another boat wreck
 

Prayers to the family and friends in this tragedy.

http://news.yahoo.com/bride-best-man...145851177.html

Damn, that sucks. :( I don't run a boat at night unless I absolutely have to, visibility is low at night time.

Prayers to all.

I have felt for a long time that in today's world of modern lighting barge owner's should be held to a higher degree of safety lighting than the current standards. Barges tend to be flat black or gray, low to the water with little or no lights, For a few dollars they could go a long way to being visible.

It's a sad story but you should only be going as fast as conditions permit. If visibility is low slow down!! I run all hours of the day in all weather. People don't realize you need to drive for the conditions. This to me was a case of irresponsible operator. Barges are lit. They have requirements to be lit. True lights can blend in with background lights but then again slow down!!

I am as much a speed nut as others but do so safely.

Speedboat?

Damn liberal media....

That is a tragic situation, my friends often roll their eyes at me when I say " we can go wherever you want, but I am off the water by sunset". Almost 50 years on the water and that is now my rule. (full moon clear sky excepted)

Sad story but all together too common and totally the operators fault. Three counts of vehicular manslaughter and suspected of operating the boat while intoxicated.

Failure to maintain a proper lookout and failure to maintain safe speed. Those barges and tugs run the proper lights according to the COLREGS. Barge owners are held to a higher standard according to International Law. It's irresponcible operators that got themselves killed.

I run at night often. No lake lice and I can see just fine under the moonlight.

Sad story though.

Not sure if I agree? I have had a place on the St Lawrence River that was in the family long before I was born and I seen plenty of barges go up and down the river with the ONLY lights being the ones on the tug. Not defending the boat operators, but, when you compare the lights on a traditional ship to a barge there IS a big difference, I don't think it would take a lot of effort to light up the barges a little better

Sucks!!!

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.

I agree with lights affecting night vision, but, what about something reflective? Like the red/silver reflective tape they use on trailers? I realize a bow light wouldn't throw enough light to reflect off it, but, a spotlight, flashlight, etc would. If nothing else it would be easier for a lookout to see.

I have done a bunch of overnight sailing. When you get into the outerbanks and stuff like that the fishing boats are lit up like christmas trees. The problem with that is they can ruin your night vision as well as you can no longer see their navigation lights. This makes it impossible to know what direction they are headed. Next thing you know they are on top of you and pissed. It is easier now with radar and you can track them, but prior to us having radar on my fathers boat it was 9 or so hours of stress. Even with the radar it is stressfull due to the number of boats that can be out there.

I have also seen barges out on the water with zero lights on them. All black and no lights does not give other boats much of a chance!

This type of story sucks. Hate to see so many lives ruined over what started out to be a fun thing.

I do not think I agree with you regarding lighting not being the issue. They said the barge was mored to the Tappan Zee Bridge and that it did have so called lighting but how bright or noticeable was this lighting? Was the driver using the red and green bridge marker lights for navigation? When looking up how well to you see things on the horizon that isn't well marked?

"He said the barge, one of several loaded with construction material for an upcoming replacement of the bridge, was equipped with lights, but it was still difficult to see on the water so late at night."

By the looks of the damage to the bow it does not appear the boat was traveling at "high" speeds. Even at 20-25 mph hitting something solid will throw anyone that isn't prepared for impact.

Sadly this is an accident, like most that could have been avoided.

Your more than welcome to disagree. I stand by the issue being nighttime and running at speed. Even at 30 mph. If visibility is an issue. SLOW DOWN. If you have to run off plane at idle speed because of visibility then do so. I sympathize with the lives lost and injuries to those due to a negligent operator.

Lets add it up.

Alcohol (yes I drink but do so responsibly)
Nighttime (meaning low visibility)
Running to fast for the conditions.

Pure negligence on the operators part.

If this barge was morred, regardless of light, if the barge wasn't there would they not have hit what the barge was morred to? Not being a smart ass, just asking. With all the mention of the lighting on the barge, if it was morred to a bridge, and they hit it, were they not too close to the bridge? I don't know the area, just asking...

[QUOTE=low_psi;3966992]If this barge was morred, regardless of light, if the barge wasn't there would they not have hit what the barge was morred to? Not being a smart ass, just asking. With all the mention of the lighting on the barge, if it was morred to a bridge, and they hit it, were they not too close to the bridge? I don't know the area, just asking...[/QUOTE

We don't know what the impact angle was but it is quite possible to think that you are in a possition to pass safely under the bridge but if the barge is tied up to it then your would need to be over what ever the width of the barge is to clear through. I don't know how wide this barge was but I would think 20 feet is not out of the question?

Agree with a lot of what was said by you guys. He is going to be made an example of and will be going to jail .But I can understand the circumstances that may have led to this. I kept my fountain on the Hudson for 9 years and was out at all hours of the night. He hit all low platform barge being used near the tappanzee bridge,he didn't use the channel when going under the bridge and hit the barge. Maybe the last time he went through there was nothing there.Its not a friendly river at night with tug boats pushing big barges all the time Don't compare your lake at night to the Hudson river.You are boating in a shipping channel .

The driver was going back to Piermont and the barges are moored just outside of the marina on the North side of the bridge. The barges are not in the middle of the Hudson since tugs and barges are going up and down the river all day. Nor are the barges lit very well, they are kinda close to the bridge where the road comes low, not much of a clearance to go under the bridge at that part of the bridge.

Yes alcohol was involved and nothing is going to bring back the two lives lost, may they rest in peace. The groom is a teacher at an elementary shool in my hometown. :(