The locked doors, which would prove fatal for most of the crew when the vessel capsized and flooding prevented escape, were there because of a real security concern. This is one of those details in the Jascon-4 story that resists easy interpretation: a safety practice adopted against one kind of threat became a lethal obstacle when a different threat arrived.
Okene was not in his locked cabin when the vessel capsized. He had gotten up to use the bathroom. It was, as he has described it, around 5 in the morning.
## The Capsizing: What Happened and What Remains Uncertain
The precise cause of the Jascon-4’s capsizing has not been established in the publicly available record with the kind of certainty that a completed maritime investigation would provide. West African Ventures launched an investigation immediately after the sinking, and initial reports described “heavy ocean swells” as the contributing factor while the vessel was performing towing operations.
The Atlantic off Nigeria in late May is within the Atlantic hurricane season’s broader meteorological system, and ocean conditions in the Gulf of Guinea can shift rapidly. Heavy swells are a genuine and documented hazard for vessels of the Jascon-4’s class — anchor-handling tugs that are built for work rather than for seakeeping, and that operate in conditions where the platform or mooring they are attending constrains their ability to maneuver away from deteriorating sea states.
Some reporting described a “rogue wave” breaking the tow line and flipping the vessel; others cited heavy swells more generally. The distinction between a rogue wave — a wave significantly larger than the surrounding sea state, a well-documented maritime phenomenon — and a sudden worsening of swells is meaningful for understanding what happened but may not affect the basic outcome. The Jascon-4 capsized rapidly.