FOUNDERING OF THE MOTOR VESSEL COMET OFF POINT JUDITH, RHODE ISLAND ON 19 MAY 1973 WITH LOSS OF LIFE. MARINE CASUALTY REPORT

The Coast Guard, on its last inspection of the COMET, May 19, 1971, found numerous deficiencies in the hull of the boat. On June 14, 1972, a new owner took possession of the COMET without being aware of the extent of its deficiencies, and began to operate it without restoring it to a seaworthy condition. On May 19, 1973, the COMET sank off Point Judith, Rhode Island, with a fishing party of 25 and a crew of two aboard. Most of the persons were able to don life preservers before abandoning the COMET and entering the 48F. waters. No 'MAYDAY' was transmitted over the radio, but by chance encounter, the sailing sloop DECIBEL sighted and rescued survivors 4.5 hours after the sinking. Only 11 of the 27 persons on board were saved. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the sinking was major, undetected flooding due to the ingress of water through the deteriorated hull planking. The lengthy exposure to cold water, due to the inability to summon an earlier rescue, resulted in a large loss of life.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Includes Marine Safety Recommendations M-75-12 thru M-75-18.
• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594

  United States Coast Guard

  2100 Second Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20593
• Publication Date: 1975-8-5

Media Info

• Pagination: 31 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Boats; Crash investigation; Crashes; Defects; Distress alerting systems; Distress signals; Drowning; Fatalities; Fishing vessels; Floods; Hulls; Human error; Hypothermia; Inspection; Life rafts; Recreation; Safety; Search and rescue operations; Ships; Shipwrecks; Water transportation crashes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Foundering; Immersion; Ship hulls
• Old TRIS Terms: Exposure physiology; Ship casualties; Ss comet; Vessel inspection
• Subject Areas: Hydraulics and Hydrology; Marine Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00093431
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: USCG-NTSB-MAR-75-4
• Files: NTIS, TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 29 1978 12:00AM