Freighter Crew Unresponsive, River Pilot Says

The river pilot aboard a freighter that smashed into a waterfront shopping mall testified Tuesday that the Chinese crew never told him the ship was slipping out of control and didn’t seem to respond to his orders with any sense of urgency.

The pilot, Ted Davisson, testified at a National Transportation Safety Board inquiry into the cause of the accident Saturday.

Davisson had boarded the Liberian-registered ship Bright Field to guide it down the treacherous stretch of the Mississippi River that curves past New Orleans. Three hours later, the 763-foot freighter, loaded with 56,000 tons of corn, lost power and crashed into the Riverwalk mall.

Davisson said he was told the ship’s engines were working properly, but later the ship went quiet and vibrations stopped.

“I asked the captain if we had a problem and got no response,” and there was no alarm, Davisson told the board of inquiry. “Nobody told me anything.” Then, he said, it became apparent “we had lost control.”

“I told the captain to stand by the anchors. . . . He did not say anything,” Davisson said. “I remember literally yelling at him on two occasions to stand by the anchors.”

He said he wasn’t told anything at the time and found out only later that the crew did drop one of the ship’s two anchors.

He said he also asked for full power astern and a hard right turn. It was not clear how the crew members responded to those commands. They will be called to testify at the hearing, which is likely to last several days.

The inquiry is focusing on whether language problems contributed to the accident.