Barge incident was preventable
Re: “Grounded barge was a warning,” editorial, March 22.
The grounding of the two barges was an entirely preventable incident. I was at Macaulay Point the afternoon the tug and barges were outbound.
The wind was southeast 15 to 20 knots, and I was astonished to see a tug so small hauling the two barges out past the breakwater, as he was having a hard time controlling them within the harbour. Add to that the fact that he had the barges on couplers and had neither the size nor power to control them.
His forward speed was no more than two to three knots, and having worked in the industry for 40 years, I knew there would be a problem.
How to prevent it? We have a harbour master who should be made aware of all commercial vessels moving into and out of the harbour, and it is up to that person to determine whether the vessel meets the requirements for safe passage. (I would not include those vessels on regular runs.)
Anyone with an experienced eye would look at that tow and the weather and deem the situation unsafe. To compare that incident with any other deep-sea shipping on the coast does the entire industry a disservice and does not accept the fact that huge advances have been made in navigation and training, just as there have been in most other industries.
Before you use the scare tactics, perhaps dig a little deeper into the industry itself. Capt. Ian Lightman Esquimalt