Vessel abandoned - foul play suspected

I am a marine surveyor, normaly on behalf of Hull & Machinery Underwriters’ interests. I am currently dealing with a case where a ship was abandoned and foul play is suspected in the crew flooding the engine room. I will be interviewing the crew next week and was wondering if there is anyone out there who could give some advice on particular questions to ask regarding this incident?

Any replies and input wil be appreciated.

:confused:

I don’t know much about the e/r but I would suspect that a good place to start would be the sea chest and then move up the s/w system. Where was the flooding coming from? There should be two valves on each sea chest which would stop any major flow of water if it was the s/w system.

Was the vessel recovered? What makes people think it was an act of the crew? I think people would need a lot more facts before to give some advise that would be worth much.

How much personal gear or expensive equipment was “rescued” before the boat went down?
If the crew had time to pack, how hard were they trying to de-water?