In January, a tragic incident off the coast of Somalia claimed the lives of two Navy SEALs during a ship-boarding mission.

Special Warfare Operators Christopher Chambers, 37, and Nathan Gage Ingram, 27, both members of SEAL Team Three—as reported by Military.com on Thursday, October 11—drowned during an operation to intercept Iranian-made weapons en route to Yemen. The mission, intended to prevent these arms from reaching hostile forces, ended in heartbreak when the two SEALs went into the water and never resurfaced.

Now, the Navy investigation into their deaths has revealed some troubling details, not just about what happened that night but about larger issues within the SEAL community.

Here’s what we know on the matter.

What Happened: The Incident Off Somalia

The mission seemed routine, by SEAL standards at least—boarding a vessel suspected of smuggling weapons. But things took a turn when Chambers and Ingram, burdened by heavy gear, went into the water.

The investigation found that both men were so overloaded with equipment that they sank after hitting the water, unable to activate their flotation gear or shed their packs in time.

Sadly, this wasn’t an isolated misjudgment. The Navy report emphasized that the SEALs either didn’t realize how heavily they were loaded or they knew and chose to rely on their training and survival instincts rather than take precautions with their flotation devices.

What’s particularly striking is that this incident was avoidable. The investigation pointed out that a lack of attention to safety protocols, especially concerning flotation gear, contributed to their deaths.