09 November 2008

Was Asgard II missing a 'Sea-Cock'?

Investigators charged with finding the reasons for the sinking of the Irish national sail training vessel Asgard II in the early hours of September 11th in the Bay of Biscay are said to be focusing on the possibility that the absence of a valve or 'sea-cock' could have been responsible for the loss of the brigantine.

Even though an underwater-inspection of the wreck with a remote-controlled camera vehicle has found that one of her hull planks is damaged, it is not thought that the Asgard II collided with a rock or an other object, as none of the five regular crew members and 20 trainees on board reported feeling any bump.

The French and Irish maritime authorities are conducting their separate investigations, trying to find out why the 27-year-old training vessel sank after it was rapidly overcome with an influx of water in the Bay of Biscay, off the French coast south-west of Belle-Île-en-Mer.

The vessel's insurers, who are facing a pay-out of € 3.8 million, are also carrying out their own investigation. As soon as further information is available, I will post it here.

The Emerald Islander

P.S. Those readers who wish to learn more about the loss of the Asgard II and the news that have emerged so far might also be interested to read my earlier entries of September 11th & 13th and October 3rd, 5th, 12th, 18th & 29th.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It would seem that they did not have one of the new GPS/Sonar tracking systems, otherwise they would have known that there were rocks in the area. Also would it not make sense to have a ship scanned such as a sonogram to discover any vulnerable structural areas.

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