[BITList] Fwd: ITF Wants Answers Surrounding Cadet's Mysterious Death | gCaptain - Maritime & Offshore News

[HUGH]

Mike,

What kind of mickey mouse outfit is this?  From where I stand the vessel was 
manned by a captain, a first officer, and a cadet/oiler on her first trip, 
all of whom knew the way into the ER but not much else - and another cadet. 
Cadets of what variety it doesn't say, and no engineers mentioned..

"The fatal accident happened on 4 August at latitude 19 16.7 N - longitude 
083 46.8 W. At 04.00 the first officer, along with the cadet and oiler Dayra 
Wood (a graduate of the International Maritime University of Panama on her 
first voyage) went on watch. At 04.50, working alone, she made ready to 
transfer the bilge to the slop tanks in the engine room. At 05.00, she asked 
another cadet for help to get the emergency pump in place to discharge the 
bilge because the ship's pump was faulty. We don't understand how the AMP 
authorities gave this ship permission to sail when it had so many defects.



"According to the note issued by the captain, the first officer heard Dayra 
calling out his name in desperation. The note says that when he saw her 
caught up in the mechanism, his immediate reaction was to stop the machine 
using the emergency button. He went to Dayra Wood and found her dead.



"At 05.35, Captain José Galloway went down to the engine room."



What do we make of "caught up in the machinery"?  Was she trying to do the 
job from a control room and went into the ER proper and found herself 
clueless? Any emergency bilge pump I was ever involved with is one with only 
one job, to (try to) keep the tanktop clear in the event of an ingress of 
water. It has no suction valve, draws straight from the tanktop, and 
discharges directly overboard.



Hugh.