NTSB reports on lift boat accident

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued Marine Accident Brief 20/36 on Nov. 17 for its investigation into the overturning of the lift boat M/V Kristin Faye in the Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 8, 2019. One crewmember was injured. The accident resulted in the discharge of about 120 gallons of diesel fuel. The vessel was declared a total loss. The accident occurred while the self-propelled lift boat was elevated from above the Gulf of Mexico to provide service to an oil production platform in 35-feet of water about eight miles east of Venice, La. When the extending/telescoping boom cranes on the vessel was lifted, the lift boat began tilting to port and overturned in less than one minute. Marine brief notes once the 22,500-pound port crane boom was moved from its horizontal to vertical position, the boom’s center of gravity shifted about 17 feet. The company’s manual did not include guidance for changes in the position of the crane booms once the vessel was elevated. Investigators determined the probable cause of the accident was the inadequate preload procedure that did not account for crane movements or the planned loads to be lifted. (Source: Work Boat 11/17/20)  The lift boat was property of Mitchell Liftboats of New Iberia, La.