Setting autopilot without fixing tug's position cited among the factors in Alaska grounding

摘要

The captain of a tugboat that struck an Alaska reef admits playing computer games while the boat was on its collision course. Pathfinder ran into Bligh Reef and spilled 6,410 gallons of fuel into Prince William Sound on Dec. 23, 2009. The vessel was finishing an ice-patrol watch outside of the main navigation channels and was preparing to sail back to Valdez, Alaska, when the captain botched an autopilot setting, the U.S. Coast Guard said in an investigative report.