The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a marine investigation report detailing the collision of a barge tow with the Vicksburg Highway 80 Bridge in Mississippi.
The federal agency determined that the accident involving the towing vessel Rickey Hughes resulted in an estimated $1.9 million in damage to the barges.
On April 28, 2025, the Rickey Hughes departed Cairo, Illinois, pushing 22 barges loaded with cargo downbound on the Lower Mississippi River. An advisory shoreside captain boarded the vessel on May 1 to assist the crew through the high-water conditions, where the river gage at Vicksburg read 48.73 feet (14.9 metres).
While transiting at about 12 miles per hour (19 kilometres per hour) at 14:45, the crew received a low-pressure alarm for the flanking steering system.
The chief engineer went to the rudder room to switch the flanking system to the auxiliary pump but misaligned the valves, causing hydraulic oil to erupt from the reservoir tank.
This operational error deprived the primary steering system of pressure and left the pilot with no control over the 1,166-foot-long (355.4-metre-long) tow.
Although the shoreside captain, acting in an advisory role, told the active pilot at the controls to back full astern, the two lead barges on the starboard side struck the bridge pier at nine miles per hour (14 kilometres per hour) at 14:54.
Seven barges broke away from the tow after the impact, resulting in the sinking of one hopper barge containing soybeans.
Post-accident inspections by electrical specialists revealed that a motor-saving relay had been improperly wired into the flanking system's hydraulic motor controller.
The federal investigators noted that this faulty electrical wiring caused the flanking steering pump to prematurely trip and shut down.
Following the incident, shipowner ACBL Vessels removed the problematic motor-saving relays from its fleet to prevent similar electrical failures.
The NTSB concluded that the probable cause of the collision was a total loss of steering caused by the valve misalignment during a high-stress situation. The safety agency emphasized that manual steering changeovers require thorough crew familiarity and training to ensure effective responses during emergencies.