LAFOURCHE PARISH, La. — The second week of hearings into the Seacor Power capsize is underway as the Coast Guard tries to get to the bottom of what happened April 13th.
Wednesday, the public heard from Designated Person Ashore, Michael Cenac, Alternate DPA, and Auditor Barett Charpentier. Then, Seacor Marine General Manager Joey Ruiz took his turn in front of the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation.
Ruiz said the morning of April 13th, he checked his email inbox and read the daily weather report delivered to him, but did not keep tabs on the weather throughout the day.
He had no idea he’d later be managing one of the deadliest marine disasters in Louisiana history. Ruiz said after he got a phone call about the catastrophe, he immediately started a Microsoft Teams meeting with executives at Seacor, and told them he had to get on the road.
“We’ve got to get a command center set up. And so I told him I’m heading home, and I’m gonna pack a bag and I’m heading to Fourchon,” Ruiz said Wednesday.
Ruiz explained the roadblocks in the rescue effort. He got stuck in traffic on the way to Port Fourchon because of an overturned tractor-trailer, several rescue vessels were unusable, and then a lift bridge blocked another vessel from aiding in the search.
The Seacor Brave had been mobilized to help and was on its way from Morgan City to Port Fourchon when it was stopped at a lift bridge near Houma and not allowed to pass.
“I reached out to the bridge tender to find out why he couldn’t open the bridge. And he said due to the fact that the water was so high, he didn’t want to take a chance of opening the bridge. The electronics may get wet from the high water and then the bridge would become inoperable,” said Ruiz. “I made a decision at that point to reroute the vessel.”
The reroute put the Brave hours behind. Additionally, Ruiz testified to the difficult scenario divers faced when in the water. He said divers were knocking on the hull of the ship but did not hear anything back.
They were being guided by someone with knowledge of the ship’s layout as to where to look inside, which is where two mariners’ bodies were recovered.
“I know it was a difficult job, just talking to those guys. Low visibility, everything was done by touch, very difficult. Very dangerous,” he said.
No matter the Coast Guard’s findings, Seacor Marine said the capsize has already sparked changes on its other liftboats.
The hearings will resume tomorrow in Houma and is expected to be finished Friday.