It’s now a question of trying to retrieve the bodies of the remaining crew members lost overboard when the Seacor Power liftboat capsized in heavy seas about 12 kilometres south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana on April 13.
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) announced on Monday that it had suspended search efforts.
The “jack-up” rig, used to assist oil drilling platforms, was flipped onto its starboard in swells of up to 50 metres (see April 19 Freight News article: ‘Rescuers search for nine mariners after lift boat capsizes’).
According to Rotterdam-based Project Cargo Journal, there were nineteen people on board the ship. The USCG saved two and four were picked up by other vessels shortly after the capsizing. One person was found dead on the surface of the water.
By Friday, four more deceased crew members had been recovered, two of whom were found by commercial divers from Donjon Marine Company, which was contracted by Seacor.