Coast Guard: Captain violated procedure before tanker blast that
killed 21

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006...0616_58_08.txt

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- An explosion that destroyed a tanker and killed
21 seamen two years ago was caused by the captain's "stunningly"
unsafe order to his crew to open vapor-filled cargo tanks for
cleaning, the Coast Guard said in a report Tuesday.

Opening the hatches on 22 empty tanks caused the highly flammable
vapors to escape onto the deck, where the crew of the Bow Mariner was
working, according to the report. A spark ignited the mixture of air
and vapors from a gasoline additive, the investigators said.

The investigation also found that Capt. Efstratios Kavouras abandoned
ship without sending a distress call or trying to save his crew,
contributing to the high death toll.

The 570-foot Bow Mariner, laden with more than 3.4 million gallons of
ethanol, fuel oil and diesel oil, sank about 50 miles off the Virginia
coast on Feb. 28, 2004. Twenty-one of the 27 crew members died.
Kavouras was among the 18 whose bodies were never found.

Investigators could not determine what sparked the explosion but said
Kavouras' order was a "breach of normal safe practices for a tank ship
and defies explanation or excuse." Faulty electrical wiring could not
be ruled out.