the inadequate security patrol and the lack of a sprinkler head in room 610. The construction of the ship, which contained excessive flammable material, allowed the fire to quickly spread out of control. The high death toll was attributed to the fact that the general alarm and PA system were not immediately used to alert passengers and crew. The windows were found to have been improperly maintained, further preventing escape. The report blames the captain and officers on the scene for not taking "firm and positive" action to organize firefighting and evacuation of passengers. It describes the captain's abandonment of the ship as "negligent" and an "overall failure to approach and cope with the difficulties." The board noted that while the ship's firefighting procedures were adequate, they were not properly implemented by the crew. The report determined that Yarmouth Castle sank because the doors between the watertight compartments had not been sealed, allowing water to flow freely from the firefighting and sprinkler systems. This caused Yarmouth Castle to list and allowed more water to enter through open bulkheads. Yarmouth Castle had passed a safety check and fire drill three weeks before the sinking. Although it did not need to conform to American safety regulations since it was registered under the Panamanian flag, it had to conform to the Safety of Life at Sea or SOLAS, and was regularly inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard. The Yarmouth Castle disaster prompted updates to the Safety of Life at Sea law, or SOLAS. The updated law brought new maritime safety rules, requiring fire drills, safety inspections, and structural changes to new ships. Under SOLAS, any vessel carrying more than 50 overnight passengers is required to be built entirely of non-combustible materials such as steel. Yarmouth Castle's largely wooden superstructure was found to be the main cause of the fire's rapid spread. Legacy Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot wrote a song based on the tragedy. Called "Ballad of Yarmouth Castle," it was released on his fifth United Artists album, Sunday Concert, in 1969. That album, along with Lightfoot's other UA releases, was re-released in a three-CD compilation, The Original Lightfoot: The United Artists Years, in 1992. The ballad was not Lightfoot's only shipwreck-themed song; in 1976, he released his album Summertime Dream, which included the song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," based on the sinking of the American-flagged Great Lakes freighter Edmund Fitzgerald in