The VDR does have battery backup to record the bare minimum of data. When power was lost the full complement of VDR data stopped and the battery backup continued recording the specified data. Once power came back the VDR started recording again. Dropping the port anchor wouldn’t stop a vessel that size and weight going 7+Kts. but it should have POTENTIALLY changed the course of the vessel to port, even dragging hard. I can’t imagine dropping the port anchor and keeping the rudder hard to starboard…as soon as you get propulsion back from either backup systems or your mains you’ll be pushing a lot of water over that hard to starboard oriented rudder which is counterintuitive to knowing that you need to swing to port. It’s never a single thing that causes catastrophic accidents but rather it’s a combination of bad decisions that create the error chain, break a single link in that error chain and things might be drastically different. Coincidentally I’m currently reading a book about Marine Casualties written by a friend of mine who is an unlimited international Master with 300,000 miles at sea. This accident will be interesting once all is known but there’s too much unknown right now to make the final call.
�Politicians are the lowest form of life on earth. Liberal Democrats are the lowest form of politician.� �General George S. Patton, Jr.
