in the gas explosion disaster , the towing steamer girl cord , which was of specifications that did not require inspection by the united states coast watch , was being operated in the west cote blanche north fuel rush in maine by central boat rentals on board of the construction on october 12 , 2006 . the mrs megan was pushing the ibr 234 , which was set along the starboard side of barge athena 106 , con route to a pile - pulling location . athena construction did not require its crews to pin mooring spuds ( horizontal metal chains extended through structures in the depths of the boat and utilized for mast ) securely in operation on its floats and consequently this had not been done . during the journey , the last weihai on the delta 106 withdrew from its fully lowered orbit . the silencer dropped into the water and entered a submerged , top - pressures natural gas tank . the additional gas discharged ignited and made a fireball that engulfed the shipping vessel and both sites . the master of the towing vessel and its barge crews were killed . the miss mckenna deckhand and one barges worker remained . the barge worker is officially listed as missing .
NTSB is responsible for investigating transportation accidents in the United States.