [I]Caribbean Sea[/I] on VHF channel 13, alerting them of the situation.[/li][li]Several additional callouts were made over the next minute including callouts made by other callers to the [I]Caribbean Sea[/I] in attempts to notify them of the broken down [I]DUKW 34[/I].[/li][li]No response from the northbound Caribbean Sea can be heard on the recording.[/li][li]About 1437, the bow of the barge [I]The Resource[/I] struck the stern of the [I]DUKW 34,[/I] which resulted in the [I]DUKW 34[/I] sinking.[/li][/ul]My thoughts, and stating the obvious…
Tug Mate was tracking the centerline, but he was obviously distracted. Was Ch 13 turned down so he could talk on another radio or so he could hear a cell phone conversation, or did he forget to turn Ch 13 back up after talking on another radio or cell phone? Regardless, he wasn’t looking forward, wtf was he doing? Guess will never really know. Damm shame that people died because of his lack of atttention.