Classification
- Incident Type: Capsize unknown mechanism
- Severity: High
- Classification basis: The tug sank and one crew member was reported lost. The evidence reviewed does not establish girding.
Vessel Details
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Vessel Name | Bever |
| Vessel Type | Tug |
| Flag State | |
| IMO Number | |
| Gross Tonnage | |
| LOA (m) | |
| Breadth (m) | |
| Bollard Pull (t) | |
| Power (kW) | |
| Owner/Operator | |
| Year Built | |
| Crew Size | 2 reported |
Incident Details
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Date | 1996-11-11 |
| Location | North Sea off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, United Kingdom |
| Region | North Sea |
| Fatalities | 1 |
| Injuries | |
| Missing | |
| Direct Damage | Vessel capsized and sank. |
| Economic Damage | |
| Environmental Damage | |
Key facts
- A contemporary Dutch trade-press report says Bever capsized during a job off the British coast on 11 November 1996.
- The accessible article lead says the Council attributed the accident partly to the crew's nonchalant attitude (translation of “laconieke houding”).
- A secondary wreck listing identifies the location as the North Sea off Great Yarmouth and reports that one of the two crew was lost.
- The accessible material does not identify the job, capsize mechanism, weather, precise location, or full official findings.
Narrative
Bever capsized during work off the British coast on 11 November 1996. A secondary wreck listing identifies Bever as a Netherlands tug. A contemporary article published by Nieuwsblad Transport on 16 December 1997 reports that the Raad voor de Scheepvaart had ruled on the casualty. Its accessible headline and opening paragraph say the Council attributed the capsize partly to the crew's nonchalant attitude (translation of “laconieke houding”). The article's remaining text is behind a subscription barrier, and the underlying Council decision was not recovered from the official publication archive during this review. The finding therefore supports attributing a crew-conduct factor to the Council, but it does not support a more specific account of the operation or a technical mechanism (Nieuwsblad Transport, 16 December 1997).
A secondary shipwreck listing supplies the more precise basic casualty details: it places the tug in the North Sea off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on 11 November 1996 and reports that one of the two crew members was lost. This is the only accessible source reviewed that states the crew complement and casualty count (wreck listing). No injury count, identities, exact coordinates, weather, vessel particulars, or damage valuation were located. The available evidence does not establish girding or another capsize mechanism.
Sequence of events
| Date/time | Event |
|---|
| 1996-11-11 | Bever capsized during work off the British coast and sank off Great Yarmouth; one of two crew was reported lost. |
| 1997-12-16 | Nieuwsblad Transport reported that the Raad voor de Scheepvaart had issued a ruling on the capsize. |
Contributing factors
| Factor | Evidence status | Description |
|---|
| Crew conduct | Reported | The accessible lead of a 1997 Dutch trade-press article says the Council attributed the ruling partly to the crew's nonchalant attitude (translation of “laconieke houding”). The complete ruling and article text were not accessible for verification of context or other findings. |
Investigation
The Raad voor de Scheepvaart issued a ruling, according to the contemporary Nieuwsblad Transport report. The underlying decision was not located in the searchable official-publication archive, and the news article's full text is subscription-restricted. Its accessible lead identifies crew conduct as a contributing consideration but does not disclose the complete findings. No publicly accessible report establishes girding or another specific capsize mechanism.
References
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