Public Hearing - EISs for the Proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal ...

11/3/2012
1 water unlimited gross tons, second mate propulsion
2 gross tons, and first class pilots license for all
3 Puget Sound ferry runs.
4 There was previous reference to Commander
5 Moore, Retired Coast Guard, saying that these waters
6 are wide and deep. I must disagree.
7 My limited knowledge of Commander Moore is
8 that he spent his career in an office in Seattle. I
9 spent my career navigating ferries across Rosario and
10 Haro Strait. I've crossed these waters tens of
11 thousands of times with many, many encounters with
12 deep draft strata.
13 To the professional mariner these are
14 constrained waters with many hazards. We are required
15 to carry pilots on board as proof of this. In fog
16 these straits can get down right small for large
17 vessels. There is always a risk of marine casualty.
18 I made it through my career without a mess
19 up, but I was lucky. I've experienced complete rudder
20 failure on a ferry. I've experienced complete
21 propulsion failure. Either one of which could have
22 been catastrophic if occurring in the wrong location.
23 Mechanical failures happen. A mechanical
24 failure on one of these coal ships at the wrong place
25 could be catastrophic.
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