On 21 May, Blue Schooner Company’s historic sailing freighter De Gallant capsized and subsequently sunk south of the Bahamas archipelago. Six of the eight crew have been rescued from the water, the other two are still missing.
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has been conducting a rescue operation for the missing two crew members. It includes two helicopters, an aircraft and a USCG vessel, as well as a Bahamian patrol vessel.
Visibility conditions on site are said to be good, wind and sea conditions are also good, water temperature is relatively warm (27°C), and the six people already rescued were equipped with their survival suits (to conserve body heat and ensure individual buoyancy). The weather forecast for the coming period is very good.
According to the Blue Schooner Company, the two female crew members currently being sought are professional sailors trained and practised in sea survival and rescue techniques.
UPDATE 23 May:
The USCG has issued a statement saying the organisation had suspended its search by Wednesday evening (22 May).This was after ‘rescue crews searched by air and sea for approximately 44 combined hours since the initial report and covered more than 3,700 square miles.’
Cause still unknown
The circumstances of this incident, which occurred in very good weather conditions (fine seas, winds of less than 10 knots) and on a vessel with a proven track record, remain to be determined. Information obtained so far points to a very sudden and unforeseen occurrence of extremely violent winds, causing the ship to capsize and be evacuated.
The sailing transport ship De Gallant left Santa-Marta in Colombia on May 11th with a cargo of coffee, cocoa and cane sugar destined for various European shippers.
Also read: Salvage of capsized splitbarge Karin Høj successful
De Gallant
De Gallant was built in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands, as a fishing vessel at the Figee brothers’ yard and launched in 1916 under the name Jannetje Margaretha. Later it was rigged as a schooner as it is now. Blue Schooner Company (BSC), based in France, acquired the vessel in 2017.
The vessel measures 36.20 metres in length overall, has a width of 6.6 metres, an air draught of 27 metres and a sail area of 415 m2. Its cargo capacity is 35 tonnes and it sails under the flag of Vanuatu.
Since 2017 the crew of BSC have been putting their convictions and experience at the service of a responsible, environmentally-friendly transport, by developing a 100 per cent under sail shipping. Except for port manoeuvres, the company uses no fossil fuels. Onboard electricity is supplied by solar panels.
Photo: De Gallant (by Jean-Pierre Bazard, Wikimedia Commons).
Also read: Dutch Safety Board: Trawlers with nets on one side at risk of capsizing
