USCG Launches Formal Investigation into Bounty Sinking

HMS Bounty as it was sinking on Monday during Hurricane Sandy. Photo: USCG

Rear Adm. Steven Ratti, the Coast Guard 5th District commander, ordered a district formal investigation Thursday to determine the cause of the sinking of the Tall Ship Bounty, the three-masted sailing ship that sank Monday 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, N.C. during Hurricane Sandy. As we know the sinking resulted in the death of one crewmember, and the Captain who remains missing.

A district formal investigation consists of a Coast Guard investigating officer who will receive evidence and testimony using formal rules and procedures and is convened when the information to be derived has considerable regional significance, or may indicate vessel class problems or areas of technical importance.

The district formal investigation will probe every aspect of the accident and will determine as closely as possible:

• the cause of the accident;
• whether there is evidence that any failure of material or equipment was involved or contributed to the casualty;
• whether there is evidence that any act of misconduct, inattention to duty, negligence, or willful violation of the law on the part of any licensed or certificated person contributed to the casualty;
• whether there is evidence that any Coast Guard or other government agency personnel caused or contributed to the casualty; and
• whether the accident should be further investigated by a Marine Board of Investigation.

The Investigating Officer, Cmdr. Kevin M. Carroll, is the chief of the Coast Guard 5th District Marine Inspections and Investigations Branch and will be assisted by investigating officers from Coast Guard Sector North Carolina in Wilmington, N.C.

Coast Guard investigations of marine casualties and accidents are for the purpose of taking appropriate measures for promoting safety of life and property and are not intended to fix civil or criminal responsibility. The investigation is expected to take several months to complete, the USCG says.

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