Tug Position Key To Duck Boat Probe

PHILADELPHIA - Where a lookout was positioned on the tug boat Caribbean Sea may be the key clue in the Philadelphia Duck Boat tragedy probe.

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Fox 29 spoke with CPO Chad Lawler from the U.S. Coast Guard, who is in charge of the Philadelphia Coast Guard station, on Thursday.

Lawler explained how navigation rules work in the Delaware River, and where a lookout was required to be positioned on the tug or the barge involved in the collision that killed two tourists last Wednesday.

Lawler said a rule called “operating in a narrow channel” dictates the right of way, and that all commercial mariners must pass a test that includes that rule.

“When you are operating in a narrow channel, the vessel that can only operated in that channel prescribed will have the right of way over all other craft,” Lawler said. He believes the tug boat and barge had the right of way.

But how could the tug operator miss seeing the Duck Boat?

“When you are talking about lookouts, they have to be in a position where they can have a 360 degree view by hearing and site, “ Lawler said.

Images from the collision scene indicate the tug was at the back left of the barge, and the Duck Boat was on the front right of the barge when the boats collided.

The Duck Boat’s air horn did not work, said investigators last week, but the boat operators tried to hail the tug boat on the radio before the collision.

“It will lead back to the structure of the vessel itself and the area that you are operating in,” Lawler said. “Everything will lead back to the navigational rules. That will dictate the outcome of this situation.”

When asked if it was possible that all parties followed navigation rules and the fatal accident still happened, Lawler said that was possible.

A union rep said last night the lookout on the tug was in an appropriate position when the barge rammed the Duck Boat

Fox 29’s Jeff Cole spoke to Steve Oravets of Local 333.

"That's how it's normally done. The only time I've put, you know, if you are in bad weather you can't put a lookout on the bow, you know he might get washed away if you're at sea. And if there's fog you might want to put him on the bow, but on a clear day like that the mate would serve as the lookout and that's typically how the industry has done it."