Elite Navigator carried more safety equipment than required, writes TSB in investigation report
Board often finds evidence of weak safety cultures, but Elite Navigator was an exception
It's impossible to know what caused the fire on the Elite Navigator in July 2024, as the fishing vessel was never recovered. But nearly seven months later, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada's (TSB) investigation reveals what happened in the vessel's final moments.
According to the TSB report released on Wednesday, light smoke was visible in the engine room soon after a smoke alarm sounded at 7:30 p.m. NT.
"A crew member in the deckhouse yelled that there was a fire in the exhaust trunking."
The crew sprung to action and shut off the vessel's engine, removed the exhaust trunking vent from the back of the deckhouse and attempted to fight the fire with extinguishers.
Those attempts were not successful.
The report says the crew of the Elite Navigator were highly skilled in distress communications, even carrying devices not required by regulation like satellite communication devices and cell phones.
It was that preparedness that led the vessel's captain, Eugene Carter, to send a distress signal and get his crew into a life raft.
The Elite Navigator and its crew was already overdue, with its fishing quota met. It was about 130 nautical miles east-northeast of Fogo Island by the evening of July 17.
Carter sent distress calls from the vessel's radios and radiotelephone, but was too far away to reach marine communications and traffic services.
There was no indication the calls reached other vessels. Its emergency position-indicating radio beacon did not set a signal, which the TSB says is likely due to fire damage.
Almost seven hours later, the Elite Navigator was burned beyond repair and sank into the sea.
After more than 50 hours in a life raft, the crew set off their last flare at the sight of a helicopter.
All seven men, now known as the "Lucky Seven," were saved.
The TSB report states that the board often finds evidence of weak safety cultures, but the Elite Navigator was an exception.
"The vessel carried more safety equipment than was required by regulation," reads the report. "The master and crew members were in the practice of talking through emergency scenarios and responses."
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