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Danger present as ships ply bay MOBILE, Ala. -- Last year, an oil tanker was sailing into Mobile Harbor when a fire broke out in the engine room and the 50,000-ton ship lost all ability to steer. It veered toward the city's riverside convention center. To avoid a crash, the Nordic Svenita's head captain grabbed his radio, ready to order two 5-ton anchors dropped into the river -- standard procedure when a ship is out of control. He didn't know that his ship was on top of the George Wallace Tunnel, and the anchors could have cracked it, flooding the vital artery along Interstate 10 and potentially killing anyone inside. Details about this and hundreds of other incidents on Mobile Bay are documented by the U.S. Coast Guard, which is charged with investigating every event that results in death or injury, or affects a ship's ability to sail. Following a fatal March crane collapse at the Alabama state docks, the Press-Register asked the Coast Guard for information on all incidents between 2000 and 2006. The agency's response to the Freedom of Information Act request revealed 366 records of investigations, including those of at least 26 deaths and injuries. Those records support what experts describe as an increase nationally in accidents related to equipment failures such as the one that caused the Nordic Svenita to lose steering control. Gaps in the available information, which the Coast Guard attributed to several factors, make it difficult to spot local trends or make comparisons with other ports. But the records do provide a glimpse at the kinds of hits and near misses occurring with some regularity a few hundred yards from the heart of Mobile's business district. Investigators seem to agree that Mobile Bay narrowly avoided a tragedy on April 5, 2005, when bar pilot Capt. Pete Burns persuaded the Nordic Svenita's captain not to drop anchor. Two extra tugs rushed in and secured the tanker bearing 21 million gallons of crude oil headed for the Shell refinery upriver. In a decade of working as a Mobile River bar pilot, Burns had never found himself in a worse situation, he said. "There's a lot of things going through your mind -- you're looking for alternatives," said Burns, who won a merit public service award from the Coast Guard for his actions that day. "There were people working in the shipyards and in the convention center, and guys mowing the grass in Cooper Riverside Park that never had a clue what was going on," he said. "The people of the Mobile area just don't realize -- the entire state doesn't realize -- what happens in Mobile, in the harbor." Public record is incompleteMobile's maritime community can tell stories of ships sinking, fires burning, drug use, sailors carousing and bridge bumping -- all on Mobile Bay. But providing a complete picture of what happens on the water is difficult because of confidentiality about ongoing investigations, problems with record-keeping and the fact that some incidents go unreported or fall outside Coast Guard jurisdiction. The Coast Guard does not make public the details of open investigations, and gave the Press-Register access only to cases that had been closed. Even after the local Coast Guard office finishes an inquiry, it does not allow the public to obtain the details until a review by investigators in Washington. As a result, circumstances surrounding some incidents remain concealed for years. For example, in November 2004, Carnival Cruise Lines' Holiday struck a barge loader at the state docks. That incident investigation was closed at the local level in June 2005, but was not closed in Washington until last Wednesday, following a Press-Register call to Coast Guard headquarters. "Quite honestly, it should have been closed a long time ago. It may have fallen through the cracks somewhere," said Doug Rabe, chief of the Coast Guard's investigations division in Washington. An unexpected database crash in late 2001 caused a delay in federal disclosure of many minor cases, Rabe said, and the Coast Guard's transition into the Department of Homeland Security has also complicated information release. At least 350 investigations originating on Mobile Bay and surrounding waterways since 2000 remain open, and thus unavailable for scrutiny, according to information provided by the Coast Guard's data administration unit. Some incidents may never be reported to the Coast Guard at all. If a ship bumps something in the middle of the night, the Coast Guard relies on the people or companies involved to disclose it, and to give accurate details, said Bob Foster, who has served as chief investigator for the Coast Guard's Sector Mobile for 10 years. In a July letter to towing and barge companies with local operations, Foster reminded company owners of their legal requirement to submit a report should incidents occur. That report should include the first and last names of the person in charge of the vessel involved, and an address and phone number. "My office has noticed some recurring errors in the information gathered on the (form) Report of Marine Accident, Injury, or Death," he wrote. But the Coast Guard rarely investigates incidents involving the thousands of private or recreational vessels on the waterways. Unless a problem occurs more than three miles off Alabama's shore, the state generally has jurisdiction, Foster said. The time needed to investigate an incident varies between 30 minutes and months, Foster said. "On the minor cases, my goal is two weeks," Foster said. "Major cases can go on for months. The more you dig, the more you find." Deaths and injuries "On June 21, 2003, at approx 1000, Mr. Jack Bryant Pritchett was shrimping onboard the fishing vessel Lady Boss. While hauling in the starboard rigging with a lazy line attached to the starboard cats head, Mr. Pritchett's left leg became entangled in the lazy line. The entanglement caused the line to cinch around his leg and nearly sever it. At approx. 1015 the fishing vessel Capt. Casey arrived onscene and rendered first aid until the Coast Guard arrived at approx 1030 to medevac Mr. Pritchett. Mr. Pritchett later died of his injuries. The fishing vessel Lady Boss was towed back to port by the fishing vessel Capt. Casey." -- Coast Guard investigation activity report 1824861. Compared to the number of commercial ships that traverse the Port of Mobile's waterways -- including about 1,300 vessel port calls per year -- the number of deaths is relatively small, the Coast Guard records indicate. Two people died in 2000, two in 2003 and two in 2005. There were 20 reported injuries. In a larger region known as Sector Mobile, four people died and 48 were injured in 2005, according to Foster's office. Sector Mobile reaches from Mississippi to Florida, and along rivers running north through much of Alabama,. Mile for mile and ton for ton, water is still the safest mode of transport, with fewer accidents on waterways than highways, said Capt. Walt Nadolny, an assistant professor at the New York Maritime College who has worked in the industry for nearly 30 years. "Per freight mile or passenger mile, or however you want to look at it, it's the safest way to get something from Point A to Point B," he said. Allisions and collisions "On 3/28/2005, the motorvessel Heloise was south bound on the Black Warrior- Tombigbee Waterway pushing eight loaded hopper barges. When passing under the Jackson railroad bridge, at milemarker 90, the tow made contact with the western fendering system. There was no reported damage to the tow or the fendering system. The vessel continued its voyage without further incident." -- Coast Guard investigation activity report 2340641. Ships in the waterways around the Port of Mobile hit something -- a bridge, dock or another ship -- about once every 40 days, based on the count of closed cases alone. During the 72 months of 2000 through 2005, there were 47 allisions, the term used when a ship strikes something stationary, and seven collisions between vessels, according to the Coast Guard records. Bridges are hit so often that most are surrounded by underwater barricades called fenders. Usually, as in the case with the Heloise, the strike has no consequence. But sometimes the result is deadly, such as the barge strike in 1993 that led to the crash of the Sunset Limited train and 47 deaths. Foster called that the worst incident he has ever investigated. The Alabama State Port Authority holds the companies involved responsible for any significant losses stemming from such incidents. "You make it, you break it, you fix it," docks spokeswoman Judy Adams said. But the docks operation still suffers if incidents block the port. "We scream the loudest when we have channel obstructions," Adams said, "because we have sitting out at the sea buoy customers who are losing money." The Coast Guard's punitive powers are minimal -- it can merely revoke a mariner's Coast Guard license. But that license is a mariner's livelihood, said Foster, who said he has never lost a case. He can also recommend that criminal charges be brought in federal court and can encourage civil penalties against the vessel owner. Foster said the Port of Mobile does not have a higher incident rate than neighboring ports. The Port of New Orleans has far more incident investigations and more ship traffic, he said, while the Port of Pascagoula has fewer incidents, but may suffer more environmental damage because larger quantities of hazardous materials transit there. Drug use Investigators often find drug use while performing marine casualty investigations, Foster said. He recalled a January case in which he discovered that a tow boat captain who pummeled his 68-year-old colleague had marijuana in his system. That case remains open at the federal level and the Press-Register was not able to view the details. Marijuana is the most common type of drug used on the waterways, encountered twice as often as cocaine, the next most common drug, according to data provided by Foster's office. The law requires that commercial sailors be randomly tested for drugs. Testing is also a routine part of some investigations, Foster said. First-time offenders are given a second chance if they go through drug rehabilitation and stay clean for one year, but "if there's a second time, all bets are off," he said. From 2003 to 2005, the Coast Guard found 91 marijuana violations and 41 cocaine violations throughout Sector Mobile. "Many drug cases are the result of pre-employment and license testing," said Foster. "It never ceases to amaze me -- they know they're taking a drug test, they know they're taking drugs, and they fail." The Coast Guard partners with local police, the FBI, the U.S. attorney and other law enforcement to secure the waterways. Last year, Sector Mobile prosecuted about 130 personnel cases, according to the Coast Guard. Equipment failures on the rise "On 1/10/2005, the motorvessel Joel Smith was pushing (2) barges heading southbound in the Mobile Ship Channel in the vicinity of Beacon 51 & 54. The Joel Smith and tow were on the starboard side of the channel and agreed to a port to port passing with the motor vessel Inciarte. Prior to the port to port passing agreement taking place, the port side steering ram of the Joel Smith failed, locking the rudders hard to port. The operator of the Joel Smith immediately notified the Inciarte of the situation as the vessel and tow turned to port into the collision path of the Inciarte. The Inciarte turned to port to avoid a collision. The motor vessel Inciarte touched bottom, but did not go hard aground. The Joel Smith stopped on red side of the channel and made necessary repairs to the ram and then continued on to the next port of call without further incident. No contact was made between vessels." -- Coast Guard investigation activity report 2276761 Mechanical failures, like the example above or the Nordic Svenita incident, are second only to groundings as the most common type of incident on Sector Mobile waterways. Data provided by Foster's office shows that equipment failures rose 19 percent in 2005 over the previous two-year average. Such failures will multiply as commercial ships pioneer new technology and sailors are replaced with machines designed to do work faster and at less cost, according to experts. "In the drive for fuel efficiency, you want things as automated as possible," said. the Maritime College's Nadolny. "As with anything new, there are going to be glitches in the startup." New advanced propulsion systems and thrusters can save time, and multiple small engines, instead of one large one, save fuel. But salt-water corrosion sometimes causes electrical signals to the engines to misfire, or to not fire at all, he said. "I believe we are seeing more and more of those problems," Nadolny said. Such equipment-related problems can be deadly. The March crane incident at the state docks remains under investigation, but equipment pushed past its capabilities may be partly to blame, according to an affidavit in a related criminal indictment. The bow of the cargo vessel ZIM Mexico III struck the state docks crane, causing it to fall, killing an electrician. The Mexico III's captain, Wolfgang Schroder, is charged with neglect or misconduct in connection with the March 2 accident. The case is scheduled for trial in October in federal court. The Coast Guard's investigation of the incident has consumed 500 man hours and is still not closed, Foster said. Many equipment failures can be chalked up to a lack of preventative maintenance, said Mike Lee, a senior security consultant with Florida-based Maritime Protective Services Inc. "A lot of it's really because they don't want to put the money and time into making sure equipment is working up to specifications," Lee said. "Equipment is better now than it ever has been." Equipment failures could be mitigated in part by increased tug boat assistance and people who have intimate knowledge of local waterways, Nadolny said. Such was the case with the Nordic Svenita incident. Mobile has 12 bar pilots who are required by law to assist ships in and out of the harbor. The Mobile Bar Pilot Association may add a 13th captain to accommodate heavier ship traffic, according to Capt. David Wittendorfer, association president. "There's a world of different technology out there, making our life a lot easier and sometimes a lot harder," Wittendorfer said. "Technology is a great thing; it is getting more complicated." But ultimately, he said, "technology seems to help us more than
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