Two recent fatal oceanic accidents – including one in Maine – are raising questions about the degree to which federal maritime-safety oversight has played a role, and if so whether misplaced priorities had anything to do with that.
The Coast Guard in both accidents – one of which occurred off Rockland, Maine – concluded it shared some of the blame.
In the 2023 Maine schooner tragedy, a midcoast physician was killed when a rotted mast aboard the Grace Bailey collapsed during a North Atlantic cruise.
Also in 2023, Titan, a tiny sub, exploded during an expedition to view the wreck of the Titanic in the North Atlantic, killing five.
The Coast Guard investigation of the Rockland accident found that the agency shared blame with the Bailey’s operator for an alleged lack of mast inspections.
Similarly, the agency’s report on the Titan mishap found that the Coast Guard hadn’t monitored safety rules that might have prevented it.
In both cases – the Bailey and the Titan – investigators recommended better maritime governmental oversight but took no action to penalize themselves for inaction.
They also made no mention in their findings of whether they were so obsessed with their DEI campaign – as President Trump alleged – that safety suffered as a result.
As reported four months ago by The Maine Wire, the agency’s Biden appointees were on a work slowdown designed to embarrass Trump because he’d recently fired their DEI-obsessed commander.
After taking office, Trump ousted Adm. Linda Fagan for “excessive focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies” that he said led to a shortage of qualified safety inspectors.
Trump ordered the Coast Guard to discontinue its Democrat-inspired DEI initiatives and focus on its real mission – maritime safety.
Amid the bureaucratic infighting, The Maine Wire earlier this year filed a formal records request with the Coast Guard seeking the status of the Bailey investigation.
The agency refused to respond, referring all questions to Peter Mecklenburg, whose 40-year-old physician daughter Emily died in the Maine accident.
Mecklenburg himself told The Maine Wire that he was as much in the dark, having been unable to get any information. He was forced to also file formal info requests.
The agency finally released its investigation this month – without addressing whether the staffing shortage needlessly resulted in six deaths.
The investigation “won’t change Emily’s death. Maybe it will prevent future incidents,” Mecklenburg said.
He will not say whether he will be seeking legal action that might in some small way give him solace.
