Chedabucto Bay is surrounded by 375 km of rocky, rugged coastline, and contains many dangerous shoals. Its depth from the surface of the sea to its rocky bottom plummets and rises unpredictably. Because of this rough character, along with prolonged periods of strong winds, high seas, and dense fog, about forty-three vessels from wood schooners and brigs to steam powered, fish trawlers, have been documented as crashing or sinking around the Bay since 1807.

Cerberus Rock itself is a large underwater hazard located on the Northside of Chedabucto Bay. Its position is clearly indicated on navigational charts of the area and a clear warning of this hazard may be found in any Canadian, American, or British publications.

As Capt. George Anastassopoulos joined the "Arrow" at Charlottetown, P.E.I. on December 11, 1969, they carried a complete set of British and American charts and navigation publications. No such Canadian charts and publications were carried on board and the Captain said before the Royal Commission 1971, that he was satisfied with those on board. There was one Canadian publication dealing with the lights in inland waters and the Great Lakes, but none dealing with the Atlantic Coast. When Capt. Anastassopoulos assumed command, the "Arrow" was equipped with magnetic compasses, a Sperry-Gyro compass with repeaters, a mechanical sounding device, a hand lead, a Raytheon radar, a radio direction finder, and an echo sounder that did not work. At no time during Capt. Anastassopoulos' term did the echo sounder work.

The Captain did not have available to him many aids to navigation and if he had the electronic assistance, he may have been warned of this predicament before it was too late. The radar set had been sectoring and it was hazardous to use as spurious blips were appearing, causing uncertainty. The "Arrow" was also not equipped with either Loran or Decca, two of the most modern aids to navigation available in 1970.

During the voyage from Aruba to Salem, Massachusetts, the motor of the gyrocompass failed and the ship had to be steered by magnetic compasses. Also, the "Arrow" being twenty-two years old, had her deck plate repaired by damage suffered on this voyage. From December 27-31, she encountered rough seas, bending the hatch coaming of the No. 7 port cargo tank, which leaked cargo oil on the deck and contaminated the oil in the No. 7 tank. The pipes of the heating coils on the deck were also broken. When she arrived in Salem, oil was found to be escaping from a rivet on the starboard side near the No. 6 tank. On January 2 and on the 9th, the gyrocompass was again not working properly.

The emergency diesel generator was not working and had not been in order since the Master took command. Had it been working, the later attempts to raise steam for the recovery of oil would have been greatly assisted. Remarkably, the program of inspection by the American Bureau of Shipping and Esso International only began in 1968 and for some reason, did not apply to the "Arrow".

On the morning of February 4, 1970, the weather in Chedabucto Bay was overcast with patches of mist. The wind was Southerly force 7-8 on the Beaufort Scale and waves of 4-6 feet were being experienced with the tops of the waves being blown-off in streaks along the direction of the wind. The visibility around the time of the grounding at 9:35am was between 5 and 6 miles.

Once in the Bay, the Captain attempted to fix his position by a few radar bearings but the radar set was not working properly. The Captain said that the radar was still sectoring and producing spurious blips on which he could not rely and this was the same trouble he had repaired at Oranjestead, two weeks before. Instead of attempting visual fixes, he relied upon his Second Mate, the lookout and himself to sight Cerberus Rock. The Captain was so confident in the course of his ship and that all efforts were made to sight the buoy, that very little reduction in the speed of the ship was made. Unfortunately, instead of making a good course of 291° True, the "Arrow" made a good course of 297 ° True and landed squarely on top of Cerberus Rock.