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A tug boat sank in the Tennessee River over the weekend, dumping thousands of gallons of diesel fuel into the water and closing beaches and parks in Alabama. After the boat sank it began to release somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the river, police in the northwestern city of Florence said Sunday. Soon after, diesel fuel began washing up on the shore of the beaches at McFarland Park around 10 a.m. Sunday morning, police said. Authorities quickly began getting people out of the water, and continue to urge locals to avoid swimming and going on...

Longish article. Several embedded videos. Good stuff. Excerpts below. “The latest incident to befall the U.S. Navy’s troubled Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) was an embarrassingly public one, and one that left the brand-new USS Cleveland (LCS-31) damaged in the process of being launched, in front of around 3,000 people, including members of the media. The Navy has now issued a statement providing more details of the collision between the Cleveland — which is the last of the 16-strong Freedom class — and a tugboat involved during the warship’s recent christening.” “No personnel injuries occurred, but there was limited damage” to...

At just 19 feet long, it's used to deploy underwater fences. D'awww. ========================================================================== A little baby boat is making waves on Reddit. It may be the smallest ship in the U.S. Navy. The "Boomin Beaver" is a security tug that can tow small ships and deploy underwater fences. One of these boats fetched $100,000 in an auction, which sure seems like a lot for a boat this small. An adorable little tugboat as long as a Ford F-150 is making the rounds on social media, prompting many to call it the “smallest ship in the U.S. Navy.” At just 19...

A U.S. Navy destroyer was involved in a minor collision with a Japanese tugboat Saturday during a scheduled exercise, according to the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet. The USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer, sustained minor damage when a tugboat lost propulsion and drifted into the ship, the Navy said. No one was injured on either vessel and an initial assessment of the damage showed that the destroyer only sustained minimal damage including scrapes. But the accident comes at a time when the Navy's 7th Fleet and the U.S. Pacific Command have come under increased scrutiny after several deadly collisions in the...

This video was filmed in 2012 after the tugboat Miss Stacy became pinned broadside against a construction barge at the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth, N.H.. According to onlookers, the Miss Stacey was pinned for about 20 minutes before the larger tug Eugene Moran arrived and was able pull it to safety.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Coast Guard official says one of two tugboats tasked with pulling a disabled cruise ship to San Diego didn't have enough power and was forced to turn back. Coast Guard Petty Officer Jetta Disco says a Mexican company has sent a third tugboat to the scene but authorities are trying to determine whether it would be better to leave the one tugboat alone while it slowly makes headway.--snip--Instead of lavish buffets, passengers on the Carnival Splendor were subsisting on Spam, Pop Tarts and canned crabmeat flown in by Navy helicopters. People were trying to keep...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER – Every Army vessel is named after a Medal of Honor recipient or famous military battle in American history, including a tugboat recently named for a battle that made 3rd Division one of the most feared in the Army. Lt. Gen. William Webster, commander of 3rd Army/U.S. Army Central Command, poses with Soldiers and maintainers of the tugboat Champagne-Marne, May 6, 2010, at Kuwait Naval Base. The vessel received new nameplates with the Marne Patch in honor of the 3rd Division’s famous 1918 battle in northern France. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael Adams.In the summer...

Tugboat captain indicted on pornography charges By Lawrence Buser (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal Monday, August 3, 2009 A West Tennessee tugboat captain has been indicted on federal child pornography charges. Larry Dale Henry of Scotts Hill admitted taking sexually explicit photos of himself in his home last year standing over a sleeping 14-year-old girl, FBI agents said in court documents. Agents said Dale had the photos on his laptop computer and also had CDs and DVDs containing the photos aboard his tugboat, the Orleanian. The girl’s mother told agents she believes the photos were taken in January or February last...

NAIROBI, April 11 (Reuters) - Pirates seized a U.S.-owned and Italian-flagged tugboat with 16 crew on Saturday in the latest hijacking in the busy Gulf of Aden waterway, a regional maritime group said. Andrew Mwangura, of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, said the crew were believed to be unharmed on the tugboat, which he added was operated from the United Arab Emirates.

A U.S.-owned tugboat was hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden Saturday as authorities tried to free a captain grabbed from another U.S. vessel, sources say. Unidentified maritime industry sources said all of the 16 crew members on board the hijacked tugboat were unharmed since Somali pirates seized control as it was towing two barges through the Arabian Sea gulf, the BBC reported.

Pirates seize 10 Italians in U.S.-owned tugboat 11 Apr 2009 By Duncan Miriri NAIROBI, April 11 (Reuters) - Pirates captured a U.S.-owned and Italian-flagged tugboat with 16 crew including 10 Italians on Saturday in the latest hijacking in the busy Gulf of Aden. "We can confirm that 10 Italians were kidnapped but we have no further details," an Italian foreign ministry official said. Andrew Mwangura, of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, said the crew were believed to be unharmed on the tugboat, which he added was operated from the United Arab Emirates.

Somali pirates have hijacked a US-owned tugboat in the Gulf of Aden with 16 crew on board, reports say. Maritime industry sources say the tug, which sails under an Italian flag, was towing two barges at the time of the attack, at 1100 local time (0800 GMT). The crew are said to be unharmed. The US and Italian governments have not confirmed the hijacking. Meanwhile pirates holding a US captain hostage have warned that using force to rescue him could result in "disaster". The pirates said they hoped to transfer Capt Richard Phillips from a lifeboat to a bigger vessel,...

Wrestler Ric Flair Accused Of Road Rage POSTED: 5:35 pm EST November 28, 2005 UPDATED: 6:50 pm EST November 28, 2005 CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Pro wrestler Ric Flair faces assault charges after a road rage incident on Interstate 485 in Charlotte. Another driver said Flair attacked him and his car. The driver said he was on I-485 on Wednesday,trying to get out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday and traffic was slow. The driver said he noticed someone behind him flashing their headlights, so he hit his brakes. The driver said the car then pulled along side him, police said....

Officials are trying to determine what caused an explosion in a tug boat's engine room about nine miles off the coast of Seaside Heights. Yesterday's blast left a 35-year-old crew member in critical condition at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston with second- and third-degree burns. The Bouchard was towing an empty oil cargo vessel at the time of explosion.

Story Number: NNS040326-01 Release Date: 3/26/2004 8:51:00 AM Special release from the U.S. Department of Defense WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England announced March 25 that under the authority of Title 10 United States Code Section 7306, the historic tugboat Hoga will be donated to the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum (AIMM), a qualified non-profit organization located in North Little Rock, Ark. Before its opening to the public later this year in Arkansas, AIMM plans to perform work necessary to display the tugboat as a Navy memorial. "I'm pleased this historic vessel will be preserved as a...

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) -- A man who showed up at last month's deadly bridge collapse in eastern Oklahoma claiming to be an Army officer may be a Missouri ex-convict with a history of impersonation, according to a newspaper report. The FBI is investigating the man who arrived in Webbers Falls two hours after a barge struck the Interstate 40 bridge and caused it to tumble into the Arkansas River, killing 14 people. The man, dressed in fatigues and a beret, identified himself as Capt. William Clark from Fort Carson, Colo. A Missouri law officer and a relative of the...