NTSB Determines Insufficient Stability Caused Vessel To Capsize

NTSB - Press Release, Aug 15, 2006

Washington, D.C. - In a report adopted the National Transportation Safety Board determined that insufficient intact stability and overloading caused the small passenger pontoon-style vessel, Lady D, to capsize when it encountered strong winds and waves in Baltimore's Northwest Harbor.

The accident occurred on the afternoon of March 6, 2004 as the vessel, carrying twenty-three passengers and two crewmembers, was en route from Fort McHenry to Fells Point, Maryland. Five passengers were killed and four suffered serious injuries. "This tragic accident happened as a result of a number of safety issues that fell through the cracks," stated NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker, "Our recommendations will go a long way toward fixing those cracks and help ensure this type of accident does not happen again."

The lack of intact stability was the result of overloading allowed by a U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection that was based on an inappropriate stability test done on a different pontoon vessel to which the Lady D was erroneously granted sister status. The Board also noted that the Coast Guard's regulatory stability test standards used an out-of- date average passenger weight standard that contributed to the overloading condition.

As a result the Board recommended that the Coast Guard revise their regulations to require that passenger capacity for domestic passenger vessels be calculated based on a statistically representative average passenger weight that is periodically updated. The Board further recommended that the Coast Guard identify a method for verifying safe loading on a small passenger vessel, such as a mark on the hull, and require that vessel owners implement that method.

The report also concluded that existing Coast Guard intact stability standards do not adequately account for the dynamic loading from wind and waves on a pontoon vessel operating on an unrestricted protected route. At the time of the capsizing, the Lady D encountered westerly winds gusting about 28 knots to 41 knots with a sustained wind speed of about 25 knots. The Board recommended that the Coast Guard revise stability criteria for pontoon type small passenger vessels to minimize the potential for capsizing in wind and waves.