All company's West Coast tugs finish voluntary exams

for towing vessel safety; customers and crews both benefit

SEATTLE, WA, March 31, 2011 - U.S. Coast Guard admirals from commands in Puget Sound and the San Francisco Bay Area agree:  When it comes to safety and compliance, Foss Maritime is an industry leader. 

The two U.S. Coast Guard admirals - G.T. Blore from the Seattle-based 13^th Coast Guard District and J. R. Castillo from the Alameda, CA,-based 11^th Coast Guard District - wrote letters to Foss officials praising the company for its completion of voluntary towing vessel examinations.

Rear Admiral Blore wrote: "Through this proactive initiative, you have demonstrated Foss Maritime to be an industry leader in safety and compliance. Your actions embody the intended cooperative spirit of the Coast Guard's Towing Vessel Bridging Program and have bolstered towing vessel safety within the 13^th Coast Guard District." 

Foss officials say that 35 out of its 36 tugs have passed the voluntary exam, which the Coast Guard and federal government consider a bridge to mandatory towing vessel regulations. The Richmond, CA,-based Bay Area group was the first at Foss to complete the voluntary exams, according to Capt. Igor Loch, the company's director of marine assurance. That region was followed by the Pacific Northwest, Columbia-Snake River and Southern California.

Rear Admiral J.R. Castillo wrote: "The success you have achieved is due in no small part to the investment Foss Maritime has made in safety management . . . This is an impressive accomplishment for (the company) and will certainly pay dividends as forthcoming towing vessel inspection regulations are enacted.

"I know your crews and customers will be well served by Foss Maritime's commitment to towing vessel safety," the admiral wrote.

Gary Faber, President and COO of Seattle-based Foss, said the admirals' letters underscore both the company's commitment to safety and its willingness to partner with regulators in the ongoing development of new maritime rules and regulations. Loch called Coast Guard recognition of Foss' corporate commitment to safety - both in terms of investment and training - especially gratifying in today's maritime environment.

Admiral Castillo wrote, "The teamwork between management and crew is clearly evident to my towing vessel examiners. Foss Maritime's willingness to work closely with the Coast Guard has made it a pleasure for our personnel to visit your vessels and interact with your professional crews."

A grand jury has indicted a tugboat operator on two counts of criminally negligent homicide in connection with the deaths of two fishermen whose boat was hit by a barge last summer.

Warren Luetke, 39 was negligent as the tugboat operator for the Bearcat, a 647-foot long commercial tug owned by Chattanooga-based Serodino Inc., when the barge collided with a fishing boat occupied by three men, according to the indictment filed Wednesday and Times Free Press archives.

Tim Spidle, 45, of Elizabethton and Richard Wilkey, 52, of Soddy-Daisy were both killed in the June 19 incident, which took place on the Tennessee River.

Luetke also faces charges of reckless operation of a boat and rendering of assistance after he did not stop until authorities flagged him down, the indictment said.

Luetke was arrested this afternoon and already has posted a $5,000 bond.

http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/feb/11/tugboat-operator-indicted-barge-deaths/