The National Transportation Safety Board has released its report on the July 2024 collision between the Chinese bulker Yangze 7 and the towboat Miss Peggy on the Houston Ship Channel, finding that a comprehensive failure to maintain a proper lookout by both bridge teams caused the casualty. Investigators said the failure was exacerbated by the Yangze 7 pilot’s “nonoperational cell phone use.”

According to the report, the ship’s watch officer observed the pilot watching a video unrelated to operations. Voyage data recorder audio later captured the pilot on a call with a second Houston pilot, a conversation that continued through a Bluetooth earpiece while he gave rudder orders. A harbor tug radioed a warning to “watch out for that tow right in front of you” seconds before the bulbous bow struck Miss Peggy’s stern and rolled her to starboard.

One deckhand trapped in the galley died and two others were injured. NTSB also faulted the Yangze 7 crew, the Miss Peggy captain and the pilots’ association for not prohibiting personal phone use. The Houston Pilots have since adopted a rule limiting phone use to professional purposes; no federal regulation covers the practice.

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