COLLISION OF PERUVIAN FREIGHTER M/V INCA TUPAC YUPANQUI AND U.S. BUTANE BARGE PANAMA CITY, GOOD HOPE, LOUISIANA, AUGUST 30, 1979. MARINE ACCIDENT REPORT

About 0712 c.d.t., on August 30, 1979, the Peruvian freighter M/V INCA TUPAC YUPANQUI lost steering control and struck the butane barge PANAMA CITY moored at General American Transportation Corporation Dock No. 4, Good Hope, Louisiana. As a result of the collision, liquefied butane was released, vaporized, ignited, and exploded in a ball of fire. Twelve persons died as a result of the accident. Damage was estimated at $10,500,000. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the loss of steering control due to an electrical failure in the steering control system of the INCA TUPAC YUPANQUI. Contributing to the accident was the lack of two independent steering control systems, the failure of the master to post an anchor watch and a person on watch in the steering engineroom, and the location of the loading facility which unduly exposed the barge to approaching ships. Contributing to the extent of damage to the ship was the use of combustible materials in its deckhouse.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Bureau of Accident Investigation, 800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1980-5-12

Media Info

• Pagination: 45 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Butane; Cargo ships; Casualties; Control; Crash investigation; Crashes; Docks; Explosions; Fatalities; Fires; Liquefied petroleum gas; Loss and damage; Mechanical failure; Ships; Steering; Water transportation crashes
• Identifier Terms: Panama City (Ship)
• Uncontrolled Terms: Damage assessment; Ship fires
• Geographic Terms: Louisiana
• Old TRIS Terms: Electrical equipment failure; Personnel casualties; Ss inca tupac yupanqui; Steering failure; Vapor cloud explosions
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00326169
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB-MAR-80-7
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 19 1981 12:00AM