I would be very curious, Mr. Dresser, to know by what method the count of 37 was verified. Was that how many tickets were sold, or was that how many persons were counted before the Duck went in the water?

When I was affiliated with the Ducks here in Baltimore the passengers were counted by an “ambassador,” usually a student working for $7.00 per hour. If they forgot to count they would fill in the blanks later with an educated guess. The Ducks here in Baltimore were shut down by the parent company just a few days before an election was to be held that would potentially unionize the Baltimore organization. The Captains were concerned about safety, primarily, and Ducks were sent into the harbor with known mechanical difficulties and were stranded in the harbor more than once last year.

You curse them for suffering a mechanical problem and a small fire and waiting to get towed? You get in your car every day and know someone could hit you... Obviously the company didn't intend for this to happen, that's why it's called an accident. My prayers go out to all involved...

COMMENT: The "curse" referred to here has been deleted at the original commenter's request.

If I remember my Rules of the Road correctly, the barge under tow had right of way over the small Duck. True, the Duck was disabled, but did it hoist a signal? Did it even have one on board? Could the tug skipper tell the Duck was disabled in time to avert a collision? Those tows take a long time to change course.

Although I was no fan of the Ducks here in Baltimore when they operated, I don't believe this Duck involved in the collision and sinking on the Delaware River could be faulted.
Seeing the stills from a CBS News report, the Duck was hit squarely from the stern and run over completely.
Being a veteran tugboat captain that has towed this very same barge many times when I worked in Philadelphia for a well known, East Coast tug firm, I have to question how in the world the tug operator did not see the Duck well in advance and alter course. The river is very wide and there is plenty of room to maneuver almost bank to bank.
True, the deepwater channel does run almost right along the Pennsylvania shore close on Penn's Landing but, it was common practice to run with these light (empty) barges further out in the middle or closer to the New Jersey side.
The tug that was towing the empty barge, "Caribbean Sea" has two separate wheelhouses. The lower or "main" wheelhouse is used for running the tug without tow or with barges they can easily see over. The secondary or "upper wheelhouse" is used for towing barges you can see over from the lower wheelhouse.
Which wheelhouse was being utilized at the time?
A tragic incident for sure but, there can only be one or two reasons why the tug operator could not see this vessel.
I hope the tug operator has retained a good attorney, he is going to need it to defend his license and possibly keep him out of prison if negligence is determined by the US Coast Guard.