Tug Boat Mate Takes The 5th

PHILADELPHIA - The National Transportation Safety Board has just released details about how a Philadelphia duck boat and a barge collided last Wednesday, killing two tourists.

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The NTSB says in its interviews, the Duck Boat captain said he made radio calls to the Caribbean Sea, the tug pulling the barge, without a response from the tug boat.

Other people on nearby vessels also heard the distress calls from the Duck Boat.

The NTSB says the mate of the tug took the fifth amendment and would not speak with investigators.

There were four other crew members on the tug. On deckhand was sleeping at the time of the accident, while the three other crew members, including the ship’s master, spoke with investigators.

The NTSB has confirmed the tug was moving at 5 knots, which is about 6 miles per hour.

About 5 to 10 minutes before the accident, Duck Boat was northbound in the river and experienced a mechanical problem that led the master to anchor his vessel, the NTSB says.

The bow of the barge The Resource struck the stern of the DUKW 34, which resulted in the DUKW 34 sinking in about 55 feet of water

The Caribbean Sea's GPS and electronic chart navigation devices were also removed from the vessel and taken to NTSB Headquarters for analysis.

Two tourists, who were part of a church group from Hungary, died when the barge rammed Duck Boat 34 on Wednesday in the Delaware River. But 35 people survived in what is being called a miracle by some people.

One surviving tourist, Mark Grace, described how he and his nine-year-old daughter Ruby survived the accident.

Grace said her daughter slipped from his grasp as their got out of the boat during the collision. He regained control of his daughter by grabbing her hair as she slipped into the water.

"We sort of tumbled, "said Ruby

Mark Grace said they were sitting in the front of the boat and noticed that the boat's first mate had jumped off the boat as the accident started.

They both started to go underwater when Mark Grace grabbed his daughter

"It was kind of captured in the Titanic movie, people kind of flailing underwater, mass chaos," Mark Grace said.

Luckily, Ruby is an excellent swimmer and a member of her swim team.

They both got to shore about 30 feet apart.

"If that was the end, then it was the end," Mark Grace described how he felt during the ordeal.

But he told Fox 29 he believed there was some kind of divine intervention at hand, and he doesn’t understand how more people weren't trapped under the barge.

Grace told Fox 29 that when he came up to the surface, the barge was a good distance away from the accident scene.

He said it felt like the hand of God came down and helped the surviving passengers.

Grace also said he went underwater twice: first during the collision and then when the Duck Boat sank.

He also had nothing but compliments for the first responders at the accident scene.

Tonight, Fox 29's Sharon Crowley picks up the story.  She has learned that the Captain and the mate of the tugboat are the only two who are authorized to pilot the tug.   So, it is possible that the mate may have been piloting that tug at the time of the accident.  The NTSB is not saying yet - as their investigation is ongoing.

She also spoke to Fred Tecce, a former Federal prosecutor, about the significance of the mate's silence and the latest developments in the NTSB investigation.