SS Summit Venture

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The M/V Summit Venture is a ship which 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. [1] He died in 1989, always regretting the fact that he was the sole survivor among those that fell. [2]

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 prevent collisions.

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.

The M/V Summit Venture was built in 1976, in Nagasaki, Japan. She is a bulk freight carrier of 579.8 feet, beam of 85.5 feet, and displacement of 19,734 tons. She would cruise (loaded) at 13.5 mph at 100% power and 10.9 mph at 50% power. At the time of the accident she was registered in Liberia.