Seacor Power crew tried to drop vessel's legs, anchor to seafloor when it capsized, NTSB says

Seacor Power crew tried to drop vessel's legs, anchor to seafloor when it capsized, NTSB says
JOHN SIMERMAN, RAMON ANTONIO VARGAS and ANTHONY McAULEY | May 18, 2021 https://www.nola.com/news/business/article_cebc7cc4-b7e3-11eb-88ff-6bccc...

A squall was passing over the Seacor Power in the Gulf of Mexico, the wind pounded and visibility from the wheelhouse of the massive lift boat had dimmed when a decision was made, three hours after leaving Port Fourchon on April 13, to drop its massive legs and anchor them to the seafloor.

The emergency plan was to raise the deck above the rising sea and wait out a storm that was much more powerful than forecast, according to an early assessment of the tragedy released Tuesday by federal regulators.

In a preliminary report, the National Transportation Safety Board said the vessel's crew received an emailed weather report about 7 a.m. that day predicting winds at 10 to 14 miles per hour as well as 3-foot seas for its journey.

Instead, the 19 people aboard ran into winds exceeding 92 miles per hour — hurricane strength — and up to 12-foot seas. The plan to jack up the Seacor Power never made it far, according to the NTSB's report, which runs a little over two pages.

The president of Seacor Marine, the boat's owner, has said its exposed leg had descended about five feet, which would take about a minute.

The NTSB for the first time on Tuesday confirmed the attempt to stand up the Seacor Power for stability, but it said that desperate plan quickly went awry.

"When the legs began to descend, the crewmember at the helm attempted to turn the vessel into the winds," the report said. "Before the turn was completed, the Seacor Power heeled to starboard and capsized."

The Seacor Power is a jack-up barge used to service oil platforms and has three giant legs that can be lowered into the seafloor if needed. It left Port Fourchon to deliver supplies to an oil platform about 40 miles east of Venice when it capsized.

Six crew members were rescued. The bodies of six others have been recovered. Seven haven't been found.

It remained unclear Tuesday how many more times the crew's leaders might have checked the weather following that morning's email. Two hours before the vessel sank, a warning went out from forecasters about a rare, potent weather event known as a "wake low" occurring in the area where the Seacor Power was heading.

The brief summary also leaves in doubt just who made the decision to jack up the boat or who was at the helm of the Seacor Power before it turned and submerged in 60 feet of water.

According to one of the lawyers involved in the case who has heard accounts from two of the crew members, the First Mate Bryan Mires was operating the vessel from when it left port until the decision was made to stop and jack up due to the weather.

At that point, Captain David Ledet took the helm to make the maneuver, which is standard operating procedure for lift boats. With the winds still at hurricane force, the boat listed heavily to starboard and began taking on water. It sunk very quickly thereafter, said the lawyer, who asked not to be quoted by name.

“I don’t know who was steering the vessel” when it flipped, said attorney Hugh “Skip” Lambert, who represents the family of Ledet. “I don’t think that matters. It should never have been out there with 10 passengers and cargo.”

The 19 aboard the Seacor Power included Ledet and eight crewmen, along with 10 contractors.

Ledet’s family has sued the boat’s owner, Seacor Marine, as well as Talos Energy, which had contracted the lift boat to service a platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

The NTSB's report described how Coast Guard and civilians rescuers on boats and aircrafts rushed to the scene as several Seacor Power crew members sought refuge on the port side of the ship's deck house, which was above water. High winds and seas complicated efforts to rescue those crew members, with at least some of them being washed into the Gulf of Mexico.

The document was the first official report by regulators on the capsized vessel. It stops short of assigning blame for the disaster, though the NTSB said it had gathered information for a more detailed assessment expected in several months.

That information includes documents pertaining to the ship as well as interviews with survivors and a number of others who had either served on or inspected the ship.

The initial report said the NTSB was still waiting for the Seacor Power to be salvaged so that inspectors could go through the ship in search of more evidence.