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| River cargo barge |
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| River passenger barge |
For some time now NAUTICAL LOG has been trying to find out about the protocol, procedures and equipment in European Rivers cargo barges and passenger barges. We would greatly appreciate an experienced River Patent /Schifferpatent holder and or River Navigation School Instructor sending us the data and or the sources for that data.
We receive on a regular basis brochures to take a river cruise but safety data is never included and protocols are never mentioned. As a former ocean cruise ship Safety Officer this gives some concern and we most certainly are not going to book a European River cruise without that safety data.
There have been barge accidents in the Rhine River which include the loss of life of crewmembers and recently a Pilot (Lotse) whom it took some time to rescue and who died as a result of time spent in the icy river.
Our request for information directly to Viking River Cruises, which keep sending us river cruise information, was not replied too which besides being rather bad mannered makes an experienced Safety Officer suspicious.
Good Watch.
Off the coast of Puntland, Somalia there are some 300 of our fellow seafarers held hostage by pirates. Each day they face mutilation and or death. It would be nice to hear that they had been rescued and freed to their families. So far there are not even plans to do that and NAUTICAL LOG is beyond disgusted with the various Maritime Authorities.
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