1979 — Aug 30, Inca Tupac Yupanqui hits barge, explosion/fire, MS Riv., Good Hope, LA-12
— 12 USCG. Marine Casualty Report. MV Inca Tupac Yupanqui, TB Panama City…, 1983.
–10 Inca Tupac Yupanqui crew members.
— 2 Capt. Norman tug crewmembers.
Narrative Information
USCG Abstract: “On 30 August 1979, at 0710 C.D.T., the Peruvian freighter, MV INCA TUPAC YUPANQUI, while underway downbound in the Lower Mississippi River collided with the moored TB PANAMA CITY [barge]. The collision resulted in an explosion and fire which totally enveloped the INCA TUPAC YUPANQUI, the PANAMA CITY, the dock and the tug CAPT. NORMAN. Twelve persons, ten crew members of the INCA TUPAC YUPANQUI and two crew members of the tug CAPT. NORMAN, died as a result of the casualty. In addition, thirteen persons were injured. This report contains the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation Report and the action taken by the Commandant to determine the proximate cause of the casualty and the recommendations to prevent recurrence. The Commandant has concurred with the Marine Board that the proximate cause of the casualty was the loss of steering control from the bridge of the INCA TUPAC YUPANQUI, which prevented the rudder from turning to the right, as the vessel entered a right turn in the Mississippi River. However, the exact cause of the loss of steering cannot be determined due to extensive fire damage.”
Newspapers
Aug 30: “Good Hope, La. (AP) — A Peruvian cargo ship slammed into three butane barges at a dock on the Mississippi River and burst into flames today. At least 29 persons were injured and the captain and pilot of the ship were reported missing, the Coast Guard said. Officials identified the missing captain as Carlos Bazo of Peru. The pilot, who presumably was aboard to guide the vessel along the turns of the river, was not identified. Officials said it was not known whether the two were trapped aboard the vessel and it was also not certain how many other crewmen might be missing.
“Three Coast Guard helicopters hovered over the burning ship and airlifted some of the crew from its deck. Others apparently jumped into the Mississippi River. Fireboats pumped water on the fire from the river and all available fire trucks sprayed from snorkels and hoses on the riverbank. ‘The ship is wedged hard into the dock itself,’ said Joe Gibson, a Coast Guard spokesman. ‘It is burning and the dock is on fire. The three butane barges drifted downriver and they’re on fire.
“The barges were moored on the river side of the levee that protects the Good Hope refinery, Louisiana’s largest independent oil processor, about 30 miles upriver from New Orleans.
“The accident occurred after the cargo ship lost its steering as it headed downriver from Baton Rouge with general cargo, including a load of bulk soda ash, said Sidney Gaudet, traffic manager for the vessel’s agent, Roberts Steamship Co. of New Orleans. He identified the ship as the Inca Tupac Yupanqui, operating out of Callao, Peru. He said the entire crew was foreign.
“Witnesses said the ship slammed into the three barges, which were taking on compressed gas at the docks beside the Good Hope refinery. The barges exploded and broke loose, and the ship caught fire.
“One survivor told a hospital worker there were 42 men aboard. A check of hospitals in the New Orleans area showed 26 admitted, including eight in serious condition at the burn unit at Ochsner Foundation Hospital…a spokesman at East Jefferson Hospital said 14 men had been admitted, ‘about half are in very bad shape.’….” (Associated Press. “29 injured in fiery ship crash.” The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA, 8-30-1979, p. 1.)
Aug 31: “Good Hope, La. (UPI) — A runaway Peruvian freighter collided with a butane barge…igniting a massive explosion that killed three men and left three missing….The dead, three crewmen from the 514-foot Incan Tupac Yupanqui, suffered 100 percent burns over their bodies. Two died in Ochsner Foundation Hospital eight hours after the crash and explosion and the third died at West Jefferson Hospital abut an hour later. The dead were indentified as Ascuncion Herta and Henrique Carbonero, both 46 and from Lima, Peru, and Andrus Rodriguez, 59, of Callao, Peru. The Coast Guard said two of the missing men were among the 43 people on the ship. The third was the captain of a tugboat hooked to the barge….The tug captain was last seen in the river after abandoning his vessel. ‘We have a report from one of the (tugboat) crewmen that he saw the master’ [ a spokesman] said. ‘After they went into the water he saw the master surface and go down again, and they haven’t seen him since.’
“Flames and smoke towered above the ship moments after it struck the barge at an oil refinery dock on the east bank of the river…
“The barge, with three tanks still on its deck…drifted away and crossed the stream until it struck the west bank 3 miles downriver from the crash site. It continued to burn for hours and forced the authorities to evacuate 250 people from homes close to the river between the towns of Luling and Hahnville….” (UPI. “3 dead, 3 missing as ship collides with barge, setting off explosion.” The Galveston Daily News, TX, 8-31-1979, p. 7B.)
Sep 1: “Good Hope, La. (AP) — The last fire died out Friday [Aug 31] and 300 evacuees returned home, but the Coast Guard found no trace of three men missing in a ship-barge collision that claimed four other lives….” (Associated Press. “Ship fire finally out.” Odessa American, TX, 9-1-1979, p. 21.)
Sep 2: “New Orleans (UPI) — The bodies of two men missing since a Peruvian freighter rammed a butane barge…were found Saturday, bringing the death toll to six. A seventh man was missing but presumed dead. The body of Charles Henry Smith, 40, captain of the tugboat tied to the barge, was pulled from the muddy waters by the motor vessel Philip, said a spokesman for the St. Charles Parish sheriff’s office. The other body was identified as Indolacio Agurto, 71, quarter master on the Inca Tupac Yupanqui….” (UPI. “2 explosion victims found.” The News, Port Arthur, TX, 9-2-1979, p. 9A.)
Sep 3: “Sioux City, La. (AP) — A seventh victim from a fiery ship-barge collision last week was found floating in the Mississippi River on Sunday [Sep 2] authorities said….a tugboat picked up the body of Carlos Rios, 23, after it was spotted by the pilot of a passing ship. Rios was third mate on the…Inca Tupac Yupanqui…. Of more than 20 people injured in the fire, 16 were still in hospitals near New Orleans, six in critical condition….” (Associated Press. “Ship-Barge Collision Claims 7.” Playground Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, FL, 9-3-1979, p. 2B.)
Sep 7: “New Orleans (AP) — The first time Capt. Carlos Bazo ever heard of butane gas was a moment of such searing violence it ruined his ship, cost millions in damage and left nine men dead….Capt. Carlos Bazo said in opening day testimony before a Coast Guard board of investigation Thursday [Sep 6]…. ‘It enveloped the whole vessel, bow to stern, including the mast. It did not last more than 20 seconds, maybe 10 seconds, maybe less. It passed through my vessel as a thunderbolt.’….Bazo said the collision…took place after the rudder stuck and steered the ship into the Good Hope refinery loading dock despite every effort to stop it.
“Moored at the dock was the barge Panama City and the tug Captain Norman. Shuddering under the strain of engines full astern, the ship touched the barge so lightly it didn’t even dent the bow, Bazo said, but the huge fireball that erupted flared up 1,500 feet high….
“Bazo said there was little if anything anybody could do when the rudder locked as the ship was negotiating a curve in the river…
“The collision happened at about 7 1.m., with most of the crew still in their quarters….
“Capt. Bazos was the first witness summoned before the board on the first day of the hearing. It may be months before the official report is issued….” (Associated Press. “Captain Relieves River Collision.” Leader-Call, Laurel, MS, 9-7-1979, p. 3.)
Sep 12: “New Orleans (AP) — Three seamen hospitalized since a freighter rammed a butane barge on the Mississippi River at Good Hope are suing the ship’s owners and the owners of other vessels involved for a total of $29 million. The Peruvian seamen were among 26 men burned in the crash. Ten of them either were killed when a butane fireball boiled over the ship, barge and a nearby tug, or died later from their burns. Three others also remain hospitalized….
“In the suits, the Peruvian seamen claim that the Peruvian ship Inca Tupac Yupanqui was unseaworthy and manned and navigated by persons who were careless, incompetent and inattentive. They also allege the ship failed to keep a proper lookout and thus ‘negligently caused the explosion and resulting fires.’….” (Associated Press. “Injured Seamen Sue. Seek $29 Million.” Leader-Call, Laurel, MS, 9-12-1979, p. 8.)
Sources
Associated Press. “29 injured in fiery ship crash.” The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA, 8-30-1979, p. 1. Accessed 7-19-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/cedar-rapids-gazette-aug-30-1979-p-1/?tag
Associated Press. “Captain Relieves River Collision.” Leader-Call, Laurel, MS, 9-7-1979, p. 3. Accessed 7-19-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/laurel-leader-call-sep-07-1979-p-3/?tag
Associated Press. “Injured Seamen Sue. Seek $29 Million.” Leader-Call, Laurel, MS, 9-12-1979, p. 8. Accessed 7-19-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/laurel-leader-call-sep-12-1979-p-8/?tag
Associated Press. “Ship-Barge Collision Claims 7.” Playground Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, FL, 9-3-1979, p. 2B. Accessed 7-19-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/fort-walton-beach-playground-daily-news-sep-03-1979-p-9/?tag
Associated Press. “Ship fire finally out.” Odessa American, TX, 9-1-1979, p. 21. Accessed 7-19-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/odessa-american-sep-01-1979-p-21/?tag
United Press International. “2 explosion victims found.” The News, Port Arthur, TX, 9-2-1979, p. 9A. Accessed 7-19-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/port-arthur-news-sep-02-1979-p-9/?tag
United Press International. “3 dead, 3 missing as ship collides with barge, setting off explosion.” The Galveston Daily News, TX, 8-31-1979, p. 7B. Accessed 7-19-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/galveston-daily-news-aug-31-1979-p-43/?tag
United States Coast Guard. Marine Casualty Report. MV Inca Tupac Yupanqui, TB Panama City, Tug Capt. Norman; Collision in the Lower Mississippi River on 30 August 1979 with Loss of Life (Report No. USCG 16732/01281). Washington, DC: Commandant, USCG, May 10, 1983, 31 pages. Accessed at: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/docs/boards/incatupac.pdf