I still think that the Federal pilot could've done something more to avoid the Mel Oliver. It seems, though, that most of those guys think they own the river. The rules read that if action by the give-way vessel alone is not enough to avoid collision then the stand-on vessel then must also take action to avoid collision as well. The risk of collision existed when Federal 16 picked up the radio the first time. He should've taken action sooner. Both parties were negligent.
A ship can't just stop wen he's.going southbound in the river its cheaper for them to run over what ever lil tug is their way than to run it in to the bank and f.ck. up more shit
Now who is suffering from this incident more than any one. The two deckhands that both had to go through surgery because of the idiots running the company couldn't do there jobs right. I had to get a disc taken outta my back at age 34 because i held onto the door so hard scared for my life that the impact jolted and ruptured my disc. The other deckhand tore his rotator cup in his shoulder trying to hold on for his life.
drd is at fault just like i think the captain of the ship could have also tried to steer around us. The ship didnt even try anything. he was going faster than he needed to be going in the first place. I am not saying it wasnt the apprentice mates fault. he is an idiot for even leaving the dock with the barge in the first place. The captain was monitoring his girlfriend with a tracking device he snuck onto her car and left the boat several days before the accident to catch her cheating.
I was the deckhand on this tug when this happened. I was in the galley cleaning so i could chill and watch tv till we made it to the fleet. When i heard the horn blow several times i knew something was not right so i ran to the galley door to see what was going on. All i had time to do was grab onto the door frame to keep from getting thrown across the tug. Seconds latter i watched the ship run us over and we bounced around the side of the ship.
Totally the fault of DRD Towing, the (now defunct) company responsible for the Mel Oliver. I was working in the area during the time of the accident. I'll try to post a news link & more 411 on DRD, the captain who ran off the boat prior to the accident (he hauled ass to Illinois to check on his cheating girlfriend. You Dumbshit....lost his job & career over some tainted pussy!!), and the companies other antics.
Ship's speed did not slow until after the hit, 14mph is not needed for the ship to steer as you can see in the video. Both sides have a blame in this, just 99% going towards the Boat wheelman, & not FED 16. the ship could have slowed down, or even speeded up in order to keep from plowing into the oil barge. Downbound vessels have the right of way on rivers with current. There are not " tides " in the inland rivers.
I'm writing a paper on this collision for my Bridge Resource Management class. There are many people at fault here but one who is CERTAINLY not at fault is the pilot of the Tintomara. The Mel Oliver's steersman / apprentice pilot and the absent captain and company are 100% responsible. This is one of the things that will lead to the Towing industry becoming inspected, as it should be. An utter disgrace to the industry.
I'm not judging the WHOLE industry. This accident is a disgrace to the industry you moron. I work in the industry. Do you have any idea what you're talking about? The towing industry is uninspected and companies take advantage of it day in and day out and things like THIS happen. Read the post again before you say something stupid.
Your 25 years old, what experence can you base your judgement on? What part of the "industry" are you in? classrooms don't count little boy. As for myself, I have almost TWENTY years on the water, I currently hold a MASTER OF A TOWING VESSEL and is a CAPTAIN aboard my tow boat. I have ran boats from 1800 HP to 4200 hp, pushing diffent size tows on the Inland Waterways. Keep in mind your still a child in a man's world.
Ryan not you, the remark is for Ted (t3ddymac), He sounds like a cadet still is school, still very wet behind the ears with NO experience in the Inland Towing Industry except for what a textbook might have taught (one of the ones who has to go class in order to think he can make a good decision instead of using experience or commonsense)
I have enough knowledge and commonsense to know that you never cross a channel in front of a vessel, especially one which is Downbound. No one with any idea as to what they should do in this situation would have cut in front of a tankship going at that speed.... no one.
You brown water boys think that the world lives and dies on the river don't you? "Do what we do?" Forgive me for not bowing down to the great kings of the towboat world.
He also did not look for other traffic or take any evasive action. There were more options open to him than to the ship. Ship traffic generally runs west bank and us tugs run east bank and we each give each other a healthy amount of room to run. Point blank, the tug screwed up and he damn near killed his entire crew and yes that is always your fault if you choose to take the responsibility of piloting a tug boat. Nothing is ever, not your fault. Thats why we get paid the big bucks.
He could not have stopped in time, either. Furthermore once you begin backing you lose all ability to steer. The man driving was a Training Mate. He didnt have enough experience to make good decisions and is never supposed to be in a situation where he has to make them alone. Thats why he is in training. A perfect example is he never checked his communications before departing with the tow, probably never gave a security call on VHF or checked in with New Orleans Traffic.
Im a tug Captain and have run the Mississippi many times. The ship pilot did nothing wrong. That tug should have never tried to cross in front of that ship, period. The ship pilot cannot begin maneuvering the ship until he knows the intentions of the other vessel. He has a fair tide pushing him down the river which makes any maneuver he must perform that much more complicated and takes up a lot of real estate.
ship did not perform early and sufficient action to avoid collision. was not proceeding at safe speed. did not sound whistle signals until too late. no vessel has right of way through another vessel. the ship pilots in new orleans seem to think they own the river, regardless of what the Nav Rules say.
You either do not work in the wheel house or either on the river all together cause SouthBound traffic ALWAYS has the right away on the river. But what do I know, I just work on it for a living
I'm not blaming the ships pilot you stooge, I'm blaming the steersman or apprentice mate, whatever they want to call that friggin moron who crossed the bow of a Southbound tanker with a tow. Sorry that I referred to the Mel Oliver's Mate as an Apprentice Pilot. Perhaps you were misunderstood
Must not been in the industry to long because you said "Sorry that I referred to the Mel Oliver's Mate as an Apprentice Pilot." Did I or did I not say this was a steersman? He was LICENSED. That means he's not a mate. Mates are in the wheel house in bluewater while Mates on brownwater work on the deck. Are you sure you work on the river?
actually, I do work on the river, and hold a master's license for towing vessels, western rivers and inland. regardless of the southbound-following current rule, the rule of good seamanship, the "no vessel has right of way through another vessel" court findings, and the safe speed rule, in addition to " the stand on vessel MUST take action when it is clear that action by the give-way vessel alone is not sufficient to prevent collision. i know the rules and apply them daily in my career.
one thing is a change of course to the starboard early enough to possibly avoid the crossing tow. Rule two of the Rules of the Road, says "a vessel may make a departure from these rules necessary to avoid immediate danger"
I think something should have been tried. I dont by any means put any blame on the S/B ship pilot for the accident.
Do you have any idea how far of a distance it would had taken to have that ship move? Even if he was to move to the starboad. He would had sucked himself so close to the bank it would had almost been impossable for him to work back into the river without hitting the fleets. The boat was crossing over towards his starboard. It would had been pointless. My company owns the Mel Oliver. I know the whole story. There is NO way the ship could had avoided him
Queston is do you have any idea, since your an employee of the same company, tell us all here of there "training program", so far it doesnt seem to work very good.
Well, we own it but the boat was leased out. The steersman was the only wheel house personal that was on the boat from what ive read. They wont tell us what took place but word gets around fast on the rivers about things. Just the way it is. Apparently the capt had left the boat. Knowing you're not supposed to and the steersman though he could just take a single barge arcoss the river to the dock. Not hard at all, very easy. He just happened to do it at the wrong time and now both are locked up
All I've seen after not having viewed this video for over a year is both of you agreeing with everything I said. The fact that I didnt have 20 years of brown water experience or a license, doesn't mean that I can't formulate an opinion. The captain left, the steersman disobeyed the rules by crossing the bow of a downbound vessel and failed to take ANY evasive maneuvers.
The steersman should not have left the dock. The osuthbound vessel didnt nothing to avoid the incident, Everybody involved should have done something besides what happened. End of Story
@weavhipe laugh if i wanted to laugh i would ask you too send a picture of you penis so we could all bust a gut southbound does have the right of way . but then again you probably got grandfathered license ? i bet moron i bet mines bigger .but i do agree that he probably could have went to port more as he was not a heavy loaded tanker . went to see him on the two would have avoided it all together.but then again the steersman program wont work with morons anyway
I still think that the Federal pilot could've done something more to avoid the Mel Oliver. It seems, though, that most of those guys think they own the river. The rules read that if action by the give-way vessel alone is not enough to avoid collision then the stand-on vessel then must also take action to avoid collision as well. The risk of collision existed when Federal 16 picked up the radio the first time. He should've taken action sooner. Both parties were negligent.
towboattrash2187 2 months ago
A ship can't just stop wen he's.going southbound in the river its cheaper for them to run over what ever lil tug is their way than to run it in to the bank and f.ck. up more shit
jeramie13800 8 months ago
Now who is suffering from this incident more than any one. The two deckhands that both had to go through surgery because of the idiots running the company couldn't do there jobs right. I had to get a disc taken outta my back at age 34 because i held onto the door so hard scared for my life that the impact jolted and ruptured my disc. The other deckhand tore his rotator cup in his shoulder trying to hold on for his life.
2008shipwrecked 9 months ago
drd is at fault just like i think the captain of the ship could have also tried to steer around us. The ship didnt even try anything. he was going faster than he needed to be going in the first place. I am not saying it wasnt the apprentice mates fault. he is an idiot for even leaving the dock with the barge in the first place. The captain was monitoring his girlfriend with a tracking device he snuck onto her car and left the boat several days before the accident to catch her cheating.
2008shipwrecked 9 months ago
I was the deckhand on this tug when this happened. I was in the galley cleaning so i could chill and watch tv till we made it to the fleet. When i heard the horn blow several times i knew something was not right so i ran to the galley door to see what was going on. All i had time to do was grab onto the door frame to keep from getting thrown across the tug. Seconds latter i watched the ship run us over and we bounced around the side of the ship.
2008shipwrecked 9 months ago
Totally the fault of DRD Towing, the (now defunct) company responsible for the Mel Oliver. I was working in the area during the time of the accident. I'll try to post a news link & more 411 on DRD, the captain who ran off the boat prior to the accident (he hauled ass to Illinois to check on his cheating girlfriend. You Dumbshit....lost his job & career over some tainted pussy!!), and the companies other antics.
creoleDJ 1 year ago
This is what happens when you eat somas and drive.
boattrashbill 2 years ago
Ship's speed did not slow until after the hit, 14mph is not needed for the ship to steer as you can see in the video. Both sides have a blame in this, just 99% going towards the Boat wheelman, & not FED 16. the ship could have slowed down, or even speeded up in order to keep from plowing into the oil barge. Downbound vessels have the right of way on rivers with current. There are not " tides " in the inland rivers.
Davwbs 3 years ago
@Davwbs
you have obviously never conned a ship....
you dont just speed up or slow down like you say. The pilot did as much as he could. 99.9999999999999999999999% Mel Olivers fault
txkingfisher 2 years ago
pure negligence! because of these kind of negligence, it's getting harder to climb the ladder in the industry if you a hawsepiper.
Anderson38marinheiro 3 years ago
I'm writing a paper on this collision for my Bridge Resource Management class. There are many people at fault here but one who is CERTAINLY not at fault is the pilot of the Tintomara. The Mel Oliver's steersman / apprentice pilot and the absent captain and company are 100% responsible. This is one of the things that will lead to the Towing industry becoming inspected, as it should be. An utter disgrace to the industry.
t3ddymac 3 years ago
the disgrace is judging an industry on ONE accident.
lar300mag 3 years ago
I'm not judging the WHOLE industry. This accident is a disgrace to the industry you moron. I work in the industry. Do you have any idea what you're talking about? The towing industry is uninspected and companies take advantage of it day in and day out and things like THIS happen. Read the post again before you say something stupid.
t3ddymac 3 years ago
Your 25 years old, what experence can you base your judgement on? What part of the "industry" are you in? classrooms don't count little boy. As for myself, I have almost TWENTY years on the water, I currently hold a MASTER OF A TOWING VESSEL and is a CAPTAIN aboard my tow boat. I have ran boats from 1800 HP to 4200 hp, pushing diffent size tows on the Inland Waterways. Keep in mind your still a child in a man's world.
lar300mag 3 years ago
Hey now with the young remarks. No classroom stuff here. Just ass bustin and sweat got me where im at
Ryan40272 3 years ago
Ryan not you, the remark is for Ted (t3ddymac), He sounds like a cadet still is school, still very wet behind the ears with NO experience in the Inland Towing Industry except for what a textbook might have taught (one of the ones who has to go class in order to think he can make a good decision instead of using experience or commonsense)
lar300mag 3 years ago
I have enough knowledge and commonsense to know that you never cross a channel in front of a vessel, especially one which is Downbound. No one with any idea as to what they should do in this situation would have cut in front of a tankship going at that speed.... no one.
t3ddymac 1 year ago
After a year still trying to make a point? Furthermore, I invite you to come have a hand at what we do, if you can handle it.
lar300mag 1 year ago
You brown water boys think that the world lives and dies on the river don't you? "Do what we do?" Forgive me for not bowing down to the great kings of the towboat world.
t3ddymac 1 year ago
He also did not look for other traffic or take any evasive action. There were more options open to him than to the ship. Ship traffic generally runs west bank and us tugs run east bank and we each give each other a healthy amount of room to run. Point blank, the tug screwed up and he damn near killed his entire crew and yes that is always your fault if you choose to take the responsibility of piloting a tug boat. Nothing is ever, not your fault. Thats why we get paid the big bucks.
coastaltug501 3 years ago
He could not have stopped in time, either. Furthermore once you begin backing you lose all ability to steer. The man driving was a Training Mate. He didnt have enough experience to make good decisions and is never supposed to be in a situation where he has to make them alone. Thats why he is in training. A perfect example is he never checked his communications before departing with the tow, probably never gave a security call on VHF or checked in with New Orleans Traffic.
coastaltug501 3 years ago
Im a tug Captain and have run the Mississippi many times. The ship pilot did nothing wrong. That tug should have never tried to cross in front of that ship, period. The ship pilot cannot begin maneuvering the ship until he knows the intentions of the other vessel. He has a fair tide pushing him down the river which makes any maneuver he must perform that much more complicated and takes up a lot of real estate.
coastaltug501 3 years ago
ship did not perform early and sufficient action to avoid collision. was not proceeding at safe speed. did not sound whistle signals until too late. no vessel has right of way through another vessel. the ship pilots in new orleans seem to think they own the river, regardless of what the Nav Rules say.
blcouch 3 years ago
You either do not work in the wheel house or either on the river all together cause SouthBound traffic ALWAYS has the right away on the river. But what do I know, I just work on it for a living
Ryan40272 3 years ago
I'm not blaming the ships pilot you stooge, I'm blaming the steersman or apprentice mate, whatever they want to call that friggin moron who crossed the bow of a Southbound tanker with a tow. Sorry that I referred to the Mel Oliver's Mate as an Apprentice Pilot. Perhaps you were misunderstood
t3ddymac 3 years ago
Must not been in the industry to long because you said "Sorry that I referred to the Mel Oliver's Mate as an Apprentice Pilot." Did I or did I not say this was a steersman? He was LICENSED. That means he's not a mate. Mates are in the wheel house in bluewater while Mates on brownwater work on the deck. Are you sure you work on the river?
Ryan40272 3 years ago
actually, I do work on the river, and hold a master's license for towing vessels, western rivers and inland. regardless of the southbound-following current rule, the rule of good seamanship, the "no vessel has right of way through another vessel" court findings, and the safe speed rule, in addition to " the stand on vessel MUST take action when it is clear that action by the give-way vessel alone is not sufficient to prevent collision. i know the rules and apply them daily in my career.
blcouch 3 years ago
Comment removed
txkingfisher 2 years ago
but then again I would to< i wonder if a course correction to the stbd would have helped
lar300mag 3 years ago
seems the ship did nothing to avoid this accident, except holler on the radio.
lar300mag 3 years ago 2
There is nothing else he could had done
Ryan40272 3 years ago
one thing is a change of course to the starboard early enough to possibly avoid the crossing tow. Rule two of the Rules of the Road, says "a vessel may make a departure from these rules necessary to avoid immediate danger"
I think something should have been tried. I dont by any means put any blame on the S/B ship pilot for the accident.
lar300mag 3 years ago
Do you have any idea how far of a distance it would had taken to have that ship move? Even if he was to move to the starboad. He would had sucked himself so close to the bank it would had almost been impossable for him to work back into the river without hitting the fleets. The boat was crossing over towards his starboard. It would had been pointless. My company owns the Mel Oliver. I know the whole story. There is NO way the ship could had avoided him
Ryan40272 3 years ago
Queston is do you have any idea, since your an employee of the same company, tell us all here of there "training program", so far it doesnt seem to work very good.
lar300mag 3 years ago
Well, we own it but the boat was leased out. The steersman was the only wheel house personal that was on the boat from what ive read. They wont tell us what took place but word gets around fast on the rivers about things. Just the way it is. Apparently the capt had left the boat. Knowing you're not supposed to and the steersman though he could just take a single barge arcoss the river to the dock. Not hard at all, very easy. He just happened to do it at the wrong time and now both are locked up
Ryan40272 3 years ago
All I've seen after not having viewed this video for over a year is both of you agreeing with everything I said. The fact that I didnt have 20 years of brown water experience or a license, doesn't mean that I can't formulate an opinion. The captain left, the steersman disobeyed the rules by crossing the bow of a downbound vessel and failed to take ANY evasive maneuvers.
t3ddymac 1 year ago
The steersman should not have left the dock. The osuthbound vessel didnt nothing to avoid the incident, Everybody involved should have done something besides what happened. End of Story
lar300mag 1 year ago
@lar300mag hey stupid southbound traffic has a following current not alot he could do so just stay stupid r keep your mouth shut stupid
weavhipe 1 year ago
@weavhipe, LOL, I cant but help not to laugh at you.
lar300mag 1 year ago
@weavhipe laugh if i wanted to laugh i would ask you too send a picture of you penis so we could all bust a gut southbound does have the right of way . but then again you probably got grandfathered license ? i bet moron i bet mines bigger .but i do agree that he probably could have went to port more as he was not a heavy loaded tanker . went to see him on the two would have avoided it all together.but then again the steersman program wont work with morons anyway
weavhipe 1 year ago