The National Transportation Safety Board has released an accident brief on the April 2013 incident in which the cruise ship Carnival Triumph broke free during a windstorm from its moorings at the BAE Systems shipyard in Mobile, Ala., where it was undergoing repairs. The cruise ship then drifted across the Mobile River, where it collided with the moored dredge Wheeler. A responding tug from Crescent Towing, the 75', 4,500-hp Noon Wednesday, became pinned between the cruise ship and the dredge.
The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the breakaway was the successive failure of multiple mooring bollards, which were known by BAE to be in poor condition with an undetermined mooring load capability.
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In a statement, BAE officials said they're considering a petition for reconsideration and sending engineering, metallurgical and meteorological assessments to the NTSB that weren't available during the fact-finding phase of its investigation. "We are hopeful these facts will persuade the NTSB to change their findings and probable cause determination in this incident," the company said.
One shipyard employee died in the accident and another was injured. The total damage amount was estimated to be more than $2.9 million.
