Pilot Trey Davis

In the distance, he noticed a small light flashing on the North side of the channel.  At first Trey thought it was a reflection of his vessel's lights off of the water ahead.  He targeted his spot light toward the light and observed a man in the water frantically waving his arms in the vacinity of a mooring buoy. 

Tankerman Willis Washington

How did this happen?

The person that was in the water was a deck crew member off of the towboat moored with the barges.  That night, he was the only crew member awake.  His tow began to break away from the mooring buoy and he attempted to re-secure the tow by himself.  While standing on the mooring buoy trying to position a line, he lost his balance and fell into the water. 

With no one else up aboard his towboat, the fall overboard went unnoticed. It was reported that the crewmember may have been in the water for about an hour before being spotted by the M/V DRUM POINT.

What are the lessons here?

There are many lessons to be reinforced by this situation.  Key to being safe, beyond following our policies and procedures, is common sense.

• First and foremost, never go out on the tow without checking with the Wheelman on watch.  In this case, no one was aware that the crewmember was away from the boat.
• This applies not only to deck work, it also applies to engine room and deck checks.  Always keep each other informed of your activities!
• Communications are key to a safe operation.
• If the boat is short handed due to an unusual circumstances and one man has to be up, discuss crew expectations and talk about possible scenarios.
• Understand your limitations.  In this case one man tried to rescue a tow that was breaking away; not a great idea!
• Always have a good, waterproof flashlight with you when working on a boat.  The light from this person's flashlight was key to his rescue. At least he got one thing right!
• Review Man Overboard procedures.  Remember 80% of the fatalities in our industry can be attributed to a MOB situation.

M/V DRUM POINT

Shaft Seals That Don't Ask For Much

 

Keeping your bilge dry is a noble goal.

 

Most of our fleet is equipped with water lubricated shaft seals. The "ManeGuard PSE Inboard Seal" has a big name for a system that keeps our bilges dry with minimum maintenance and attention.

Drip-less Shaft Seal

 

I say minimum maintenance and attention, but what does that mean?

  

Cooling Water Supply:

 

When you look at your shaft seals, you will notice a line starting on the side of the engine room hull, passing through a strainer and ending at the shaft seal. There is a sea valve at the hull connection and an isolation valve at the seal. Since the silicon carbide sealing plates (one stationary and one turning with the shaft) rub against each other to create the seal, there is friction. Because of friction, there needs for a cooling medium to remove built up heat.

• Water is scooped from outside the hull as the boat is running and flows through tubing, first to the strainer.
  • The strainer filters out large contaminants that could damage the seals if allowed to continue.
• After the strainer, water flows via tubing directly to the water side of the seal assembly.
  • This provides flow to help cool the seal plates and is then displaced out of the back side of the shaft seal.

   What maintenance is needed for the cooling water unit?

Sea Water Strainer

• Check the strainer basket for buildup of debris and mud.
  • Secure the sea valve and the seal valve located adjacent to the seal.
  • Carefully open the top of the strainer and remove the basket. Clean it out.
  • Crack open the sea valve to confirm that the supply line is not plugged up.
  • Crack open the seal valve and observe back flow to the strainer to confirm the line is not plugged.
  • If they are plugged, with a couple of shots of air and some gentle tapping with a wooden hammer handle, the plug should disappear.
• Re-install the basket, secure the strainer cover and carefully reopen the supply valves.
  • Check for leaks.

Other maintenance:

Bilge sump pumps - Unlike conventional packing glands, with this type of shaft seal, there is no leakage into the sump area. Our boats are equipped with shaft sump pumps, but in normal operations they do not run. You can expect with a pump that is never turned, it may not work when you need it most.

• Add water to the sump on a regular basis to confirm the pump will start up and pump.

Most boats do this once week.

 

Inflatable Emergency Seal:

 

Foot Pump

Each shaft seal is equipped with an inflatable emergency shaft seal. It can be described as a miniature "tire tube", that sits deflates around the shaft. When this miniature "tire tube" is inflated, it grips around the shaft and seals out inflowing water. Inflating the "tire" to about 30 PSI will effectively stop water from entering your boat if there is damage to the silicon carbide plates.

• Make sure your crew all know where the foot pumps (there should be 2 onboard) are located and that they all know how to hook them up. They should be located in your "Critical Spares Box".
  • Having to remember where the foot pumps are located when water is gushing into the boat at an alarming rate is not the time to do it.
  • Each foot pump has a connecting tube with a bicycle type Schrader valve to help control the pressure if you have to remove the foot pump. Make sure it is located with your foot pumps.

    Connecting Tube

• Make sure all in the crew know that the shaft should remain stationary when the "tire" is inflated. It is not designed for friction and is only there to seal until permanent repairs are made.
• Is your crew ready to secure the shaft from turning if the boat has to be moved to undergo repairs?

Beyond these few requirements and some simple understanding by all crewmembers, there is little needed to keep these seals working long and drip free!

Nav Zone 

Rule 24(i) refers to vessels pushing ahead or towing alongside on Western Rivers (expect below the Huey P. Long Bridge on the Mississippi River) and waters specified by the Secretary shall display:

• Sidelights and
• Tow towing lights in a vertical line

This means that when you are on the following rivers you need to turn off your two white masthead lights:

• Mississippi River above the Huey P. Long Bridge
• All Rivers directly connected the Mississippi River
• Port Allen Route
• Waters Specified by the Secretary including:

Tennessee - Tombigbee Waterway

Tombigbee River

Black Warrior River

Alabama River

Coosa River

Mobile River above the Cochrane Bridge at the St Louis Point

Flint River

Chattahoochee River

Apalachicola River above its confluence with the Jackson River

Despite the fact that you use masthead lights, the Mississippi River below the Huey P. Long Bridge is still considered Western Rivers. Per Rule 3 (i):

"Western Rivers means the Mississippi River, its tributaries, South Pass, and Southwest Pass, to the navigational demarcation lines dividing the high seas from harbors, rivers and other inland waters of the United States, and the Port Allen-Morgan City Alternate Route, and that part of the Atchafalaya River above its junction with the Port Allen-Morgan City Alternate Route including the Old River and the Red River"

This means the Mississippi River and all waterways directly connected to the Mississippi down to the demarcation line (which are below South Pass and Southwest Pass).

USCG Rules of the Road:

BOTH INTERNATIONAL & INLAND A towing light is a yellow light having the same characteristics as a(n) __________.

a. special flashing light
b. anchor light
c. stern light
d. masthead light

INLAND ONLY A towing vessel pushing ahead on the Western Rivers above the Huey P. Long bridge must show __________.

a. sidelights only
b. sidelights and towing lights
c. sidelights, towing lights, and two masthead lights
d. sidelights, towing lights, and three masthead lights

INLAND ONLY A power-driven vessel pushing ahead or towing alongside on the Mississippi River, below the Huey P. Long Bridge, shall carry __________.

a. two masthead lights, sidelights and stern light
b. two masthead lights, sidelights and two towing lights
c. sidelights and two towing lights
d. one masthead light, sidelights and stern light

INTERNATIONAL ONLY Yellow lights are NOT shown by __________.

a. towing vessels pushing ahead
b. air cushion vessels in a nondisplacement mode
c. purse seiners
d. U.S. submarines

INLAND ONLY For the purpose of the Inland Navigation Rules, the term "Inland Waters" includes __________.

a. the Western Rivers
b. the Great Lakes on the United States side of the International Boundary
c. harbors and rivers shoreward of the COLREGS demarcation lines
d. All of the above

Stern Shots

Tankerman Deldrick Harrison throws a line.

Relief Captain Rusty Hanson helps with lines.

Pilot James Bond finishes bring the M/V Annapolis dockside.

Tankerman Deldrick Harrison and Juan Pena take the engine off the old skiff.

Steersman Kevin Bingham checks out the new skiff with Anthony and Michael.

Civil War Blockade Runner "DENBIGH"

In our last "Nautical Trivia", we looked at the USS WESTFIELD which ran aground near Pelican Cut in Galveston Bay and was destroyed by Confederate forces on New Years Day, 1863.  Another ship wreck close to this site is the famous blockade runner, the "DENBIGH"

DENBIGH