Four more were killed about two weeks later while the emptied tanks were being inerted with carbon dioxide in a misguided attempt to make the damaged vessel safe for transport.
[5] On June 16 at about 14:30 local time, Alva Cape was moving westward through Kill Van Kull with a cargo of 4,200,000 US gallons (16,000,000 L) of naphtha, inbound from India.
[3] At the time of the collision, Texaco Massachusetts was being aided by the tugboat Latin American, while Alva Cape had the tug Esso Vermont alongside.
[3] Immediately after the collision, Texaco Massachusetts began to back away, allowing naphtha to spill from Alva Cape and ignite, likely from the engine of Esso Vermont.
[3] A crew member from Texaco Massachusetts later testified that the master of his ship, Captain Richard Pinder, had ordered fire hoses deployed to spray foam, but only one had worked.
[10] Following the fire, Texaco Massachusetts sailed for Todd Shipyards in Brooklyn, while Alva Cape was grounded off of Bergen Point, New Jersey where preparations to unload the rest of her cargo were begun.
Custom House, and was led by Rear Admiral William Ellis, with Captain Wilbur Doe and Commander Forrest Stewart, all of the Guard's Eastern Area, filling the other spots on the board of inquiry.
[6] Domestic Tankers filed a $300,000 suit against Humble Oil, owner of Esso Vermont and Alva Cape's cargo.
[6] Humble Oil filed a competing $750,000 suit against Domestic, alleging that Texaco Massachusetts and Latin American were at fault as a result of failures of navigation.
[10] A series of explosions at 15:49 triggered the fire, which was controlled in about an hour, though fireboats remained on the scene to spray foam into the ship until late in the evening.
[20] New York City Fire Department Chief John O'Hagan said that the explosions had been triggered by heat and the mixing of naphtha with oxygen.
[10] During the investigation into the fire, Captain Frederick Zickl, who had been working on the unloading of the ship, said that the Fire Department had needlessly interfered in the process and criticized the decision to pump carbon dioxide into the ship; it was considered a possibility that the addition of carbon dioxide caused explosive gases to rise in the hold until they contacted hot steel plating.
[20][21] O'Hagan said that the fire department had only specified that an inert gas be used, and said that the salvage operation had been proceeding too slowly and had allowed naphtha to spill into the water.
[22] The investigation into the fire was led by Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Robert Burke, who issued his report on March 8, 1967 and found that the unloading operation had not had the supervision required to safely carry it out.
[26] The ships arrived at the site on the morning of July 3 after a 24-hour voyage, whereupon the tugs released their lines and Spencer opened fire on Alva Cape with antiaircraft shells at 09:36.