Coast Guard Investigation
The Coast Guard investigation found that the causes of the sinking were gale to storm-force weather, vessel design shortcomings, loss of stability, and human factors.
The vessel's design shortcomings included a lack of valve position indicators for the isolation valves on the tank cross-overs, and a lack of tank level indicators.
The loss of stability was caused by a failure to abide by the conditions stipulated in the stability letter. Namely that hydrostatic balancing of the cross-connected fuel tanks occurred because the cross-overs were left open, and that ballasting operations were undertaken to correct the list without first knowing what was causing the list.
The human factors include poor communications, the Captain's lack of command presence, the Captain's loss of situational awareness regarding the vessel's stability, negligence and misconduct on the part of the Captain, negligence on the part of the Second Mate, and misconduct on the part of the Chief and Assistant Engineers.
Read more about this topic: Valour (tugboat)
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