A Louisiana barge-towing vessel struck and damaged a bridge in 2021 but the vessel’s pilot never reported it to authorities, the National Transportation Safety Board said last week.
In the early morning hours of Dec. 23, 2021, reports Marine Insight, the Miss Mollye D was pushing six hopper barges on the Intracoastal Waterway to New Orleans when the pilot lost control of the tow. While navigating the channel, the 676 foot long tow began to swing to port.
When the pilot realized the tow was not positioned well, he put the engines in reverse. The tow then struck the bridge, which ran parallel to the waterway. The pilot told investigators he initially did not see the bridge, nor did he know the tow struck the bridge. Read the entire story.
