Sinking after bow thruster failure: "An oppressive feeling" - interview with the skipper of the damaged yacht
Alexander Worms
· 11.09.2023
Mr Deussen, you are the owner and skipper of the "Mrs Jones", the Bavaria C 38 that sank off Cadzand. Can you tell us what happened?
Yes, we initially sailed with 5 to 6 Beaufort and 1.5 metre waves under genoa upwind from Vlissingen towards Blankenberge. The conditions were tough, but that was fun. There was a lot of spray, just like sailing, and the skipper and crew coped well with it. In order to get room to the shallows, however, we switched on the engine and motored directly to windward. After about a mile, the boat behaved strangely, turning 360 degrees. At first I thought the autopilot had failed. So I switched it off and on again. But the boat's behaviour remained strange.
What was the cause?
Suddenly, the bilge alarm went off and we were stuck in the cockpit. A crew member checked below deck and there was already a lot of water in the boat. Floorboards and cushions were floating through the saloon.
What happened next?
The water was rising incredibly quickly. In the swell, I hadn't realised beforehand that the ship was already sinking over the bow. Then I triggered a DSC alarm, there was no time for a radio message. The radio is in the saloon and I could no longer hear the confirmation tone as the device was already under water. We were later told by the KNRM that the alarm was heard at 1.30 pm. My decision to evacuate was made. So I quickly returned to the cockpit, I had the wireless handset with me, but as the device in the ship was already flooded, it was of no use. Fortunately, the life raft was in the aft locker, and two of us quickly had it on the water. Deploying the island was no problem, it was inflated in a few seconds, only the eye on the line was too small and didn't fit around the cleat, so I had to hold the line awkwardly in my hand. Certainly a point that I will always check in future.
Did the transfer to the island go well?
Well, there were three of us, but one crew member panicked a lot, which made it a bit difficult to change boats. But the boat sank very quickly, so we went over. At the time, however, I didn't know whether the distress call had been heard. We saw the boat sink on the island. It was an oppressive feeling.
Then came the rescue?
Yes, about an hour later the KNRM picked us up from Breskens. We were already several miles away from the scene of the accident at that point, a life raft like that can be damn fast. It was really busy on the water. Helicopters, various KNRM stations and the rescuers from Blankenberge were looking for us. At the time, they had no information other than the location of the accident. A passing ship then spotted the island. The rescuers told me afterwards that it was difficult for them to locate us at all in the swell. We had various emergency flares on the island. We only lit them when we saw the rescue cruiser. At that point, I was already in contact with 112 on land via my mobile phone. We were able to use this to guide the lifeboats to our position, which is how they found us. Everything they did was very professional. My crew also worked extremely well, even if it was really stressful at times.
The yacht was lost?
Yes, a total loss, it was lifted two days after the sinking.
What was the cause?
I need to expand on this a little. I usually sail single-handed and wanted a powerful bow thruster. The original tunnel bow thruster from Bavaria wasn't strong enough for me. So, on the recommendation of the Bavaria dealer in Lemmer in the Netherlands, I had a retractable bow thruster from Sleipner installed in the new boat. After the wreck was salvaged, an expert found that the thruster had been pushed inwards out of the hull in rough seas. This was also my assumption after the sinking and logical after the 360-degree turn. The water ingress at the front acted as a brake, and the engine thrust from aft triggered the turn. A lot of water entered the ship through the large hole in the bow, intensified by the speed we were travelling ahead. According to reconstruction by experts, the time from the triggering of the bilge alarm to the complete sinking was three minutes. We had one minute to take all the necessary measures and abandon the sinking ship. Thanks to the briefing, my crew knew exactly what to do and were able to support me very well. However, all personal belongings had to stay on board. Unfortunately, there was simply no time for that.
This is not the first accident of this kind. See Jeanneau and the case off Laboe. What do you think about this?
I can't say anything about this, but in my case Bavaria in Giebelstadt is probably not to blame. They had nothing to do with the installation. However, the shipyard in Lemmer, which retrofitted the system, will probably have to put up with a few questions from Rijkswaterstaat, the police, the insurance company, the public prosecutor's office and our lawyers.
What do you take away from the incident?
Life raft always, even close to shore. And at the stern. It would have been useless for us on the cabin roof. In addition, a handheld radio in the cockpit so that we could take it with us at all times. And finally, an Epirb and PLBs were essential. We didn't have those. But they would have given us certainty that our distress call would be heard. We didn't have that; it was a bad feeling.
So the accident didn't put you off sailing?
No, I digested the incident well. I have nothing to blame myself for and my crew got off lightly. I've already ordered a new boat and it will be delivered in a fortnight. The season is still long and sailing is my passion.
Will there be a bow thruster on the new yacht?
Of course! And another retractable one. I'm still convinced of the concept. I had someone show me how to install it properly, so I'm sure there won't be any problems this time. Compared with the installation on the "Mrs Jones", it all looks very solid and professional. The shipyard commissioned by the Bavaria dealer had probably just messed up. The Sleipner importer responsible for the Netherlands confirmed this to me. So the whole thing could have turned out really badly for us.
