Written by
Nick Blenkey
Picture: NTSB
The Nationwide Transportation Security Board has issued the report of its investigation of the sinking of the industrial fishing vessel Carol Jean.
On March 21, this yr, whereas anchored with nobody on board, the Carol Jean flooded and sank within the Atlantic Ocean close to Tybee Island, Georgia. After the vessel’s emergency place indicating radio beacon, or EPIRB, activated, the U.S. Coast Guard responded and located a particles discipline the place the beacon’s sign originated. There was no air pollution reported. The lack of the Carol Jean was estimated at $250,000.
The 71.9-foot-long, wooden-hulled industrial fishing vessel was inbuilt 1981. The vessel’s captain had owned and operated it for over 5 years and used it “each every now and then” to catch shrimp. It was usually docked in Valona, Ga.
On March 14, 2023, the captain sailed the Carol Jean from Valona to Port Royal, S.C., to buy the 66.4-foot-long industrial fishing vessel Having Religion, which had not been operated for a few years and didn’t have an engine put in. After buying the Having Religion on March 15, the captain supposed to tow the vessel again to Valona to take away any invaluable or helpful components or supplies.
On the morning of March 16, the captain of the Carol Jean started preparations to tow the Having Religion from Port Royal to Valona, with the help of a pal. The captain discovered a 100- to 150-foot-long rope in a ahead compartment on the Having Religion that he used because the tow line. The rope had been saved on the Having Religion for an unknown time period. The captain said that he believed it was an anchor line, and because it was “large,” he and his pal thought it could suffice (he didn’t know what materials the rope was made from or the rope’s diameter). The captain and his pal related the tow line to the aft growth on the Carol Jean after which handed the opposite finish by means of the Having Religion’s anchor chute (chain pipe), into an open hatch, and tied it round two gasoline tanks positioned throughout the ahead compartment.
The captain additionally didn’t use chafing gear to guard the tow line throughout the voyage, and the road finally frayed and parted.
Because the captain and crewmember tried to reestablish the tow on March 16, the tow line turned entangled within the Carol Jean’s propeller, stopping the vessel from shifting. The next day the climate deteriorated, and the U.S. Coast Guard evacuated the Carol Jean crew. The vessel remained anchored off the coast of Georgia with nobody remaining on board to watch its standing. The captain returned to the vessel on March 19 with a diver and untangled the tow line from the vessel’s propeller, however the engine clutch had been broken and was eliminated to be repaired. Following the captain’s departure from the vessel on March 19, it remained unattended offshore till March 21, when its EPIRB activated. The vessel seemingly sank in some unspecified time in the future between the captain’s departure from the vessel on March 19 and the activation of the vessel’s EPIRB on March 21.
The NTSB decided the possible reason behind the sinking was seemingly flooding from an unknown supply whereas the vessel was anchored offshore and unattended. The captain’s insufficient planning for a tow, resulting in the Carol Jean being anchored after the tow line failed and fouled its propeller, contributed to the lack of the vessel.
