An investigation is underway after two crew members of a tugboat were killed and two others were harmed in what the Coast Guard described as a “confined space incident” aboard a barge moored in southeast Alaska. A news release from the agency provided limited details about what happened to the four, but it said they were in a confined space in the freight barge Waynehoe on Sunday morning when other crew members from their tug, the Chukchi Sea, lost contact with them. Federal regulations define “confined space” on a vessel as a small compartment with limited access that can "readily create or aggravate a hazardous exposure.” That could include a lack of oxygen.
