55
SEPTEMBER 2026
“Conducting 
regular 
visual 
assessments to verify the condi-
tion of mooring lines and iden-
tify issues or defects is a prudent 
practice that is useful as a part 
of a vessel’s preventative mainte-
nance plan. In addition to a line’s 
age, multiple factors affect the 
service life of a mooring line, in-
cluding mooring design and the 
usual line arrangement, position 
of the line, mooring frequency, 
and environment. Mooring lines 
should be examined regularly 
for damage or excessive wear—
regardless of a line’s age.”
M/V Ray Stoker, Jr.
On Sept. 10, 2024, the vehicle and 
passenger ferry M/V Ray Stoker, Jr. ex-
perienced a loss of propulsion control 
while underway in Galveston Chan-
nel, struck a floating dock at Coast 
Guard Base Galveston, in Galveston, 
Texas, and grounded in about four 
feet of water. Six crew members, seven 
passengers, and three vehicles were 
on board the ferry at the time of the 
incident. There were no injuries, and 
no pollution was reported. The prob-
able cause of the incident according to 
the NTSB was likely “…a wheelhouse 
window shade chain clip activating the 
station freeze function on a propulsion 
control touch panel, resulting in a tem-
porary loss of propulsion control.”
While the NTSB did not issue any 
lessons learned from this incident, the 
ferry company installed plexiglass cov-
ers over the control touch panels and 
directed ferry crew members to secure 
window shade chains so that they 
would not come into contact with the 
sensitive touch panels.
M/V Ocean Navigator
On Oct. 18, 2023, the coastal cruise 
ship M/V Ocean Navigator was moored 
at the Ocean Gateway Terminal in Port-
land, Maine, with 210 persons aboard 
when the no. two auxiliary diesel gen-
erator engine suffered a mechanical 
failure. The failure led to the ejection 
of components from the engine and 
resulted in a fire in the engine room. 
Crew members secured ventilation to 
the engine room, and the fire self-ex-
tinguished. One crewmember near the 
engine at the time of the failure was 
seriously injured. No passengers were 
injured, and no pollution was reported. 
The NTSB determined the probable 
cause to be “…debris entrained in the 
engine’s lube oil system—possibly due 
to the crew exceeding manufactur-
er-recommended intervals for changing 
the lube oil and oil filter elements—

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