Editorial: Accident Highlights Employment Crisis

If anything illustrates the pressures of the employment crisis facing the maritime industries, it’s the recent accident in the Lower Mississippi involving an undermanned towing vessel being piloted by an unqualified apprentice steersman.

On July 23, an oil barge in the tow of the mv. Mel Oliver was ruptured by the tanker Tintamara on the lower Mississippi, and upwards of three–quarters of a million gallons of thick diesel fuel spilled out into the river and (now) onto its banks. According to preliminary reports by the Coast Guard, the towboat’s four–man crew numbered only three that day, because the master was not aboard, and a steersman apprentice was illegally operating the vessel without his master in the pilothouse.

Attempts by vessel traffic service (VTS) personnel to contact the vessel went unanswered. The agency found nothing amiss in the condition of the Tintamara, the manner in which it was being operated, or the competency of its crew or pilot. One can understand how a trainee steersman who is in deep trouble cannot find time to answer the radio, but the entire incident should not have happened.

Law firms and maritime offices along more than 100 miles of river are abuzz with discussions of potential lawsuits over lost business. The Port of New Orleans was quoted as saying it loses $100,000 each day the river is closed. A four–day closure in 2004 resulted in losses of $58 million.

What’s next? The Coast Guard has already conducted drug and alcohol tests aboard vessels. The Mel Oliver has been moved to drydock to undergo further evaluation. A formal Coast Guard hearing is scheduled for August 12. “The pilot of the Tintamara, the Tintamara, the steersman of the Mel Oliver, the captain of the Mel Oliver, DRD Towing, American Commercial Lines, and the Mel Oliver have been named as parties of interest, [with] officials letters [having been] sent out August 1,” a Coast Guard news release said.

Four separate class–action lawsuits have been filed in federal court, and barge owner ACL has filed an action seeking exoneration from or limitation of liability.

According to New Orleans maritime attorney George Fowler, DRD Towing Co., Harvey, La., supplied the improperly licensed crew of the Mel Oliver.

George Gussoni, director of legal services for the Port of New Orleans, said that in addition to the port’s claim for losses due to business interruption, the Coast Guard will “probably have a $100 million claim for cleanup….”

By itself, a tight employment market doesn’t explain or excuse oversights in staffing procedures—especially when they can have such dire consequences, as is often the case on the waterways. Improper oversight produces a negative reflection that impacts the entire marine industry.

But the Mel Oliver accident should focus a bright national spotlight on the ongoing, urgent need for measures to make sure the marine industries that are so vital to our economy are manned by an adequate supply of trained personnel.

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