Tug pilot testifies in Miss. River crash hearing

[October 22, 2008]  NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- An improperly licensed and overworked towboat pilot said Tuesday that radar and steering lever problems led him to veer his tug into the path of a tanker along the Mississippi River, leading to a crash and oil spill that shut the major waterway for days.

During a Coast Guard fact-gathering hearing into the July 23 collision, John Paul Bavaret II said his towboat, the Mel Oliver, got in the way of a southbound Liberian tanker ship because he became distracted by a malfunctioning radar.

"The radar went off. I had lost the radar. I was trying to get it back on," he said.

He said he realized that his boat was in the middle of the river only after he heard the tanker's pilot call him on the radio.

"When I looked up, I was heading toward the ship," he testified.

Next, he was unable to steer his vessel and the fuel barge it was pushing because the steering wheel jammed for some reason, he said.

The hearing is expected to continue for several more days with deckhands, pilots and executive staff from the towing company slated to testify. At the end, a Coast Guard officer will suggest ways to improve safety and could also recommend if civil and criminal penalties should be pursued.

The tanker ran over the barge, causing the barge's fuel tank to rupture and spill about 283,000 gallons of oil into the river in New Orleans. The collision closed the river for six days.

Bavaret also testified that for several months before the accident, his company, Harvey-based DRD Towing Co., allowed him to run towboats on his own even though he was not supposed to. As an apprentice steersmen, Bavaret was qualified to pilot them only with a captain at his side.

For three days before the crash, Bavaret said he was the only pilot onboard the Mel Oliver, working long hours with occasional naps.

The boat's captain, Terry Carver, left Bavaret in charge on July 21 so he could drive to Illinois to deal with a problem with his girlfriend, Bavaret said. In his absence, Bavaret said Carver asked him to cover both their watches so that Carver would not lose pay.

"I was getting naps in between (when) we were loading barges," Bavaret said.

Carver has not yet testified and the company's attorneys had not yet asked questions of Bavaret.

Bavaret gave short answers to many of the questions posed by Lt. Cmdr. Melissa Harper, the Coast Guard's presiding officer at the hearing. He appeared hesitant and nervous.

Bavaret said he has worked on tugboats for 15 years, starting at age 18. He got his apprentice steersman's license in January 2007.

As an apprentice pilot, he made about $200 a day but often filled in for captains and would get their pay, which ranged up to $450 a day, he said.

[Associated Press; By CAIN BURDEAU]

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