Fire boat sinking suspicious
Vandalism, not defect, likely cause of problem, Metal Craft Marine saysThe Whig-Standard
Local News - Monday, March 26, 2007 Updated @ 11:32:46 PM
By Jordan Press
Whig-Standard Staff Writer
The mysterious sinking of a Metal Craft Marine boat in an American town is looking more like the result of vandalism than of a defect, says the Kingston company.
A $385,000, state-of-the-art fire boat built in Kingston made a sudden trip to the bottom of a Virginia river last week before it had even been to sea. The cause was likely human, not a flaw in the boat, said MetalCraft Marine president Tom Wroe.
“It’s looking more and more like that.”
The only thing a MetalCraft Marine investigator found on site was that pumps designed to pump water from the boat were not turned on, Wroe said. That had never been a problem while the boat was being tested and would have likely been human, rather than mechanical, error, Wroe said.
“So even if a little bit of water did get in, there was nothing to stop it from coming in,” he said. “Either way, there was water coming in somewhere.”
The 10-metre fire boat was found shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday with its stern on the bottom of the river and bow in the air.
Security at the marina in Newport News, Va., a town on the eastern seaboard of the United States, reported seeing the boat afloat at 6 a.m.
Less than two hours later, half of the boat was underwater, but bilge pumps designed to keep it afloat were working.
When the ship was raised hours later, the battery was working and there was no water leaking.
The boat, a FireStorm 30, which has been in production and on the water for the past three years, would have to take on more than 2,700 litres of water to sink.
MetalCraft Marine sent the ship’s production manager to Virginia to investigate. Wroe said crews tested the boat by trying to force water through areas that could have sprung a leak. No water entered the boat during testing, he said.
An independent insurance investigator checked the boat Friday.
The Newport News fire department had not even taken ownership of the 10-metre vessel because it was waiting for MetalCraft Marine to finish installing electronic equipment.
Two other boats in the department’s possession could be used to fight fires on the water, but don’t have the capabilities of the FireStorm 30.
The Newport News boat will be trucked back to Kingston for repairs, then returned to Virginia. A truck will be in Virginia on Wednesday to pick up the boat.
When it returns to Kingston, it will sit in the same shop as a FireStorm 36 boat that will be shipped to Florida when completed. The boat will be the second one sold to the Miami-Dade County fire department in the past 12 months.
Shortly before Christmas, MetalCraft Marine delivered a FireStorm 50 boat to the department in Miami-Dade County. According to a news release from the company, the boat is the fastest of its size MetalCraft Marine has ever built.
The 873-horsepower engine can propel the 19,350-kilogram (43,000-pound) boat, which is about the same weight as three grown African elephants, nearly 75 km/h (40 knots). The boat also has night vision capabilities and onboard medical equipment.