La verdad es que ambas situaciones son lamentables, más aún si cabe el tema del remolcador en el mismo bajo que tuvo su fatídico accidente el EXXON VALDES. En el caso del bulkcarrier, es más preocupante la recuperación del arrecife en el que se clavó:
CAPTAIN "PLAYING GAMES"
Tug spilled oil after grounding in Alaska because master was distracted by game of Hearts on computer, USCG says.
A tug ran aground off the US because the inattentive captain was playing video games, the US Coast Guard (USCG) said. The 538-gt Pathfinder (built 1970) grounded on Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef, site of the Exxon Valdez disaster, in 2009, spilling 6,400 gallons of oil.
It was part of a navigation safety system established in the aftermath of the 1989 tanker spill to guide vessels through the sound. But the Crowley Marine Services-operated vessel struck the same submerged reef that ripped open the hull of the Exxon Valdez.
The preliminary USCG report said captain Eugene Monsen changed Pathfinder's course despite losing track of the vessel's precise location, increased speed and failed to properly communicate with other officers.
"The fact that he went to the computer to play video games after a course change further aggravates the situation and amplifies the lack of attention on the bridge between the master and second mate," the report said.
Monsen was playing Hearts and other games on the computer and had his back to the bridge's front window, the report said. The Coast Guard report noted that the captain and the second mate had violated Crowley's operating policies.
But the report also recommended the company update its policies, calling for new provisions to address crew members' use of cell phones and recreational electronic devices.
The USCG also should consider some new rules or policies about use of such devices, the report said.
"Games, music, phone calls to far-away family are a strong temptation and could easily distract a ship's officer from maintaining a proper lookout," the report said.
Crowley spokesman Mark Miller said that Pathfinder's captain and second mate were fired after they were determined to have violated policies. The incident was an aberration for the company, which has a long history of operating throughout Alaska, he added.
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PACQUIAO NOT TO BLAME
Master of grounded bulker Double Prosperity denies all the crew were watching big boxing match at time of accident.
The master of the grounded bulker Double Prosperity has denied all the crew were watching a big boxing match at the time of the incident off the Philippines.
Local mayor Danny Martinez has speculated that the 77,000-dwt Japanese-owned vessel (built 2005) grounded on Sunday during the televised bout between Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao and American Shane Mosley in Las Vegas.
But the captain told local TV that the cause of the grounding on a coral reef was due to a miscalculation.
The Yano Kaiun ship will be stuck off Sarangani for two weeks before it can be refloated. It will be 20 years before the damaged coral will recover, experts said.
Double Prosperity was carrying 65,000 tonnes of coal to Indian from Australia.
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