Shipwreck off coast of Hilton Head caused $60K in damage to other boat, NTSB says
After leaving the docks at Hudson’s Seafood at 5:30 a.m. on Dec. 19, 2019, the captain of the “Miss Annie” was on his way to catch shrimp on Hilton Head Island’s south end.
At 7 a.m., the boat came to an abrupt stop. It began flooding and tipping onto its starboard side.
The captain told federal investigators he felt like he “hit a rock,” according to a report released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
As the vessel began to turn over, two crew members slid into the water. All three aboard the boat were rescued by the Coast Guard. “Miss Annie” was a complete loss, at an estimated value of $60,000.
What happened?
The shrimp boat did not hit a rock, like the captain thought. Instead, it hit a moving shipwreck.
The 2017 wreck of “Miss Debbie” was to blame.
That steel-hulled fishing boat had encountered a waterspout during a storm and overturned on May 23, 2017, according to Bryan Johnson, a Coast Guard marine investigator.
Authorities spent days searching for the three crew members before the search was called off. They are believed to be dead, Johnson said.
The remains of “Miss Debbie” were never salvaged.
Unusual tides or inclement weather often make offshore salvages more difficult, according to Soumyajit Dasgupta, a writer with Marine Insight. He said wrecks must be salvaged quickly after they sink — or not at all.
Over the course of two years, the “Miss Debbie” wreck had moved approximately 800 yards from its original landing place due to “winds, currents, and waves of hurricanes and storms,” the NTSB report states.
No amount of preparation nor paying attention to government notices could have prepared the captain of the “Miss Annie” for what befell him, the report said.
The agency urges boaters to plan before launching and to pay close attention as they navigate the waters.
“Mariners must be alert to new hazards along their intended route,” the report states, “and adopt a process to identify the hazards before getting underway.”
