I’m not waiting for any final report. This is current, topical and of obvious interest. Oh, and fun.
I’ve also read final reports which should have been shredded and the authors sent to sweep up streets. The arse covering is starting and spreading like wildfire so the investigators aren’t immune from having their arms twisted.
The best evidence may well come from the mum with baby, or some other unqualified witness who saw something he didn’t appreciate the importance of. Those are the stories coming out now. They are all grist for the mill. Expertise isn’t the only factor. Honesty and sincerity are important too.
I think the simplest thing is that water got in somehow. And couldnt get out. Not up to me to figure out why boats and ships sink. We all know… more water onboard than you can hold will make you sink.is a bad thing., The experts (Real or self appointed) will perhaps figure it out years from now and boatloads of sea lawyers to assist. Realy sad for any event like this, no matter what craft you sail on.
Forgot to answer this previously. All hatches, doors and flaps are steel, rubber seals, secured by dogs (clips) all round or wing nuts for engine room vent flaps. Coamings are high with a step either side of the doorway. Mushroom vents screw shut. So all comply with seagoing passenger ship. There would be no holes anywhere on deck in that state, other than tank vent tubes high above deck. I’ve never felt the need to secure to that extent, and have felt safe in all sea states with centreline hatches open and lee deck edge in and out of the water constantly.
It’s important to grin openly and occasionally whoop in joy in this condition as a visible sign to my trainees that at least the captain isn’t terrified … and he would know … wouldn’t he?
Tall Ships Down : The Last Voyages of the Pamir, Albatross, Marques, Pride of Baltimore, and Maria Asumpta, by Daniel Parrott is an excellently written study of how these vessels succumbed to capsize due to a variety of, unfortunately, somewhat predictable factors and chains of poor decision making.
The Albatross, Marques, and Pride of Baltimore all capsized quickly in strong winds, arguably in large part due to poorly understood stability characteristics. The Albatross and Marques both had been modified in ways that made them lose reserve stability, both in additional deck structures and larger, taller, and more expansive rigging. Both suffered downflooding from open hatches. The Marques had a large open hatch with an off center companion way and also had freeing ports that had been fastened closed.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough.
I won’t speculate about conspiracies sans evidence, though I’m not naive enough to discount the possibility in a world of powerful, unscrupulous people. If the investigation reveals that the poorly understood stability characteristics of the Bayesian was the main contributing factor, it would fit into a longstanding, similar pattern.
If there is one thing that I will agree with Mr Constantino is the yacht would still have a positive righting angle to 77 °with the keel retracted as the bulb is still below the hull.
The yacht will have a stability booklet and it will form part of the investigation.
Contributors and readers to this Forum are, after a lifetime at sea are well placed to seperate bull shit from fact and sometimes we all learn something. To me some of this is waisted being retired.
If the gentleman with experience on sailing these vessels could explain to us the parameters of the yacht and its layout it would help.
My only experience with yachts goes back to my youth and then in my leave before satellite navigation doing a bit of yacht delivery for owners wanting to cruise Pacific islands as a bit of a hustle . The South Pacific had no electronic aids until then and a sextant was all you had… I did some sailing on a barquentine.
I knew many of those who crewed the Pamir when she was manned by the Union Steamship company from 1941 to 1948 running between NZ and the West Coast of USA.
That is absurd. That door opens at water level and the space inside is more an engineering space than part of the guest route except when they are boarding or leaving a tender. The idea that it would be left open at 0500 and in anything but glassy water conditions while not under direct crew observation is ridiculous. Another issue is that if the video supposedly showing the boat moments before sinking is accurate, the side door would be raised far above the water, not submerged as the boat is shown heeling to starboard. The wreck is said to be lying on its starboard side with the mast intact. If the side door was open or even partially open that condition would have been immediately obvious to divers searching for a point of access.
I completely agree with A465B in his estimation of the unfounded and quite frankly, ignorant, comments made by people who have never even seen a sailing yacht of this caliber. The amount of completely false “information” posted here about the construction and operation of this class of vessel is not something the site should be proud of. Having personally had business and technical dealings with the builder, the kindest thing I can say is to repeat my comment that “The gentleman doth protest too much …”
There I was at the helm, lashed by the raging seas, my trusty sword on one hip and a loaded pistol on the other. The Bully Mate and Bosun were thrashing the recalcitrant deck hands while the cook was heating the usual swill.
As the winds raged i consulted my social media and news feeds to nourish my appetite. I hurled nonsensical speculation at the hapless trainees, these being otherwise too slow to scamper up the rigging or at least below decks.
Soon enough the Lloyds Classed lee rail was under and the gray seas flowed across the decks to wash away the stain of our usually bloodied decks. I let out a whoop of joy as the longboat was swept away and the spars groaned under the strain.
The mushroom vents were kept in the dark while the hatches were battened atop those now trapped below. I was gleeful in their misfortune to come.
I was finally in command of the „Universe of Alternate Facts“ on her voyage across the Sea of Ignorance. The Owners awarded me a Whip and a keyboard upon my Ascendancy. This in supplement to the usual cut of the booty. A twisted smile crossed my face as I chewed on an Albatross wishbone and spat accusations upon the deck, or at least to windward.
I raised a mailed fist to the sky and cursed Neptune while holding our course steady toward the Rocks of Obfuscation.
According to La Repubblica, divers who carried out underwater inspections of the boat reported that the hatch was open, although this has not been confirmed by officials. If this was the case, large amounts of water could have entered through the gap, potentially destabilising the vessel.
Not clear from the article what ‘hatch’. The leading theory seems to be a tornadic waterspout.
It took at least 6 minutes from drifting away off the anchorage to the last AIS signal.
Anchors do not voluntarily stop their work in calm weather. There must have been an external event to do this, while still anchored.
The mother sleeping on deck, with her one-year-old baby, said she had a rude awakening and immediately went into the water. It may well be that the initial catastrophic event, still at anchor, catapulted them off the boat… and the yacht drifted away with all other people still on board.
