News

Oct 18, 2023

VALVE CITED IN DEATHS ON SHIP

Two witnesses painted a picture Monday of a frantic scramble in the dark to

Two witnesses painted a picture Monday of a frantic scramble in the dark to escape clouds of deadly carbon dioxide during the March 3 accident deep inside a freighter that killed two and injured six.

The men took the stand during the Coast Guard's investigation into the accident aboard the Cape Diamond in which Lt. Cmdr. William B. Turek, 44, of Williamsburg and Peter Humphries, 44, of Norfolk died after being smothered by carbon dioxide.

"It was every man for himself," said Anthony Margan of the Maritime Administration, which owns the Cape Diamond, still moored at Norshipco. Testifying from Alexandria via a speaker phone, the marine surveyor described men blindly groping through the carbon dioxide fog, bumping into each other as they tried to climb ladders to escape the engine control room.

Also on Monday, the Coast Guard released photos of a carbon dioxide shutoff valve assembled with bolts so long they prevented operators from closing the valve tightly.

Testimony also revealed that the leaky valve had been detected in an Oct. 8 inspection and later tagged for repair.

Yet to be revealed is who installed the long bolts or whether the valve was taken off the ship for repairs after the inspection.

Margan was in the control room adjacent to the engine room when the test of the ship's fire suppression system began.

"The alarms came on," he said. "There was a blue light that flashed, and a siren went off." At first, he said, he wasn't concerned.

But about three minutes later, he said, "I heard a very loud, roaring, hissing noise and felt the rush of air hitting my head and sides."

Margan said he ran to the forward part of the control room and, with another man present, opened the door to the engine room.

"Both of us saw, across from the engines, a large, copious amount of carbon dioxide – white clouds, building – and some of it billowed through into the control room," he said. "Everyone's look turned to shock and fear."

Margan said he yelled something like, "This looks like the real thing! Let's get out of here!"

Margan finally reached a ladder to escape from the room. "I was hyperventilating," he said. "At most points, you couldn't see in front of you." Upon entering the boiler room at the top of the ladder, he found that room also full of the gas.

"I didn't know where the door was," he said. "I felt my way alongside the bulkhead to find a door. I was delirious and on the verge of passing out." He finally found the door, which opened outside onto the main deck.

Another witness, Steven Hughes of Norshipco, said that he "headed for the ladder at the starboard side" when he felt a blast of air on his face. "As I crossed the catwalk, the lights went out, and I noticed fog," he said. "It was totally dark. I turned on my flashlight, but I couldn't see anything." He compared what he saw to driving at night in the fog.

Later, Hughes went back aboard the Cape Diamond with the Coast Guard inspectors to look at the suspect valve. He testified Monday that two of the bolts that fastened the valve to the piping appeared to prevent the valve from closing.

Witnesses testified that a contractor, Hiller Systems Inc., was testing the fire suppression system when the accident occurred. A worker in another room opened the valve prior to the first phase of the test just long enough to let a small amount of carbon dioxide – a "puff" – into the pipeline.

Wayne Muth of Hiller's Chesapeake office has testified that he closed the valve tightly at the end of that first phase. But as the main part of the test drew to a close, said Lt.j.g. Ken Smith, also in the room with Muth, "There was carbon dioxide vapor leaking from the stop valve. I told Mr. Muth that he needed to crank down on that valve."

Muth did so, and Smith recalled that Muth "seemed a little surprised that the valve moved." Muth and another man then used a wrench as a lever. Muth said during his testimony that "it sounded like something snapped" as they tightened it further.

Sign up for email newsletters