NTSB reports on towboat grounding

Written by Nick Blenkey
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The Eric Haney aground

JULY 17, 2018 — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued a Marine Accident Brief on a July 8, 2017, incident in which the uninspected towing vessel Eric Haney, owned by Tennessee Valley Towing LLC, ran aground on a submerged portion of an erosion-control dike while pushing 15 empty barges upriver on the Upper Mississippi River by Cairo, Illinois, at mile marker (mm) 13.4.1

All crew members climbed aboard one of the empty barges without any reported injuries. The towboat and barges were freed by the current, drifted downriver, and were pushed into the opposite bank by another towboat at mm 9.7. The barges broke free, and the Eric Haney partially sank. Minimal oil sheening was observed after the sinking. Damage to the vessel was estimated at $4.3 million.

The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the grounding and subsequent sinking of the Eric Haney was the pilot’s failure to identify a charted navigation hazard (erosion-control dike) during towing operations.

The NTSB report says that the pilot was dealing with several issues as he approached Greenleaf Bend: the reduced speed of his tow, an opposing current, the approaching traffic, an upcoming bend in the river, and shallow water. The pilot stated that he was concerned that his speed was being affected (reduced) by the opposing current, which could possibly preclude him from reaching the next light to await oncoming vessels. The pilot also told investigators that due to the opposing current, he brought the head of the tow toward the left descending bank after departing Antelope Light to avoid being “set out” into the stronger current.

He indicated that “the “Queen [of the Mississippi] was on my mind, getting up there.” The pilot recalled that he was not aware that the dikes were located in the bend and that if he had known, he would have steered into the center of the river to avoid them.

The pilot indicated in a postaccident statement that he was looking at the ECS display, the scenery, and the radar as he was navigating through the bend. The pilot also told investigators that he was using the ECS on a 3-mile scale to better track other vessels and allow himself time to react to what he saw on the screen. He indicated that he did not identify the dikes because he did not see them on the screen. Shortly after the towboat stopped, the captain came to the wheelhouse and zoomed in the ECS display to enlarge the details on the screen. The pilot stated that they zoomed in the display “way down from three miles so we could see the dikes,” yet added, “I don’t know if it was too bright or I didn’t pay attention to them, but I didn’t see those dikes.” Investigators noted that because the accident occurred at night and the dikes were unmarked, they would not have been visible from the wheelhouse; in addition, they would not have been shown on radar.

Although the pilot indicated that he was not aware of the dikes in the bend and that he did not see them on the ECS, the pilot had previously operated vessels around the accident location. He made a trip on another towing vessel through the same area about a month before and had been through the area in years past. The pilot indicated that, after the towboat grounded, “I thought I was off the bank enough.”

After the accident, investigators viewed a display of the accident area at different levels of detail using a shoreside version of Rose Point ECS. At the 6-mile scale the dikes were removed from the display, but at the 3-mile scale they were visible on the display.

Identifying Navigation Hazards: The NTSB report says, “Mariners using electronic chart systems (ECS) should be aware that aids to navigation, hazards, and other map features may not be represented on the displays at certain range scales. Mariners should use appropriate range scales for their routes on ECS displays to identify potential hazards while navigating.”

Download the NTSB report HERE

 

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