Mobile's duck boats don't just operate in different waters than the one that capsized Thursday in Branson, Mo., says a company founder: They operate in a different world.
"The biggest difference between us and Branson is that we have far stricter Coast Guard requirements," said Scott Tindle, co-founder of Gulf Coast Ducks. It operates on a river that serves a coastal shipping port, a whole different regulatory situation than an inland lake. The company got approval to operate in Mobile in 2016, and since then its amphibious vehicles have become a familiar sight downtown.
A different company experienced tragedy Thursday evening when one of its amphibious tour vehicles sank in Table Rock Lake near Branson. There reportedly were 31 people on board, including two crew members. Seventeen deaths had been confirmed by Friday morning.
The sinking apparently happened as a thunderstorm created tropical-storm level fury on the lake, including winds that may have exceeded 60 mph. Eyewitness video shows one duck boat bashing into heavy waves and wind. Another cell-phone video shows the doomed boat sitting low in the water, its hood awash, apparently just before the sinking.
Tindle said disaster sends shock waves through the entire amphibious tour industry. "We all know each other, it's a very small community," he said.
He said the operators of Gulf Coast Ducks have always put safety first and have carefully analyzed mishaps at other companies. He didn't speculate on the situation in Missouri, but said that "usually when something like this happens, it's because two or three or four things you thought could never happen, all happen."
Being diligent up front in maintenance, safety procedures and training is the key to keeping critical problems from snowballing, he said.
Tindle said the Coast Guard prohibits Gulf Coast Ducks from going out in 35-mph winds, but the company's threshold is even lower. "It's not a good guest experience" to go out in any kind of rough weather, he said, so the company avoids it.
Tindle said that all of Gulf Coast Ducks' drivers have captain's licenses showing they're fully certified to handle vessels of at least 25 tons, and some have unlimited-class licenses. They're veteran captains who've handled much bigger challenges, he said.
That's one reason the company was able to pitch in after Hurricane Harvey flooded the Houston area last summer. Working with Fresenius Kidney Care, Gulf Coast Ducks loaded up three Duck Boats and trucked them to Houston, then put them into service hauling stranded dialysis patients to treatment.
Furthermore, Tindle said, even the tour guides who narrate Gulf Coast Ducks tours are Coast Guard-certified deckhands.
Procedures include a safety check every time a boat prepares to enter the water, he said.
Gulf Coast Ducks operates out of the Fort of Colonial Mobile. For more information, visit gulfcoastducks.com.