
The St Rita, post-salvage, resting atop a barge. The vessel was ultimately taken into consideration an overall useful loss (Source: United States Coast Guard)
The National Transportation Safety Board has actually released a Marine Accident Brief on the March 7, 2019, sinking of the 1997-built Marquette Transportation towboatSt Rita.
The occurrence took place at regarding 1430 regional time, when the towboat was changing the receptacle barge LTD 14161 throughout the Mississippi River to the Cooper Consolidated La Place short lived location, regarding 23 miles west of New Orleans, La.
The towboat hit tied barges and also came to be pinned versus a barge block broadside to the existing, heeled over, and also sank. The 5 crewmembers aboard deserted theSt Rita by climbing up aboard the LTD 14151 and also were later on saved by a Good Samaritan lugging vessel. No air pollution or injuries were reported.
The immersed vessel was taken into consideration an overall useful loss and also was valued at $1.5 million.
POTENTIAL REASON
The National Transportation Safety Board figured out that the likely source of the crash of lugging vesselSt Rita and also tow with tied barges and also succeeding sinking was the captain’s lack of experience in implementing a short lived procedure on a solitary heading in hefty river existing problems near to the head of a block.
Read the Marine Accident Brief HERE