We
are aware of another problem of Bertram 63,
this time sinking on November 6, 2009 off South Carolina
coast, which has been widely discussed on the Internet
forums. Very
few facts on the circumstances of the sinking are known
to us, including detailed account by the crew onboard.
This case is currently in court. (See No. 5 below.)
If you are interested in the
incident, here's summary with some links.
| 1. |
A
Bertram 630 "Absolutely" sunk in
the morning on November 6, 2009 20 miles east
of Myrtle Beach, South Calorina near "Bill
Perry Jr. buoy". The captain and his mate
onboard the vessel were rescued safely.
Coast
Guard responds to sinking fishing vessel |
| 2. |
"Absolutely" is
a never titled Bertram 630:
Year built December 2005,
model year 2006 (HIN: BERZ5020D506) |
| 3. |
The
vessel is currently rested at near the location
where the crew were rescued, near the "Bill
Perry Jr. buoy". |
| 4. |
Underwater
still photos of the vessel showing catastrophic
hull failure ( torn and caved in foredeck,
torn upper hull side around bow, wide delamination
and missing hull skin along forward to mid
upper starboard hull side and missing transom
among others) were posted on yachtforums.com
by its administrator on December
17, 2009.
YachtForums
Exclusive: Underwater Pictures of Sunk Bertram
630 - YachtForums.Com
The vessel was located
on November 24, 2009 and under water video
was taken next day on November 25, 2009, with
surveyor attendance, according to postings
on forums by local salvage company personnel.
January 18, 2010:
Underwater video footage from
which the above still photos were made was
posted at yachtforums.com, with a note from
forum administrator: "The
video is only viewable to registered YF members.
You must be logged-in to see it..."
Forum thread on the underwater
video:
http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/general-yachting-discussion/12806-video-sunk-bertram-discussion.html |
| 5. |
On
November 14, 2009, the owner(s) of "Absolutely" filed
complaint to U.S. District of Court, District
of South Carolina (Charleston).
Owen
et al v. Bertram Yacht Inc et al
Case #: 2:09-cv-02979
Plaintiff: Stephen Owen (Terminated 12/23/2009)
Plaintiff:
Dhevatara Beach Seychelles Ltd
Defendant: Bertram Yacht Inc
Defendant: Marine Max Inc
Last amendment was filed on
December 23, 2009, which includes complaint
of refusal of replacement vessel. (Doc. No.
6)
As of this posting, there
are 5 documents on this case. To read them,
you will need to register to Public Access
to Court Electronic Records
(PAGER) and $0.08 per page will be charged.
- Answer
to Amended Complaint was filed on February
03, 2010 by Bertram Yacht (Doc. No. 8) |
| 6. |
Apparently
President of Bertram Yacht had been updating
information on this incident to "Bertram
Dealers, Employees, and Friends", which
were in turn posted by receivers on several
forums. Last
one seems sent on December 17, 2009 (The same
day when underwater photos were posted on the
forum.). These
updates discuss possibility of collision with
something, including hitting the buoy. We
are not aware of further updates as of this
post.
http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/91035-post273.html
Latest Update - Posted on
January 12, 2010
http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/93459-post757.html |
| 7. |
Public Statement
by the owner was posted by yachtforums.com
administrator.
PUBLIC STATEMENT
NO. 1
January 14, 2009
http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/94055-post37.html |
If you like to follow local activities,
There is a thread on local forum CharlestonFishing.com :
Is this somebody from on here.......
http://www.charlestonfishing.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=91679&whichpage=1
Some of local
salvage, towing company people were posting on activities,
weather and wave condition, etc. surrounding the incident
since the morning of November 6, 2009; the day of sinking.
If you Google on the vessel, you will
come up with numerous forum threads, discussing
or rather speculating the cause of sinking, most suspect
structural failure and not some sort of collision, especially
after the underwater photos were posted.
As the case is in court,
we doubt any additional information by directly involved
party become public anytime soon.
At this time David Pascoe has no plan
to write on this vessel. This note was posted
with his permission as we are aware more than a few
readers visit his article on another Bertram 63, seeking
information on the sinking of Bertram 630.
Back
to "Bad News for Bertram"
Posted January 02, 2010
Update
Jan-15-2010:
Added
link to "Update" from President of Bertram Yacht, posted
on yachtforum.com.
Jan-18-2010:
Added links to Underwater video and Public statement by
the owner.
Feb-16-2010:
Added note on filing "Answer to Amended Complaint"
by Bertram Yacht.
|
David Pascoe is a second generation marine surveyor in his family who began his surveying career at age 16 as an apprentice in 1965 as the era of wooden boats was drawing to a close.
Certified by the National Association of Marine Surveyors in 1972, he has conducted over 5,000 pre purchase surveys in addition to having conducted hundreds of boating accident investigations, including fires, sinkings, hull failures and machinery failure analysis.
Over forty years of knowledge and experience are brought to bear in following books. David Pascoe is the author of:
In addition to readers in the United States, boaters and boat industry professionals worldwide from nearly 80 countries have purchased David Pascoe's books, since introduction of his first book in 2001.
In 2012, David Pascoe has retired from marine surveying business at age 65.
On November 23rd, 2018, David Pascoe has passed away at age 71.
Biography - Long version