Bad decision of captain and management main reason for loss of Bounty
The main reason for the sinking of the "Bounty" in 2012 was because the captain and management made a bad decision to sail into the storm, a U.S. Coast Guard report said on June 12, echoing the conclusions of other federal investigators before them.
Although the inadequate preparation of the crew and the ship were also factors, most critical was the failure of the management and master to exercise effective oversight and risk management.The report said the HMS Bounty Organization chose to meet only the lesser standards of a recreational vessel, not the tougher requirements of a passenger craft. The "Bounty" could have been certified as a small passenger or sailing-school vessel, but the management decided against taking the steps necessary to meet the minimum safety requirements that would have applied with such certification in favor of the less stringent recreational standards.
A National Transportation Safety Board report conclued already in February that Captain Walbridge made a reckless decision to sail the "Bounty" into the hurricane's well-forecast path. The NTSB report noted that the wooden vessel took on water even in good sailing conditions and some wood rot also had been recently discovered on the ship.
Workers at a Maine shipyard where the "Bounty" had received repairs testified during a joint Coast Guard and NTSB hearing last year that the ship had a decaying frame with an undetermined amount of rot in it before leaving port weeks before it sank.
The main reason for the sinking of the "Bounty" in 2012 was because the captain and management made a bad decision to sail into the storm, a U.S. Coast Guard report said on June 12, echoing the conclusions of other federal investigators before them.
Although the inadequate preparation of the crew and the ship were also factors, most critical was the failure of the management and master to exercise effective oversight and risk management.The report said the HMS Bounty Organization chose to meet only the lesser standards of a recreational vessel, not the tougher requirements of a passenger craft. The "Bounty" could have been certified as a small passenger or sailing-school vessel, but the management decided against taking the steps necessary to meet the minimum safety requirements that would have applied with such certification in favor of the less stringent recreational standards.
A National Transportation Safety Board report conclued already in February that Captain Walbridge made a reckless decision to sail the "Bounty" into the hurricane's well-forecast path. The NTSB report noted that the wooden vessel took on water even in good sailing conditions and some wood rot also had been recently discovered on the ship.
Workers at a Maine shipyard where the "Bounty" had received repairs testified during a joint Coast Guard and NTSB hearing last year that the ship had a decaying frame with an undetermined amount of rot in it before leaving port weeks before it sank.