NTSB Investigation: Towing vessel pilot never reported hitting bridge in Louisiana

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a Marine Accident Brief about an accident that occurred in March 2019, involving the towing vessel Dixie Vandal, noting that the BNWAS alarm didn't prevent the fatigued pilot from falling asleep.

The National Transportation Safety Board issued Marine Accident Brief 20/37 Tuesday for its investigation of the Sept. 23, 2019, accident involving the tugboat G.M. McAllister and the NGL Energy Partners wharf on the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River, near Chesapeake, Virginia.

NTSB issued an investigation report on the contact of tow William C with a Rock Island railroad bridge protection cell, on Des Plaines River, in January 2020. The investigation established that high speed prevented the pilot to correct the tow’s position after completing the transit through the previous bridge.

While in many western countries of the world, pilots there have already been preferentially vaccinated against COVID-19, pilots in other countries such as Malaysia are struggling to get vaccinated.

Advanced automation has been highlighted as contributory to several accidents involving modern bridge support systems and automation aiding maritime pilots for maneuvering and navigation. This paper argues for reskilling for automation collaboration.

Open Waters Program Launch - Maritime Career Development Program
Louisiana River Pilots Association - Crescent River Port Pilots - New Orleans-Baton Rouge Steamship Pilots Association

Efforts to free the giant container ship are continuing after the 400m-long vessel became stuck in the Suez canal. Local authorities attempted to dislodge the 220,000 ton vessel from the banks of the canal using tug boats, but the megaship remains stuck more than one day after it ran aground.

ANTWERP - A pilot who visited the ship Minerva Oceania to lead it to the port of Antwerp appears to have become infected with the coronavirus.

Opinion article by BAIRD Maritime, Australia

Report by nC2 Engineering Consultancy at the University of Southampton on behalf of the International Maritime Pilots' Association (IMPA) to investigate the effectiveness and impact of different methods of securing pilot ladders in medium lengths in a laboratory-based project.