About 0428 c.d.t. on July 28, 1977, the upbound, loaded French tankship SS SITALA collided with a moored fleet of marine construction vessels near Greenville Bend on the Mississippi River, at New Orleans, Louisiana. The SITALA was lightering crude oil from very large crude carriers located in the Gulf of Mexico to refineries near New Orleans. The SITALA sustained minor hull damage; 20 moored vessels were either damaged or sunk. Total property damage was estimated to be $1,500,000. There were no deaths or injuries caused by the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the steering gear which resulted from inadequate maintenance and inspection of the steering gear by the ship's crew, which permitted leaks in the steering system to reduce the hydraulic oil level in the single hydraulic reservoir until discharge pressure was lost from the hydraulic charge pumps in the control mechanism. Contributing to the cause of the accident were the inadequate inspection of the steering gear by a classification society surveyor on July 26, 1977, and the design of the steering gear which utilized a single control path to the steering gear power units.


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    Title :

    Marine Accident Report - French Tankship SS SITALA Collision with Moored Vessels, New Orleans, Louisiana, July 28, 1977


    Publication date :

    1978


    Size :

    39 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English