The following is the text of a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard:
(MIAMI) — The U.S. Coast Guard is scheduled to conduct a public district formal investigation hearing from March 20-25, and March 27-28, for the 561-foot Panamanian-flagged passenger/cargo ship Caribbean Fantasy marine casualty, which occurred on Aug. 17, 2016, and the rescue of its 511 passengers and crewmembers.
The hearing will focus on the cause of the marine casualty, the adequacy of firefighting protection systems, regulatory compliance including any physical or design concerns, adequacy of the vessel’s safety management system and evacuation procedures, and the Coast Guard’s mass rescue operation and procedures.
The National Transportation Safety Board has joined in this hearing to avoid duplicating the development of facts and will fully participate. The NTSB is an independent federal agency, which is responsible for civil transportation accident investigation, and is tasked with determining the cause or probable cause of this accident. A separate report of the NTSB’s findings will be issued independently of the Coast Guard.
Who: U.S. Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board
What: District formal investigation hearing
When: 8 a.m.-5 p.m., March 20-25 and March 27-28
Where: Caribe Hilton, 1 San Geronimo St., San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901
The Coast Guard will announce initiation and closing of the hearing from @uscgsoutheast using the following hashtags: #CGFIH #CaribbeanFantasy.
An e-mail has been set up for interested parties to ask questions or make comments. This e-mail will be checked regularly. The e-mail is: CaribbeanFantasy@uscg.mil
The Coast Guard plans to host a live stream of the proceedings. The web address for the live stream is: https://livestream.com/USCGinvestigations/CaribbeanFantasy
Passengers aboard Caribbean Fantasy on Aug. 17, 2016, can pass information to the district formal investigation hearing board by taking the following online survey:
English: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CaribbeanFantasyEnglish
Spanish: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CaribbeanFantasyEspanol
