Updated: Sad news. Yesterday afternoon, the crew of the 91-foot tugboat, Steven Scott, called the Coast Guard to report that they hadn’t seen their captain for nearly an hour and believed that he had fallen overboard. This afternoon the US Coast Guard suspended the search off the Rhode Island coast for Captain Brendan O’Leary, 48, of Marblehead, MA. The tug was towing a barge carrying 45,000 barrels of jet fuel to Boston.
Old Salt Blog
a virtual port of call for all those who love the sea , hosted by nautical novelist Rick Spilman
this is very sad news. I lived around the corner from Brendan growing up. I went to the freshman prom with him. He picked me up on his bicycle and I rode on the back in my dress. Wonderful memories. I will continue to hope that he is found.
His father and uncle are close friends of our good buddy Fraffie Welch in Marblehead.
Brendan and I were close friends all through middle & high school, and unfortunately we lost touch. I learned of this tragic loss through my parents who still live in M’head and am in disbelief. The memories we shared are rushing back….skateboarding, late for school, Ted Nugent tunes, discovering & drinking beer without the parents knowing, walking on frozen Marblehead harbor and being yelled at by his mom who saw us from her office at the Electric light plant at Commercial St., Shamus the dog always barking, waving to his dad piloting a coastal tanker up the Danvers River, and everything else we encountered together growing up. My heart, thoughts, and prayers, are with you all. Peace…