THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 9, 1995 TAG: 9509090491
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 32 lines
A federal magistrate has permanently revoked the license of a tugboat operator who failed to notify the Coast Guard for more than 12 hours that his barge had sunk nearly on top of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.
Administrative law Judge Peter A. Fitzpatrick concluded this week that tugboat owner and operator William S. Mowbray will never again be permitted to operate any vessel owned in the United States.
Fitzpatrick made his ruling Wednesday despite earlier pleas form Mowbray that he called his New Jersey office to report the Feb. 21 incident, telling his uncle to contact a salvage company and the Coast Guard.
Mowbray, of Jersey City, N.J., made his claim in April during a Coast Guard administrative hearing on charges of negligence.
The sinking forced a three-hour closing of the main shipping channel in Hampton Roads until the wreck was located on the Hampton side of the channel, a mile west of Old Point Comfort.
The deck barge was carrying another tugboat as cargo, which was refloated by a local salvage company last spring.
Mowbray has the right to appeal the decision to the Coast Guard commandant, the National Transportation Safety Board and the federal courts.
KEYWORDS: U.S. COAST GUARD by CNB