MV Summit Venture

The M/V "Summit Venture" is a bulk carrier built in 1976, in Nagasaki, Japan. She is 579.8 feet long, beam of 85.5 feet, and displacement of 19,734 tons. She would cruise (loaded) at 13.5 knots at 100% power and 10.9 knots at 50% power.

1980 incident

"Summit Venture" was involved in a fatal collision with a bridge in Tampa Bay, Florida on May 9, 1980. While negotiating a required turn in the narrow channel during a storm, the radar failed, and the freighter struck one of the piers on the southbound span of the original Sunshine Skyway Bridge. 1,400 feet of the steel cantilever highway bridge collapsed, causing a Greyhound Lines bus, among other vehicles, to plunge 150 feet into the bay. A total of 35 people died.

The pilot of the "Summit Venture" on that day was John E. Lerro. 22 years after the accident, Lerro died from complications of multiple sclerosis, which he started showing symptoms of shortly after the 1980 accident.

Wesley MacIntire was the only person to survive the fall. His vehicle hit the "Summit Venture's" deck before falling into Tampa Bay, allowing him to escape. He sued the company that owned the ship, and settled for $175,000 in 1984. [cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9902E0DE1138F935A35756C0A962948260|title=Suit In Bridge Fall Settlement|date=May6, 1984|accessdate=2007-10-31|publisher=New York Times] He died in 1989, always regretting the fact that he was the sole survivor among those that fell. [cite web|url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/050700/TampaBay/Horrific_accident_cre.shtml|title=The Day the Skyway Fell|date=May 7, 2000|publisher=St. Petersburg Times|accessdate=2007-10-31]

A new bridge was completed in 1987 to replace the old. Several safeguards were included in the design to prevent a repeat occurrence of the "Summit Venture" incident, such as the installation of massive concrete bumpers or "dolphins" around the main span's piers to mitigate collisions.

Return to service

The "Summit Venture", after having her hull repaired, continued service under Liberian flag for another 13 years. Her last return to Tampa Bay was in 1990 for a Coast Guard inspection. The ship was sold to Greek interests in 1993, and rechristened "Sailor 1," predominantly plying the waters off the west coast of the U.S. In 2004, the ship again traded hands and was sold to a Singapore firm. It was renamed the KS "Harmony", and provides service currently in the Caribbean.

References

External links

* [http://www.islander.org/5-11-05/skyway.mp3 Audio recording of mayday call from MV "Summit Venture"]
* [http://www.geocities.com/pagesbydave/SunSkyDemoHis.html Construction worker recounts the demolition of the bridge]