Canadian school ship that sank was guilty of woeful safety planning

64 high school and university students were adrift in the South Atlantic Ocean for nearly two days after a Canadian school ship sank because they were unprepared to deal with rough weather, said a safety report.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada released its findings late last month into what caused the sinking of the 189-foot tall ship Concordia in strong winds and high seas about 340 miles southeast of Rio de Janeiro on Feb. 17, 2010.

Among the agency’s findings were failure of the crew to secure openings, change course and lowering sails.

Specifically, open doors, vents and windows allowed water to flood into the hull so fast that the students and staff had only 20 minutes to abandon ship into life rafts before it went down.

Moreover, the second officer who had the helm at the time of the sinking was not required to have anything other than a basic knowledge of stability even though he did hold a certificate to serve as watch officer, the report found.

This may explain why the vessel had a heel angle of 23 degrees for between two and three minutes without any corrective action being taken, the report said.

However, company president Terry Davies said that the ship could have been sunk by a rare weather phenomenon which produced a severe downward draft of air. He claimed that a U.S. meteorologist found that a microburst in excess of 120 kilometers per hour struck so suddenly that the second officer could not possibly have had time to prepare.

The Concordia was used in the West Island College International Class Afloat, a 10-month program combining practical sailing experience and classroom instruction, based in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia.

Americans were among the crew and students drifting in life rafts and rescued by the Brazilian navy. There were also persons from Australia, Europe, Mexico, New Zealand and the West Indies. Remarkably, everyone survived and there were no serious injuries reported.

Source: The Spec.com