U.S. officials investigating the Utopia IV crash with a gas tanker a little over a year ago have concluded that it resulted from a lack of proper lookouts aboard each vessel.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released the report this week. It results from interviews with each crew and inspections of the damage to Utopia IV. The since-repaired, 207-foot (63-meter) superyacht is U.S.-flagged. The collision in the Bahamas sank the tanker and severely damaged the yacht. It further resulted in the loss of all cargo aboard the tanker, contributing to a total of nearly $7.9 million in collective damages.
On the evening of December 23, 2021, Utopia IV was underway with seven guests and 12 crewmembers in the Northeast Providence Channel near Nassau. The tanker Tropic Breeze, a 159-footer (48-meter), was underway with seven crewmembers. Each vessel had two people in her respective wheelhouse. The captain and the bosun were aboard the yacht, and the captain and an able seafarer were aboard the tanker. According to the NTSB, Utopia IV’s captain said he departed the wheelhouse at 10:48 p.m. to check on the passengers. The bosun didn’t have watch-officer credentials, and international regulations prohibit someone of his qualifications from maneuvering the yacht alone. The bosun told investigators that he didn’t see any radar or AIS targets or a vessel out the wheelhouse windows while alone. Also, just before 11 p.m., he was recording hourly log entries and the navigation fix. Therefore, his back was turned to the windows.
Aboard Tropic Breeze, meanwhile, her AIS system was down. It actually hadn’t transmitted a position in 11 months, investigators found. Had it been operable, each crew would have been able to detect the other vessel prior to the collision. Additionally, one of Tropic Breeze’s two radars was off, while the bridge mast blocked the aft sweep of the other. This block resulted in a shadow area directly astern—where the Utopia IV crash occurred—on the display. The captain confirmed to investigators that he didn’t see the yacht on the radar.
At 11 p.m, the Utopia IV crash occurred. Traveling at about 20 knots, she hit Tropic Breeze directly astern. The tanker began flooding, so her crew boarded a rescue boat and a liferaft. The yacht’s crew, meanwhile, attempted to recover them by positioning her swim platform within reach. Sea swells and the platform’s height, though, prevented boarding. Since Utopia IV’s crew had already sent three VHF distress calls, the Royal Bahamian Defense Forces heard them, as did another yacht, Amara. Amara arrived and used her tender to rescue the tanker crew. The tender then headed to Nassau with them, while Tropic Breeze continued to flood. Her captain indicated that she sank about 25 minutes after the collision. Amara further escorted Utopia IV to Nassau, since her hull was compromised, too.
The value of Tropic Breeze was $5.1 million. Her lost cargo was approximately $343,000. Utopia IV’s damages were an estimated $2.4 million. It included ruptured hull plating above and below the waterline, fractured framing, and damaged bridge windows.
NTSB investigators concluded that had Utopia IV’s wheelhouse crew or Tropic Breeze’s bridge crew maintained a proper lookout, they would have detected each other. Therefore, they each could have acted to avoid the crash.
Utopia IV saw delivery in 2018 from Rossinavi.
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