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HOUMA, Louisiana (KLFY) The Coast Guard launched public hearings Monday to provide answers to the causes of the Seacor Power tragedy.
We heard from the first survivor and the first witness of several. They both testified under oath to what happened on the evening of April 13, when the men were lost at sea.
“I have been on the Gulf for 44 years. I was never scared, but the day this happened, I didn’t know what to think.
The first witness at the hearing was Ted Duhtu, captain of the Rockfish, which was an elevator boat near the Seacor Power when it capsized.
The redfish reached its destination at around 2:30 a.m. before a life-changing storm hit its peak.
Duhtu said he was never warned of waves over five feet in which an elevator cannot travel.
“If it worked, I never heard it because if I had heard it before I moved, I never would have moved. “
His ship picked up wind gusts of 112 mph with a sustained wind of 95 mph.
Meanwhile, aboard the Seacor Power, Dwayne Lewis was awakened.
“I knew it was going to happen. “
He and another teammate had to use a fire extinguisher to smash through a window and escape for a rescue.
He recommended several changes to prevent this from happening again in the future.
“No matter the equipment or the size of the load, I think you have to tie it up. Either welded or chained and glued.
A glass breaker at every window because let’s face it, they tell you to push the window.
The Coast Guard said this was the only new information it had received from witnesses, but wanted the public to hear everything.
“One of the things that is important about the public hearing is that the public has the opportunity to hear what we have already heard, so it gives everyone the opportunity to know what we know and really. understand what happened that day. “
Tuesday morning we will hear from Bryan Mires, the first mate aboard the Seacor Power.
He is also a native of Acadiana.
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