Wave Dancer story

This month's National Geographic's Adventure magazine has a story on the Wave Dancer tragedy during hurricaine Iris in Belize. It suggests disagreements between captain and crew on when and where to dock during the storm, and if the passengers should have sought shelter on land. Interesting read.

the official report on the Wave Dancer incident was issued January of this year
by the International Merchant Marine Registry of Belize.

basically, the Wave Dancer was improperly moored. Its aft mooring lines broke
in the hurricane, and the vessel broke away from the dock. the 150 mph winds
then hit it broadside and capsized it.

here are the major conclusions:

1. Captain Martin failed to monitor the hurricane's progress, despite orders to do so.

2. Captain Martin failed to comply with hurricane contigency plans that required him
to contact shore by radio and discuss the situation with weather monitors.

3. Wave Dancer Belize, Ltd. failed to contact the Wave Dancer to assess whereabouts
and intent.

4. While the Captain otherwise prepared the vessel for the storm, taping of the windows according to plan was only carried out after the hurricane had made landfall.

5. The Captain failed to instruct the passengers to remain in their life-jackets. Instead, the lifejackets were kept in the main deck, they were not readily available
to passengers.

6. Captain relied on the vote by the passengers not to return to Belize City. The
decision should have been made by the Captain based on the weather forecast.

7. Based on the available information, the Captain should have returned to
Belize City, as it was suggested by experienced crew members.

8. Upon arrival at Big Creek, the vessel was moored in an unsatisfactory manner
(the bow was exposed to hurricane winds; no effective aft spring lines to prevent
the vessel from moving backwards).

9. Upon docking, the Captain should have evacuated the passengers to a local bank
building, as was suggested he do by local authorities. None of the people who sought
refuge in the bank were hurt.

10. Despite the extreme weather, the Captain failed to have the engines running
or have the wheelhouse manned by either himself or his executive officer.

here's a link to the report (warning, i could only find this on CDNN):

http://www.cdnn.info/news/article/a050226.html

The full report can be found at the Belize Govt. website:

http://www.immarbe.com/IMMARBELIB/MCR_WAVE_DANCER.pdf

Very interesting read, if a bit dry. There's actually several more bones of contention than H2Andy's synopsis.

Also, other boats tied up to the 'Dancer putting more pressure on the lines holding it. This could have contributed to the lines breaking.

H2Andy:

the official report on the Wave Dancer incident was issued January of this year
by the International Merchant Marine Registry of Belize.

6. Captain relied on the vote by the passengers not to return to Belize City. The
decision should have been made by the Captain based on the weather forecast.

]

Click to expand...

Regarding #6 conclusion. I remember that afternoon and Iris was supposed to hit Dangriga based on it's present path, which is about halfway between Big Creek and Belize City. As it was, it bent more to the southwest. This was at about 3PM and the storm hit Big Creek at about 8 or 9PM. That would have been a tough call because they had no time to make it to Belize City without crossing right through the hurricane unless it turned directly south or north. Any continued westerly direction of the storm would have hit them if they tried to go north. By staying south they may have, with a little luck, avoided the brunt of it. But, it wasn't a lucky day for them.

H2Andy:

..snip..
9. Upon docking, the Captain should have evacuated the passengers to a local bank
building, as was suggested he do by local authorities. None of the people who sought
refuge in the bank were hurt.
..snip..

Click to expand...

This is debatable. It's easy to say with hindsight but there were no facilities at the bank and if anyone had been injured there it would have been a questionable decision.

H2Andy:

..snip..
10. Despite the extreme weather, the Captain failed to have the engines running
or have the wheelhouse manned by either himself or his executive officer.
..snip..

Click to expand...

The Captain failed to start the engines but the 2nd Captain did order them started.
The wheelhouse was not manned but whether those few seconds would have made any difference is debatable. Once engaged they had no effect whatsoever given the force of the wind.

hey guys, just remember. this is not my opinion. i'm just posting what the
IMMRB guys wrote.

i wasn't there and didn't investigate the accident

H2Andy:

hey guys, just remember. this is not my opinion. i'm just posting what the
IMMRB guys wrote.

i wasn't there and didn't investigate the accident

Click to expand...

I understand that Andy. I believe the only real conclusions to be drawn as to why it happened were improper mooring techniques and perhaps not disembarking and going to a concrete shelter rather than staying on board.
But for them to say they should have gone to Belize city.....why? Belize City is notoriously suseptible to hurricanes being so low lying and having a deep channel right in front, as indicated by Hattie in 1960 or so. Plus if they didn't get there ahead of the storm making landfall they would have been trapped somewhere in between, right in the projected path, with no port big enough for that boat. Just my thoughts. I was sitting here watching as it bore down on us.

The captain also told the crew that if they went ashore during the storm for safety, that they would be fired.

The captain was also in contact with Peter Hughes corporate via sat phone, which most likely was giving direction on some of these issues.

Bottom line is they didn't provide for the saftey of their passengers and allowed them to die. I can't understand how they were not prosecuted much less that they are still in business. I also can't understand why people would book a trip with them after all this.

Here is a tip folks, if you have a choice ALWAYS ride out a huricane on land.

The only time to ride out a huricane on a vessel is if you do not have any other choice.

Yes, there might be an exception sometime, somewhere but I can think of any cases where being a boat was the safer choice in a huricane.