Tag: towing vessels

The US Coast Guard is responding to a vessel fire on the lower Mississippi River near West Helena, Arkansas, Wednesday. As a result from the incident, the Coast Guard issued a waterway closure between mile marker 664 and mile marker 674 on the Mississippi River.

In late August, the US Coast Guard Towing Vessel National Center of Expertise published the latest updates to the Frequently Asked Questions regarding Subchapter M, inspected towing vessels.

According to USCG data, in 2017, there were six operational towing vessel crew fatalities. The largest number of crew member fatalities is attributed to falls overboard while the second largest number is attributed to asphyxiation. 4,319 gallons of oil were spilled due to tank barge pollution incidents.

Myanmar authorities may have solved the mystery surrounding a 'ghost-ship' which was found mysteriously drifting near the Yangon region last week, completely empty and rusty. The container ship 'Sam Ratulangi PB 1600' ran aground on a beach off Myanmar's capital, where she was discovered by fishermen Thursday.

The work of tugboat pilots and crews is important but also challenging enough. Which are, therefore, the necessary preventive actions to be followed, in case of towing?

After a cargo ship ran aground off Helsingborg, Sweden, local authorities managed to refloat it, with no pollution reported. The Swedish Coast Guard also performed a sobriety test on the Master of the ship and it handed the case over to the police, as it was suspecting that he was under the influence.

The ill-fated car carrier 'Makassar Highway' has been successfully towed and moored in the harbor area of Oskarshamn in the early hours of 2 August, 9 days after it ran aground off the Swedish coast, on the Baltic sea, according to the latest update by the Coast Guard. 

On Tuesday night, the towing operation of the grounded car carrier 'Makassar Highway' started for Oskarshamn. The towing takes place in a speed of two knots and is followed by Coast Guard units in case any oil is released. At the current rate, the ship is expected to arrive at Oskarshamn overnight towards Thursday.

The US Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Chicago issued the first Certificate of Inspection in its area of responsibility to the towing vessel Prentiss Brown, operated by Port City Marine Services, on Friday July 20. Subchapter M, as the new towing vessel inspections regulations are called, came into force, on July 20.

The US Coast Guard and the Marine Transportation Act of 2004 included a provision to add towing vessels to a list of vessels subject to inspection and certification. This Final Rule set July 20, 2018, as the compliance date for all towing vessels subject to Subchapter M.