http://www.thesmokinggun.com/graphics/art3/postcurse1.gif

:laughs:

It's like the ghost of Christmas Coulda Been just came to visit us...

The sad part is really what happened to the people on the Ferry...

On the flip side of the ferry... Has this ever happened to the Steamship Authority?

To my knowledge the Steamship Authority hasn't had an incident of this magnitude in all it's years.
From what little information that I have been able to glean from the reports published thus far the Pilot was in the wheelhouse alone. The Captain was out of the wheelhouse doing who knows what at this stage of the investigation.
I do not know what the "Manning Documents" call for on that New York Ferry but either some major changes have been allowed or the vessel was severly undermanned.
When I come up through the Hawse Pipe to gain my Masters papers the Captain was always in the wheelhouse unless the vessel was tied to the pier or beyond the sea buoy. The Pilot would also be in the wheelhouse and would give the steering orders to the helmsman or wh#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&. The Captain is/was in command but the Pilot had the responsibility of giving the course and speed orders.
Possibly due to some reason unknown to me the manning document on that ferry may not require a wh#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& but I cannot imagine the Coast Guard not requiring the Captain and Pilot to be on duty in ther wheelhouse. If they were sailing with dual licenses, ie Captain also licensed as Pilot there should still be another person present. A Lookout. On that size vessel I cannot imagine it being allowed to be operated with only one person in the wheelhouse.

Also, it has always been my understanding that any Licensed Officer who has knowledge of any defect in his personal health that could cause him to become unable to fulfill his duty should remove himself from the position of responsibility. This Pilot apparently suffered from some blood pressure condition and either forgot to take his medication or some how ran out of it. Either way it would appear that he has a great amount of negligence to carry in this incident. I guess that is why he went home and did what he did.
May God have mercy upon him.

The NY media are laughably ignorant of maritime matters, so I wouldn't put too much stock in what is being reported in the papers.

Based on talking to people familiar with the operation of the SI Ferry, it traditionally has two fully licensed Masters who are also rated as Pilots on the route. All the boats are double-enders. By tradition, the "senior" captain rides in the Manhattan bound pilot house and the "assistant" captain rides in the Staten Island bound one. And I would imagine that there are regs that require other crewmen to be present on the bridge while the ferry is under way. Probably a minimum of a Mate and a deckhand. I've ridden these ferries hundreds of times, and from the passenger decks, it is very difficult to see into the wheelhouses, especially on the new Barbieri class vessels. Having seen photos of the layouts of thewheelhouse, it is definitely a two-man operation to dock one of these vessels, as the throttle and thruster controls aren't adjacent to the helm.

Any time I've ridden the SSA boats, there have been a minimum of 3 people on the bridge at all times. The Master, who usually doubles as the Pilot and has both ratings, a Mate, and an ordinary seaman who acts as helmsman enroute. Usually it's the Pilot who takes over the helm and docks the boat.

I wouldn't be surprised if MTA/etc. cut the funding hard to the SI ferry, hense using people like that guy (I'm sure if there was a mate up there that probably wouldn't have happened, or atleast not as horribly).

MTA and NYC public trans are in pretty heavy debt right now and Bloomberg seems to be ignoring it.

Kinda like our little "incident" with the fish and game money and our glorious governor...


And the only newspapers I've ever read that have been anywhere near accurate on maritime/ocean related incidents/accidents were Hawaii and Nor Cal newspapers...

The rest are horrible and go for rediculous amounts of sensationalism. The Red Sox article shows just how stupid they are in the media...

The Staten Island ferry is operated by the Marine and Aviation Division of the NYC Dept of Transportation. Regardless of funding, the Coast Guard regulations control staffing. And I would imagine that a vessel of that size (3000+ gross tons) requires both a Master and a Mate on the bridge during under-way operations. Plus, the Staten Island terminal is adjacent to the Kill van Kill shipping channel, which has a lot of large ship traffic--the Port Newark and Port Elizabeth container terminals and the Hess refinery are both accessed via that channel. So I'm sure the regs require at least 2, maybe 3, pairs of eyes in the wheelhouse.

Part of the problem might be this "two master" tradition. Until it's clear that the "senior" captain is supposed to be in the forward wheelhouse at all times, you can't lay the blame on him. For all we know, his duty station might be in the aft wheelhouse on that leg, and a Mate in the forward wheelhouse may have vapor locked when the "assistant" captain blacked out.

Richard Smith, the officer who reportedly suffered the blackout and who later tried to kill himself, was licensed as a Master and a Pilot for that route. He was the "assistant" Master who traditionally commands the ferry on the Staten Island bound leg. He was also in command of that very same ferry, the Barbieri, when it suffered a mechanical failure in 1995 and collided with the boarding ramp at the very same slip back in 1995. He was given some sort of commendation for his handling of that incident.

Originally posted by Mike P
The Staten Island ferry is operated by the Marine and Aviation Division of the NYC Dept of Transportation. Regardless of funding, the Coast Guard regulations control staffing. And I would imagine that a vessel of that size (3000+ gross tons) requires both a Master and a Mate on the bridge during under-way operations. Plus, the Staten Island terminal is adjacent to the Kill van Kill shipping channel, which has a lot of large ship traffic--the Port Newark and Port Elizabeth container terminals and the Hess refinery are both accessed via that channel. So I'm sure the regs require at least 2, maybe 3, pairs of eyes in the wheelhouse.


Lets not get into all the loopholes, payoffs, and just a huge lack of enforcement that happen to avoid inspections and whatnot these days.

Sure there's Coast Guard regulations, but does every system adhere to them? I wish I could say yes. But thats just about right on par with our fisheries enforcement.

So who let a liability be on the bridge?

During the eighties a Ferry Captain left Galilee, took a hard aport on to the beach and jumped over the side and walked ashore.

It was said he commented that he "quit".

I am not aware of any disasters with the SSA but over the past few years there have been some hard docking and subsequent firings.

I ride that boat over 20 trips a year with a vehicle. Had some rough rides/ landings. ALWAYS when it was windy.

Funny how there is that coincidence.

:confused:

Beach: OB or VH?

Even in a blow VH is the better of the two places to come in with the breakwater and the amount of cover they have in there.

The boats in the mooring field also help (to a small degree) to cut the main body of wind against the ferry pier.

I don't think I've seen/heard a ferry really plow the piers at VH because of how its situated. (which is really an idea setup for them... no waves in there etc.)

OB on the other hand can turn into a nightmare...

Nantucket.

Galilee was where the captain went AWOL. I think it was 1983-84.
Can' remember but maybe some of the Rhody guys do.