Archive for the ‘Barge Accidents’ Category
January 24th, 2012 | 
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Photo: Wikipedia
Stephen P. Moschetta was recently featured on the John Williams Talk Radio Show airing on WCCO, a CBS affiliate in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to discuss the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster.
On January 13, 2012, the Costa Concordia, carrying over 4,000 passengers and crew, deviated from safe travel lanes and sank on a reef off the island of Giglios, Italy, after striking an underwater rock formation.
The Italian-flag cruise ship left the Civitavecchia port of Rome with 600 new passengers and had only been at sea for a few hours when it ran aground. According to reports, the crew had not conducted the so-called “muster drill” for the passengers who just boarded. Unfortunately, the safety drill was not scheduled until the following day.
The ship approached the island of Gilgio from the south but sailed too close to the coastline and struck a rocky reef a few hundred yards out. Passengers report that the ship violently listed (tilted) and eventually capsized.
The master of the ship, Captain Francesco Schettino, is under house arrest and is under investigation for crimes including manslaughter. The owner of the Concordia, Costa Cruises, a Carnival Cruise Lines company, has placed all blame on the captain claiming “human error” was the cause of the disaster. However, it is difficult to imagine that Costa Cruises was unaware that the Concordia was so close to land given today’s technology. Also, this disaster demonstrates the importance of crew training and safety policies. For cruise ships sailing from ports in the United States, “muster drills” are the first order of business once all passengers are on board. Cruise ship operators must promulgate policies and procedures to ensure the safety of all passengers while on the ship, and particularly during evacuations to life boats.
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My wife and I vacationed in Cape Canaveral in November 2010, staying in a large condominium on the ocean front. As part of my daily routine – trying to unwind from a year’s worth of stress – I would walk on the beach early each morning.
When I went to the beach on the morning of November 29th, I was shocked to see a massive cargo barge aground on the beach directly in front of our condominium. On further inspection, it was the Mobro 1210, a 144-foot uninspected cargo barge owned and operated Beyel Brothers Crane & Rigging Services of Cocoa Beach, Florida.
I later read in the Professional Mariner magazine (March 2011 Edition) that the Mobro 1210 was carrying spent shell casings from torpedo munitions and other U.S. Navy cargo when she separated from the tug boat Megan Beyel at 1:40 am on November 29, 2010, near the entrance to Port Canaveral. Apparently, the Mobro 1210 broke free roughly a quarter mile from the jetties marking the entrance to Port Canaveral. According to a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, winds were gusting as high as 25 mph, and a weather buoy reported 4-foot seas shortly before the incident. The Megan Beyel and the Mobro 1210 were chartered through the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command. MSC operates noncombatant, civilian-crewed ships that, among others, support U.S. Navy ships and move military cargo and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces.
In any event, I finished my walk after I and other spectators gathered on the beach to witness the surreal site. When I returned to the beach after lunch that day (around 2:00 pm), the barge was gone, having been refloated.
As a maritime lawyer on vacation, I was surprised to witness a maritime casualty which thankfully caused no damage to person, property or the environment.
- Joseph P. Moschetta