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Accidents

Erin Marie (1984)

At about 0015 on 26 April 1984, the tug Erin Marie was pushing a 13-barge grain tow when the tow struck a pier of the Poplar Street Bridge in St. Louis, Missouri. Several barges broke free after the bridge impact. The resulting downstream breakaways affected more than 150 barges and vessels, as well as fleeting areas and loading facilities. The NTSB estimated total damage to barges, cargo, fleeting areas, and loading facilities at USD 3,000,000. The investigation reported no injuries and the incident record lists no fatalities. The NTSB's probable-cause finding focused on the relief operator's insufficient knowledge of St. Louis Harbor. That lack of local knowledge delayed correct identification of the main navigation span, leaving the tow on a path that led to the bridge pier. The reported facts establish the bridge collision, the scale of the subsequent breakaways, and the overall damage estimate. They do not establish an IMO number, propulsion power, bollard pull, or a separate financial estimate beyond the reported total damage. The exact coordinates of the bridge contact are also not stated in the available page data.

Classification

FieldValue
Incident TypeCollision
SeverityHigh
Investigation BodyNational Transportation Safety Board

Vessel Details

FieldValue
Vessel NameErin Marie
Vessel NamesErin Marie
Vessel TypeTug
Flag StateUnited States [US]
IMO Number
Gross Tonnage357
LOA (m)37.80
Breadth (m)9.14
Year Built1956
Other Involved Vessels13-barge grain tow; Poplar Street Bridge

Incident Details

FieldValue
Date1984-04-26
RegionUnited States
LocationPoplar Street Bridge, St. Louis, Missouri
Coordinates38.6254, -90.1900
Fatalities0
Injuries0
Missing
Direct DamageUSD 3,000,000
Economic DamageUSD 3,000,000

Key facts

  • Erin Marie was pushing a 13-barge grain tow.
  • At about 0015 on 26 April 1984, the tow struck a pier of the Poplar Street Bridge.
  • Several barges broke free after the impact.
  • Downstream breakaways affected more than 150 barges and vessels.
  • The NTSB identified insufficient knowledge of St. Louis Harbor by the relief operator as the probable cause.

Narrative

At about 0015 on 26 April 1984, the tug Erin Marie was pushing a 13-barge grain tow when the tow struck a pier of the Poplar Street Bridge in St. Louis, Missouri. Several barges broke free after the bridge impact. The resulting downstream breakaways affected more than 150 barges and vessels, as well as fleeting areas and loading facilities. The NTSB estimated total damage to barges, cargo, fleeting areas, and loading facilities at USD 3,000,000. The investigation reported no injuries and the incident record lists no fatalities. The NTSB's probable-cause finding focused on the relief operator's insufficient knowledge of St. Louis Harbor. That lack of local knowledge delayed correct identification of the main navigation span, leaving the tow on a path that led to the bridge pier. The reported facts establish the bridge collision, the scale of the subsequent breakaways, and the overall damage estimate. They do not establish an IMO number, propulsion power, bollard pull, or a separate financial estimate beyond the reported total damage. The exact coordinates of the bridge contact are also not stated in the available page data.

Sequence of events

TimeEvent
1984-04-26, about 0015Erin Marie's 13-barge tow struck a pier of the Poplar Street Bridge.
After the bridge impactSeveral barges broke free, and downstream breakaways affected more than 150 barges and vessels.

Contributing factors

FactorEvidence statusDescription
Insufficient knowledge of St. Louis HarborConfirmed findingThe NTSB identified the relief operator's insufficient local knowledge as the probable cause.
Delayed identification of the main navigation spanConfirmed findingThe lack of harbor knowledge delayed correct identification of the span to use.

Investigation

The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the casualty in report MAR-85/02. Its probable-cause finding centered on the relief operator's insufficient knowledge of St. Louis Harbor, which delayed identification of the main navigation span. The report gives no IMO number, propulsion power, or bollard-pull figure. The available facts establish no injuries and no fatalities; a separate missing-person count is not stated.

References

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