Absence of watertight door common cause of sinkings

The absence of watertight doors in ships has caused at least 2,500 deaths in seven notable sea tragedies over the past 100 years, the Lamma disaster inquiry was told on Wednesday.

Dr Neville Armstrong, a naval architect appointed by the commission, said in his report it was “widely known in the industry” that ships have been lost because they had no watertight door in the aft bulkhead.

“I am surprised and disappointed that a vessel [Lamma IV], designed for and operating with over 200 passengers, can be accepted with a watertight door removed when it appears that it was originally designed to have one,” he said.

He cited several cases in which ships were lost because of missing watertight doors. They included the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 (with 1,198 deaths), the Empress of Ireland in 1914 (1,012), Rabaul Queen last year (at least 320 fatalities) and Costa Concordia last year (32 deaths).

The absence of a watertight door on Lamma IV’s aft bulkhead caused the flooding of three compartments, contributing to the speedy sinking of the vessel, the commission heard earlier.

Thirty-nine people died when the Lamma IV collided with the Sea Smooth on October 1.