Coast Guard to Hold Public Hearing into Seacor Power Capsizing

The U.S. Coast Guard has scheduled a public hearing to consider evidence related to the capsizing of the U.S.-flag liftboat Seacor Power resulting in the loss of 13 lives.

The 10-day public hearing will take place in Houma, Louisiana, beginning Monday, August 2nd, and last through August 13th. The hearing is open to the public and will also be streamed live online.

The Seacor Power capsized on April 13, 2021, approximately seven miles south of Port Fourchon with 19 crew members on board. Six were initially rescue and six were recovered unresponsive during the search and rescue. Seven were never found.

The Coast Guard, local agencies, and good samaritans searched for six days and a cumulative 175 hours, covering more than 9,200 square nautical miles over before the operation was suspended.

The National Transportation Safety Board is the leading agency in the Seacor Power investigation and will participate in public hearing, but eventually produce an independent report with its own findings.

A NTSB preliminary report issued in May revealed that the Seacor Power had loaded offshore equipment prior to getting underway and capsized as it was attempting to turn into the wind and lowering its legs to ride out a strong squall.

Lift boats are used in offshore oil and gas operations and have legs that can be lowered to the seafloor, raising the hull out of the water to provide a stable platform for various activities such offshore construction and maintenance.

The Seacor Power was owned and operated by Houston-based Seacor Marine and chartered to Talos Energy at the time of the accident.

Wreck removal of the vessel is currently underway.

After the accident, Coast Guard Vice Admiral Scott A. Buschman ordered a Marine Board of Investigation, the Coast Guard’s highest level of investigation.

The accident was the worst accident to hit the Gulf of Mexico offshore energy community since the Deepwater Horizon disaster almost exactly 11 years prior.

The hearing can be viewed live at https://livestream.com/uscginvestigations. Maritime Commons blog also be will provide hearing updates at www.mariners.coastguard.blog and via Twitter @maritimecommons with the hashtag #SeacorPowerMBI.