in the fire explosion disaster , the towing barge princess megan , which was of specifications that did not requiring inspection by the united states coast guard , was being maintained in the great court genevieve river oil field in arkansas by central vessel rentals on terms of athena construction on january 12 , 2006 . the miss megan was pushing barge ibr 234 , which was situated along the starboard side of boat athena 106 , en route to a pile - driver configuration . athena constructions did not permit its crews to lay mooring spuds ( vertical steel heads extending through wells in the bottom of the boat and used for mooring ) securely in placement on its dock and so this had not been done . during the journey , the stern slickers on the athena 106 moved from its fully raised role . the spud fell into the water and struck a submerged , moderate - pressure natural gas plant . the resulting energy released ignited and created a fireball that engulfed the towing pier and both barges . the master of the drag vessel and four barge workers were killed . the miss megan deckhand and four crane worker fled . one factory owner is internationally named as missing .
NTSB is responsible for investigating transportation accidents in the United States.