Casualties

By Fred McCague

November
11/12/09 – The Newport News Daily Press reports the mothballed 700-foot Navy tanker Monongahela (AO-178) broke free from its moorings during a nor’easter, floated a half-mile downstream and ran aground on the western side of Virginia’s James River. Frozen in the thick mud and sand, four tugs could not free the ship. Titan Salvage has been contracted to refloat the tanker and expects to do so sometime in January.

11/17/09 – “Déjà vu all over again” as the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama, en route to Mombasa, was attacked off Somalia. However, this time, armed guards on the ship returned fire, “discouraging” the pirates.

11/18/09 - The 794-foot Hong Kong bulk carrier Hebei Island dragged her anchor in high winds, running aground briefly in Plumber Sound in British Columbia’s Gulf Islands, near the U.S. border. Aided by tugs, the undamaged ship floated free on the rising tide and re-anchored.

11/21/09 - NRC Environmental Services’ 28-foot response tug Sea Born sank alongside Terminal 5 in Seattle after high waves swamped the stern, prompting an environmental response. The sole crewman on board was taken to Harborview Hospital and was in good condition. The boom tug was raised by a floating crane and placed on a barge the next day.

11/22/09 – At 3:00 a.m., the cruise ship Silver Shadow reported a 62-year-old passenger overboard near Miami. The cruise ship remained on scene, joined by Coast Guard helicopters, the cutter Dolphin and Miami-Dade Fireboat One. At 7:20 a.m., the ship spotted the man swimming 20 miles off Government Cut. A Coast Guard helicopter dropped a rescue swimmer and he helped the man into the Silver Shadow’s rescue boat.

11/29/09 – Five days after sailing Mina al Ahmadi, Kuwait, bound for LOOP in the Gulf of Mexico, the 1,090-foot Greek supertanker Maran Centaurus, with 275,000 tons of crude oil, was captured by Somali pirates 570 miles northeast of the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. It was taken 800 miles to an exposed anchorage 30 miles south of Hobyo, Somalia, arriving about December 2.

December
12/1/09 - The 38-foot FV Manatee took on water and later sank at the Coos Bay river bar entrance. A Coast Guard 47-foot lifeboat rescued all three crew members.

12/2/09 - The 54-foot FV Logan ran aground on a reef near Kewalo Basin, Hawaii, and was refloated the next day.

12/3/09 - A 32-year-old fisherman fell overboard from the 56-foot crab FV Ballad approximately 10 miles from the mouth of the Columbia River. A Clatsop County dive team dispatched on a Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter from Astoria, Ore., recovered his body.

12/4/09 – The Anchorage Daily News reports winds as high as 125 mph toppled the 110-foot container crane at the APL Dock in Dutch Harbor. No people or other structures were damaged when the crane fell at 8:45 p.m.

12/5/09 - A 25-foot Coast Guard boat and the high-speed catamaran Thriller, with 24 passengers, collided in Charleston at 8:21 p.m., injuring three aboard the catamaran. A Coast Guard utility boat evacuated all the passengers on Thriller and transported them to Charleston Harbor Marina to waiting emergency medical personnel. The NTSB is investigating.

12/9/09 - A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter medevaced the 61-year old Filipino master of the Panamanian car carrier Luna Spirit, 150 miles southeast of Kodiak, Alaska, He had suffered a possible stroke. The ship was en route from Los Angeles to Japan.

12/15/09 - The 920-foot Norwegian LNG tanker Matthew grounded at 6:15 a.m., half a mile southeast of Cayo Caribe near Guayanilla, Puerto Rico. It was later refloated when cargo was transferred from forward to aft cargo tanks. The Matthew proceeded to the EcoElectrica Punta Guayanilla LNG terminal to discharge and receive surveys.

12/16/09 - The 56-foot Canadian FV Pubnico Explorer capsized and sank 10 miles off Port Maitland, N.S. Three crew members were rescued from a life raft, but the skipper remains missing.

12/17/09 - The Indian bulk carrier APJ Suryavir lost power more than 500 miles south of Adak, Alaska. On Dec. 20, in
deteriorating weather conditions of 30-foot seas, winds in excess of 60 mph, and the ship rolling 45 degrees, the master reported the crew was preparing to abandon ship. The Maersk Altair and Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau diverted to assist; however, the crew of APJ Suryavir was able to restart the main engine and resume their voyage to Portland, Ore.

12/20/09 - A 24-year-old fisherman fell overboard off the crab FV Vicious Fisher about 20 miles west of La Push, Wash. An extensive Coast Guard search failed to locate him.

12/21/09 – A 33-foot Coast Guard boat traveling at high speed collided with a 24-foot pleasure boat in San Diego Bay. An eight year-old boy was killed, two children and three adults were seriously injured on the pleasure boat, while seven others were unhurt. The NTSB, Coast Guard and others are investigating the accident.

12/21/09 – A crane boom collapsed across the logs on a log barge under tow of the U.S. tug Edward Brusco in Fitzhugh Sound, B.C.

12/22/09 - A longshoreman at Norfolk International Terminals, Norfolk, Va., died when a straddle carrier struck a light pole, sending it crashing onto the man’s vehicle. (Journal of Commerce)

12/23/09 – The 136-foot tug Pathfinder grounded on Bligh Reef in Alaska’s Prince William Sound at 6:15 p.m., clearing the reef by 6:50 p.m. and proceeding to anchor south of nearby Bugsby Island. Two of the tug’s centerline diesel fuel tanks were breached, causing a fuel spill. The tug Invader and oil recovery vessel Valdez Star joined to assist, with Valdez Star going alongside on Christmas Day to take off a fuel/water mix from the two tanks. The Pathfinder was towed to Valdez on Dec. 27.

12/25/09 – The Greek bulk carrier Aegean Wind, with a load of iron ore from Brazil to Houston, suffered a massive fire in the accommodations off the coast of Venezuela. Six Filipino and three Greek crewmen died, while four others were injured.

12/28/09 - Deckhand Ricardo Young, 50, was crushed to death on board the tug Turecamo Girls, when he became tangled in lines he was adjusting for towing another vessel in Hackensack River near Secaucus, N.J. (Staten Island Advance)

In This Issue

Up Front

News, Trends & Analysis
New Items

Trade Tools: How Uncle Sam helps exporters

Capital Watch: Larger issues loom behind federal transport agendas

Supply Chain
Chris Steele: Development opportunities north and south of the border

Compliance Corner: Denied Party Screening – Make sure you comply...
comprehensively and timely

Tech Trends

Product Review: Invoicing and Auditing solutions

Commentary
David Bennett: Early signs of trouble

Gateway Glance
Panama

China

The Port Community
Game Changer: Expansion of the Panama Canal will reshape global trade patterns

All-weather ports are “all-in”

Breakbulk Quarterly: East Coast - Thinking outside the box

Breakbulk Quarterly: Brighter outlook for West Coast breakbulk in 2010

The Shipping Environment

Casualties
Navy tanker breaks loose, container crane topples,
longshoreman dies at Virginia port ... and much more

Final Say
Getting TIGER by the tail