Despite the clear cause of the disaster and its last known position being off Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, an inaccurate and incomplete version of the ship's disappearance is often used to justify Bermuda Triangle conspiracies.

The Coast Guard also noted that the T2 tanker class had a characteristic that it has a "weak back", meaning the keel would split at a point weakened by corrosion, usually around midships.

It was recorded that Marine Sulphur Queen was scheduled for a drydock inspection in January 1963, but it was postponed by the owners, who had complained that cargo deliveries were behind and they needed their ships to catch up.

"First, the acceptability of any conversion must be considered on its individual merits, having regard for the existing condition of the vessel and the proposed cargo, route, and service.

It awarded damages to the crew relatives, but denied them punitive damages; the reason for it, as stated in the Coast Guard report, was that no one knew how the ship was lost, and in the absence of the remains of the vessel, they could go no further: "The wrongful death claimants therefore sustained their burden of proving unseaworthiness and there remained only the issue of whether or not one or more of the conditions of unseaworthiness or some other agency caused the disaster.

"[7] Nearly 20 years prior to the loss of the Marine Sulphur Queen, the United States General Accounting Office published a report titled TO INQUIRE INTO THE DESIGN METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION OF WELDED STEEL MERCHANT VESSELS, 15 July 1946, which was essentially a report of concern over civilian merchant ships, specifically T2 tankers, fracturing amidships at the keel.

Even during World War II, the federal government was concerned over the large number of merchant ship casualties not resulting from combat, and investigation centered on possible shoddy construction.

A sister ship, SS Sylvia L. Ossa, went down in heavy seas east of Bermuda on 15 October 1976; all that was recovered was debris and a lifeboat in which the quick-release mechanism was still intact.

Despite the ship being lost nowhere near the Bermuda Triangle, writers of the subject have placed it in every work due to its loss with no trace other than bits of debris, sometimes agreeing with the Coast Guard report, other times coming up with their own theories.

Its destination was Norfolk, Virginia, but it actually sailed into the unknown..."[8]Gaddis himself gave no theory as to the sinking, and ignored the many physical and personnel discrepancies cited by the Coast Guard.