Ship’s master said he spent 50 hours sleepless before crash
By JANET McCONNAUGHEY
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Federal investigators say an oil tanker hit an oil platform at night off Louisiana because its Turkish operating company didn’t give the ship’s master time to recover from 50 hours of sleepless travel. Nobody was hurt in the crash early Oct. 17, 2020. But the National Transportation Safety Board says it did $72.9 million in damage — $72.3 million to the platform and the rest to the ship. A lawsuit filed one day after the crash by the platform’s Houston owners estimated damages at $225 million, including economic losses during repairs. NTSB reports cannot be used as evidence in civil lawsuits.