On July 19, 2024, at 1404 local time, the bulk carrier Yangze 7 and towing vessel Miss Peggy were inbound in the Houston Ship Channel, near Lynchburg, Texas, when they collided. The Miss Peggy capsized and sank with five crewmembers on board. Four were recovered by a good Samaritan vessel and the fifth crewmember was later found deceased in the wreckage. One Miss Peggy crewmember sustained serious injuries, and another sustained minor injuries. An undetermined amount of oil was released into the Houston Ship Channel from the sunken vessel. Total damages, including salvage of the Miss Peggy and pollution mitigation, were estimated to be $3.7 million. The Yangze 7 sustained no damage.

​We found that the Houston pilot who was directing the movement of the bulk carrier Yangze 7 during its inbound transit through the Houston Ship Channel failed to maintain a proper lookout because he was distracted by extended nonoperational cell phone use. This distraction resulted in him not detecting the presence of the Miss Peggy. We found that the captain of the inbound towing vessel Miss Peggy failed to maintain a proper lookout while navigating the Houston Ship Channel, resulting in him not detecting the Yangze 7 as it approached from astern. Similarly, the Yangze 7 bridge team failed to maintain a proper lookout, so they did not detect the Miss Peggy until the towboat was less than a ship’s length ahead. 

​The Yangze 7 bridge team could hear the pilot on his cell phone, and at least one bridge team member was aware that the pilot’s calls were nonoperational in nature. However, none of the crewmembers raised concerns about his cell phone use. We found that, had they done so, the pilot may have been prompted to end the phone call, allowing him to focus his attention to operational tasks. The Yangze 7 bridge team’s failure to raise concerns about the pilot’s cell phone use reflected ineffective bridge resource management. 

At the time of the collision, the Houston Pilots did not have a policy prohibiting the use of personal electronic devices, like cell phones, for nonoperational purposes. We found that, because the Houston Pilots did not prohibit its pilots from using personal electronic devices for nonoperational purposes while navigating, the use of personal electronic devices while actively directing the movement of a vessel likely became normalized over time, jeopardizing the safety of vessels and vessels’ crews. 

We determined that the probable cause of the collision between the bulk carrier Yangze 7 and towing vessel Miss Peggy was the loss of situation awareness of the Houston pilot, the Yangze 7 bridge team, and the captain of the Miss Peggy due to a failure to maintain a proper lookout.

Contributing to the pilot’s inadequate lookout was distraction caused by extended nonoperational cell phone use. Contributing to the pilot’s nonoperational cell phone use was the lack of prohibition by the Houston Pilots against the use of personal electronic devices by its pilots actively directing the movement of a vessel.

​As a result of this investigation, we make the following new safety recommendations.

​To the US Coast Guard:

• Prohibit the nonoperational use of personal electronic devices by persons directing the movement of a vessel through the waterways under your jurisdiction. (M-26-001)

To the American Pilots’ Association:

• ​Develop and implement guidance prohibiting nonoperational use of personal electronic devices by pilots actively directing the movement of a vessel and encourage your member associations to adopt such guidance in their operational rules and policies. (M-26-002)