#7 High-Speed Impact 10-time world champion powerboat racer, speed
record holder, and daredevil Fabio Buzzi lost his life along with 2 others; the high-powered
speed boat they were competing in was launched through the air after hitting an artificial
reef right by the finish line in Venice. The team had been attempting to beat their own
world record again, for the fastest offshore speed record between billionaire’s playground
Monte Carlo and the floating paradise of Venice, Italy. Just 300 feet through the finish line,
the boat struck the breakwater just beneath the surface. Traveling at 70 knots, the hull
was ripped clean open and the powerboat was tossed 100 feet in the air! 76-year-old pilot
Buzzi and 2 other crew members were all killed instantly. The 4th crew member, Mario Invernizzi,
miraculously survived after being tossed from the boat. The team was posthumously awarded
the record, smashing their previous world record by nearly 4 hours.
#6 Grounding The Suez Canal in Egypt was blocked for 6
days when the giant container ship Ever Given ran aground in March of 2021. Officially the
1300 ft long ship – which is just shy of a quarter of a mile! -- was buffeted by 45mph
strong winds, resulting in a “loss of ability to steer the ship”. Driving gusts of wind
against the side of a loaded cargo ship caused the containers to act like a sail. By the
time the sandstorm had settled, bow and stern of the Ever Given were wedged into either
bank, causing a complete blockage of the Suez Canal. Despite the crew’s lucky escape with
no injuries, things would get worse before they got better. The canal itself is responsible
for about 12% of annual global trade, and over the subsequent days, some 350 other vessels
were blocked from reaching their destinations. These delays halted just shy of 10 billion
US dollars’ worth of trade for each day it was wedged in the narrow canal. Rescuing
the ship was a long and slow process, which included removing fuel and ballast from the
ship to lighten it, dredging the canal, a very ‘meme-able’ excavator, and many,
many tugboats. On March 29th, at 15:05 local time, satellite images showed the vessel was
finally free to move, but not yet free to leave. Egyptian authorities seized the Ever
Given and proceeded to hold it for over 3 months! Demanding compensation from the Japanese
owners of the ship, at one point they wanted over $600 million for the salvage operation
and for “loss of reputation.” After reaching an undisclosed settlement, Egyptian authorities
released the container ship on July 7th.
#5. Oil Spills The largest accidental oil spill in history
occurred in 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico. The Deepwater Horizon oil platform was a semi-submersible,
floating, and mobile drilling rig. Owned by Transocean and being leased for operational
use by oil giant BP, it caught fire on April 20th. The oil well was located about 5000
feet below the surface and extended nearly 3.5 miles deep into the seabed. A sudden and
uncontrolled surge of methane blew through the recently installed cement well cap, which
had been put in place to seal the well for later use. The natural gas ignited as it traveled
up the platform’s riser, and at about 7:45 pm local time, a fiery explosion engulfed
the platform, and 11 workers were never heard from again. Thick black smoke plumed into
the sky as the fire continued to burn, being fueled by the natural gas as well as the crude
oil that was now spewing out of the ruptured wellhead. The platform continued to burn uncontrollably
for the next 2 days, before the structure gave out, capsizing and subsequently sinking
into the ocean; all whilst still leaking over 60,000 barrels of oil per day from the damaged
well into the Gulf of Mexico. Even though the platform had sunk 2 months earlier, it
took 83 days for the petroleum leak to be temporarily stopped and a further 3 weeks
for a permanent solution to be completed. By August 3rd an estimated 4.9 million barrels,
or 205 million gallons of oil had been dumped into the water. BP was subsequently fined
65 billion dollars.
#4. Dredging Accidents One Vietnamese operator made a very lucky
escape when the crane he was using buckled under the weight of the load that he had tried
to pull from a river below. The crane was operating on a barge in the Co Chien river,
south of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam in April of 2020. Video footage captures the dramatic
moment when the crane suddenly snaps from underneath the cab and topples into the murky
waters below. The barge rocks as two of the workers can be seen fleeing as the entirety
of the crane vanishes in seconds. Fortunately, the quick-thinking driver hopped out of the
other side of the cab. No one was reported injured, but the 3 men were left very confused
as to what to do next.
#3. Human Error Perhaps not the most infamous sinking of a
cruise liner ever, the Costa Concordia disaster of 2012 is the most cataphoric in living memory.
The 6-year-old cruise liner was built at a cost of 530 million dollars and on the first
leg of her route through the Mediterranean. The ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino
then veered from the Concordia’s safe and planned course to perform a “salute” to
Tuscany – the maritime act of sounding one’s horn as a warm greeting. Unfortunately, the
language barrier between the Italian captain and the Indonesian helmsman meant the boat
steered the wrong way. An error that was corrected in less than 15 seconds; however, it takes
quite some time for a huge 100,000-tonne vessel to maneuver. By 9:45 pm passengers and crew
reported hearing a huge thud. A 175-foot hole was torn in the port side of the Concordia
after it collided with rock outcroppings. Water immediately began to rush on board and
5 compartments including the engine room were flooded. Concerns by both the passengers and
the Italian coastguard were initially downplayed by Captain Schettino. The Concordia had lost
power and after a further 10 minutes of confusion, panic started to set in amongst passengers
and crew alike. The Italian coast guard called back over the radio and Schettino finally
admitted they were taking on water. By 10:55 pm the captain gave the order to abandon ship.
At 11:20 pm, Schettino was seen leaving the bridge, and shortly after he was spotted in
a lifeboat, claiming that he had “fallen in”. By midnight, all cowardly crew members
had abandoned the bridge, despite there still being 300 souls on board the sinking ship.
Italian Coast guard found Schettino and a lifeboat full of former Concordia officers
and ordered them to return to the ship to oversee rescue efforts. They refused. When
dawn broke, 4194 people had been rescued from the now toppled ship. The rescue operation
had enlisted 25 patrol boats, 14 merchant vessels, and numerous helicopters. 32 people
perished on that night, with the last body not being recovered until November 2014! Schettino
was convicted on multiple charges including manslaughter. He was sentenced to 16 years
in prison.
#2. Deepsea Submersible The Johnson Sea Link submersible was the second
scientific research vessel designed by pioneer Edwin Albert Link out of Florida in the early
1970s. Designed and built with 2 separate compartments, this latest feat of engineering
allowed for ‘lockout diving’ – meaning that the crew could enter and exit the subversive
at depths of up to nearly 500 feet! In June of 1973, a crew of 4, including Edwin Link’s
son, Clayton, set out on the subs 130th dive for what appeared to be quite a routine mission.
Tasked with a salvage recovery, the crew descended down to the USS Fred T. Berry off the coast
of Key West, reaching a depth of over 360 feet with no concerns. Shortly after the salvage
operation began, so did the rescue mission. The Sea Link had become stuck in the wreckage
of the warship and was unable to free itself. The vessel and crew of 4 remained trapped
at depth for over 24 hours whilst support teams at the surface, and the US navy organized
and unsuccessfully attempted multiple rescue operations. The original dive plan did not
account for the crew leaving the vehicle so when lock out dives were discussed it was
deemed too dangerous for the 2 men in the divers’ compartment for fear of oxygen toxicity.
Not to mention the cold. As the vehicle had now been down at over 300 feet deep for such
an extended period of time the temperature inside had now matched that of the ocean…
a bitterly cold 45 degrees Fahrenheit. By the time the US navy had managed to free the
Sea Link and it had surfaced, the two occupants in the dive compartment, including Clayton
Link, had both died due to carbon dioxide poisoning. Succumbing to the natural but deadly
gas after an air filter in their chamber was not working at full capacity. This totaled
with the length of time the Sea Link was unfortunately submerged meant that once the men fell unconscious,
they were never able to wake up again.
#1. Natural Disaster The SS El Faro left from Jacksonville Florida,
with the intention of carrying all 600 containers and 33 souls safely to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The 40-year-old “floating rust bucket” was piloted by American Captain Michael Davidson.
Before the ship’s departure, Davidson was made aware of the storm and plotted a course
that would take the El Faro within 175 nautical miles of the inclement weather, a distance
later deemed to be more than safe by the TOTE Maritime, the cargo ships operator. Mother
nature would not be so kind, as, during the voyage, meteorologists upgraded the weather
from tropical storm to category 3 hurricane! Less than 30 hours after leaving her birth
in Jacksonville, the SS El Faro met the full force of Hurricane Joaquin on October 1st,
2015. By 7:30 am the cargo ship had lost propulsion, was taking on water, and had a 15-degree list.
Captain Davidson had sounded the ship's alarm, waking many of the crew to the announcement
they were sinking everyone should leave the doomed vessel using the life rafts. The Coast
Guard only received a single ping from the ship’s emergency positioning radio beacon
before all contact with her was lost. GPS data put the El Faro within the ‘eyewall’
of Hurricane Joaquin. With winds in excess of 90 miles per hour and waves up to 30 feet
high, it might not be surprising to learn there were no survivors found. As the storm
cleared the area, rescue operations mounted. The wreckage was found nearly a month later,
“in an upright position and in one piece” – it just happened to be about 15,000 feet
below the surface of the ocean.
Would you rather attempt to sail through hurricane conditions or survive wandering through the
Mojave Desert?