ILL Fated Barge Sinks Off the Coast of Miami

In the early morning hours of November 7th, the captain of the tug Sante Teo reported to the U.S. Coast Guard that his tug had lost power and was adrift with a 250' barge in tow from Port Au Prince Haiti to Miami Florida. The barge was loaded with empty shipping containers and the cause of the tugs main engine failure was likely due to a fuel contamination issue. At about noon the same day, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Seneca arrived on scene while the captain of the tug was reporting that he feared the barge was taking on water. Shortly thereafter, Cutter Seneca took the tug and barge in tow while Coast Guard District 7 officials discussed a plan of action. A tug company from Port Everglades was dispatched to get the disabled tug and barge in tow and steam for the Port of Miami.

When the tug arrived on scene, it was very apparent that the barge had taken on a great deal of water and was listing to Port with a very heavy bow. The tug company determined that it was unsafe to place the tug and sinking barge in tow and returned to port. Later that evening, the salvage team from TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale was called to action in an attempt to dewater the barge. A salvage crew consisting of a salvage Master, several divers and captains loaded dewatering pumps and patching material for the hatches in one of the company's twin diesel tugs and arrived on scene just before 0700 hours on November 8th. High winds and rough seas contributed to the challenge of getting equipment and crew transferred to the barge. After several hours of pumping water from hatches that were accessible, It was determined that the barge was taking on far more water than the pumps had capacity to pump overboard while the bow continued to dip and the strain on the gear that bound the containers to the deck was becoming increasingly evident. Salvage Master Chris Stevens recounts the moments leading up to the decision to abort the mission. "I was on deck attempting to gain access to one of the forward compartments while waves were washing across the deck. Several of the hatches that we needed to access were underwater and in the path of the wildly swinging, steel loading ramp making it impossible to dewater those compartments. As the bow dipped deeper in the water, the deck angle grew steeper. The load binders securing the containers were banjo tight and making eerie noises each time a large wave washed across the deck. After two of the load binders parted, we deemed the operation unsafe, loaded our gear on our tug and departed scene."

Shortly thereafter, The crew of the Richard L. Becker, TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale's 96' salvage tug got underway at the direction of Titan Maritime. The vessel was chartered to support their salvage efforts and to stand watch during the overnight hours. In the end, the barge was claimed by the sea and our crew assisted with damage control. The Coast Guard shot the barge full of holes to expedite her trip to the ocean floor which was over 2000' deep. The salvage crew from Titan Maritime worked on deck of the Richard L. Becker and one of TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale's 31' twin diesel boats cutting holes in the shipping containers that drifted free from the barge as she sunk. Thanks to a coordinated effort to ensure that each container was scuttled, by day's end the incident no longer posed a hazard to navigation in this busy shipping lane.