Real Life Tug Flip(Vid)

[nocal707]

Has this been posted? Just saw it on liveleak and it said it's from the other day.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=242_1244239458

[Kmot]

Whoa, bummer! Thank goodness the crew survived.

[SilentHunter]

the people on the shore dident even know what was going on lol

Looked like a strong current or something pushing the big boat...

[norgale]

Is that the one where the boat rolls under a bridge and comes back up the other side?
I tried the link and it wouldn't work for me. pete

Ok got it now. That tug never had a chance once the other boat got going. Dangerous work that tugboating. Pete

[Habanero]

No its on a beach somewhere

[capntroy]

He got in irons and got rolled. This kind of inattention gets crews killed.

He had a towline running from his aft tow point to the starboard bow of the trawler, he was probably trying to tow from that side originally.

When he shifted from towing mode on the starboard bow to push mode on the port bow, his line should have been re-rigged to his own bow or cast off entirely.

This was either an inexperienced or lazy tug crew. Or both.

[Prins Willem]

This happens to tugs when they get perpendicular to the towline. Its called tripping. The tow will pull the tug right over. Many years ago a local tug was tripped while assisting the CG in testing their tow gear. The tug is now a popular dive site.

I have watched GLT tugs here get diagonal to the tow to slow them, or act as a sea anchor to maneuver them. When they roll down to the scuppers it looks dramatic. Now with cycloidal ASD tugs you can be in any position and not worry about tripping. lazy or lack of experience, maybe. But just as likely the guy in the wheelhouse was distracted for a few seconds, or made what he thought at the time was a reasonable decision. We have all done that. Hold the tiny part with your fingers while you drill into it, take a slug out of the coffee cup you just removed from the microwave. The price of freedom (and safety) is eternal vigilance.

[capntroy]

All valid points except that the tug in question wasn't rigged for any of those ship assist maneuvers. And that boat is a conventional tug, not a tractor tug.

The captain's inexperience is highlighted by the fact that because of how he rigged up his towline, once the trawler got sternway, there was no way for him to continue being any use to the tow except to do that little 180 degree dance that he was attempting when he tripped.

A classic case of someone running a boat past his abilities.

If the captain had pulled some crap like that on the Mississippi, he and his deckhand would be dead.

[Shaun Hendricks]

Can't understand why he didn't either cut or cast off the line when it had tugged hard on him TWICE while he was sideways to the tow. If you watch, he got pulled hard twice and got more slack on the line. I think I'd have taken that warning the first time and cast off from the tow.

It looks like when he ran out of slack, he got rolled.