Flare was en route from Rotterdam to Quebec when she broke in two during severe weather, approximately 20 nmi (37 km) west of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon on January 16, 1998. 21 crew members perished, and four survived.[1] The crew was able to send one truncated 20-second distress call that was received by the Canadian Coast Guard, who had to determine who and where the ship was within an area with a 40-mile (64 km) radius.[2] Some of Flare's crewmembers on the sinking stern section saw the bow of another ship appear to approach them, only to realize that it was the separated front half of their own vessel. The propeller on the stern section had still been turning, and had brought them back towards it.
The survivors were rescued by a CH-113 Labrador helicopter from CFB Greenwood, Nova Scotia, belonging to 413 Search and Rescue Squadron of the Canadian Forces. The helicopter's crew consisted of aircraft commander Capt. C. Brown, co-pilot Capt. R. Gough, flight engineer/winch operator M.Cpl. R. Butler, and SAR Technicians Sgt. Tony Isaacs and M.Cpl. P. Jackman.
Flare's stern sank within 30 minutes. The floating bow section drifted on the surface for several days, eventually sinking south of Cape Breton Island.
The ship was traveling empty to Montreal (to pick up a load of grain), which caused her to ride high in the water. The violent waves caused the bow to hit the water hard during each swell.
The ballast tanks, which ordinarily would be flooded to cause the ship to ride lower in the water, were not able to be completely filled as a number of them were corroded and needed to be repaired.
The steel in the hull was found (after the sinking) to have fatigue cracks.
in addition, Flare was over 25 years old, approximately 8 years past the average lifespan of a bulk carrier.
The combination of the ship riding high on violent swells, hitting the water hard and with fatigue cracks, caused the ship to break apart.
flare, p3gl2, cypriot, registered, bulk, carrier, that, sank, with, loss, lives, gulf, lawrence, january, 1998, historycyprusnamem, flareownerabta, shipping, limassol, cyprusoperatortrade, fortune, piraeus, greeceport, registrylimassol, cyprusbuilderhakodate, . MV Flare P3GL2 was a Cypriot registered bulk carrier that sank with the loss of 21 lives in the Gulf of St Lawrence on January 16 1998 HistoryCyprusNameM V FlareOwnerABTA Shipping Co Ltd Limassol CyprusOperatorTrade Fortune Inc Piraeus GreecePort of registryLimassol CyprusBuilderHakodate Dock Co Ltd JapanLaunched7 June 1972IdentificationIMO number 7220477FateSank 16 January 1998General characteristics 1 TypeBulk carrierTonnage16 398 GTLength180 8 m 593 ft 2 in Beam23 1 m 75 ft 9 in Draught6 93 m 22 ft 9 in Depth14 5 m 47 ft 7 in PropulsionSulzer IHI engine 8 827 kW 11 837 hp Speed15 1 knots 28 0 km h 17 4 mph Flare was en route from Rotterdam to Quebec when she broke in two during severe weather approximately 20 nmi 37 km west of Saint Pierre et Miquelon on January 16 1998 21 crew members perished and four survived 1 The crew was able to send one truncated 20 second distress call that was received by the Canadian Coast Guard who had to determine who and where the ship was within an area with a 40 mile 64 km radius 2 Some of Flare s crewmembers on the sinking stern section saw the bow of another ship appear to approach them only to realize that it was the separated front half of their own vessel The propeller on the stern section had still been turning and had brought them back towards it The survivors were rescued by a CH 113 Labrador helicopter from CFB Greenwood Nova Scotia belonging to 413 Search and Rescue Squadron of the Canadian Forces The helicopter s crew consisted of aircraft commander Capt C Brown co pilot Capt R Gough flight engineer winch operator M Cpl R Butler and SAR Technicians Sgt Tony Isaacs and M Cpl P Jackman The lightly clothed survivors were taken to hospital in Saint Pierre et Miquelon and treated for extreme hypothermia The bodies that were recovered were collected by Marine Nationale Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy ships including HMCS Montreal and a CH 113 Labrador helicopter of 103 Search and Rescue Squadron from CFB Gander Flare s stern sank within 30 minutes The floating bow section drifted on the surface for several days eventually sinking south of Cape Breton Island The Transportation Safety Board of Canada determined that the following contributed to Flare s sinking Severe weather The ship was traveling empty to Montreal to pick up a load of grain which caused her to ride high in the water The violent waves caused the bow to hit the water hard during each swell The ballast tanks which ordinarily would be flooded to cause the ship to ride lower in the water were not able to be completely filled as a number of them were corroded and needed to be repaired The steel in the hull was found after the sinking to have fatigue cracks in addition Flare was over 25 years old approximately 8 years past the average lifespan of a bulk carrier The combination of the ship riding high on violent swells hitting the water hard and with fatigue cracks caused the ship to break apart References Edit a b Marine Investigation Report M98N0001 Transportation Safety Board of Canada 20 April 2000 Retrieved 18 August 2012 MCTS Officers s On the Job Canadian Coast Guard 2012 Retrieved 18 August 2012 External links EditOver the Waves M V Flare nbsp This article about a specific civilian ship or boat is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This Saint Pierre and Miquelon related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title MV Flare amp oldid 1163099936, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
