The 85-foot expedition style motor yacht Bäden took two and a half years to build in meticulous detail, but it was all for nothing as she capsized and sank last Sunday night after being launching at Northern Marine Industries in Anacortes, Washington.
Reports indicate there were four or possibly five shipyard personnel on board the vessel at the time of the incident who became trapped on board as the vessel rolled over. They were subsequently rescued through a portlight after breaking it with a fire axe.
Roddan Engineering, a firm which had been engaged “to review build progress, track weight and prepare an Intact Stability analysis” notes in a letter dated 19 July 2013 that the vessel was “lighter than other Northern Marine builds of similar length, thus requiring more ballast to sit on a desired waterline.” The firm recommended “that partial ballasting be done currently, with final ballasting for trim and desired waterline to be performed at launch.”
What exactly occurred during and after launch however, is still unclear.
The salvage of the vessel is currently in progress.
Wile E. Coyote must have been the Naval Architect on this one!
Might have been ok if it was floating and fully ballasted. Obviously she wasn’t very stable in a partially afloat partially ballasted condition with the bow still supported on the launching dolly.
I’ve been wondering when this yacht was going to make it to a thread. I know many yachts are top-heavy, but this just looks crazy. I wonder if she would be floating right now if she had a draft of 8 or 9 feet? I believe the designed draft was around 6 or 6 -1/2’.
There’s video of launch posted now. I see some bubbling at the stern early in the launch which could just be the engine exhausts flooding or could be something more sinister. Unfortunately they didn’t have any lines on her and couldn’t keep her at the ramp so she drifted to the dock were we’ve seen her awash. I skipped the embedded video to 2:30 so you don’t have to listen to some guy’s platitudes about the builder but feel free to rewind.
Just watched that vid of the boat flopping over and all I can say is why on earth did they continue with the launching when it was rolling over and still on it’s cradle? You can see it listing way over but not fully free. They should have stopped and pulled the boat back out!
[QUOTE=renoun;137977]There’s video of launch posted now. I see some bubbling at the stern early in the launch which could just be the engine exhausts flooding or could be something more sinister. Unfortunately they didn’t have any lines on her and couldn’t keep her at the ramp so she drifted to the dock were we’ve seen her awash. I skipped the embedded video to 2:30 so you don’t have to listen to some guy’s platitudes about the builder but feel free to rewind.[/QUOTE]
Utter and complete idiotic fools. This DID NOT need to happen!
Was the transom door to the engine room open? I couldn’t tell in the video. The steps in the transom are too tall for down flooding to happen threw them. That was an incredible amount of air bubbling up under the port quarter which suggests a lot of water going in. There wasn’t much hull depth below the waterline compared to the massive amount of hull and superstructure above it. I hope one of our regular posters goes to take a look at it.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;138014]Was the transom door to the engine room open? I couldn’t tell in the video. The steps in the transom are too tall for down flooding to happen threw them. That was an incredible amount of air bubbling up under the port quarter which suggests a lot of water going in. There wasn’t much hull depth below the waterline compared to the massive amount of hull and superstructure above it. I hope one of our regular posters goes to take a look at it.[/QUOTE]
At 2:27 in the video you can see the door in the transom is open so I think it is fair to say it was open when the stern entered the water. Now here is the big question, why was it not closed? People were aboard so why did not someone yell to stop the launching if water were poring in? Why did someone not close it? Why was the launching continued when the vessel was obviously taking a list even when it was still on the cradle and not full afloat yet?
We call that STOP in the oil industry. Apparently there is no similar concept in yacht building?
[QUOTE=renoun;137977]There’s video of launch posted now. I see some bubbling at the stern early in the launch which could just be the engine exhausts flooding or could be something more sinister. Unfortunately they didn’t have any lines on her and couldn’t keep her at the ramp so she drifted to the dock were we’ve seen her awash. I skipped the embedded video to 2:30 so you don’t have to listen to some guy’s platitudes about the builder but feel free to rewind.
[QUOTE=Kougar018;138028]I didn’t know Mitchell from Modern Family works for yacht vid[/QUOTE]
Time for me to make a snide rip at the mega rich and their overpriced playtoys. This should have been a commercial vessel built by a commercial shipyard who know the proper way to launch a boat rather than how to build lots of very fancy woodwork and chromium plated ground tackle.
I won’t say the owners or builders deserve anything that they got here but there is a real element of the phoney in the whole world of large expensive yachts which is painted all over this one and very apparent in the video including the limp wristed Pug stroker!
It’s probably a good thing that it went over when it did. The other option would be this happening while the owner throws a launch party on her in choppy waters resulting in 50 people inebriated and trying to tread water.
