Loss of towline shackle pin cited in sinking of tug in Pacific

摘要

Chamorro encountered 13-foot seas, heavy rain and 50-mph winds from a developing typhoon as it towed the unmanned tugboat Mangilao from Guam to the Philippines. While en route, the 1,700-hp oceangoing tug struggled to maintain speed in difficult conditions. Before dawn on Aug. 5, 2019, the second mate on watch in the wheelhouse couldn't see Mangilao's navigation lights. He roused the chief mate, who asked another crewman to check the tug's speed, which by then had jumped to 5.5 knots. "The chief mate said that, at that point, he knew they had lost the tow," the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in its accident report.