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PORT ARANSAS, Texas — Passengers ran for safety yesterday when a large LNG tanker nearly hit a ferry boat at the Port Aransas landing.

Nobody was hurt, but opponents of a planned export terminal just across the channel on Harbor Island say the close call underscores their concerns.

The trouble started here, where the channels intersect.

That tanker somehow ended up too close to this dredging vessel and was forced to make a wide turn.

The dredging vessel is there to deepen and widen the ship channel so it can accommodate even bigger tankers, a key part of the proposed Harbor Island Export Terminal.

“Where that dredge is right now, there's a danger, in my estimation at least, between where it's located and where large ships have to turn,” said Port Aransas Mayor Charles Bujan.

A liquefied natural gas tanker got too close to the dredge Monday and was forced to make a wide turn. It nearly hit the ferry landing.

“It was a near miss,” said John Morris of the Port Aransas Conservancy. “There’s no way to way to candy coat when you're less than 100 feet from a stationary object on the opposite side of the channel.”

Morris opposes dredging the ship channel for environmental reasons. He says had the tanker hit either the dredge or the dock and caused an explosion.

“You've got a mile radius of Port A that's no longer there,” he said. “We’ve got churches in that mile, we've got schools, we've got how many visitors on a summer day.”

While Bujan agrees a collision would have been a catastrophe he says safety measures worked as intended, including a submerged natural structure.

“Had that ship hit that shelf, it would have bounced back into the middle of the ship channel,” Bujan said.

Officials say the dredging project is safe.

Opponents say Monday's incident proves otherwise.

“They got lucky this time,” Morris said. “Is next time going to be not so lucky?”

Bujan applauded the ferry captain and the tanker pilot telling KRIS that both followed emergency procedures by the book.

The port is investigating yesterday's incident and the Coast Guard was scheduled to meet today with everyone who was involved.

The Acro Dee a 1,300-tonne, 68-m long, 14-m wide dredger aborted entry into Littlehampton Harbour, UK, avoiding a collision with a yacht.

The vessel had just finished dredging operations off the coast of Littlehampton, consisting of dredging 1,200 tonnes of sand from the seabed earlier in August.

The entry to the harbour was cancelled due to “a number of vessels still attempting to enter or depart the harbour,”commented the Littlehampton Harbour Board, with one sailing yacht in particular “putting itself at significant risk” during the manoeuvring of the Acro Dee, concluded the board.

The sailing yacht made a late entry ahead of the Acro Dee and would not respond to direct attempts of contact on different radio channels. The yacht was also sailing at a slower speed and did not adjust its course despite the blasting of the vessel’s horn ten times.

The dredger in response made a hard turn to the left to avoid collision and re-attempt entry to the harbour. Meanwhile, other ships seized the opportunity to enter and exit the harbour, delaying the new attempt.

Following the incident, Littlehampton Harbour Board issued a statement, saying “Poor decisions made by a minority of vessel skippers risked a potentially very serious incident and made the port closure twice as long as normal.”

The statement concluded, “A number of small vessel skippers have been formally cautioned by the harbour master and further enforcement action is currently pending in some cases.”

Entry of larger vessels into Littlehampton port is a challenge as the entrance is 31 m wide at its narrowest point. There is also a strong tidal stream that pushes vessels sideways on approach, with larger vessels finding only a 50 cm clearance above the seabed in certain areas.

Hopper Dredger Arco Dee (IMO 8902917) aborted its entry into Littlehampton Harbour on August 3rd because of ‘inconsiderate seamanship’ from smaller vessels. After dredging 1,200 tons of sand off the coast the Littlehampton Harbour Board closed the harbour so the dredger could enter at high tide.
The harbour master boarded the Arco Dee during the afternoon and made the standard safety broadcasts over VHF Radio to announce the temporary closure of the harbour. A planned entry at 14:15 was delayed by ‘a number of vessels still attempting to enter or depart the harbour ahead of the Arco Dee, deliberately evading the efforts of harbour staff’ who had asked all vessels to return to their moorings. One sailing yacht made a late entry ahead of the vessel at a slower speed. Despite direct attempts to contact it on different radio channels, and the Arco Dee’s captain sounding 10 blasts on its horn, the yacht did not adjust its course.
With the risk of collision imminent and there being a ‘significant danger to life’, the “Arco Dee” made a hard turn to the left and a tight figure of eight turn to line up for a second entry. The manoeuvre was aborted at 14:33.
Littlehampton Harbour Board thanked the majority of vessel skippers to co-operated, kept themselves informed by VHF radio and as a result did not put themselves or any other vessels at risk. However, number of small vessel skippers were formally cautioned by the harbour master; further enforcement action is currently pending in some cases. The entrance is 31 metres wide at its narrowest point and has a strong tidal stream that pushes boats sideways on approach. Many larger ships only have 50 cm clearance above the seabed. The Arco Dee entered the harbour safely at 14:50, 55 minutes after high water, and was safely moored on its berth by 15:15. 1990-built, UK-flagged, 1,309 gt Arco Dee is owned and managed by Hanson Aggregates Marine Ltd of Maidenhead, UK. It is entered with Shipowners’ Club on behalf of Heidelberg Group.

A vigil will be held on the banks of the Thames to mark the 30th anniversary of the Marchioness pleasure boat disaster in which 51 people died.

Relatives and friends of the victims – whose average age was 22 – have been invited to carry candles and throw flower petals into the water on Monday evening. Police launches, along with those of the fire and rescue services, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the Port of London Authority (PLA) will gather at the spot on the river where the Marchioness sank after colliding with a dredger, the Bowbelle.

Christopher Chessun, the bishop of Southwark, will lead a service on the riverbank, and on Tuesday a memorial service will be held at Southwark Cathedral.


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Meanwhile, the PLA said action on one outstanding safety issue, relating to older passenger boats still operating on the Thames, was “long overdue”.

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The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has proposed changes to ensure older ships match the standards of newer vessels relating to buoyancy in the event of a collision. A handful of “little ships” involved in the second world war Dunkirk evacuation could be taken off the water as a result.

Acknowledging the proposals were controversial, the MCA said: “We recognise that certain ships have intrinsic historical value and form an important part of the UK maritime heritage. That said, we cannot make a wholesale exemption for historic ships as a group when safety is concerned.”

The Marchioness was hired for a party to celebrate the 26th birthday of Antonio de Vasconcellos, who worked in a merchant bank. It left Embankment Pier at 1.25am on 20 August 1989 with 130 people on board.

At 1.46am, just after the pleasure boat had passed under Southwark Bridge, it was hit twice by the Bowbelle, which had been travelling behind it in the same direction. The Marchioness sank in less than half a minute.

According to Keith Fawkes-Underwood, who witnessed the collision from the south bank of the Thames, “the barge collided with the pleasure boat, hitting it in about its centre, then mounted it, pushing it under the water like a toy boat. Within a matter of about 20 seconds, the pleasure boat had totally disappeared underneath the water.”


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Most of those on board had no time to find life jackets, buoys or life rafts. Many were thrown into the water, but 24 bodies were found in the boat when it was raised. Some bodies were not recovered from the Thames for several days.

The day after the disaster, prime minister Margaret Thatcher returned early from a holiday in Austria, and transport minister Michael Portillo announced an investigation by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch. But the government swiftly ruled out a public inquiry.

The captain of the Bowbelle, Douglas Henderson – who had drunk six pints of beer during the afternoon before taking control of the dredger shortly after 1am – was charged with failing to have an effective lookout on the boat. However, two trials ended in a hung jury.

The victims’ families continued to press for a public inquiry into the disaster, which was eventually ordered by the Labour government in 2000. It concluded: “The basic cause of the collision is clear. It was the poor lookout on both vessels. Neither vessel saw the other in time to take action to avoid a collision.”

Victims’ families were also horrified to learn that, in more than 20 cases where bodies had putrified and bloated in the water, the Westminster coroner, Paul Knapman, instructed the hands of the deceased should be removed to be fingerprinted. Families were not told of the order.

Margaret Lockwood Croft, whose son Shaun, 26, died in the disaster, said the 30th anniversary would be significant, “but for us it’s like yesterday. Our children are always in our hearts.”

She helped to found and run the Marchioness Action Group, which campaigned for safety improvements on the Thames.

Among measures taken following the disaster were: the introduction of RNLI lifeboats at key locations; flashing lights on bridges to warn when larger vessels navigate through arches; a modern tracking system to give vessels the location of other boats and to allow the river authorities to monitor all river traffic; and grab chains and other lifesaving equipment along the riverbank in central London.

Ahead of this week’s anniversary, the Port of London Authority said in a statement: “Safety procedures on the Thames have been transformed since 1989.”

But, it added, “there is one remaining area – a small number of older passenger boats which are affected by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency proposals regarding buoyancy and post-damage survivability.

“The PLA strongly supports these proposals to ensure all passenger boats operating on the Thames in London meet modern standards for staying afloat after a collision. This is long overdue.”

Canon Michael Rawson, Southwark cathedral’s sub-dean, said: “For the families of those who died on the Marchioness and for survivors, the memories of the disaster 30 years ago remain as painful as they were on the day.

“Each year on the anniversary, the names of those who died are read out at services at Southwark Cathedral as we pray, too, for the healing of wounded memories. The cathedral continues to hold the thoughts and prayers of everyone affected, remembering the words engraved on the Marchioness memorial in the cathedral: ‘Many waters cannot quench love.’”