The Coast Guard has begun a high-level investigation into the recent duck boat capsize and sinking on July 19th, which cost the lives of 17 aboard. The boat, designated as Stretch Duck 07, which sank on Table Rock Lake, near Branson, MO, was inspected by the US Coast Guard as a Small Passenger Vessel, under Subchapter T of the Code of Federal Regulations. The boat’s Certificate of Inspection (COI) has been made public and what it reveals is disturbing, if not entirely surprising.
Under “Route Permitted and Operation” it specifies that :
Vessel shall not be operated waterborne when winds exceed thirty-five (35) miles per hour, and/or the wave height exceeds two (2) feet.
That Thursday, at 11:30 AM, hours before the duck boat entered the lake in the early evening, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center issued a severe thunderstorm watch. As reported by Vox: NWS issued multiple warnings for neighboring areas that evening as the storm approached the lake. The severe thunderstorm warning for Table Rock Lake came at 6:32 pm, about half an hour before authorities received their first call about the capsizing boat.
What is a severe thunderstorm watch and warning?
As defined by NOAA, a severe thunderstorm watch is “issued by the National Weather Service when conditions are favorable for the development of severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area. A severe thunderstorm by definition is a thunderstorm that produces one inch hail or larger in diameter and/or winds equal or exceed 58 miles an hour.”
A severe thunderstorm warning is “issued when either a severe thunderstorm is indicated by the WSR-88D radar or a spotter reports a thunderstorm producing hail one inch or larger in diameter and/or winds equal or exceed 58 miles an hour; therefore, people in the affected area should seek safe shelter immediately.”
When Stretch Duck 07 left the dock, the weather was reported to be calm. Nevertheless, survivors of the tragedy report that the boat operator was aware of the approaching thunderstorms.
The National Transportation Safety Board has said the wind speed at the time of the accident was more than 70 mph, or exactly twice the maximum allowed wind speed allowed by the COI. Given the timely weather alerts for winds “equal or exceed[ing] 58 miles an hour,” the boat should have never left the dock.
According to people in this region regulations are to be ignored and the government, any agency of, is suspect. So not listening and ignoring the inevitable is pretty much par for the course. And anything military is cool even if it is a piece of junk.