Pilot left helm: Damage to towboat totaled $2 million

May 23, 2025
Inland, Inland and Coastal, News

The City of Louisville aground. [Photo: U.S. Coast Guard]

When the pilot left the helm of a towboat unattended for 5 minutes, the consequences were costly, according to a just-releases National Transportation Safety Board report

The incident involved the 138-foot long, 1962-built towboat City of Louisville, owned by Ceres Tank Barge LLC and operated by Reliant Maritime Solutions LLC. While the towboat was upbound on the Mississippi River pushing 11 barges on July 29, 2023, it ran aground in a charted shallow and rocky area. The grounding caused fractures to the vessel’s bottom plating underneath the engine room, leading to water flooding into the engine room, machinery, and aft accommodation spaces. An estimated 30 gallons of gear oil were released into the river. No injuries were reported. Damage to the vessel was estimated at $2 million.

The pilot was alone on watch in the wheelhouse when the grounding occurred. The pilot told investigators that he had left the helm and went to the port side of the wheelhouse. He estimated he was away for about 5 minutes.

The NTSB report notes that Reliant Maritime Solutions issued a report stating:

Loss of situational awareness – pilot stated he stepped away from the pilothouse console to urinate in a plastic bag. When he returned to the pilothouse console, he realized the tow was out of the channel. He turned the steering rudders hard to starboard in an effort to steer back into the channel, but the boat ran aground very soon after resulting in the hull becoming holed and the engine room taking on water.

“Leaving the helm unattended is contrary to prudent navigation practices when operating on rivers,” the NTSB report said. “The Mississippi River, in particular, has frequent turns, and the potential for strong currents and heavy traffic. Due to these factors, inattention to a vessel’s path, even for a brief time, can result in encountering other vessels and hazards such as shallow areas or structures on the banks nearby.”

During the time the pilot said he was away from the helm, he missed a course change to starboard along the recommended route. The pilot said that, before he left the helm, he checked the swing meter, fathometer, and the electronic chart system, or ECS, which would have displayed the upcoming change in course. The pilot also did not realize the tow had begun to progress closer to the right descending bank while he was away from the helm. According to investigators, this should have been apparent from his reported position on the port side of the wheelhouse.

The City of Louisville was fitted with a pilothouse alerter system, which was designed to sound first in the wheelhouse and then in other vessel spaces to alert other crewmembers that the operator was not responding. Investigators found that the power supply to the alerter system was missing, but they could not determine when it had been disconnected. Investigators were also not able to determine the interval that the alarm was set for.

“A pilothouse alerter, when used as intended, is an effective tool that can help ensure a towing vessel operator remains awake and vigilant while on duty (and notify another crewmember if the pilothouse alarm is not acknowledged),” the report said. “Established procedures for the operation and use of the system should be outlined in the company safety management system and should include the time interval for reset of the alerter system, which should be set based on the vessel’s navigational risk and proximity to navigational hazards (including traffic), as well as measures to ensure the system cannot be unintentionally reset.”