b'REGULATORYREPORTvehicles and passengers into the water. Seventy-six persons,The George Prince was one of two ferries operating cross-including the entire George Prince crew of five perished;river between Destrehan, LA and Luling, LA at the time of their bodies have been recovered and identified. Eighteenthe accident. The ferry track was a figure eight where vessels persons, all passengers, survived. would land and depart their berths facing upstream and Vessels transiting from sea to Baton Rouge, LA sailduring the crossing use the downriver current to position the through waters covered by International, Inland, andvessel for an upstream approach to the other landing.Western Rivers Rules of theGeorge Prince was under Road and three pilot associa- the direction of a Coast Guard-tions. In addition to the RulesOn that clear October morning in 1976, the up-boundlicensed master.of the Road there are locallyFrosta was approaching the St. Charles Grain ElevatorOn that clear October recognized practices usedon the East Bank of the Lower Mississippi River makingmorning, the up-bound by mariners to navigate the10 to 10.5 mph. The Polyviking, was moored at thatFrosta was approaching the St river. These include pointsfacility. Just above the grain elevator, the George PrinceCharles Grain Elevator on the and bends where vessels andwas preparing to depart for the East Bank landing with aEast Bank of the LMR making tows favor the bend side offull load of vehicles and passengers. 10 to 10.5 mph. A large vessel, the river down bound and thethe Polyviking, was moored points up-bound. This recog- at that facility. Just above the nizes that the strength of the current is in the bend and thegrain elevator, the George Prince was preparing to depart slack water or counter current is on the point. There is alsofor the East Bank landing with a full load of vehicles and a practice where cross-river traffic and smaller vessels givepassengers. The ferry landing was obscured from the way to deep draft vessels operating in the channel. Frosta pilots view and the George Prince was not seen by This causality occurred in an area of Western Riverthe bridge watch of the Frosta until it came abeam of the Rules with a New Orleans/Baton Rouge pilot navigatingmoored Polyvikings stern. According to reports, the George the Frosta. Prince made a short departure from the East Bank landing turning for the West Bank after a short run upriver and then preceding directly across the river. The George Prince proceeded without apparent change in course and speed into the path of the Frosta. The pilot of the Frosta upon seeing the ferry gave a two-blast whistle signal expecting the ferry to turn and pass downriver starboard to starboard. Not receiving a confirm-ing response from the ferry, the pilot gave a second two-blast signal about 30 seconds later. Within another 30 seconds, still not seeing a change the pilot sounded the five-whistle danger signal and ordered Frosta full astern. Within another 30 seconds, the vessels met. The Frostas whistle signals were accompanied by the pilots repeated calls to the ferry on channel 13. The Frosta hit the George Prince midship, pushing it upriver a short distance where it then capsized and floated down the Frosta port side.With no surviving ferry crewmembers, the MBI could not determine the actions or reason for the apparent lack of action on the part of the ferrys master. Examination of the recovered ferrys pilothouse did not indicate any mechanical problem. Coast Guard investigators did recover documents when the ferry was righted and raised. A whiskey bottle with a small amount of whiskey was discovered in amongst the files. An autopsy of the master indicated a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.09. The MBI acknowledged the alcohol may have played a role in the ferry masters failure to detect the Frosta presence in a timely manner or if at all. At the time there were no federal regulations on blood alcohol levels and the Louisiana limit was established at 0.1. The Commandants Action contained a detailed discus-sion of the effects of alcohol on human performance and the 28SEPTEMBER 2020FOGHORN'