Carl....I have to beg to differ a little bit, only cause of this article I saw in the globe yesterday. Whether it is accurate or not, pursue the Globe on that....
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/12...estions+.shtml
A BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL
A residue of questions
5/4/2003
PICTURES OF oil-covered seabirds and concerns over closing shellfish beds captured the attention of the public this week following a 15,000-gallon oil spill in Buzzards Bay. But maritime experts are focused more properly on licensing issues, crew credentials, and inspection requirements for the tugboats, tow boats, and barges that routinely ply local waterways. The regulations are looser for tugboats and barges than for self-propelled vessels. Too loose, it appears.
Tugboats under 300 gross tons are not even required to undergo annual Coast Guard inspections. The Coast Guard on Friday declined comment on the size of the tugboat owned by the New York-based Bouchard Transportation Co. that lost control of the barge carrying oil on its approach to the Cape Cod Canal. But most of the barges that are involved in similar work are pegged at roughly 200 gross tons.
''The standard is much looser for towing,'' says Captain Joseph S. Murphy II, professor of maritime transportation at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. ''The standards for inspection should be dictated and enforced by the Coast Guard rather than by the industry itself.'' A cargo or passenger vessel of similar size would undergo annual Coast Guard inspections, Murphy said.
Whether traveling up Chelsea Creek or through the Cape Cod Canal, vessels of any type and size that carry petroleum pose significant risks to the environment and the commercial viability of the fishing and tourism industries. Coast Guard inspections should be mandatory for all such vessels. At a minimum, the Coast Guard should require inspections if companies have questionable safety records. Bouchard has been involved in four barge accidents in US waters over the past three years.
The Coast Guard is still investigating why the barge ran aground. In most spills, the cause is found to be human error. In this case, however, many basic questions are still unanswered. Was the barge equipped with an anchor, and if so, did a crew member lower it to stabilize the vessel? Were additional tow lines available or was there other special equipment to lasso a runaway barge? Did a winch or other key equipment fail as the tug and barge prepared to pull closer together for the trip through the Cape Cod Canal? How familiar was the tugboat operator with local conditions? And how familiar was the crew with the equipment onboard?
Problems often begin in the wheelhouse. Large self-propelled tankers and other commercial vessels entering and leaving ports are generally under the control of operators who have earned a first class pilot's license from the Coast Guard. They are required to prove their knowledge of local waterways in addition to expertise in navigation, safety, and seamanship. First class pilots must also show the ability to draw charts from memory, including channel dimensions and wrecks, according to Andy Hammond, chief of the regional examination center for the Coast Guard.
Tugboat captains, however, are subject to fewer requirements, especially in the category of local knowledge. A first class pilot entering the Cape Cod Canal, for example, would be required to have made 12 monitored round trips to the area -- including four at night -- before receiving authority for the route. Tugboat masters, according to Hammond, are required only to have made four such trips -- one at night, and not under the authority of the Coast Guard.
Only barges that are greater than 10,000 gross tons are required to be operated by a first class pilot. The barge involved in the Buzzards Bay spill was just shy of 8,000 gross tons.
First class pilots are paid roughly 30 to 50 percent more than master operators of tugboats, so it's no surprise that petroleum producers resist such upgrades in personnel. The industry favors tugs and barges over tankers in part because the former are cheaper to operate and face fewer regulations. It would be reasonable, however, to demand that every vessel containing petroleum and moving through confined waterways be placed under the control of a first class pilot.
Neither the Coast Guard nor Bouchard has commented on whether the tug operator in the Buzzards Bay spill held a first class pilot's license.
The American Waterways Operators, the trade association for the tugboat and barge industry, offers a spirited defense, including Coast Guard statistics showing greater spill volume for tankers, petroleum facilities, and other sources. The president of the association, Thomas Allegretti, says the industry is especially proud of its conversion record from single-hull to safer double-hull vessels. He says that roughly two-thirds of the 3,000 barges in the United States are equipped with double hulls, and the remainder are on schedule for conversion in compliance with federal regulations. Allegretti also asserts that inspection and personnel requirements are adequate.
The industry is making headway. But New Englanders have a reason to remain skeptical. It is usually barge accidents, not tanker mishaps, that trouble the local coasts. And the barge involved in the latest accident had only a single hull. Many also remember when a barge and tug ran aground in 1996 off Rhode Island and discharged 828,000 gallons of home heating oil into the waters. Partly as a result, new federal regulations took effect in 2001 requiring new tugboat masters to show greater knowledge of local waterways. But most veteran operators have been exempted from the requirement.
The only upside to oil spills is that they sometimes generate tighter safety standards. The federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990, for example, came on the heels of the Exxon Valdez disaster, when a ruptured tanker discharged 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska. Fortunately, nothing of such magnitude has occurred in Buzzards Bay. But demands for greater regulation of tugboats and barges should expand commensurately with the oil now spreading across the bay. The only upside to oil spills is that they sometimes generate tighter safety standards. The federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990, for example, came on the heels of the Exxon Valdez disaster, when a ruptured tanker discharged 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska. Fortunately, nothing of such magnitude has occurred in Buzzards Bay. But demands for greater regulation of tugboats and barges should expand commensurately with the oil now spreading across the bay.
This story ran on page H10 of the Boston Globe on 5/4/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
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