Scuttling

[petetonsend]

Hello,

I just watched the Donald Crowhurst movie. I wonder why he didn't scuttle the boat, but it seems he was trying to be honest about what he had done.

I wonder, say someone wanted to scuttle their boat in the middle of the ocean, is it illegal? Say he had a friend out there that picked him up and he wanted to leave the boat, is it legal to sink your boat just because you can't handle it any longer?

 

[Boater Sam]

There was a lot of fuss about scuttling an oil rig in the deep some time back. Environmentally it may be a disaster?

 

[scottie]

whiist perhaps an urban myth the story is told of an impoverished boat owners who did such a thing but as he chose to do so on the Clyde which has several deep holes but using one just outside the US Polaris base was not the wisest as the sonar people watching the area just waited and sent the divers down who advised the insurance investigator about the cut hoses

 

[[70521]]

Hello,

I just watched the Donald Crowhurst movie. I wonder why he didn't scuttle the boat, but it seems he was trying to be honest about what he had done.

I wonder, say someone wanted to scuttle their boat in the middle of the ocean, is it illegal? Say he had a friend out there that picked him up and he wanted to leave the boat, is it legal to sink your boat just because you can't handle it any longer?

Welcome to the forum, an interesting first post.

There have been a couple of books written on the topic, well worth a read. Films are films and not great at looking at some of the deeper issues. I wonder if stepping off a boat is easier than scuttling and sitting in the cabin while you decent to the ocean floor.

 

[footsoldier]

I wonder, say someone wanted to scuttle their boat in the middle of the ocean, is it illegal?

I am sure that Sainte Greta could probably quote you chapter and verse.

 

[penfold]

Hello,

I just watched the Donald Crowhurst movie. I wonder why he didn't scuttle the boat, but it seems he was trying to be honest about what he had done.

I wonder, say someone wanted to scuttle their boat in the middle of the ocean, is it illegal? Say he had a friend out there that picked him up and he wanted to leave the boat, is it legal to sink your boat just because you can't handle it any longer?

Doing it deliberately would breach MARPOL, perhaps the London Convention on dumping at sea as well.

 

[Slowboat35]

I'd have though you have a duty of care to scuttle a boat that's permanently abandoned (ie after a rescue) rather than leave it as a drifting collision hazard.

 

[Biggles Wader]

Hello,

I just watched the Donald Crowhurst movie. I wonder why he didn't scuttle the boat, but it seems he was trying to be honest about what he had done.

I wonder, say someone wanted to scuttle their boat in the middle of the ocean, is it illegal? Say he had a friend out there that picked him up and he wanted to leave the boat, is it legal to sink your boat just because you can't handle it any longer?

No, he was in financial shite and needed the prize money for winning the race. He either had to carry on and brazen it out or-------

 

[roaringgirl]

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but he was not of sound mind, thus trying to unpick his logic is a fool's errand.

 

[Gixer]

I haven't seen the film but have read, A voyage for madmen and The strange last voyage. TBH after seeing what's in his log book, what happened to his boat after he stepped off the back of the boat was his least concern.

 

[bikedaft]

If you are more than 12nm out, and you have removed oil and diesel etc, I thought was legal to scuttle?

 

[dombuckley]

Hello,

I just watched the Donald Crowhurst movie. I wonder why he didn't scuttle the boat, but it seems he was trying to be honest about what he had done.

I wonder, say someone wanted to scuttle their boat in the middle of the ocean, is it illegal? Say he had a friend out there that picked him up and he wanted to leave the boat, is it legal to sink your boat just because you can't handle it any longer?

That's what Webb Chiles decided to do with "Resurgam". He ended up swimming, watching the boat go down, at which point he discovered his survival instinct was rather stronger than he'd credited. A bit late for second thoughts, but he swam for 26 hours, drifting over 100 miles in the Gulf Stream, before being picked up by a fishing boat.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I haven't seen the film but have read, A voyage for madmen and The strange last voyage. TBH after seeing what's in his log book, what happened to his boat after he stepped off the back of the boat was his least concern.

Also, trying to understand his thought processes is likely to lead down a rabbit hole. His journals were VERY strange at the end. I suspect he was expecting some sort of apotheosis when he stepped off Teignmouth Electron.

 

[Slowboat35]

That's what Webb Chiles decided to do with "Resurgam". He ended up swimming, watching the boat go down, at which point he discovered his survival instinct was rather stronger than he'd credited. A bit late for second thoughts, but he swam for 26 hours, drifting over 100 miles in the Gulf Stream, before being picked up by a fishing boat.

If you actually believe that tale, which I understand is of highly questionable veracity...

 

[Thistle]

If you are more than 12nm out, and you have removed oil and diesel etc, I thought was legal to scuttle?

I very much hope not: why would it be legal to litter the seabed?

 

[bikedaft]

I very much hope not: why would it be legal to litter the seabed?

I subsequently found something that stated (in the UK anyway) that Marpol also applies to leisure boats. Which is fair enough as they are mostly grp now, not steel or wood.

I suspect legally this may not be enforceable beyond 12nm limit?

 

[Poignard]

I was present at the scene of a scuttling in mid-Atlantic.

Gathering evidence for a prosecution would present some practical difficulties!

 

[RunAgroundHard]

whiist perhaps an urban myth the story is told of an impoverished boat owners who did such a thing but as he chose to do so on the Clyde which has several deep holes but using one just outside the US Polaris base was not the wisest as the sonar people watching the area just waited and sent the divers down who advised the insurance investigator about the cut hoses

There are no "deep holes" "just outside" the former US Polaris base at the Holy Loch, in the FOC waters.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

I very much hope not: why would it be legal to litter the seabed?

It is not illegal and there are a few reports of sailors obtaining permission from insurance companies to scuttle their yachts after abandoning. It is a recollection, as I can't remember the articles, but I defiantly read them.

I can dump drilling waste, full blown oil based mud with rock cuttings and various other chemicals over overboard in some international waters, but not in others. Some have limits on the percentage oil on cuttings. Most jurisdictions have banned that practise now, not all. I guess it depends; Thailand was the worst for a long time and New Zealand was the best with zero discharge, not even rainwater, in their jurisdictions well outside the 12 mile line. Outside the economic zone, not sure.

Laws are now being introduced, recently reported in the media, to control the free for all currently in place in waters outside the jurisdiction of any country.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

There was a lot of fuss about scuttling an oil rig in the deep some time back. Environmentally it may be a disaster?

I think you may be referring to the Brent Spar, which was an oil storage and offloading vessel. It was clean, that is now a known fact. Greenpeace have admitted they lied about the contamination. The reason it was stopped that for some reason German consumers stopped buying Shell petrol and diesel across Germany in protest. A very power symbol of power being in the hand of the public. The losses in profit and reputation were not sustainable so the decision was made to take it to Norway. It now forms part of a harbour, as it was cut into rings and used as a wall to fill with rocks.

In the USA GOM area, former jackets (the structure that holds the platform above the sea level), are laid down side by side to create artificial reefs which have been remarkably successful as marine habitats. Brazil now has stringent bans on deepwater dumping after they had a production installation sink, which causes problems to this day.

A mixed bag around the world.