Cruise ship stranded in 2019 could have been "one of the worst disasters at sea," officials say

Table Of Content

• Costa Concordia disaster
• Cruise ship stranded in 2019 could have been "one of the worst disasters at sea," officials say
• How many ships hit bridges, lose power every year? Data shows jarring numbers on the rise.
• Wrecking Near the Shore
• SS Admiral Nakhimov
• More than 60 people drown after a migrant vessel capsizes off Libya, U.N. says

These rules also apply, to a certain extent, to foreign-flagged ships in U.S. waters, even though those ships might operate under what some experts described as subpar conditions. Even if the engine had been working, Calnan said, it would have taken 0.8 nautical miles to bring that particular vessel under those particular conditions to a full stop – farther than the distance to the bridge it was about to hit. Sometimes a simple miscalculation can cause a crew to lose command of a ship – or cause an otherwise seaworthy ship to hit a bridge. Statistically, the experts said, such failures are more likely to happen in ports and harbors, as well as in close proximity to bridges, because that’s when the ships are under the most stress. But most, including cases remarkably similar to what happened last month in Baltimore, have never been made public, buried deep in a federal database.

Costa Concordia disaster

This vessel was traveling 400 miles outside of New Zealand in 2008 when it was hit by 50 mph winds and 25-foot waves. Although the 671 crew members and 1,732 passengers were tossed around and frightened, there was no loss of lives. In January 2012, the Italian captain was in charge of the Costa Concordia (above), a ship carrying over 4,000 people. As the vessel passed the Tuscan island of Giglio, Schettino decided to get a closer look. Instead of peglegs and parrots, they're notorious for packing AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).

Cruise ship stranded in 2019 could have been "one of the worst disasters at sea," officials say

Thomas Andrews had designed the ship to withstand head-on collisions and rammings from other ships. However, the North Atlantic Ocean iceberg that took down the vessel scraped through five of its 16 watertight compartments. The boat would have reportedly remained afloat if it had only gone through four. Like other systems at the time, the Titanic’s lifeboats were designed to shepherd passengers to nearby rescue ships, not take them to shore. Unfortunately, help was many hours away in the wee hours of April 15 when the boat was going under. The poor crew organization also caused many lifeboats to leave the ship at far less than full capacity.

Cruise ship stranded in 2019 narrowly avoided disaster, report says - Sand Hills Express

Cruise ship stranded in 2019 narrowly avoided disaster, report says.

Posted: Wed, 20 Mar 2024 13:51:35 GMT [source]

How many ships hit bridges, lose power every year? Data shows jarring numbers on the rise.

This meant that engineers "were not practised in managing" the situation. SS Admiral Nakhimov had an overall length of 174m, beam of 21.02m and gross tonnage of 17,053t. It had a capacity to accommodate 1,125 passengers and 354 crew, and a cruise speed of 16k. The passenger liner was originally named SS Berlin III and operated on the Crimean-Caucasian line. Saint-Philibert cruise ship measured 32m in length and 6.4m in breadth, and had a draft of 2.74m and gross tonnage of 189t.

There were around 45 crew members on the ship, as well as five tour guides who were brought onboard to help educate guests on the region. Only 12 people survived the incident, including the ship’s captain and chief engineer. In 2015, Dongfang zhi Xing was traveling on the Yangtze River in China when a thunderstorm struck, and the boat capsized. Ships in the area were warned that bad storms were coming and told to take precautions, but it is unclear if the Dongfang zhi Xing ever received the warnings and continued to sail.

SS Admiral Nakhimov

In July 2014 the Concordia—outfitted with a number of steel containers serving as flotation devices—was towed to Genoa, Italy, where it was dismantled for scrap. With Giglio Island lying in a protected marine area, environmental issues relating to the Concordia wreck were of particular concern. The vessel was on the edge of an underwater cliff, leading to worries that the ship might slip and break apart, causing an oil spill. To lessen any potential damage, oil booms were placed around the wreckage, and in February 2012 salvage workers began removing more than 2,000 tons of fuel; the undertaking was completed the following month.

Japan’s Imoto and Marindows developing zero-emission ship

At around 2 a.m., when most passengers were asleep, the crew heard a loud bang, and the plates on the buffet table crashed to the ground. A Taiwanese trawler, Terfu 51, had accidentally rammed the ship, leaving a six-foot gash in the side. As the trawler pulled away, there was a deafening sound of metal scraping against metal. The PA system wasn’t working properly on the boat, but the safety officer ran downstairs to survey the damage. Reports vary about how many passengers were impacted — most tallies number 30 dead and 70 injured. Several passengers also complained that a mix of Greek-, English- and Mandarin-speaking crew members led to few people understanding what anyone was saying.

Cruise Ship's Grounding Highlights Risk of More Ships in the Arctic - gCaptain

Cruise Ship's Grounding Highlights Risk of More Ships in the Arctic.

Posted: Thu, 14 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

As a result, more than 1,500 people died — either on the ship or in the icy waters, waiting for help. A recent theory suggests a fire that started in the hull before the ship set sail weakened the vessel’s steel walls, making it susceptible to an iceberg that normally wouldn’t have caused as much damage. When the Royal Pacific was first launched as a passenger ferry in 1964, it could carry 250 passengers, 91 cars, and 16 trucks. Sold and converted into a cruise ship in the late 1980s, the boat’s maiden voyage was a two-night “cruise to nowhere” from Singapore and sailed by Phuket, Malacca, and Penang before returning home.

For the past half hour, the crew navigated the hulking vessel through relatively calm waters and lined it up to pass perfectly under the main truss of the steel bridge, softly lit in the early morning darkness. Shortly after the fire, the Morro Castle ran aground on the New Jersey shore, but in the middle of all the tragedy, a hero emerged from the ashes. His name was George White Rogers, and he served as the ship's chief radio engineer. As smoke billowed across the ship, he sat at his radio and bravely sent out SOS distress messages. After the fire, Rogers became something of a national hero and even spoke about his heroic actions on Broadway. But if you dig a little deeper, it turns out that Rogers might not be so courageous after all.

A desperate call goes out to the shore to stop traffic from crossing the bridge. On April 14, 1912, the Titanic sank 400 miles from Newfoundland, plunging 2,200 travelers into the freezing cold Atlantic Ocean. The movie Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks is based on pirate hijackings in Somalia, which is what almost happened to Seabourn Spirits luxury cruise liner in 2005. Two armed boats fired machine guns and grenades at the ship, but it was able to outrun them and then change its course. Back in 2006, a young man on Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas disappeared. It turned out that he was extremely intoxicated, and after his friends left him, he went to the railing to throw up and slid off.

Then after he was released from prison, Rogers took a loan from a man named William Hummel, and when the guy wanted his money back, Rogers murdered both Hummel and his daughter with a sledgehammer. The date was July 24, and it was supposed to be a great day for the employees of the Western Electric Company. The Eastland had been chartered to ferry workers and their families from Chicago to a nice park across the lake, where they could spend the day eating, playing, and hanging out with friends and relatives. As you might've guessed, this tragedy marked the beginning of the end for the Collins Line, and perhaps the idea of Victorian gallantry, as well. "CDC acknowledges that it is not possible for cruising to be a zero-risk activity," CDC spokesperson Jasmine Reed said in an emailed statement.

A graduate of New York University's Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News' TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use. But after eight years in the U.S. and then Italian court system, they lost their case.

Unlike the Kentucky bridge collapse, highway traffic on the I-40 span had continued to “drive into the void,” according to the NTSB report. In the meantime, maritime experts have offered a number of possible causes based on their own experience with engine failure. Mechanical failure, human error and a host of other conditions can conspire to shut down a vessel’s engine, seize up its propulsion system or thwart its crew’s ability to steer. “Captain, we are on a collision course with the bridge support,” announces the officer of the watch, who recommends dropping its anchor.

Yet the United States has some of the strictest maritime standards in the world, according to the experts. Its rules and regulations – which include a host of technical, personnel and environmental practices – go far beyond those set by the International Maritime Organization, which governs all global shipping. The ship, going about 10 knots, tore away a 322-foot span of the bridge as it attempted to pass under a section with insufficient clearance. Coast Guard investigators are still working to determine the cause of the blackout on the Dali. They have retrieved documents and interviewed the crew, as well as others who witnessed or were involved in the crash.