Sunken barge 'had no master'
THE HELMSMAN who steered the tug Mel Oliver and its oil-laden barge into the path of a tanker on 23 July told a hearing that he routinely operated the vessel without a master aboard – and his employers knew it.
John Paul Bavaret II, a licensed apprentice, said yesterday that the collision – which caused a massive oil spill that closed the Mississippi River for days – happened because he was distracted by a malfunctioning radar unit. Once he become aware that the downriver bound tanker Tintomar was bearing down on his vessel, he told the USCG hearing officer that the tug’s steering jammed and he was unable to change course.
In his testimony, Bavaret said that his employer DRD Towing had been piloting the tug solo for months. On the day of the event, he said he was unsupervised because his captain was off vessel and hundreds of miles away tending to a personal matter.
The resultant spill of 1,400 tonnes of No. 6 fuel oil closed the river from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico for six days.