In fact, it was a most serious incident in waiting thanks to the combined gross negligence of Clayton Smith and the Bahamian government. It is indeed fitting that Smith will now be fleeced by Lockhart QC for every penny he ever worked for and saved. But major financial restitution, in addition to reimbursement/settlement of hospital and surgeons' bills, etc., both locally and abroad, will also need to be made by the Bahamian government. We should of course also expect a serious fall off in tourist visitors to the Exumas for quite sometime to come. I suspect Turnquest has been overheard saying that with what this incident is going to cost the Bahamian government, he wishes VAT had been increased to 15% rather than 12%.

It's kind of unusual for the company's lawyer to be making such comments before the investigation has even really begun.

I am quite sure this is an accident. Fuel leaked into the bilge and the float switch ignited the fuel. Not much u can do in this situation.

Black smoke equals burning fuel. Boat safety lesson no.1. The bahamaspress said he was in jail in Cuba for drugs. They also said he was uninsured wonder who is telling the truth.
Petrol fueled boats explode because vaporised fuel spark from bilge pump bilge fans and lack of sniffer system. Is said builder a marine architect? Did said boat have CE?
https://www.nmma.org/certification/ce-c…. ifnot why not?
What certifications did it Have? I have never read such legalese gobblygook in my entire life.

Carry passengers for hire requires special considerations and equipment . Anyone can call them self a surveyor there is no licensing only memberships to organisations. A boat built in the US of that type with all the necessary safety precautions would cost upwards of 500k
Any ideas why he chose to build himself? I see the local transport minister wants to up the cost of Americans bring their boats. Why doesn’t he concentrate on putting effort into making sure charter boats are safe instead of protecting the homies.

Her is another petrol aged boat fire see any resemblance https://www.boatus.org/findings/55/
Was this sabotage?

Here you have a lawyer conducting an investigation into an explosion on a boat ? Give me a break, another question is how does the government become responsible. To me the responsible party is the CAPTAIN plain and simple. Both of them should be arrested. Sabotage my ass ducking responsibility. Something that happens all to often.

I don't think anyone really cares what the lawyer or the boat owner have to say in defense of themselves. All we want to know is whether or not the boat owner had the required personal injury insurance. Insurance is hinted at in the article, but this could just be in reference to damage or theft to the boat. Can anyone clarify this?

RE BMW you are correct. The Government is not liable at law to pay in this matter. However, there will likely be huge consequences for our country if the injured Americans are not compensated for their loss, should the boat owner not have personal injury insurance. In order to avoid those consequences and international condemnation, the Government would pay the costs that should have been covered by the boat owner's insurance.

You must be kidding. Not one penny of tax payers money should go to paying for anything

You and Elliot must be drinking the same cool-aid. Why should the Bahamian taxpayers be saddled with paying for a huge law suit because Mr. Smith & Co neglected to have personal liability insurance which should be mandatory for anyone in that business?
I guess the next step will be for the taxpayers to compensate those people in Andros because their relatives decided to fly Hacker Airlines instead of Bahamasair.

**The Bahamas cannot be advertising itself as a major tourist destination, especially within the U.S., without having some responsibility for putting in place, maintaining and enforcing even the most basic regulations necessary to help ensure the safety of the visitors we invite (entice) to our shores. Trust me, this unfortunate incident that was in the waiting is going to cost us Bahamian taxpayers big time. Our incompetent government is costing all of us hardworking and struggling taxpayers in more ways than we care to think.**

I smell a cover up! Let's pretend like boats are routinely serviced and regulations enforced! They weren't 30 years either. I don't know how qualified the operators are? I know one that wasn't to be trusted. Let sleeping dogs lie.

QC Lockhart is trying to pull a stunt like the porn star's lawyer is doing against Trump ..... smh

No report yet on the cause of the downed plane en route from Andros to Nassau or vice versa. But if the operator of this boat feels his boat was tampered with, he should bring in his own investigators to do an investigation. From the hostility demonstrated towards this man, there may be someone out there with screws loose enough to loosen some of the screws on his boat or cut a fuel line. Bilge pumps are designed to come on when they are submerged in water so even if there is a spark it doesn’t get to vaporized fuel. And if you don’t suspect there is a fuel leak on your boat that has been operating fine the day before, there will be no reason to suspect any unless there is a strong odor of fuel present. Outboard engines are designed to keep both fuel and combustion away from the boat and greatly reduce chances of incidents like this happening. And Especially the severe injuries to persons and the loss of life.

"Bilge pumps are designed to come on when they are submerged in water so even if there is a spark it doesn’t get to vaporized fuel."
Not 100% accurate. The electrical lines/connections to the bilge pumps are all above the water level in the bilge, only the float switch and pump intake would be below that water line if the boat was taking on water or had a fuel leak.

The electrical lines may be above water, but they are also hermetically sealed (if installed properly) to prevent corrosion and to contain any spark that may occur in the line. Not claiming to be an expert but it is also unusual to get a high build-up of fuel in the bilge of a boat operating on outboard engines...and then to not detect the odor from the fumes.

Jonh, uou display an arrogant ignorance of boats. Bilge pumps have a separate float valve switch. Any set of wires to the bilge pump or the switch can chafe and spark if not properly insulated and wrapped with anti-chaffing. Many boats are built with a double hull, fuel leaking into the double hull would not necessarily be smelt on deck. I have been on a boat that caught fire from shorted electrical wires and it happens very fast with no warning, this boat that I was on was diesel powered and we put the fire out quickly with the fire extinguishers mounted in the right places. Sabotage is a laughable idea or so I hope. What sick mind would think it was a good idea to burn a boat load of tourists to death. I know that some Bahamians seem to hate people of other races but this would surely be a step too far?

Don't waste your breath muh brudda, you ain know John is one a da worlds leading conspiracy theorists and authorities on racism?

Duh!! liquids are always heavier than air.. aluminum boat built in the back yard explains it all. Aluminum is brittle and tends to crack easily. vibration and rough waves crack the hull and thus fuel tank as well as electrolysis is deadly for aluminum boats. fact is fuel tank was cracked for a while and went unattended that caused this travesty. owner too worried about money than repairing his boat. how many people knew about this leak and did nothing..

This incident highlights the need for annual boat inspections in the Bahamas by qualified individuals. Peoples lives are at sake. We cant afford a repeat of this incident. The government should appoint qualified boat inspectors who can travel to every inhabited island on a annual rotating schedule to inspect all boats. Local government and family island commissioners can be made aware of inspection dates for their various islands and would be responsible for notifying the boat owners. Boats without a valid sticker should remain docked or bought ashore.

What other comments could we expect from a lawyer? Their principals went out the window when they passed the bar exam and realized how much money is to be made. Their concern is not guilt or fault. It is finance.

people should be careful calling for annual boat inspections.

The government doesn't do its jobs now, what makes anyone think they can manage any additional chores.

What we need is responsible people who not only are educated and knowledgeable about the industry standards, but also who are willing to utilize best practices and proper maintenance.

Government can't do what it's doing now, much less legislate the stupidity out of the populous, and the last thing we need is more rules to follow

Start with the mailboats .............. SMH

Chucky, as a matter of fact the you do have to have your boat inspected annually in order to license it. An inspector from the Port Authority boards your boat and carries out a physical inspection for radio, flares, life jackets, tools, first aid kit etc in addition to grading the condition of the hull and machinery and a $20 inspection fee is charged in addition to the licensing fee. On top of that, in order to obtain insurance the boat must be surveyed by a certified Marine Surveyor every two years.

No licensing for boat or captain which means no insurance or inspection done ( which costs $50, not $20 and applies to everything that floats) ....

Neither the Govt or taxpayers should be pay one red cent! This is purely a matter for the owner of Four C’s to deal with. Does Smith have the necessary personal injury insurance to cover his business and his customers and crew?? Does the Govt require operators like this to carry such insurance?? My guess is the answer to those two two questions is NO! Because das jus how we go in da Bahmaas.

We still live in the old days and still do things the way they did things 50 years ago. Well guess what - this very tragic incident has made world news and the trips to swim with the pigs just came to a grinding halt. Tourism in Exuma will suffer big time for a very long time to come!