City Replaces Tugboat Operator Involved in Duck Crash

In the wake of this month's fatal duck boat accident on the Delaware River, the Nutter administration is changing the company it will use for tugboat operations and is requiring some new procedures.

KYW's Mike Dunn reports that Doug Oliver, a spokesman for Mayor Nutter, says the tug boat company K-Sea Transportation has voluntarily agreed to suspend its contract with the city in the wake of the accident.

Oliver says another firm, McAllister Towing, of Gloucester City, NJ, will take over the shipment of the city's sludge on the Delaware.

That firm, Oliver says, will be required to post lookouts at the front of the barges:

"The new operator will ensure that there is actually a man actually on the barge, and has radio capabilities, which gives it visibility beyond what it had, as tug boats are typically behind the barge."

No such lookout was in place on the empty barge at the time of the accident, and that appears to be the focal point of the NTSB investigation.

Two Hungarian students died when the barge pushed by the tug rammed the disabled tour boat.