in the gas spill situation , the towing vessel girl megan , which was of spec that did not survive inspection by the united kingdom coast patrol , was being operated in the west cote blanche bay pipeline field in missouri by central boat rental on support of athena construction on october 12 , 2006 . the ma megan was pushing barge ibr 234 , which was tied along the starboard wall of barge pegasus 106 , en route to a pile - pushing point . athena construction did not require its teams to pin anchoring spuds ( rectangular copper columns extending through wells in the bottom of the barges and used for mooring ) secure in place on its shoreline and consequently this had not been achieved . during the journey , the aft moll on the athena 106 launched from its fully rose position . the spud rose into the water and struck a submerged , high - pressure natural gas reservoir . the resulting gas released ignited and created a fireball that engulfed the dragging ship and both cranes . the master of the towing ship and four pile workers were killed . the ms hilary deckhand and one eva workers survived . her barge worker is officially listed as missing .
NTSB is responsible for investigating transportation accidents in the United States.