GRANDE COSTA DAVORI

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Fnal planned witness testimony into fire accident

The US Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will hold the final planned witness testimony on March 13 in support of the ongoing investigation into the fire that occurred on July 5, 2023 aboard the 'Grande Costa D’Avorio', while docked at the Port of Newark, New Jersey. The video of testimony will be posted to the investigation’s website at https://www.news.uscg.mil/News-by-Region/1st-District-Northeast/PADET-New-York/Grande-Costa-DAvorio-Investigation/ in the morning of March 14. The scheduled testimony on March 13 is from Deputy Chief Alfonse Carlucci of the Newark Fire Department. Carlucci is the last planned testimony to be given during the fact gathering phase of the investigation. At a future date, both the Coast Guard and NTSB will issue separate reports of findings, which will include the respective agency’s official determination of the probable cause of this incident and recommendations to correct safety problems discovered during the investigations. Once the Coast Guard’s investigation has been concluded, the report of findings will be published to the investigation site and shared via news release.

Witness testimony of chief engineer

The US Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have scheduled follow up witness testimony in the evening of Feb 22 in support of the ongoing investigation into the fire that occurred on July 5, 2023 aboard the 'Grande Costa D’Avorio', while docked at the Port of Newark, New Jersey. The scheduled virtual testimony was from Renato Mandapat, who was the chief engineer at that time. The video of the testimony was scheduled to be posted on Feb 23 to the investigation site at https://www.news.uscg.mil/News-by-Region/1st-District-Northeast/PADET-New-York/Grande-Costa-DAvorio-Investigation/. The session will not be streamed live. Additional testimony from other witnesses is still being scheduled. A follow up news release and tweet will be posted to share the dates of additional testimony once scheduled. The latest information can be found on the investigation’s website at https://www.news.uscg.mil/News-by-Region/1st-District-Northeast/PADET-New-York/Grande-Costa-DAvorio-Investigation/.

Testimony: Crew member saw smoke coming from seaport vehicle

A new testimony in the case of a fatal fire aboard the '*Grande Costa d'avorio' in New Jersey shed some light on whether it could have been prevented. A crew member saw smoke coming from a seaport vehicle being used to push inoperative cars onto a cargo ship at least nine hours before it caught fire on board the vessel. In online testimony at a joint Coast Guard-National Transportation Safety Board hearing on Feb 2, Marian Ciumala, third mate of the ship, said he saw a Jeep Wrangler being used to push cars onto the cargo ship begin to emit smoke on July 5, 2023, while docked in Port Newark. His testimony represented potential support to the contention by the families of the dead firefighters that the blaze could have been prevented had the vehicle's use been discontinued. Previous testimony in the case has documented that the Jeep caught fire on an upper deck of the 12-deck ship, starting a blaze that quickly spread and filled numerous decks of the vessel with dark, choking smoke. Ciumala's first duty shift that day was from 8 a.m. to noon. At some point during that shift, he saw the Jeep pushing a vehicle onto the ship before it stopped on Deck 3. “I saw some white smoke going out from the front of the car,” he testified. The driver of the Jeep got out and spoke with another worker who was directing him, and they were soon joined by a third man. They appeared to be discussing the smoke coming out from the driver's side of the hood. Ciumala had to perform a task and left the immediate area. Later — he did not recall how much — he said he saw the Jeep being used to push vehicles again without any problems. An official with the transportation board asked Ciumala if the Jeep might have been emitting steam, as if the engine was overheating, as opposed to smoke. “I saw white smoke,” he replied. “I never approached the car to see if it was steam. I interpreted it as white smoke.” Geno Zonghetti, a lawyer for one of the stevedore companies loading the ship that day, grilled Ciumala about his recollection of the incident. “Even though you said you saw smoke, you never reported this to anyone on the vessel, correct?” he asked. “Yes,” Ciumala replied. “And this, whatever you saw, did not concern you, right?” “Negative,” Ciumala replied. “At that time, I saw the car was isolated. At the time I assumed this is nothing. And after that I saw that car is still working, so I assumed there is no danger.” Ciumala also testified that the Jeep was struggling to push heavier vehicles up a steep ramp inside the ship, although he did not recall if this happened before or after the smoke he reported seeing. “On the ramp, they were forcing the engine. You could hear the engine to the max. The rpms, the engine was using the maximum force.” A port worker previously testified he was the one driving the Jeep when it caught fire, describing how sudden flames caused him to jump out and run for nearby fire extinguishers, two of which he emptied onto the flaming vehicle to little effect before fleeing with some other workers. When the fire broke out around 9 p.m., Ciumala and another ship's officer tried to extinguish it using a shipboard hose connected to an onboard hydrant. The officer turned the valve to start water flowing, and Ciumala attached a nozzle to the other end of the hose. “I was waiting for the water to come,. No water came out when I was there. We didn't have any water in the line because when you open the pipe it takes some time to reach you." At this point, choking black smoke enveloped both men, forcing them to abandon the hose and retreat. “I breathed very heavily after that,” Ciumala said. “You could see nothing.” The agencies plan to issue a report on the fire, but its timing remains unclear.