Careless overloading appears the prime cause in Africa’s deadliest ferry disaster, military investigators said on Wednesday — describing the MS Joola tumbling over when passengers rushed to take cover from a sudden gale.
The armed forces inquiry also revealed that the first official alert for the ferry went out much later than earlier disclosed — at 7am on Friday, nearly eight hours after the state-run MS Joola capsized.
The inquiry, ordered by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, blamed negligence throughout the chain of command, from the armed forces leaders responsible for the ferry’s operation to those who oversaw the search.
The Joola, making a run from southern to northern Senegal, capsized in a fierce gale just before midnight September 26.
Built for 600, it was carrying at least 1 034 — and authorities concede the true toll may be much higher. Children under five would have gone unticketed, and, apparently, uncounted.
Only 64 people survived. Only one in the list of official survivors was a woman — adding to indications of fierce struggles to escape the vessel.
Survivors describe hours clinging to the upturned, orange boat hull until the first help, fishing vessels, arrived.
Release of the report comes a day after resignation of Transport Minister Youssouf Sakho and Armed Forces Minister Youba Sambou. Wade — like most — had blamed overcrowding from the start. He singled out those two ministries as those responsible for the ferry’s operation.
Bodies from the MS Joola were still washing ashore on Wednesday, Interior Minister Mamadou Niang said on Wednesday. Only 32 of all the dead have been identified and returned to their families, he said.
Hundreds more are still trapped inside the ferry, too decayed for retrieval intact. Blame fell heavily not just on the crowding of passengers, but the way the crew loaded freight.
Apparently since low season for tourists meant there were few cars aboard, almost all the freight was loaded on deck, investigators said. More freight down in the hold would have helped stabilise the ferry, investigators said.
Meanwhile, about 500 people were crowded on the top deck alone – nearly as much as the entire ferry was meant to hold. ”When the ferry rode into a storm, the people on the top deck were suddenly confronted with strong rains and gales coming from starboard,” the report said. ”To get under cover, they moved en masse toward port.”
That movement caused a final, fatal shift in the ferry’s already precarious centre of balance, investigators concluded. Divers’ film of the submerged wreck later showed lifeboats and other safety equipment were never released.
”That confirms the theory that the crew was surprised, and was not able to set off panic buttons,” the report says. In another preliminary report on Wednesday, the Transport Ministry said the Joola’s captain was certified as commander of a military vessel — not qualified, under international maritime standards, to skipper a merchant ship.
The ferry’s commander was responsible for overseeing the loading of the vessel, ensuring that security measures were followed, and verifying the weather conditions before the ship left port, the Transport Ministry said.
Satellite images showed a mass of clouds just off the coast of Gambia at around 11pm when the ship capsized, it said. The captain died in the disaster.
After the capsizing, the ferry began missing what should have been regular checks into port. Regardless, ”from midnight until 7am, no real action was take to sound the alert and summon all the means of the armed forces,” the military said.
The late alert and shortage of planes and proper equipment all hindered the rescue effort, it said. ”All the negligences in the chain of command,” from those who oversaw the ferry’s operation to those who led the rescue, contributed, the report said. Wade has pledged criminal prosecution for those deemed responsible, and has ordered military courts to begin action. – Sapa-AP