Accident Investigations and Lessons Learned

The NOAA Small Boat Standards and Procedures Manual, Section 10 covers NOAA's policies on accident reporting and investigations.

There are several significant NOAA accidents that have provided lessons to be learned for the entire NOAA small boat community. There are also many "close calls" that could have resulted in a larger casualty or damage to a boat, her crew, or the environment. The goal of these pages are to attempt to prevent accidents by learning through others' near misses or mistakes. If you are a small boat operator and you have a valuable lesson that you have learned please forward your story to the Small Boat Coordinator to include in this repository of corporate knowledge. Your identity and NOAA affiliation can remain anonymous only if sent directly to the NOAA Small Boat Program Coordinator. Information collected may eventually be used to assist in prioritizing and funding noted or repetitive safety issues.

Lessons learned from specific NOAA casualties or accidents

Incident Report - Sea Ark Sinking 10/31/12 (PDF)
Construction Lessons from Sea Ark Sinking (PDF)
Lessons Learned - Man Overboard 10/29/12 (PDF)
Lessons Learned - Wire Rope Parting 4/30/12 (PDF)
Workboat Recovery Incident 4/30/12 (PDF)
Fast Rescue Boat Davit Lesson Learned 11/14/11
Mercury 90 HP outboard fire near miss 6/20/10
FKNMS boat is stolen and then found 5/6/10
Small Boat Near Miss 9/10/09 (PDF)
Near Miss F/V Chasin 4/20/09 (PDF)
Electrical shock incident aboard R/V Bay Hydro II 03/31/09 (PDF)
15-ft. Tiger Shark gets Mouthful of Boat
Incident report 12/05/06 (PDF)
Man overboard 08/03/06 (PDF)
Lessons learned 07/19/06 (PDF)
Small boat incident 04/21/06 (PDF)
Lessons learned #06-01, 11/02/05 (PDF)

Other Agencies

U.S. Coast Guard

USCG Homeport
Marine Safety Alert 03-13 - Surge Protective Devices Onboard Vessels
Coast Guard rescues 2 after vessel capsizes crossing Tillamook Bar, 10/3/10
USCG press release, photos

National Transportation Safety Board

Department of Interior

Other Non-Federal Sources

The links in this section will take you to non-government web sites. The links are provided because it may contain information of interest to you. This link does not constitute an endorsement by NOAA of any information, products or services on the external site.

Coast Guard officers will be court-martialed for fatal collision in San Diego Bay, Los Angeles Times, October 9, 2010
Investigator blasts Coast Guard base leaders, San Diego Union-Tribune, September 9, 2010
Canadian Fireboat Capsizes - investigation report 11/18/09
Coast Guard rescues three from capsized boat off St. Marys, GA: A 23-foot fishing boat capsized early Sunday morning; Jacksonville News article, June 29, 2009
Crew Aboard Sinking Vessel Draw Upon Survival Skills South Coast Today newspaper article
ETHAN ALLEN Capsizing & Sinking - JMS Stability Report