Proteksan & Turquoise Superyacht "Yogi" Sinks!

The boat was racing in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, it was a historic boat, thus a lot of history to it - There were some pretty pissed off people asking why he did what he did.

My question about her flooding in the E/R was to do with how much water she likely took on - I would have to agree there were a few contributing factors brought on by the first issue. My thoughts say she lost her large waterline windows when the vessel lost her stabs - the amount of water in her made the vessel have an offset roll in relation to the waves, and those windows simply blew out. I guess one could figure out her PPI to see how much the waterline went down with the amount of water she took on.

I'm not (without being arrogant), times are tough, so why cause a ruckus? There probably wanting something like this to go away as quickly as possible. It will no doubt be brought up in the superyacht forums and behind closed doors.

Far

What Marmot probably meant is that this is not a very solid strategy. For one, stuff like that does not just disappear, it stays, people keep talking and asking, and those talks is low voice are definitely not good for the industry. And second, ignorance is not a good preventative measure, and what happened once can happen again.

The trick here is that the only ones really and materially interested in keeping whole thing under wraps are... exactly those involved

Many high end charters are corporate with some pretty stiff D&O insurance and "death return" requirements. Iffy corporate choices for fun and frolic can void these policies and subsequent payouts. And insurers look for every angle when forced to pay up.

For what it's worth, oil companies have long used a "vetting" system to investigate the quality of vessel and crew on ships they charter to transport oil cargoes. It is a way to have a qualified and otherwise disinterested 3rd party determine their risk since it is always the oil company, not the ship owner who gets the bad publicity and law suits when a substandard ship spills or sinks.

The superyacht industry has a culture that does not want to see what is behind the curtain, much less demand higher standards. We are quick to stop discussion of problems and to hide the failures of flag, class, and management to prevent incidents like Lady Candida and Yogi. Just like the cruise industry, luck can only take its participants so far before another Francesco Schettino or a badly maintained piece of machinery, or just bad design dictates events.

I think what we have already read in the yachting glossies is about all we will get, we will polish the turd until someone famous dies or something else exciting enough for TV news gets a few reporters digging up the history. Look what it took for the USCG to look at how they run their small boat units ... do we have to repeat the same thing with a charter boat full of "guests"? Do we have to wait for a Giglio or San Diego before we admit we have some serious problems with crew training and certification?

The problem is, once a yacht is built, it never gets inspected by the flag state after that usually. Yeah, most insurance companies require an insurance survey every 3 years, and of course it depends on how good the independant surveyor is that the owner/Captain chooses. But that's private and only the owners/Captain and insurance company ever see the survey. Also if there are items that are required to be fixed, the insurance company basically go by the word of the Captain or owner that they've been fixed. Now this adds more expense and complexities but the question is, should the boat be inspected by the USCG or other flag state on an annual or semi-annual basis if it is doing charters? Do you know how many yachts I've stepped on, where all or most of the safety equipment is expired.....I'd say the number is over 50% on sub 100'. It seems the owners do it when they first buy the boat and then it's forgotten. One customer bought a 1990 sportfish that had a liferaft mounted on the hardtop that hadn't been touched since 1990, he decided to replace it with a brand new one. We took it in the street and pulled the cord......I was amazed that it did inflate and was in servicable condition.

You are talking about an entirely separate universe of yachts that is totally irrelevant to Yogi and its type.

Flag and Class and management are (supposed to be) very involved in the operation of large commercial yachts and how and by whom they are crewed.

Wrong!!! Maybe thats how it works in the US (I don't know), but all classed and commercially flagged (and most privately registered) yachts are inspected annually by law, by both the Flag State and the Classification society, and in many areas these surveys overlap i.e. both inspect the same equipment. Manning requirements are checked by the flag state at that time too. All vessels over 500gt also fall under the requirements of the ISM System which incorporates a multitude of checks and balances.

The only time a vessel like Yogi can cut corners is between the annual surveys, for example when on a delivery where perhaps some crew may be allowed vacation time and perhaps the vessel might proceed to see under-manned according to it's Safe Manning Document.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt J View Post
The problem is, once a yacht is built, it never gets inspected by the flag state after that usually.

I do not believe Capt J is completely wrong. You are right in saying that the flag state is suppose to survey the vessel but weather or not it really happens is the real question to be told. I have seen plenty of vessels that are far behind the curb in dealing with there follow up surveys for countless reasons; constant crew turn overs, lack of cooperation from owners, people simply do not know, Captains don't want to fight the fight and be told what to do, on and on.. surveys not completed in timely fashion.

If the boat is classed, if it is commercially operated, and is over 500 tons then there is no option for the nonsense you just posted. If the surveys are not completed then the certificates are invalid and the boat is just a collection of uninsured and very expensive parts.

When we are talking about boats like Yogi, we are not talking about the kind of junk you keep telling us about. They are commercial vessels that fall under very well defined standards of operation and maintenance. Yes, there are a few of them that are so badly managed and operated that they resemble private boats run by cheapskates and amateurs but nonetheless, there are rules and standards that when applied and followed are supposed to prevent idiots from running them and setting them on fire or sinking them.

Yogi was one of the boats that class and flag are supposed to regulate to the point where a greater degree of safety is obtained. The manning of those boats is supposed to preclude the employment of incompetent or poorly trained crews.

I firmly believe the only thing that would not pass a thorough survey on Yogi was the crew. If i am correct, Flag needs to make that clear and tell us what went wrong and how we might avoid a repeat. If we need to change licensing and training standards, and make it retroactive, so be it. Like I keep saying, if we wait until we kill a billionaire's child it will be too late for the commercial yacht industry. Yogi should be a wake up call for a lot of people.

Yeah, but is Yogi over 500 Gross Tons or Net Registered Tons at 160'? I was just on a 105' and it was only 201 GT.