‘Silent Thunder’ Boat Raised After Fatal Disaster

December 14, 2013

A salvage operation took place today [Dec 14] to raise the 65 foot ‘Silent Thunder’, which sunk in 35 feet of water and claimed the life of American sailor Steve Cummings.

At around midnight on Wednesday, Mr Cummings — the skipper of ‘Silent Thunder’ — contacted Bermuda Radio reporting that there was an issue on board the boat.

The Marine Police attended the scene and found a “field of debris” but no signs of the boat, and Mr Cummings lifeless body was found on Wednesday morning [Dec 11] along the shoreline of Shelly Bay.

The Silent Thunder was located later in the day on the sea bed in approximately 35 feet of water roughly mid-way between Tyne’s Bay and the South Channel.

A crane onboard a barge at the salvage site today raised the boat out of the water. Today’s operations were overseen by a police marine unit which escorted the transport of the boat towards the Dockyard area.

Mr Cummings was a native of Florida, and was an experienced yachtsman who once sailed around the world.

Slideshow of today’s salvage operation:

A Bermuda Radio spokesperson said, “On the evening of Tuesday 10th December 2013, the 65 foot Motor Yacht ‘Silent Thunder’ was returning to Bermuda with one person on board following 24 hours of sea trials. Silent Thunder had originally arrived at Bermuda from Tampa, Florida on the 13th September 2013 to conduct engine repairs.

“The vessel intended to transit the South Channel along the north shore to her previous mooring position west of White’s Island in Hamilton Harbour.

“Just after midnight on Wednesday 11th December 2013 the skipper of the Silent Thunder contacted Bermuda Radio reporting that there was an issue on board that he needed to deal with and that he would revert with more information shortly. The vessel’s position was confirmed to be in the vicinity of Elbow Buoy.

“Bermuda Radio attempted to re-establish communication with the vessel over a 30 minute period and after unsuccessful attempts, requested the assistance of a Bermuda Police Service land unit to investigate the yacht’s status from the area of Black Watch Pass.

“At 0044 local time [35 minutes after the initial call] Bermuda Radio re-established communications with the skipper who reported that the vessel was taking on water and that he had made unsuccessful attempts to contact two parties ashore for assistance with de-watering pumps.

“Following his initial reluctance to accept search and rescue assistance, the skipper changed his mind as he reported that there was now 2.5 feet of water in the aft bilge and 3 feet of water in the mid-ship bilge and that he was unable to determine the cause of the leak.

The Silent Thunder before the disaster, photo courtesy of AllAtSea.net:

FEATURE_T-Boat-Silent-Thunder-After

“Marine Police units had been previously tasked to attend and arrived on scene within the hour and commenced a search of the area with no sign of the vessel. During the subsequent search ‘Rescue One’ sighted debris in the water approximately a half mile South of Shelly Bay Shoal Beacon and some additional debris was found off of Crawl Point.

“Following three and a half hours of searching Rescue One was stood down with plans in place for a daylight search approximately one hour later.

“Shortly after daylight additional marine search units were on scene from the Department of Marine and Ports, Police Marine Section and Fisheries Division of Environmental Protection, while additional police land units searched coastal areas from Black Watch Pass to Fort St. Catherine.

“At around 8:19AM a body and small dinghy was discovered on the beach at Shelly Bay with police later confirming it to be the skipper of motor yacht Silent Thunder. The various marine units continued their search for related debris and an underwater search for the sunken vessel itself.

“At 9:54AM the Silent Thunder was located on the sea bed in approximately 35 feet of water roughly mid-way between Tyne’s Bay and the South Channel.”

Read More About

Category: Accidents and fires, All, News

Comments (28)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

Articles that link to this one:

  1. Weekend Reports, Photos, Videos, Links & More | Bernews.com | December 16, 2013
  1. Triangle Drifter says:

    So sad. Congratulations to the salvors for the refloating. Having experienced a sinking of a much smaller boat in Fabian & being onhand for the refloating of that one, it is not an easy job, especially when trying not to cause further damage.

  2. Nuffin but da Truth says:

    that boat was always sitting real low on her stern…WHY?

    • swing voter says:

      I think that the low stern was the way the navy designed that model…doesn’t look safe but apparently is

    • Dennis says:

      That is the way theses boats were designed and built. Lookup t boats online?

      • mangrove tree says:

        The boat was not designed to have the stern that low in the water,nor do any of the other pictures of similar boats show any of the boats trimmed down by the stern as much.
        In all the pictures of “Silent Thunder” the water line is well above the lower rubbing band at least 12, if not 18 inches above what would be the normal waterline .
        The trim of the boat just doesnt look right as some have noted.
        here is a US Army publication with all the appropriate measurements.

        http://www.usarmygermany.com/Sont.htm?http&&&www.usarmygermany.com/Units/SETAF%20Units/USAREUR_SETAF%204.htm

        • James Rego says:

          As I stated earlier, when I spoke with the skipper last week Monday, I raised concern about the low stern and trim angle. He assured me that it was “okay” but did say “because of the amount of fuel he had just taken on, the stern was 2 inches lower than normal”. This would have righted itself during the ocean crossing. Maybe this is normal for this style of vessel but it just didn’t look right.

          • mangrove tree says:

            My link above does not go directly to the plan , you have to scroll down the page and click on the little “T boat “picture at the bottom.

            Yes ,JRego, I have seen that you stated that the boat owner stated that state of the trim was “Okay”.

            Why was the feeboard at the stern reduced to such an extent, my guess at least 12 inches if not more, from the the published 3 feet 7/8 inches.
            Is not reducing freeboard by say 33 percent a bad thing?

            Modifacations were carried out to the vessel.
            Did a Naval Architect approve the modifactions and resulting changes in longitudinal center of gravity,vertical center of gravity and resulting stability?
            Was the boat rebuilt to conform with any marine construction standards either governmental or a classifacation society?
            While it would appear great effort has been applied to cosmetic changes on the exterior, what changes were made in the interior?
            Did these changes improve water tight integrity,ie compartmentalisation, waterproof doors ,hatches,or did they involve merely adding more “stuff” IE fuel tanks, water tanks, generators, “bedrooms” ect ?

            • James Rego says:

              My friend you ask very valid questions which I cannot possibly answer. Hopefully when the authorities examine the vessel, they will be able to answer the questions you have raised

  3. where says:

    Give us the detail where was the hole.

    • Triangle Drifter says:

      Not likely there was a hole. Most likely she was sunk by the failure of an inexpensive part like a hoseclamp at the engine intake & the inability to shut off the seacock. It is not unusual.

      Most owners leave seacocks open even during months of no use. It is not a question of if the hose will fail or the seacock seize but when.

      • Terry says:

        Or a failed exhaust.
        Happened to me.

      • swing voter says:

        TD is likely correct….poor guy didn’t really stand a chance at night with a flash light scurrying around a boat that size. Best thing for him would have been to intentionally ground her…but ofcourse hind sight is 40/40

        • where says:

          Ahhh great idea, maybe that is what he was trying to do by heading to Shell Bay. It is very shallow there and mostly all sand. It would been the perfect spot to ground her. I wonder how this guy would have handled a fire on board simalar to the one that happen the other day where the guy jumped over board. This is how I am going to roll when I get my boat here. I wont let her go down with out a fight.

  4. It is good news to have seen this vessel be raised as I am sure it will be cherished by the surviving family members and friends of the victim, may he rest in peace and the family have lost him but having the vessel would be like having a part of this men’s legacy and what he seemingly loved most, it would be good to know if the cats are ever found and I pray they make it to land or another passing vessel find them.

    • James Rego says:

      Duane I have been told by a reliable source Mr. Cummings Cats were found with him on the beach. I have yet to confirm this with the authorities. As soon as I do, I will post it here.

  5. Confused says:

    I feel that this man could have been saved. Very sad.

    • where says:

      YES he could have. We are SURROUNDED by water as far as “eyes”(anything) can see however our marine activeness is PITTFULL at best. The only time Bermudans are on the water is at cup match and the around the island boat race. Most of the people on the island do not know how to sail. With houses prices the way they are one would think people would gravitate to the unlimited real-estate we are surrounded by. People don’t realize that it is better for Bermuda to live on a boat than sell your life to the bank for an overpriced Block and sand.
      If people were on the water he would have gotten help to save his girl just like it was said he was willing to help everyone else he too would have gotten help.

      • Hmmm says:

        Why wasn’t help dispatched on his first distress call… He said he had a problem. If he thought he could have handled it, why the heck would he call it in???????????????? Help should have been sent immediately.

  6. Terry says:

    Lets see what the autopsy results are.
    A number of things can come into play.
    Shalom.

    • swing voter says:

      I hate to speculate, but the stress and shock of realizing his dream vanish below the water line may have led to his demise.

  7. Terry says:

    As per the comments above; the vessel did arrive in Bermuda and has sailed the oceans with the same stern area waterline.
    It had been modified yes.
    It would have sunk off Whites Island but it did not.
    Something is amiss here.

    This incident is definite cause for and inquest Mr. Warner.
    Peace.

  8. Tim says:

    Wow………. it sure must be a really large armchair you guys are sittin in……

    Must not be much to do around your part of the world, I can understand that. A previous comment stated you are never on the water. What has happened to Burmuda’s maritime heritage? Get out of that chair, get off the porch, get on the water again.

    The rest of the readership have to read through your unqualified comments and authoritive mumbling and judgement about something you know little about. If you weren’t aboard with Steve that night, you don’t know, speculative guessing is only showing the rest of the world you don’t know as much as you prize yourself an expert, The world is watching Burmuda, put on your best effort, have compassion for the family & friends of Steve.

    Steve was a friend of mine. I thank all the good people and agencies of Burmuda assisting with the situation Steve found himself in. We in Stuart are gratefull for all your efforts. It is good to see Silent Thunder afloat.

    Steve, may you rest in peace,
    Rose, are hearts are with you.

    Tim

  9. Yeti says:

    At the end of the day results of the trajedy are important even if only to act as a checklist to observe at place of repair.don’t forget the stuffing box around the prop shaft.

  10. Yeti says:

    Putting the vessel on a lift let it dry out a bit then re launch while still in the lift search then…