The submerged vessel.
By JADE RUSSELL
Tribune Staff Reporter
jrussell@tribunemedia.net
THE granddaughter of the 75-year-old American woman who died when a Blue Lagoon Island ferry teetered last week claimed staff gave her grandmother a faulty oxygen tank that couldn’t be turned on.
“The oxygen they received needed a wrench, and no one had one,” Kayla Estep told Inside Edition, adding that her family is considering taking legal action.
Gayle Jarrett, 75, had used her inheritance money to take her family on a five-day Caribbean cruise to honour a family matriarch who had passed away. Her generous gesture ended with her own death last week.
Ms Estep said her father, the boat’s captain and another person tried to save Ms Jarrett as chaos erupted and people scrambled off the vessel.
“The ferry kept teetering, and she kept falling into the deep end of where the water was, on the right side, and then she got stuck between the staircase and the pole,” she told FOX31. “She was already gone, but my dad did try to do compressions. He watched her go.”
She said her grandmother was vulnerable as the ferry began teetering because she didn’t know how to swim and relied daily on an oxygen tank. She said she could see the fear in her grandmother’s eyes when the situation deteriorated.
She said her family was on the bottom deck of the catamaran.
Relatives on the trip included her father, mother, grandparents on her mother’s side, her husband and two children, including a six-year-old and a one-year-old.
She told FOX31 on Friday that staff abandoned hundreds of passengers when the ferry began to take on water. She showed images of black and purple bruises on her legs, which she received while fighting to save her two children and grandmother.
“The crew members, other than the captain, left,” she said. “They got on their life vests and went up the steps crying and telling everyone that the ferry is sinking and they don’t know what to do. They’re not trained for this. I was terrified, scared and just adrenaline kicked in.”
She said passengers would’ve reacted sooner by putting on life vests and jumping into the water if they weren’t awaiting instructions from staff.
Although the family has not received Ms Jarret’s autopsy report yet, Ms Estep believes the lack of oxygen and the fear her grandmother experienced contributed to her death.
In another interview with CBS News, she described her grandmother as “an angel on earth.” She said they loved shopping together.
Blue Lagoon Island said on Sunday that a “rigorous, independent forensic” investigation has been launched into the incident, the first of its kind for the company. The company did not respond to messages from The Tribune yesterday about Ms Estep’s claims.
Acting Port Controller Berne Wright said last week that the vessel and its captain complied with regulations. He said issues related to how staff reacted are covered by the company’s operational procedures, not regulations.
Comments
rosiepi 7 months, 2 weeks ago
I sympathize with this lady and her family for their loss. The boat captain should not have ignored the day’s marine warnings. However… Going on holiday should never cause one to forget all their precautions, common sense and knowledge of their fellow humans. This may sound harsh but here goes.. If one’s life is dependent on a piece of equipment make sure it works! If a boat is sinking why wait for someone to tell you to put on a life jacket??
stillwaters 7 months, 2 weeks ago
Blame the victim??????
concernedcitizen 7 months, 2 weeks ago
Amazing , you are blaming the victims .I am a licensed boat captain w many multiple decades of taking out tourist . The guest are partying and having a good time , it is my and my mate or crews responsibility to ensure the safety .One of the first things to take into account is the weather .I have told tour owners I worked for I would not leave the dock in certain weather , or turned back to port if the weather turned bad . We have had numerous accidents and injuries lately in Nassau , Abaco , and Exuma . Part of the problem is young captains that have a licsene but no long time sea experience .The other problem when the ministry of tourism sponsered the course in Exuma you only need to get 70 percent right to pass and they gave you 30 percent for taking the course so basically you only needed to get 40 percent right .Would you fly on a plane where the pilot only needed to score 70 percent on the test or even worse 40 percent .
ThisIsOurs 7 months, 2 weeks ago
That is the dumbest statement I've ever heard next to the acting Port controller's statement. The reason you have flight attendants, policemen, firemen, coast guard, saying "stay calm", "dont touch the wires", "breathe", .. is precisely because people panic in disasters and need to be directed and reminded what to do to save their own lives.
I often wonder if there's a secret society of dumb people in the Bahamas whose only role is the spread of ignorance. One man had the temerity to say "people just looking to be heroes". This boat owner is in a world of trouble. Every accounting just gets worse. One day some group will sue the govt of the Bahamas for promoting such poorly regulated excursions. I said last week that I hoped the dumb statements wouldnt make intl news... well that ship has sailed.
Dawes 7 months, 2 weeks ago
The weather wasn't bad on the day in question. If it was an all boats have to remain in port then half the time boats would not be allowed out. The next day it started to get bad. But this was before it got bad.
stillwaters 7 months, 2 weeks ago
Say 'forensic investigation.'........oh Lordy.....people talk all kind of nonsense. Some advisors are receiving money for nothing.
ThisIsOurs 7 months, 2 weeks ago
"Acting Port Controller Berne Wright said last week that the vessel and its captain complied with regulations. He said issues related to how staff reacted are covered by the company’s operational procedures, not regulations."
I dont know him and he's likely competent in some area, but with a statement like this he should never be confirmed in that post. It's the most irresponsible statement I've ever heard from a safety regulator
concernedcitizen 7 months, 2 weeks ago
The same way we lowered what a passing grade is in our schools we lowered the passing grade and time of experience for captains license
ThisIsOurs 7 months, 2 weeks ago
Yup our strategy is to keep the cream at the bottom.
His statement is reminiscent of Brave Davis basically saying we did everything right from a regulatory standpoint after the FTX collapse. The the trial started and it showed we did nothing right and just made the Bahamas govt look like a bunch of clout chasing wannabes.
Sign in to comment
OpenID