[3] On 5 December 1996, an explosion on board during battery charging resulted in the death of a crew member, 18-year-old Derek Zavitz.

On 17 February 2010, SV Concordia encountered what the vessel's captain called a microburst[4] some 550 kilometres (300 nmi) southeast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in rough seas and high winds.

In September 2011, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada report found, "The wind speeds experienced by the vessel at the time of the knockdown were most likely in the range of 25 to 50 knots (46 to 93 km/h; 29 to 58 mph).

As a result, "appropriate action" – including reducing sail, changing course or sealing water-ingress points – was not taken before the squall hit.All aboard successfully abandoned ship.

As the capsizing was so fast, no radio distress call was made but an EPIRB was hydrostatically released and automatically activated[10] when the vessel sank.

[3] After attempting to contact Concordia a Brazilian Air Force aircraft was dispatched at 1700 hrs local time Thursday and sighted the liferafts 3 hours later.

Flares were fired from the rafts, and the aircraft blinked its landing lights in response and directed nearby merchant ships to the scene.