‘Insufficient crew knowledge’ contributed to 2021 Atlantic Destiny sinking, says TSB report
‘Insufficient crew knowledge on how to properly use the carbon dioxide (CO2) fixed fire suppression systems’ has been identified by the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) as a safety concern in its investigative report into the March 3, 2021, sinking of the fishing vessel Atlantic Destiny.
The report was released Wednesday.
The vessel, owned by Ocean Choice International, had left Riverport, Lunenburg County, N.S., on Feb. 17, 2021 for a 21-day scallop-fishing trip near Georges Bank with a crew of 31 people aboard.
On March 2, 2021, the 13th day of the trip, the Atlantic Destiny was located about 120 nautical miles south of Yarmouth. Fishing operations had been suspended due to the weather. Most of the crew was off duty and the vessel was proceeding at reduced speed when a nautical disaster at sea began to unfold.
The Atlantic Destiny sustained a catastrophic engine failure. The shaft generators exploded, causing a fire and damage that led to flooding in the engine room. All persons on board were ultimately safely evacuated by search and rescue authorities that evening and overnight. Minor injuries were reported.
The following day the Atlantic Destiny sank.
“The investigation found that the automatic and manual activation of the engine safety system failed to prevent the engine speed from increasing beyond the design limits of the engine, causing a catastrophic failure and subsequent fire,” says the TSB.
“The crew used the engine room’s fixed fire suppression system, which releases a heavy blanket of CO2 that displaces air and reduces the oxygen level to a point where combustion cannot occur when the space is properly sealed. However, they re-entered the sealed space on several occasions to investigate the sound of water coming from the engine room and to access the auxiliary generator.” the report says, noting these actions re-introduced oxygen into the space, reducing the effectiveness of the suppression system and as a consequence the fire re-ignited.
“Although crew members followed documented procedures for use of the CO2 fixed fire suppression system, they were unaware of the need to wait for the space to cool before re-entering,” states the TSB.
A lack of understanding of the requirements for using CO2 fixed fire suppression systems has been a factor in several other occurrences in Canada and worldwide, says the TSB.
Between 2011 and March 2021, the TSB was informed of 177 fires on board commercial fishing vessels in Canadian waters. Of those, 174 vessels were Canadian. “In at least 57 cases, a fire in the engine room was reported. In 14 cases, the crews abandoned their vessels,” reads the report.
The Transportation Safety Board says in Canada, the use of fixed fire suppression systems is covered in Marine Emergency Duties (MED) Advanced Firefighting training, which Transport Canada requires for certain certificates of competency.
“Although the Atlantic Destiny was equipped with a CO2 system, the MED Advanced Firefighting training was not required for the senior deck officers. This meant that they had never been formally trained in the use of CO2 fixed fire suppression systems,” the report states.
“Given several occurrences during which the effectiveness of CO2 was compromised during the fire response, the TSB is concerned that there is insufficient crew knowledge of the necessary pre- and post-release stages in the use of CO2 fixed fire suppression systems.”
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The rescue
It was dark. The wind was screeching. Huge waves were crashing over the Atlantic Destiny without remorse on the night of the emergency.
On the one-year anniversary of the sinking, Daniel Domonkos told Saltwire he never forget the moment he and his SAR tech crew first laid eyes on the ill-fated Atlantic Destiny. Seeing the stricken vessel being tossed around in the waves “like a little toy,” the flight engineer immediately wondered, “How are we supposed to get anyone off that boat?”
And not just one person, but 31 of them.
It was a miraculous scene that later played out at the Yarmouth International Airport after midnight and in the early hours of March 3, 2021, as crew members and their rescuers stepped out of U.S Coast Guard and Canadian military helicopters to safety – the warmth of those moments only interrupted by the bone-chilling bitter cold.
In what could have been an absolute tragedy amidst harrowing conditions at sea, this was instead a story of survival with no loss of life.
“This was definitely the most difficult rescue I have been on,” said Domonkos, who was part of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) 413 Squadron out of 14 Wing Greenwood. “Very poor weather, huge waves, high winds, at night, and a vessel that was dead in the water. We definitely had to work extremely hard, and well, as a team to be able to get our search and rescue technicians onto the vessel; and work just as hard to get the crew members off.”
Twenty-seven crew members were rescued by air overnight. The last four crew members – which included the captain, in addition to two SAR techs from 14 Wing Greenwood who had remained behind – were rescued the morning of March 3 by the crew of the CCGS Cape Roger before the Atlantic Destiny sank. For the Cape Roger, it had been a 10-hour sail to get to Georges Bank from Shelburne.
“We knew every minute counted and that obviously showed when we arrived on scene,” Captain Aaron O’Brien, Commanding Officer of the CCGS Cape Roger had told Saltwire in 2021.
A rescue sling was used to guide the crew members and SAR techs down a ladder from striken vessel and to also ensure Coast Guard crew could recover anyone who might slip or fall.
“When we got them back on board it was a big relief off our shoulders. It felt really good,” said O’Brien, who called it “by far the most challenging rescue I ever took part in.”
Other TSB analysis and findings
The TSB investigation also examined the causes and contributing factors leading to the engine overspeed and the explosion of the shaft generators, the subsequent fire and its reignition, and the engine room flooding. It also explored the effectiveness of the firefighting and emergency equipment, maintenance management, and crew emergency preparedness and training.
“One or more components of the engine management system failed and caused it to continually increase the engine fuel supply, which caused the engine to overspeed,” says the report. “In this occurrence, overspeed protection did not automatically work… Both the automatic and manual activation of the engine safety system failed to prevent the engine speed from increasing beyond the design limits of the engine, causing a catastrophic failure and significant damage to the engine and the shaft generators.”
The subsequent explosion of the shaft generators and associated machinery sent multiple hot metal fragments and hydraulic fluid throughout the engine room and started a fire. The metal fragments also damaged the seawater cooling system piping, resulting in an uncontrolled ingress of water.
While three search and rescue (SAR) pumps were lowered to the Atlantic Destiny, they proved to be ineffective. The hose lengths were insufficient and because the strainers became blocked repeatedly it was not possible to keep up with the rate of water ingress.
“Pump kits provided by air search and rescue resources may not be effective for all sizes of vessels and operating conditions. If the conditions on a vessel in distress are outside the design parameters of a pump kit, there is a risk that the pump kit will not control water ingress at the expected rate, reducing the time available for the rescue operation,” says the report.
The TSB says the situation was complex, involving both an engine room fire and water ingress.
“In such cases, a successful emergency response requires information gathering and decision making to form a situation-specific plan. Routine drills normally focus on training crew members to respond to a single emergency automatically. However, in this occurrence, because there were two emergencies unfolding simultaneously, crew members needed more guidance to coordinate their responses.”
The TSB is an independent agency that investigates air, marine, pipeline, and rail transportation occurrences. Its sole aim is the advancement of transportation safety. It is not the function of the Board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability.
