Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2015 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== (note: while some formatting changes were necessary to transcribe this document the content remains entirely as written in the official report.) From: Marine Board of Investigation To: Commandant (G-MMI) Subj: S. S. EDMUND FITZGERALD, O. N. 277437; sinking in Lake Superior on 10 November 1975, with loss of life FINDINGS OF FACT (continued) ---------------- 11. Lifesaving Equipment -------------------- FITZGERALD was required by Coast Guard Regulations to have primary lifesaving equipment for 200% of the persons authorized to be carried on board. Of this primary lifesaving equipment, one-half, or facilities for 100% of the persons to be carried on board, was required to be in the form of lifeboats, and the other half was required to be in the form of inflatable life rafts. Because FITZGERALD had crew berthing and working spaces "widely separated," at least two 65 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- inflatable life rafts were required. Lifesaving equipment installed on board FITZGERALD consisted of two 50-person lifeboats and two 25-person inflatable life rafts. Each inflatable raft was installed in a rack from which it was designed to float free. Upon floating free, the raft would inflate automatically. One life raft was located aft of the forward house on the Texas Deck, starboard side, and the other raft was located aft of the after deckhouse on the Poop Deck. Considerable testimony was received from both licensed and unlicensed Great Lakes Merchant Mariners concerning the use of primary lifesaving equipment. Without exception, the witnesses expressed considerable doubt that lifeboats could have been successfully launched by the crew of the vessel under the weather conditions which existed at the time FITZGERALD was lost. A Great Lakes Registered Pilot testified: "...I have said that if the damn ship is going to go down, I would get in my bunk and pull the blankets over my head and say, 'Let her go,' because there was no way of launching the boats." Drills, in good weather, at the dock, show that a conven- tional lifeboat could not be launched in less than 10 minutes and testimony indicated that as much as 30 minutes might be required to launch a lifeboat in a seaway. Most witnesses expressed more confidence in the inflatable life rafts than in the lifeboats, although very few of them had ever seen a life raft inflated or launched. Coast Guard Regulations require training and drills in the use of lifeboats, but do not address life rafts. Testimony indicated that Oglebay Norton Co., the operator of FITZGERALD, had no training program in the use of life rafts. The Coast Guard is involved in a research and development program dedicated toward improving lifesaving equipment and procedures. Much of this research is specifically directed toward Great Lakes shipping. The initial studies concluded 66 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- that improvement is needed in launching and embarking into primary lifesaving equipment. This research is continuing. Coast Guard research has also included the development of a method of evaluating exposure suits. There are no require- ments for exposure suits on Great Lakes vessels, and no suits were provided on FITZGERALD on its last voyage on 9 November. On 15 June 1976, the Coast Guard published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning increases in the requirements for lifesaving equipment on vessels operating on the Great Lakes. This notice stated that the Coast Guard was considering amendments to the regulations for Great Lakes vessels in the following areas: a. Lifeboat exposure protection. b. Lifeboat maneuverability. c. Survival craft availability. d. Launching of survival craft from stowed position. e. Lifeboat capability to float free automatically from a sinking vessel. f. Personal exposure protection. g. Communications equipment on survival craft. h. Lights and reflectorized materials. i. Standards for equipment substituted for required equipment. Comments were requested to be submitted to the Coast Guard by 7 September 1976, and a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is in preparation. 67 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coast Guard Regulations require that fire and boat drills be conducted at least once each week on a cargo vessel such as FITZGER- ALD. Testimony from licensed officers who had previously served on FITZGERALD indicated that drills were held on a regular basis. Testimony of unlicensed mariners who had served on FITZGERALD at various times during the 1973 and 1974 seasons indicated that drills were not held. The regulations also require that an entry be made in the vessel's Official Logbook concerning each drill conducted. Logbooks for FITZGERALD were not available, having been lost with the vessel. Under a procedure established by the company which operated the vessel, extracts of the vessel's log- book and of the engineering logs were prepared and forwarded to the company office in Cleveland, OH. These extracts, known as Office Logs and Engineering Logs, respectively, were available from April 12, when the vessel began the 1975 season, through the end of October. These show a total of fourteen Fire and Boat Drills during that twenty-eight week period. The Certificate of Inspection called for a total of eighty- three life preservers; one for each of the forty-nine crew, twenty-five for the required 50% excess, two in each lifeboat, three for the bow watch, and two in the engineroom. There were three types of life preservers on board FITZGERALD: Cork type, two in each boat and thirteen or fourteen in each lifejacket box near the boats; Horse-collar, foam type, in each stateroom; and several Kapok type. FITZGERALD was required to have twenty-four 30-inch ring life buoys on board, twelve of which were provided with water lights. Testimony indicated that there were both electrical (battery) and chemical (carbide) water lights on board FITZGER- ALD at the time of the casualty. Although the Coast Guard approval for carbide water lights has been withdrawn, those on 68 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- board were allowed to be retained as long as they were maintained in good and serviceable condition. Coast Guard Regulations require that ring buoys be placed so as to be readily accessible to persons on board and "capable of being cast loose" and "not permanently secured in any way." There is no requirement that either battery or carbide water lights or the ring buoys to which they are attached be able to float free from the vessel in the event of sinking. Coast Guard Regulations which require an Emergency Position Indicating Radiobeacon (EPIRB) for ocean vessels do not require such a device on vessels operating on the Great Lakes, and no EPIRB was installed on FITZGERALD. 69 ===========================================================================