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Posts Tagged ‘sinking’
90 foot Expedition Yacht Sinks……and now the Salvage !!
Posted in News Events, Updates, Video, tagged Boat crash, Northern Marine, Sink, sinking on May 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »
90 foot Expedition Yacht Sinks at Launch !!
Posted in News Events, Updates, Video, tagged Boat crash, Northern Marine, Sink, sinking on May 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »
USS Guardian : Four fired for marooning minesweeper on ocean reef
Posted in News Events, Photographs, Updates, tagged Philippines, sinking, Sulu, Sulu Sea, Tubbataha, Tubbataha Reefs, USS Guardian on April 4, 2013| 2 Comments »
From the Navy Post. http://www.navytimes.com/article/20130403/NEWS/304030024/Four-fired-marooning-minesweeper-ocean-reef
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Four fired for marooning minesweeper on ocean reef
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Four fired for marooning minesweeper on ocean reef
The Navy fired the former commanding officer of the now-stricken mine countermeasures ship Guardian along with three of his officers after an investigation determined they “did not adhere to standard U.S. Navy navigation procedures,” the Navy said Wednesday.
Lt. Cmdr. Mark Rice, the ship’s CO, was fired Wednesday by Rear Adm. Jeffrey Harley, the commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 7. The reliefs came while Rice and his crew were to take charge of the replacement ship, the minesweeper Warrior, which arrived last week in Sasebo, Japan.
The reliefs included the second-in-command, Lt. Daniel Tyler, who also served as the navigator; the assistant navigator; and the officer standing watch as the officer of the deck at the time of the grounding. Officials declined to release the names of the other reprimanded junior officers, citing privacy laws.
“All four sailors were relieved by Rear Adm. Jeffrey Harley due to their role in the grounding and a loss of confidence,” the Navy’s press release said.
They have been temporarily assigned to ESG-7 pending the completion of the investigation.
The reliefs complicate the picture of the Jan. 17 grounding in the Philippines, which officials have so far blamed on an error on a digital chart that incorrectly plotted the Tubbataha Reef eight nautical miles from its actual location. Guardian ran hard aground and the crew of 79 was removed without injury. But the months-long saga, as Guardian’s fiberglass and wood hull pounded furiously against the coral while experts attempted to extricate it, was covered for weeks in the press and angered locals because the damage occurred in a National Marine Park, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations.
The 7th Fleet commander, Vice Adm. Scott Swift, apologized four days after the incident.
The minesweeper was decommissioned on March 6 in Sasebo, Japan. Navy divers finished sawing through the hull and craning the cut-apart hull off the reef on March 29.
Video Simulation of the Lamma IV – Sea Smooth Collision
Posted in News Events, Photographs, Updates, Video, tagged Boat crash, Boats, collision at sea, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Electric, Hong Kong ferry disaster, Lamma Island, Lamma IV, Sea Smooth, sinking on February 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »
From SCMP.
See video simulation prepared by naval architect Dr Neville Anthony Armstrong, the expert appointed by the Comission of Enquiry into the sinking of the Lamma IV, illustrating the impact and angle of the collision of the two ferries on 1st October 2012.
Follow this link to watch the animation on YouTube.
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Lack of watertight door sank Lamma IV, inquiry told
Posted in News Events, Photographs, Uncategorized, Updates, tagged Boat crash, Boats, collision at sea, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Electric, Hong Kong ferry disaster, Lamma Island, Lamma IV, Sea Smooth, sinking on January 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »
From the SCMP.
Lack of watertight door sank Lamma IV, inquiry told
Naval architect also tells hearing there wasn’t enough time for crew to evacuate passengers
The Lamma IV would still be afloat with two gashes created by the Sea Smooth if there was a watertight door between its compartments, the commission of inquiry into the October 1 ferry collision heard.
Naval architect Dr Anthony Armstrong also came to the conclusion, based on computer projections, that the deck at the stern of the Lamma IV started to go below the water 96 seconds after its collision, and that it took eight seconds for the vessel to tilt from seven degrees to 70 degrees, with the stern hitting the seabed, and settling into the mud. In total it only took around 118 seconds from the collision, for the Lamma IV to rest at 70 degrees.
“[There is] certainly not enough time in which the crew would have been able to organise evacuation from the ship,” the commission-appointed expert witness said.
The bow of Sea Smooth had created two gashes on Lamma IV’s hull during the collision – one in its engine room and the other in the tank room.
Armstrong found that the stern of Lamma IV would almost be submerged, but that the vessel would remain afloat if just those two compartments were flooded.
The second gash was made by the large kinetic energy generated by the high speed of the Sea Smooth, Armstrong said.
But a large opening on the bulkhead between the tank room and its adjacent steering gear compartment led to the flooding of the third compartment, which contributed to the sinking of the vessel, Armstrong’s calculations showed.
According to the original drawings of the ship when it was built, a watertight door was meant to be fitted at the opening. But shipbuilder Cheoy Lee had earlier argued that it was just a mistake made by an outsourced designer.
Further calculations by Armstrong showed that even when the ship was newly built in 1996, Lamma IV would have sunk if the watertight door was not installed, regardless of the installation of a 8.25-tonne ballast at the stern two years later.
The Australian expert also said whether or not Sea Smooth had reversed after the collision would make no difference to the flow of water into the hull of Lamma IV because the bow of the Sea Smooth had been broken and left inside Lamma IV.
Some Lamma IV passengers who testified earlier said they felt the engine restarting and thought the other vessel was backing out.
But Armstrong said if that was the case, it must have happened within 10 seconds as Lamma IV was sinking quickly. He said the engine sound could have come from the flooding of Lamma IV’s engine. He believed the collision bulkhead at the bow of the Sea Smooth stopped it from penetrating further into Lamma IV.
The hearing continues today.
Meanwhile, the seven crew members of the two vessels were expected to have their bail extended for another month when they report to police today, pending a prosecution decision by the Department of Justice, a police officer said.
MPA decommissions Singapore’s first Port Operations Control Centre
Posted in News Events, Updates, tagged Boat crash, Boats, collision at sea, sinking on December 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »
28 December 2012
MPA decommissions Singapore’s first Port Operations Control Centre
Following the commissioning of its new Port Operations Control Centre (POCC) at Changi Naval Base in July 2011 and the re-commissioning of its upgraded POCC at PSA Vista in September 2012, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) today officially decommissioned its POCC at Tanjong Pagar Complex (POCC-TPC).
Today’s decommissioning of POCC-TPC marks the retirement of Singapore’s first POCC after more than 28 years of faithful service in ensuring navigational safety of vessels in the Singapore Strait and Singapore’s port waters.
First commissioned on 1 May 1984, POCC-TPC initially used VHF radios to manage vessel traffic in Singapore until the first radar based Vessel Traffic Information System (VTIS) was installed in 1990. The VTIS allowed POCC officers to see the positions of vessels in real time on a screen and provide navigational assistance to these vessels. In 2000, POCC-TPC was upgraded with a new VTIS that was able to track up to 5,000 vessels.
The decommissioning ceremony was officiated by MPA’s Chief Executive, Mr Lam Yi Young, and was attended by POCC officers who served at POCC-TPC over the years, including those who have since retired from service. Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Lam paid tribute to the pioneers who were instrumental in setting up POCC-TPC and the many POCC officers who faithfully kept watch at POCC-TPC round the clock from 1984 to 2012, ensuring the safety of the thousands of vessels that call at the Port of Singapore each year.
MPA’s new POCC at Changi Naval Base and upgraded POCC at PSA Vista are fully operational and manned round the clock to ensure navigational safety of vessels in the Singapore Strait and Singapore’s port waters. The two centres are fully integrated to serve as mutual back-up to each other. Each centre is independently equipped and has the capability to assume control of all operational areas in times of an emergency affecting the other centre.
Lamma IV captain had 30 seconds to avoid crash, says expert Nigel Pryke
Posted in News Events, Updates, tagged Boat crash, collision at sea, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Electric, Lamma Island, Lamma IV, Sea Smooth, sinking on December 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »
The captain of Lamma IV had half a minute to make a sharp starboard turn to avoid crashing into Sea Smooth, an inquiry commission is told
Saturday, 15 December, 2012, 12:00am
Simpson Cheung simpson.cheung@scmp.com
The Lamma sea tragedy could have been avoided had the skipper of the Lamma IV made a bold turn to starboard (right) and reduced speed 30 seconds before the collision, a commission of inquiry was told yesterday.
A survivor on the sunken Lamma IV said he felt another strong vibration moments after the collision, and believed Sea Smooth had restarted its engine and dragged Lamma IV before the ship began to sink.
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Giving evidence on his investigation into the disaster that killed 39 people on October 1, British maritime expert Captain Nigel Pryke said Chow Chi-wai, 56, the captain of Hongkong Electric ferry Lamma IV, first saw the Hong Kong & Kowloon Ferry’s Sea Smooth approaching half a minute before the collision, at 20:19:47.
He said if the skipper had made a bold turn to starboard and reduced speed, or if the captain of the Sea Smooth had turned right, the tragedy would have been avoided.
“Unfortunately, that is only 30 seconds from collision. So there’s not much time,” Pryke said.
He said Chow should have made at least a 22.5-degree turn to starboard at that point, but turned only 13 degrees, while Sea Smooth made a 16-degree turn to the port side (the captain’s left) – the wrong direction.
“If Sea Smooth had carried on doing exactly what she was doing, and Lamma IV had done as I suggest, the collision would have been avoided,” he said. “But clearly it was far easier for Sea Smooth to avoid the collision than it was for Lamma IV.”
Although Lamma IV was constrained by rocks, Chow could still have made a turn at full speed one minute before it might have been compromised by depth.
“Even at that very last moment, [Sea Smooth] could have altered course to starboard and avoided the collision. It’s a tragedy. I don’t understand why it didn’t happen,” he said.
Survivors Chan Kin-yan and Wong Tai-wah – passengers on the Lamma IV – told the commission that they felt the vessel accelerate 30 seconds before the collision. Wong said he could not feel the boat turning before the crash.
But Pryke said radar data showed Lamma IV and Sea Smooth were making slight turns 30 seconds before collision.
“I don’t want to be too harsh on [Chow] … I feel he did nothing significantly different than any of his colleagues would have done,” he said. “I do feel some sympathy for [him], because I believe he is probably a very genuine coxswain and he was not helped by the safety management system that surrounded him.”
Pryke said he had only received an account of the accident from Chow and not from Sea Smooth captain Lai Sai-ming. “I am sure everybody knows why,” he said, without elaborating.
Only one sailor from the four-person crew of Sea Smooth is understood to have testified to police. When asked outside the hearing why Lai did not, his lawyers refused to comment. “You will know later,” one said.
The commission scheduled for next month the cross-examination of Pryke by Charles Sussex SC, for the owner and crew of Sea Smooth, pending expert reports.
Survivor Wong, a driver whose wife was among the 39 dead, told the commission he had heard a second sound 30 seconds after the crash and felt Lamma IV was being dragged by some external force. He believed that Sea Smooth’s engine had started again.
“The second bang was so strong that all the seats were dislodged and also the people as well,” he said, adding that the Lamma IV then began to tilt and quickly sank.
Sea Smooth continued to sail to the Yung Shue Wan pier in Lamma as water began to flood in, the commission heard. The hearing continues on Monday.
Reproduced from South China Morning Post. Original here
Ferry disaster inquiry to focus on ‘lapses’ by both skippers
Posted in Exterior, News Events, Photographs, Updates, tagged collision at sea, disaster, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Electric, Lamma Island, Lamma IV, Sea Smooth, sinking on October 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »
This article coutesy of the Hong Kong SCMP.
Collision claims its 39th fatality as initial investigation finds that the two captains failed to post a lookout as catastrophe loomed.
Rescuers check the Lamma IV.
The death toll in the National Day ferry disaster last night rose to 39 when one of its youngest victims died of her injuries, four days after the two passenger vessels collided off Lamma Island.
After the government raised the death toll by one, a source at Pamela Youde Nethersole Hospital said nine-year-old Tsui Hoi-ying had died of multiple organ failure at 8.53pm. She is the eighth child to have died in the disaster, in which her father, Tsui Chi-wai, 42, also died. Her mother is still being treated in hospital.
The announcement of her death came shortly before rescuers announced, at 10.40pm, that they had called off their search for any more victims or survivors.
The government said police investigations had accounted for all people on board the Lamma IV launch and the Sea Smooth ferry at the time of Monday’s collision, and that they would now be speaking to witnesses.
A government source with knowledge of the investigation into the accident suggested that lapses by both skippers contributed to the collision.
Both captains had apparently failed to keep a proper lookout and took insufficient action to avoid a collision that led to the city’s deadliest maritime disaster in four decades, according to the source, who added that each captain should have been able to see the other’s vessel approaching.
“They should have seen each other because they were running on a reciprocal [head-on] course,” the source said. “From the extent of the damage, [it seems] the two boats were travelling at speed. Both parties apparently failed to take sufficient action to avoid the collision.”
More than 100 police officers are now focusing on criminal liability. The Marine Department will concentrate mainly on the cause of the collision.
Investigations thus far have shown that the two vessels were travelling at their normal operating speeds – 13 to 14 knots for the Lamma IV and more than 20 knots for the Sea Smooth – at the time of impact. The source said this suggested the captains had “failed to slow down or did not have time to reduce the speed of their vessels”.
Police have taken initial statements from 80 survivors who were taken to hospitals. They aim to approach as many passengers as possible, except children, to take detailed statements. Accounts of the collision will also be sought from some of the 1,000 disciplined services officers who took part in the rescue.
Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry, operator of the Sea Smooth, and Hongkong Electric both said they would not comment on anything related to the investigation at this stage.
The 24-metre Lamma IV, carrying 124 passengers and three crew, had a nine-square-metre hole ripped in the left rear of its hull and the damage extended into its engine room.
A maritime specialist who declined to be named said the Lamma IV was unlikely to be repaired and would probably be broken up once the investigation and any criminal proceedings had been completed.
The day after the collision, police arrested seven crew members, including the two skippers, on suspicion of endangering the safety of others at sea. All seven were granted bail.
Hong Kong Boat Crash: Could it happen in Singapore ?
Posted in Exterior, News Events, Photographs, Updates, tagged Boat crash, Boating, Boats, Fireworks, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Electric, Lamma Island, Lamma IV, MPA, Police Coast Guard, rocks, Sea Smooth, Singapore, sinking, tragedy, Victoria Harbour on October 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Not the beach view anyone wants
These are just my own personal ramblings about an incident that has caused a sickening loss of life. My heart goes out to the families and friends of those who perished, as well as the survivors who will doubtless relive those terrifying events in their minds eye for many years to come.
From every marine accident there is an investigation and from every investigation there are conclusions. Such investigations are not tasked with prosecuting the guilty, they are simply to find the facts of what happened and why it happened, so that where required, systems or procedures or equipment can be changed or modified to try to ensure the same thing will not happen again.
The relevant police authorities will make their own enquiries to deal with the facts of suspected liability and guilt. Thereafter the relevant legal jurisdiction will act accordingly on the matter.
But more than that, after an incident like this with such a tragic loss of life, surely in many maritime regions and territories, the relevant persons are asking: Could this happen here ?
That is a question to which I believe there is no “Yes or No” answer, but there are a lot of things to consider.
There is a simple and chilling fact; any accident at sea or elsewhere is analogous to a chemical reaction, if you allow the dangerous mix of ingredients into the same place at the same time then there may well be a violent reaction.
If you can keep them separate, then hopefully nothing happens. In many accidents at sea the ‘ingredients’ are speed, complacency, poor lookout, visibility and navigation, systems failure, and the unexpected.
As to the question; Could it happen in Singapore ? well it could, but in my opinion, it’s very unlikley, and here’s why.
Firstly the relevant Goverment Agency, the Maritime & Port Authority, MPA, has been very active for many years in “managing” the operation of ferry traffic in Singapore. One of the major features of this is that all ferries are required to follow demarcated routes into and out of, and through Singapore waters, and the routes are well defined and well known by near all users. In addition these ferries are required to adhere to set day & night speed limits for the routes in the direct approaches. Consequently if you are at sea in those corridoors at night, then you expect to meet ferry traffic, and at 12 knots you have a bit of time to spot them, and navigate out of their way.
Just One of the Designated Ferry Routes
It’s worthwhile to note that these routes and speed regulations have been in place for around ten years. Also be assured that they have added time and distance onto each and every journey. I can remember some journeys being around 15 minutes quicker. It was also strange to watch as a ferry gets further away from the destination to follow the route.
Secondly the Police Coastguard has a large presence on the water with a large number or active patrol craft throughout Singapore waters. Whilst they have a multitude of roles, they would seem to keep some form of watch of ferry and private and passenger traffic. This is part deterant, and part Big Brother to make sure that maritime rules and laws are followed.
At a location near you ?
Thirdly, major events such as fireworks, or yacht races or waterborne events, etc. likely dont draw the same volume of on-water spectators in Singapore as perhaps as in cities like Hong Kong, Auckland or wherever. Also Fireworks in Singapore are within sheltered or enclosed waterways, and can be easily, and best viewed from onshore. Just look at any National Day, F1, or New Years event video to see what I mean. Obviously Fireworks are at night, which immediately brings navigational and lookout issues.
Victoria Harbour Fireworks
Fourthly and importantly, the MPA many years ago implemented a scheme of ensuring each and every craft on the water has some form of AIS or HARTS, (Harbour Craft Transponder System) on board. This in effect enables the MPA Port Operations to monitor the location and speed and heading of every craft on the water, if in fact they have the time, the interest and manpower to do that. (Note they’ve just upgraded their system to handle 10,000 vessel tracks at any one time ! Click on photo to follow link to read the release.)
WOW just upgraded, they can handle 10,000 vessel tracks at any given time ! Click to follow link !
In addition there is any number of MPA Pilot boats, and MPA launches out and on the water. There is also the system of Cruising permit application process for Non Singapore registered pleasure craft vessels, which requires approval for their route and schedule for any given cruise.
Perhaps lastly there is the issue of geography and layout. Singapore has a defined and ‘regular’ coastline, and a small number of islands with ferry access, with defined routes of access to and from. Reclamation has played a big role and Islands have been dredged, linked, joined, connected and amalgamated for the use by Indutstry, Military and Leisure/Property Development. In some cases bridges and roads have been built for access, negating the use of ferries.
Other than that, and significantly, the regional ferry traffic has to be very much less than in Hong Kong.
A lot of sea room there. Easier to miss than have a collision
Indicative only. Believe accident site was close to NW tip of Lamma Island.
The investigation is underway in Hong Kong, and the families of the perished will be waiting for those conclusions, to answer the question of “How could this happen”, but the likelyhood is that is that this will all come down to those ingredients mentioned above.
If there is however one immediate lesson to be learned from this whole affair so far, it is the conclusion from the photos below.
It’s a bit unfair to make this comparision as I dont know the standards that each vessel was built to, but the immediate reaction is that one sank, and one made it to the dock, presumed to be under it’s own power.
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The conclusion ? Travel by Catamaran !
Two Hulls = Two Chances !
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Image Source : BBC, SCMP, ST, online news outlets, etc.
Costa Concordia : Highway to Hell ?
Posted in News Events, Video, tagged AIS, Concordia, Costa, Giglio, Grounding, rocks, sinking, Track on January 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Once is Lucky..
Twice is Foolish..
Third time is DEADLY…
Video reconstruction of the AIS Track from the14th August 2011 Sail Past of Giglio Island with two Near Miss of less than one ships length.
Also see the route of the January13th sinking at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5tTMJUKjTM
YouTube Video of the Costa Concordia Sail Past taken from onshore Giglio Island http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKJszx8NgMY
All reconstruction done by www.QPS.nl
Visit their web site for full details.
Maritimo 48 