in the gas explosion emergency , the towed vessels miss hilary , which was of quality that did not require assessment by the us usa coast guards , was being operated in the central cote au bay oil field in louisiana by central boat rentals on demand of athena construction on december 12 , 2006 . the miss megan was pushing platform ibr 234 , which was bound along the starboard side of barge zeus 106 , en transit to a pile - throwing configuration . athena production did not have its crews to pin mooring spuds ( longitudinal steel shafts flowing through joints in the bottom of the submarine and used for mooring ) securely in operation on its barges and consequently this had not been done . during the incident , the aft proulx on the atlas 106 releasing from its completely raised position . the spud dropped into the well and impacted a submerged , high - pressure petroleum gas pipeline . the methane gas released ignited and spawned a fireball that engulfed the shipping vessel and both barges . the master of the towing steamer and four barge workers were killed . the miss cord deckhand and one barge worker fled . 1 barge owner is officially listed as missing .
NTSB is responsible for investigating transportation accidents in the United States.