The "Olympic" had allegedly been damaged beyond economic repair. Gardiner suggests that the plan was to dispose of the "Olympic" in a way that would allow White Star to collect the full insured value of a brand new ship. He supposes that the seacocks were to be opened at sea to slowly flood the ship. If numerous ships were stationed nearby to take off the passengers, the shortage of lifeboats would not matter as the ship would sink slowly and the boats could make several trips to the rescuers.