Safety at Ride The Ducks
The accident on July 7, 2010, in Philadelphia, was the first accident involving an injury in our 33+ year history of serving over 12,000,000 guests. The NTSB determined that the mate operating the tugboat failed to maintain a proper lookout while towing a barge up the Delaware River. The investigation revealed that the mate was inattentive to his duties while navigating the vessel because he was distracted by his repeated use of a personal cell phone and laptop computer. Further, rather than being in the upper wheelhouse as expected, the tugboat mate was navigating from its lower wheelhouse where visibility of the channel ahead was limited.
Our nation's waterways are safe for vessels large and small and the commerical passenger vessel industry is the safest "transportation" industry in the country according to NTSB data. The accident was not our fault, but that hasn't kept us from working hard to learn and prevent it from ever happening again. Ride The Ducks has taken several actions to help ensure the safety of our guest and crew. Some examples:
New Delaware River water route
Large vessel avoidance program
Immediate on-water assistance program
Redundant Safety Equipment
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74 personal floatation devices on a vessel that carries 37 guests.
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3 air horns, 2 VHF radios, 3 signaling devices
The above is in addition to:
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Over 8 years of experience in Philadelphia operating on the Delaware River.
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Vehicles that are United States Coast Guard inspected and certified.
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Captains who are United States Coast Guard licensed.
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A leader in Amphibious Vehicle safety development.
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Vessels built from the ground up since 1997.
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Introduced unique safety features like the sea chest.
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Ducks have several redundant safety systems that include, steering, electrical and fuel components.
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Vehicles that are inspected daily.
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Continuous Captain training,