Body found in water near ammunition ship; Coast Guard launches formal investigation into ship fire

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (USTCNS) --- A body was recovered from the Cape Fear River July 17 about three miles south of the motor vessel SSG Edward A. Carter Jr. (T-AK 4544), which is moored at the 597th Transportation Terminal Group, Military Ocean Terminal, Sunny Point, N.C.

The male body, found by Brunswick County, N.C., Sheriff's Department divers, will be transported to the state coroner's office in Chapel Hill for identification.

The Carter suffered an engine room fire while in port at Sunny Point Saturday, which resulted in one crewman dead and another missing. The 950-foot commercial container ship is owned and operated by Maersk Line Limited of Norfolk, Va., and was chartered to the Military Sealift Command.

Missing from the Carter's crew is Horace Beasley, 45, an unlicensed mariner from Gretna, Va. The Coast Guard's search for Beasley was suspended Sunday afternoon after finding no sign of the missing crewman. Brunswick County Emergency Management led an effort to recover the missing crewman's body.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard convened a formal investigation Monday into the cause of the shipboard fire. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Rick Raksnis, the Senior Investigating Officer at Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Wilmington, N.C., will lead the investigation.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation are assisting in the investigation. The purpose of the formal investigation is to try to determine the cause of the incident in order to prevent this type of situation from recurring.

The investigation will focus on:

- Actions of personnel
- Equipment function
- Cause of death of the crewmen killed
- Ship's inspection history

The ship, which receives annual Coast Guard inspections, was last inspected on June 12, 2001, in Hampton Roads, Va., and before that on Oct. 24, 2000, in Charleston, SC. No deficiencies were noted in either inspection.

The formal investigation includes a public hearing in which witnesses and evidence are subpoenaed for the purpose of information gathering. The Coast Guard will notify the public when the hearing is scheduled.

According to the provisions of federal law (46 USC 6301), which authorizes the investigation, an investigative report must be completed and submitted to the Fifth Coast Guard District for review within six months of the investigation's convening date, which was Monday. (FROM MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS)