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Displaying items by tag: Mr. Tony Killeen

The Captain and the of Asgard II are highly praised for their professionalism in today's publication of the Marine Casualty Investigation Board's report of the investigation into the loss of the sail training vessel "Asgard II".

The impact assumption and liferaft issue in the report are already issues known about for some time.

The vessel which sank in the Bay of Biscay on 11 September 2008 while on route to La Rochelle, France was carrying 5 crew and 20 trainees.

All on board were evacuated safely from the vessel and transferred to the ships life rafts where they were brought to the island of Bel Ille by the French coastguard.

Minister or Defence, Mr. Tony Killeen commented that while the findings into the cause of the sinking are inconclusive it recognises that the vessel was equipped and maintained in excess of the statutory requirements and that higher safety standards were in place on the ship which were above those required by legislation.

The Minister also noted that the report acknowledges the leadership shown by the ship's Master, Colm Newport and he commended his and the crew's handling of the emergency situation.

The full report is available for download below.

Click this link for all Afloat's coverage of Asgard II's sinking, and the plans to raise, dive and replace her

Raise the Asgard - Afloat's 2008 online petition
Published in Asgard II

About Commander Bill King, Solo Circumnavigator

William Donald Aelian King was the last surviving submarine commander in the Second World War - in charge of the British Navy's T-class Telemachus that sank a Japanese sub in the Strait of Malacca, between Malaysia and Sumatra, in 1944.

Decorated many times for his service by the end of the war, King became a trailblazing solo sailor.

At the age of 58, he was the oldest participant in The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race sailing Galway Blazer II, a junk-rigged schooner he designed himself.

After a number of abortive attempts, including an incident with "a large sea creature", he finally completed his solo circumnavigation of the globe in 1973.

Beyond his aquatic escapades, King settled with his wife Anita (who died in 1984, aged 70) at Oranmore Castle outside Galway after the war, where he later developed a pioneering organic farm and garden to help tackle his wife's asthma.

The round-the-world sailor and Galway native Bill King died on Friday, 21 September, 2012, aged 102.