While trying to make up time due to the earlier delay, "Oceanos" encountered rough seas. Earlier repairs to the waste disposal system had not been completed, which meant that a vital ventilation pipe which ran through the watertight aft bulkhead and the non-return valves was not replaced. It is believed that after a series of freak waves slammed against the ship, the pipe's shell plating burst open and began filling the compartment with seawater. At about 9:30p.m., a muffled explosion was heard and "Oceanos" lost power. The ship started taking on water, rapidly flooding the engine room. By the next morning rescuers found "Oceanos" adrift just off Coffee Bay, listing badly to its starboard side.