Living Lands And Waters Towboat To Return To Service

In the fall of 2025, Living Lands and Waters (LL&W) was stationed in Cincinnati for what should’ve been a standard cleanup job on the Ohio River. The nonprofit organization travels throughout the year to remove trash and debris from the nation’s rivers and shorelines, working with surrounding businesses and volunteers along the way.

Things took an unfortunate turn, though, when the crew woke up one morning to find that their towboat, the mv. River Cleanup, had sunk overnight. An unknown hull fracture at the starboard keel cooler box gave way, causing the vessel to take on water. None of the crew was on board at the time of the sinking, and no one was injured.

Fortunately, the vessel was faced up when it sank. It only sank partially, with water submerging some of the first deck at the back of the vessel and the lower engineroom, touching the shore. The captain of the vessel, the late Capt. Eric Scott Frederick, lived only seven minutes away, and the U.S. Coast Guard was called as well.

What followed was a massive collaborative effort between LL&W and surrounding businesses to get the River Cleanup floating again and to a repair facility. C&B Marine came to the rescue the first day. The company provided a crane barge and, together with the LL&W team, used two cranes to lift the vessel off the shore.

Crounse Corporation retrieved the vessel the next day and brought it to Evansville Marine, where it was instantly put on drydock, and the fracture in the keel cooler box was patched. From there, Hines Furlong Line moved the River Cleanup to Cairo, Ill., where CGB Marine provided fleeting services. The vessel was then picked up by Marquette Transportation Company and taken to Mike’s Inc., in East Alton, Ill.

The vessel has been undergoing repairs at Mike’s Inc. for the last nine months, a tandem effort between shipyard employees and LL&W crew. The East Alton facility is also conveniently close to the LL&W headquarters in East Moline, Ill.

“They’re just wonderful people,” said Chad Pregracke, founder and president of LL&W. “They’ve been so gracious.”

While the vessel has been undergoing repairs, other companies have stepped in to lend a helping hand. A Marquette Transportation Company mechanic helped the team get the River Cleanup engines back up and running, and American River Transportation Company (ARTCo) also provided mechanics to help get the towboat back on track. The company also provided an extra John Deere generator when it was discovered that they needed to be replaced. New watertight doors were donated by Arcosa.

“Our boat wouldn’t have sank if we had those doors,” Pregracke said.

One of the barges the River Cleanup pushes is named Teamwork, a fitting name for LL&W’s mission. It has also come to represent not only what mariners can do to better the industry, but what happens when even competing companies come together in a time of need.

“After this experience, the boat should be named Teamwork,” Pregracke said. “It’s a perfect example of why this organization is able to do what it does and produce the results that we do. In the river business, if you’re in need, then people will extend a hand. Even competitors help competitors in a tight spot.”

At nearly 50 years old, the River Cleanup had undergone only infrequent repairs. According to the Inland River Record, the 54-foot by 20-foot towboat was originally built by Riverway Shipyard, Grafton, Ill., in 1978. It was owned by Tabor & Co., LaSalle, Ill., under the name Nancy S before it was sold to ARTCo in 1992. Thirty years later, the vessel was donated to LL&W to aid in the organization’s cleanup efforts and was aptly renamed.

The work completed this past year completely overhauled much of the vessel and has been the most major repair on record that the boat has undergone. While the River Cleanup underwent repairs related to the sinking, other necessary fixes were made as well.

“We figured we’d redo everything while (the River Cleanup) is out of commission,” Pregracke said. “Getting everything done, getting everything right, doing the extra steps we need to do for the long term. Everything that needed to be done, we just went for it.”

According to Carson Lund-Fuller, a LL&W crew member who has been heavily involved in the repair process, and Mike Marko Jr., vice president of Mike’s Inc., the vessel is now equipped with two refurbished generators. Cracked fuel lines were repiped, rewiring was completed, and one air compressor was replaced while another was repaired. Bent hand railing was removed and rewelded, new watertight doors were installed, a leaking hull doubler was replaced, and the vessel hull was cleaned and recoated. New cooler boxes were made and installed for the generators on the port and starboard sides, and about 6 feet of the stern starboard knuckle was replaced.

Luckily, the River Cleanup didn’t need new engines. Instead, the vessel’s main engines, Cummins N14s, were “pickled,” a process that involves running diesel through the machinery to break up any rust and to prevent corrosion.

“We didn’t get new mains, and they run great,” Lund-Fuller said.

Flooring on the second deck is currently being replaced after damage was discovered from the furnace below, and parts of the lower cabin wallsa that had rotted have also been replaced with new steel plate.

“It’s one of those things where the boat’s already down, so might as well do it now,” Marko said. “You won’t want to do it later.”

“We’ll come out of this with a much better boat,” Pregracke said. “It’s totally redone, and that’s the silver lining.”

Since not having the River Cleanup, LL&W has had to ask other companies for rides. Pregracke expressed his gratitude to all the businesses that have helped LL&W continue its work while the River Cleanup has been out of commission.

“As a consequence, we’ve asked a lot more of these companies, and they’ve all been awesome,” Pregracke said.

The team hopes that the vessel will be ready to go back into service in the next month. Once final inspections have been completed, the River Cleanup will leave Mike’s Inc. to pick up the Mississippi River Institute (MRI), LL&W’s floating classroom that is currently docked underneath the Arch in St. Louis, Mo. From there, it will meet up with other LL&W equipment in Paducah, Ky.

Featured photo caption: Living Lands and Waters (LL&W) crew discovered that a portion of the first deck and lower engineroom of their main towboat, the mv. River Cleanup, was submerged underwater while stationed along the Ohio River last year. C&B Marine, Crounse Corporation, Evansville Marine, Hines Furlong Line, CGB Marine and Marquette Transportation all helped the nonprofit transfer the vessel to Mike’s Inc. (Photos courtesy of Living Lands and Waters)