Visual, Manual and Cognitive Revisited

 

Distractions in the Wheelhouse

 

Kentucky transportation officials are suing seven members of the crew of a cargo ship that struck and collapsed part of the Eggners Ferry Bridge over the Tennessee River two years ago, causing millions in damage and diverting traffic for four months.  The National Transportation Safety Board in its' January 2012 findings determined that the wheelhouse crew readily ignored available navigation aids; electronic charting system displays, radars and charts aids as they discussed the few visible bridge lights. 

  

The discussion of the few visible lights on the bridge became a distraction that could have quickly been resolved by checking the available navigation aids.   Instead, they continued a discussion of uncertain light characteristics that ended with a disastrous allusion with the bridge.

 

When distractions are present in the Wheelhouse, incidents can happen. 

 

 

Below is a rewrite of a 2012 Higman Training Newsletter that discusses the possibilities of an incident when distractions are allowed to take over responsible navigation.

 

Let's look at a hypothetical example of one of our wheelhouses and put some numbers to the realities of distractions. 

 

You are piloting a two barge tow, loaded with a 9'6" draft, going southbound on the Lower Mississippi River. The current, at the present mile board, is running strong at four mph.  The throttles are open and you have an over the ground speed of seven mph.

 

Your COG (course over ground) is now eleven mph. 

  

In the background you hear a soft ding, indicating a text message has just been delivered to your cell phone. 

 

"What about crew change?"

 

You pick up the phone and type back "Crew Change tomorrow in Baton Rouge".  Press send and you are done.

 

So what just happened?

 

Reading and then typing an answer to the incoming text may have taken you taken you 37 seconds.

 

During those short 37 seconds:

 

• The tow traveled 596 feet; just short of two football fields.
• Since the tow is strung out, the bow rake of the lead barge is now more than a half mile from your position in the pilot house when you picked up that phone; 596 feet plus the 600 feet of tow.
• You have just moved about 7,000 tons of cargo (fourteen million pounds!) with very little observation of your surroundings.

There are three main types of distraction taking place in this example:

• Visual - taking your eyes from the route and on to texting.
• Manual - taking your hands away from the sticks and other operating controls.  Though this is normal, it is still part of the distraction.
• Cognitive - taking your mind off what you're doing and the task at hand.  

But wait, you say; "What about all the other distractions in the wheelhouse?  What about the chart plotter, the log book and the engine gauges?"

 

 Wheelhouse tools, if used properly are part of your "Awareness Mix" and play an important role in situational awareness.

 

 What adds to you immediate situational awareness is positive and helpful to your safe piloting.  What does not add to your situational awareness is a distraction.

 

 Can we ever be distraction free during our time in the wheelhouse? My answer to that is, probably not.  Today's towboat world is much different than the one just a few years ago.  Our lives are full of gadgets and communication devices that are all trying to get our attention.

 

 The challenge today is to keep distractions to a minimum and to manage the distractions that are inevitable. 

 

How are you managing those distractions?

Thank you Capt. Pete!

 

At our 2nd Wheelmen's Seminar on March 27th, Higman Barge Lines presented Captain O'Neal Peters with a special award in appreciation of his 50 years of service. To show our appreciation, Higman has granted Capt. Pete the honor of having a vessel named after him. In April 2015 we will take delivery of the M/V CAPT. PETE.

 

Capt. Pete was also given a certificate  granting him the opportunity to pick out a new truck of his choice.

 

 

O'Neal Peters, known to most of us as "Capt. Pete," has been working on the water much longer than most of us have been alive. When you say most seniority, Capt. Pete is top dog, having worked for the Higman family since 1964.

 

Capt. Pete joined the towing industry on the urging of a friend. He left Northwest Florida and went to Mobile, AL where he found a job as a deckhand at Radcliff Materials. His first assignment was on a small towboat that operated an oyster dredge. Oyster dredging is a dirty job where the shells are scooped up from coastal bays and are loaded onto barges. These shells were then delivered to terminals along the ICW for road bed construction. His first dredge experience was in Choctawhatchee Bay near Destin, FL. The pay was much different than today. Capt. Pete started at $14.00 per day which was then considered good pay. The crews worked 14 on/7 off which has not changed much. Transportation to and from the boat was on your own, and you better not be late.

 

Oyster Dredging is not the most glamorous work, which motivated Capt. Pete to make a change into clean petroleum barges. In 1964, he showed up at the union hall and was sent to the M/V EDGAR BROWN III, his first Higman assignment.   It was the first boat that Capt. Pete rode that had air conditioning, a big improvement during the summer time. Within months, he got his tankerman ticket and was off to a long career.

 

In the mid 60's, tankermen were required to have licenses, but the wheelmen were not. Capt. Pete worked his way into the wheelhouse by hanging out in the pilot house and learning from the wheelman on watch. His first Pilot job paid $19.50 per day, a step up from Utility Tankerman that paid $19.00 per day. Eventually, wheelmen were required to have licenses and Capt. Pete was grandfathered in the process. He was able to get an official CG license by showing an ID, answering a 10 question test and taking the oath.

 

In 1975 Capt. Pete was promoted to Captain. As Captain, checking in with the office was not an easy task. Prior to cell phones, a 0800, once a day traffic call to the office was made through the marine operator. The VHF call on channel 26 has routed by land line to the office. Later, single sideband radios made it easier, but still nowhere as convenient as today. One call to the office was all you got back then so you better make the call count. Calls home while underway were also made over the VHF through the marine operator. Much late night entertainment consisted of listening to mariners pour out their hearts to wives and girlfriends over the VHF.

 

Capt. Pete remarked how no one believes how many times he took his tow through the Galveston RR Bridge on a tow line. The practice used by his boat back then was to tow the barges while empty using the stern H bit. The tow was pushed while loaded.

 

What is the biggest change from forty years ago? Capt Pete says the quality of the living conditions and overall quality of the boats we are running today is a great improvement.   He would advise those starting out in their career to stick with it, don't jump companies and look for the long run.

 

Capt. Pete lives with his wife, Doris, in Iota, La.

You are reasonably healthy, almost never sick, stay active, eat right most of the time.  Yes, you've added a few years, but remain in excellent shape and good health.  So when the doctor sits down next to you and says you have prostate cancer you go into shock.  It must be a mistake right?  No, it isn't.  

Are your barge running lights being properly positioned?

 

What's wrong with this picture?

 

 

 

Plug-in running lights must be set in the side screens so the arrow cast in the light housing is pointing forward.

 

If the arrow on the plug-in running light is not pointing forward, the  required visible arc will not seen by other vessels over the entire range.

 

The running light shown above can only be seen for 90 degrees and the "22.5 degrees abaft a beam" will not be seen.

Good ideas need to be shared, refined and become "Best Practices". A "Best Practice" is defined as a method or technique which shows results superior to those achieved with other means, and that is used as a benchmark.  In addition, a "Best Practice" can evolve to become better as improvements are discovered.

Main engine air filters can be rotated 1/4 of a turn in the filter canister housing as part of every oil change.  This significantly will lengthen the life of the filter.

 

We have always encouraged our employees to apply for license renewal early to ensure you receive your license in time. A few years ago the Coast Guard started allowing for "Delayed Issuance". This way you could apply early without losing time on your license. This will no longer be required.

 

Beginning March 24, 2014 any application for RENEWAL will automatically be Postdated. The issue date of your new MMC will automatically be the day following your expiration of your current MMC (but no more than 8 month in the future).

 

Here are a few things to consider:

• This will only apply to renewals! If you have a raise in grade or adding an endorsement (i.e. tankerman to steersman) these will be issued on the day of approval.
• The license will still be valid for 5 years from the issue date (five years from your last issue)
• The new credential will not be valid until the issue date on the new MMC. You must continue to carry your current MMC until that date.
• When your current MMC become invalid (after the expiration) you are required to return the expired MMC to the National Maritime Center
• If your renewal is approved more than 8 month from your expiration, then your new MMC will be dated 8 months from the approval date.

 

We recommend applying 8 months out unless you have a known medical condition. Your application will be processed through security, medical and professional qualifications. Once the Coast Guard has determined that you meet all these requirements for these areas your license will be approved. Once approved your new MMC will be dated for the day after your expiration date and mailed. You will continue to carry your current license until the day of expiration. Then you will carry the new license and the old license should be sent to the National Maritime Center. If you lose the new license you will be responsible for replacing it.

 

If you have any questions concerning the new policy please contact Mrs. Patti Guthrie in the Covington office at 985-893-3337.

  

USCG Rules of the Road Questions

 

 

INLAND ONLY A fleet of moored barges extends into a navigable channel. What is the color of the lights on the barges?

a. Red
b. Amber
c. White
d. Yellow

 

INLAND ONLY You are operating a vessel through a narrow channel and your vessel must stay within the channel to be navigated safely. Another vessel is crossing your course from starboard to port, and you are in doubt as to her intentions. You __________.

a. must sound the danger signal
b. are required to back down
c. may sound the danger signal
d. should sound one short blast to show that you are holding course and speed

 

INLAND ONLY At night, a barge moored in a slip used primarily for mooring purposes shall __________.

a. not be required to be lighted
b. show a white light at each corner
c. show a red light at the bow and stern
d. show a flashing yellow light at each corner

 

INLAND ONLY Which is TRUE of a power-driven vessel, bound downstream, when meeting an upbound vessel on the Western Rivers?

a. She has the right-of-way.
b. She shall propose the manner of passage.
c. She shall initiate maneuvering signals.
d. All of the above

 

INLAND ONLY You are meeting another vessel in inland waters, and she sounds one short blast on the whistle. This means that she __________.

a. is changing course to starboard
b. is changing course to port
c. intends to leave you on her port side
d. desires to depart from the Rules

Ask the crews of the M/V LAVACA BAY and the M/V SANDPIPER about ice and they will tell you they saw plenty this past winter.  As of today though, spring has sprung and most of the Illinois River is ice free. 

During mid February, The U.S. Coast Guard brought the USCGC BISCAYNE BAY from Straits of Mackinac, to help clear ice in the Chicago harbor.

The Southwind was called Atka during her Navy service from 1950 to 1966. The Edisto, Burton Island, and Glacier were also commissioned by the Navy during this time, but by 1966 all of the icebreakers had been transferred to the Coast Guard. Oceanographic results from the US Coast Guard or Naval vessels operating in the Arctic from the 1930s through the 1960s have been reported by the Coast Guard, International Ice Patrol, and Naval Oceanographic Office, among others. 

© 2014 HIGMAN MARINE SERVICES, Inc.