I didn’t know that about taco nite. That would certainly explain why there was no alarm. They may not have known they were taking on water, because the taco nite was absorbing it all.
They had both pumps running. The knew they were taking on water ...plus the wet cargo could have doing shifting causing stress not calculated for in the ships building plans. The original opinion was that the hatch cover clamps had not been “dogged” down tight enough and water over the deck had seeped into the holds. That theory was vehemently opposed by families of crewman, and insurance companies...the theory is not considered true, but no one really knows.
FYI
Lightfoot had changed a lyric in the song...
from..”.a main hatchway caved in” to something else about it growing dark...Lightfoot sung the song with newer lyrics in his later concerts...