The recent sinking of the Canadian sail training ship Concordia will be investigated by a joint panel from the Barbados Maritime Ship Registry and the Canadian Transportation Safety Board. The panel will look into the sinking of the 188-foot ship, which was flagged in Barbados but was operated by the Nova Scotia-based West Island College International via its Class Afloat program.
All 64 people on board, including students and crew were successfully rescued by the Brazilian Navy. The rescue was reportedly initiated by the ship’s EPIRB, which automatically released as the ship sank. The ship was in unsetttled weather and was knocked down twice, by a wind that Captain William Curry is quoted as saying was a “microburst,” an intense downburst of air that can knock a sail vessel on its beam ends. Following the second knockdown, the portholes and hatches of Concordia reportedly downflooded, dooming the ship.
