Just read driver is now being charged with manslaughter due to alcohol.

No tug operator is going to run up and down international waters like the St Lawrence and contend with the US and Canadian Coast Guards without proper lights and shapes according to the COLREGS. The COLREGS are international law by treaty so you just can't arbitrarily change the way lights on vessels are displayed. Depending on the configuration of the tow, a single stern light on the last barge may be difficult to see with all the backlighting along the seaway, I totally agree with that, but if you are familiar with the law and your lights and shapes, the "traditional lighting" on the tug tells you everything you need to know. Even if a barge or boat for some mechanical reason was not displaying the proper lights, failure to maintain proper speed and a lookout still puts the responcibility on the knucklehead who ran into the barge.

I personally have almost hit moored barges at night because of no lights and it blending in with the distant shoreline. To say it would never happen is bs

I used to boat all the time at night, crossing Long Island Sound every weekend in the dark. You really have to pay attention to do it safely but one thing that I always wondered about is why the lighting on some commercial vessels is SO SH!TTY. I don't care if it's regulations or no, they're hard to see. Do the people that enact these regulations actually boat at night?

There's no excuse for drunk boating especially at night and this is a good example, but IMO the regulations for lighting blows.

Technically you're correct, when I was running at night I knew all the regs and lighting requirements, but it still SUCKS. Quoting COLREGS is great, but sometimes someone needs to step up and review them, nothing says you can't improve a requirement.

It wasn't uncommon that I'd have to stop the boat to assess a situation until I figured out it was safe to proceed, many times the barges were barely discernable with their sh!t lighting and I only saw them because their shape occluded the lights from shore. I knew what to look for from the tug lighting but still it sucked. You shouldn't have to work that hard to see a vessel at night, it just defies common reason.

Having run a powered crane barge I have always wondered why they don't have distinctive white or yellow stripes. With the advent of cheap solar lights why not ring the perimeters with cheap Chinese stuff?

Thoughts and prayers to all that were involved.

Am I reading the article wrong, or was this barge tied up to the TappanZee Bridge. Wanting better lighting to stop future accidents is valid, but I don't think that was the problem here.

http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/stor...N3WG9cn2Q.cspx


just a small update on the crash

I run a 200 ft offshore supply vessel. I make a whopping 10knts on the dash. Lighting can be confusing but only when mixed in with background lighting. On occasion to be sure I slow down and use binoculars and a second set of eyes to make certain things out at night. I also have spotlights and radars.

The issue here isn't lighting. It is more to do with running at speed at night. Not easy to do. You can't light commercial vessels up like Christmas trees as it affects night vision. The idea is to maintain your night vision. The brighter the light the worse it is.

Responsible operations of any motorized form of transportation including boats, cars and motorcycles says when in limited visibility SLOW DOWN. Add on top of that the alcohol and you have a tragedy that is easily avoidable.

Sorry, but I didn't imagine it, believe what you want, but, My dock sits on the St Lawrence and I HAVE seen it.

The other problem I have found is when your approaching from dead ahead if there are no light on the front of the barge it's sometimes difficult to judge whether the barge is being pushed or pulled, until you get close to it.