''Thomas Hebert'' was an ocean-going

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

that sank off the coast of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

on Sunday 7 March 1993.

History

Built in 1975 in a shipyard in

Orange, Texas Orange is a city and the county seat of Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 19,324. It is the easternmost city in Texas, located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, and is from Houst ...

, the tug measured , displaced 99 tons and carried a crew of 7. She was last owned by S.C. Loveland Co. of

Pennsville, New Jersey Pennsville Township is a township in Salem County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 13,409, reflecting an increase of 215 (+1.6%) from the 13,194 counted in the 2000 census. The townshi ...

. ''Thomas Hebert'' had left

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

for

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

on 5 March 1993, towing a

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

carrying 8,500 tons of coal. She sank in of water off the

coast with the loss of five lives at 3am on Sunday 7 March 1993. The sunken vessel was found intact, still attached by a steel cable to the floating barge that she had been towing. The cable showed traces of metal from the hull of another vessel, suggesting that a submarine snagged the tow cable, pulling the tug under, in an incident similar to that of sinking the tugboat ''Barcona'' in 1989. Other theories included a faulty steering caused the tug to turn so suddenly and sharply that it took on water at the stern and sank itself. Another theory is that due to a mechanical failure the tug steered itself in a larger circle in the middle of the night and was passed, then pulled backward and under, by the barge it was towing. The latter is not an uncommon accident in the marine towing industry; it is known as tripping. An example of this happened May 11, 2001 when the tugboat Bay Titan had her barge overtake her and pull her under while turning from the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

to the entrance of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

References

{{reflist Tugboats of the United States