The Coast Guard has issued an alert to ship owners calling attention to mistakes it says caused a fire aboard a freighter moored on Oregon’s riverfront last winter to become much more extensive and damaging than it otherwise would have been.
The Marine Safety Alert from the Coast Guard’s Inspections and Compliance Directorate noted that the Feb. 16 fire aboard the M.V. St. Clair went undetected for an unknown time period because a watchman normally on duty “went home for the weekend earlier on the day of the fire.”
But even when a watchman on board another freighter moored nearby at the Toledo Ore Railroad Co. docks at the Maumee River’s mouth observed smoke, the alert reported, that person first called contractors that had been doing repairs aboard the St. Clair, and did not call 911 until 45 minutes later.
