Yacht launches are usually a cause for celebration, but last year one went horribly wrong when a Northern Marine 85 superyacht capsized during her launch in Ancortes, Washington. Now a recently released official Marine Accident Brief from the National Transportation Safety Board details exactly what went wrong.
On May 18, 2014, Northern Marine 85 yacht Baaden, known as project Blood Baron during build, was launched stern-first down a boat ramp at the Fidalgo Marina when it capsized, as seen in the video below. From transcription errors and instability to unorganised project management, there seem to have been multiple problems that led to the capsize of Baaden, all of which offer important lessons on how similar accidents can be avoided in the future.
The first lesson to be learned is simple: understand that accidents can happen and launches can go wrong, and plan ahead accordingly.