The Coast Guard’s Office of Investigations and Casualty Analysis (CG-INV) recently posted a Report of Investigation (ROI) to the Marine Casualty Reports (uscg.mil) website regarding the fire onboard the small passenger vessel Spirit of Norfolk in Norfolk, VA, on June 7, 2022. The fire resulted in the mass evacuation of 91 passengers and the total constructive loss of the vessel. This investigation was a District Formal Investigation convened by the Fifth Coast Guard District Commander.
As a result of this investigation, the Coast Guard issued four safety recommendations, three administrative recommendations, and one safety alert. A Commandant’s Final Action Memorandum (FAM) detailing the Coast Guard response and actions on each recommendation is included in the ROI.
The ROI and FAM can be found at: SPIRIT_OF_NORFOLK_ROI_Final_Redacted.pdf. Additionally, the District Formal hearing proceedings can be located here: Spirit of Norfolk Investigation Site.