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Times-Picayune 7 January 1997 pages A1 and A4
by Chris Gray
The crippled Bright Field freighter inched from its accidental berth Monday and moved downstream for repairs, leaving behind workers eager to clean up one of New Orleans' worst waterfront disasters.
With the freighter gone, the damage, which included the Riverwalk mall, the Hilton Hotel, and a parking garage, stood in full view with curtain remnants, double beds, and crushed luxury cars perched at a 45 - degree angle above the Mississippi River. Sea gulls and pelicans picked through some floating debris that escaped yellow containment booms.
A cleanup barge quickly replaced the vessel as officials expressed hopes of reopening the mall on Jan. 21, in time for the Super Bowl on Jan. 26.
"We want to get it open as soon as possible," Mayor Marc Morial said.
The Bright Field was bound for Japan with 128 million pounds of corn Dec. 14 when it lost power and crashed into the RIverwalk. About 100 people suffered minor injuries, but no deaths were reported.
"Success!" Morial said as he watched the freighter start its engines mid-river and move on its own power. Port directory Ron Brinson also looked relieved as the buildings on the riverfront appeared to remain stable, although he gasped at the initial full view of the damage.
"It's just so massive," Brinson said.
The removal of the ship took several days to orchestrate. Last week workers unloaded more than 4,400 tons of corn to raise the holes in the damaged ship above the waterline. Then the company pumped water out of the ballast tanks that had stabilized the ship.
Capt. Mark Delesdernier of the Crescent River Pilots Association guided the Bright Field out of the wharf. Before the mission Delesdernier said he was confident that the ship's engines, which had lost power before the crash, would work. The Coast Guard had tested the engines and the freighter was fully manned incase something went wrong, said Cmdr. Gilbert Kanazawa of the Coast Guard.
The potential effect of the move on the shore structures wasn't clear. Engineers hand workers had beefed up the crumbling buildings by placing vertical scaffolding inside and tightening loosed cables, said Donald Makofsky of Morphy Makofsky Inc. of New Orleans.
"It's a forest of scaffolding and ties and shoring," he said.
About 2 p.m. the Coast Guard and Port of New Orleans cleared the river as six tugboats gathered around the ship. The Flamingo Casino left the area and docked upriver at Port of New Orleans headquarters.
It took nearly and hour for the 735-foot freighter to inch out of its accidental berth. Propelled by the mustard-colored tugboats, the Bright Field slowly backed away from the dock.
"He's going to try as much as possible to get it out the same way he put it in," Brinson said, observing from a boat on the river. A crowd of onlookers gathered on the wharf.
Once it reached the middle of the river, the ship turned on its engines and made the 3-mile trip to Bolard Marine in Violet. There, workers will repair the 18-foot gash in its forward hull and patch the numerous holes inside, company chairman Joseph Ruppel said. It will take about three weeks, he said.
For the city, attention will turn to riverfront cleanup and increasing river safety.
Less than an hour after the Bright Field left the dock, a barge pulled into the damaged wharf, Construction crews will begin peeling away the debris layer by layer, piling the refuse on barges, officials said.
As the cleanup continues, search and rescue crews will begin looking through the areas that haven't been reached yet, although no casualty discoveries are expected, said Superintendent Warren McDaniels, chief of the New Orleans Fire Department.
For the port, the accident will be used as a "silver lining values exercise" to develop more effective and accurate warning systems, Brinson said. marine consultant John Granito has been retained to conduct a study and a public hearing about the accident will be held this month, he said.
Among the features being considered is a push-button emergency system that would use horns, flashing lights and voice alarms to warn that an accident is imminent, Brinson said.
Already, cruise ships and other vessels have agreed not to test their alarms while at the wharf so Riverwalk visitors and workers won't be confused, Brinson said.
Brinson credited the ship's warning blasts for allowing people to flee the area before the crash. "We had a fleet of angels dancing on the community's shoulders that day," he said.
Morial said the city will work with the port to develop emergency systems that residents and visitors can feel comfortable with.
"It is not a choice to take vessels off the river," Morial said. "It is also not a choice to close the river to the people. We are here because of the Mississippi River."
The article had two photos. One of a great shot of moving the Bright Field in mid river and a shot of damaged area now open to view.
Times-Picayune 7 January 1997 page A4
by Pamela Coyle
Less than an hour before the Bright Field lost power and crashed into the RIverwalk, the freighter came within 30 to 40 meters of colliding with a tug and barge unit heading upriver, a crew member said Monday.
Li Long-Jiang, the Bright Field's carpenter and lookout on duty, said an alarm was sounded minutes after the freighter passed under the Huey P. Long Bridge, signaling a potential collision.
Li told Marine Safety Board investigators he thought his own ship sounded the alarm but wasn't sure. The tug altered its course, he said.
"As far as I am concerned, it was very dangerous," Li said, speaking through interpreters.
That near-miss was revealed publicly for the first time Monday (Jan 6) and is one of several issues under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. The Joint hearing into causes of the Dec. 14 accident that ripped open part of the Riverwalk mall, the Hilton Hotel and a condominium parking garage resumed Monday after a two-week break.
In addition to the hearing, experts have been testing the equipment aboard the Liberian-registered freighter which was bound for Japan with 128 million pounds of corn when it lost power and its battle with the Mississippi River's current.
li, one of three crew members questioned Monday, described "running for his life" after dropping the port anchor seconds before the Bright Field sliced into the Riverwalk. Li Hai-Ying, the helmsman on duty Dec. 14, and third engineer Zhang Bin also testified. Capt. Tony Regalbuto said investigators expect to question the ships's third mate and electrician today, as well as recall other witnesses, such as the pilot, captain and chief engineer, later in the week.
Several questions remain, officials said. The Bright Field slammed into the Riverwalk after it lost power, but investigators said they still don't know whether the engine slowed down or shut down. The difference could be significant because an override button that could have boosted power might not work during a shutdown, they said.
"We don't know just yet," said Marjorie Murtagh, a safety board investigator.
The freighter's automation system apparently detected a problem with pressure in an oil pump and triggered the power reduction.
Zhang, the third engineer, said the Bright Field's automation system was better than others he's used because it had fewer false alarms. He said a second oil pump was on standby but didn't start in time to prevent the accident.
"When the system was designed, it was never considered that the vessel would hit a dock," Zhang said. "The system is designed to protect the main engine."
Regalbuto asked Zhang if he, as an engineer, thought it was better to protect the engine or protect the ship. James Roussel, a lawyer representing Clearsky Shipping Co. of Liberia and Cosco of Hong Kong, the Bright Field's owners, objected, saying Zhang was in the engine room and could not see the accident unfolding.
But Regalbuto pressed on, and Zhang responded: "Of course to avoid the collision is far more important than the engine."
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