page_title: SS Marine Sulphur Queen
section_title: Precedent
hierarchical_section_title: SS Marine Sulphur Queen / Precedent
context_page_description: SS Marine Sulphur Queen, a T2 tanker converted to carry molten sulphur, noted for its disappearance in 1963 near the southern coast of Florida, taking the lives of 39 crewmen.
  In the investigation, the Coast Guard determined that the ship was unsafe and not seaworthy, and never should have sailed. The final report suggested four causes of the disaster, all due to poor design and maintenance of the ship. The loss of the ship was the subject of lengthy litigation between the owner and families of the missing men.
  Despite the clear cause of the disaster, an inaccurate and incomplete version of the ship's disappearance is often used to justify Bermuda Triangle conspiracies.
context_section_description: Nearly 20 years prior to the loss of the Marine Sulphur Queen, the United States General Accounting Office published a report titled TO INQUIRE INTO THE DESIGN METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION OF WELDED STEEL MERCHANT VESSELS, 15 July 1946, which was essentially a report of concern over civilian merchant ships, specifically T2 tankers, fracturing amidships at the keel. Even during World War II, the federal government was concerned over the large number of merchant ship casualties not resulting from combat, and investigation centered on possible shoddy construction.
  A sister ship, SS Sylvia L. Ossa, went down in heavy seas east of Bermuda on 15 October 1976; all that was recovered was debris and a lifeboat in which the quick-release mechanism was still intact.
caption: T2 tanker SS Schenectady, showing her bad keel.
exif: {}