Rising water closes Thibodaux road
May 18, 2021
Landon Eschete
May 18, 2021
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) published a preliminary report today on its ongoing investigation of the fatal capsizing of the Seacor Power over a month ago on April 13, 2021, near Port Fourchon, Louisiana.
Information in the report is preliminary and subject to change as the investigation continues.
According to the report:
About 1330 on the accident day, the Seacor Power departed Port Fourchon bound for “Main Pass Block 138,” an oil and gas lease area in the Gulf of Mexico east of the Mississippi Delta. The voyage was expected to take 18 hours at a vessel speed of about 4 knots. Prior to getting under way, equipment to be used by the offshore workers was loaded onto the Seacor Power’s main deck. A weather report emailed to the vessel at 0702 that morning predicted afternoon winds at 9–12 knots from the southeast, with 3-foot seas.
About 1530, a rain squall passed over the vessel as it transited the open waters of the gulf. Visibility dropped and the winds increased significantly, so crew decided to lower the Seacor Power’s legs to the seafloor to hold the vessel in position until the storm passed. When the legs began to descend, the crewmember at the helm attempted to turn the vessel into the winds. Before the turn was completed, the Seacor Power heeled to starboard and capsized.
Several personnel were able to escape out onto the exposed port side of the Seacor Power deckhouse. Good Samaritan vessels in the area responded to the stricken vessel’s location, as well as a pre-commissioning Coast Guard cutter. Coast Guard response boats, a civilian helicopter, and Coast Guard fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft joined in rescue efforts, but high winds and seas that had built to 10–12 feet prevented them from reaching the personnel remaining on the Seacor Power. Some who had been clinging to the vessel were washed into the water, and six were eventually rescued. One survivor suffered a serious injury.
