Marine Investigation Report: Flooding and Partial Sinking of Towing Vessel Uncle Blue, March 26, 2023

​On March 26, 2023, about 0500 local time, the towing vessel Uncle Blue was towing one empty barge on the Lower Mississippi River in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, when the vessel began flooding. The six crewmembers aboard attempted to pump out the vessel but were unsuccessful, and they evacuated to the barge. A Good Samaritan vessel pushed the towboat and barge to the right descending bank, where the Uncle Blue partially sank. There were no injuries, and no pollution was reported. Damage to the vessel was estimated at $500,000.​ The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause of the flooding and partial sinking of the towing vessel Uncle Blue was a lack of watertight integrity due to the poor condition of the hull, which allowed water to ingress through wastage holes into the lazarette. Contributing to the sinking were unsealed penetrations in transverse bulkheads, which allowed for progressive flooding forward into the engine room, and the lack of a high-water bilge sensor in the lazarette, which prevented early detection of flooding into the space. ​

• Record URL:
  • https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/MIR2423.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/DCA23FM023.aspx
• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Washington, DC  United States 
• Publication Date: 2024-8-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; Photos;
• Pagination: 11p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Crash investigation; Towboats; Water transportation crashes
• Geographic Terms: Louisiana; Mississippi River
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01929962
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: MIR-24-23, Investigation ID DCA23FM023
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 11 2024 9:17AM