CRANE BARGE C.L. DILL 10 FIRE, GARDEN ISLAND BAY, MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA, JUNE 5, 1979. MARINE ACCIDENT REPORT

About 0930, on June 5, 1979, a buried 4-inch-diameter, high-pressure, natural gas pipeline was separated at a collar by a mooring spud dropped from the crane barge C. L. DILL 10 as the barge was being maneuvered by a tugboat alongside tank battery No. 205 in a channel of the Texaco, Inc., oil field in the Garden Island Bay section of the Mississippi River Delta. Gas, escaping under 700-psig pressure, was ignited by an unknown source and set the barge, tugboat, and tank battery on fire. Four of the six persons on the barge drowned in their attempt to escape. The fire was extinguished about 1030; damage was estimated at $500,000. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the dropping of a mooring spud without first surveying the channel near the tank battery to determine if active pipelines crossed beneath the channel to and from the oil wells. Contributing to the accident were the absence of posted signs prohibiting anchoring at the tank battery, and the decision of the crane operator to deviate from the planned work schedule. The failure of some of the crewmen to use available lifesaving equipment contributed to the loss of life.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Bureau of Accident Investigation, 800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1980-6-24

Media Info

• Pagination: 19 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Barge operations; Casualties; Crash causes; Fatalities; Flammability; Inland waterways; Pipeline safety; Training; Underwater pipelines; Vapors; Water transportation crashes
• Old TRIS Terms: Casualty data; Inland waterways accidents; Personnel casualties; Ss dill v; Vapor flammability levels
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Marine Transportation; Pipelines; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00319033
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB-MAR-80-9
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 8 1980 12:00AM