5 year old container ship breaks in half

Discussion in 'All Things Boats & Boating' started by Corley, Jun 19, 2013.

  1. ancient kayaker
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    ancient kayaker aka Terry Haines

    Agreed with all of that AH. But the ship failed after only 5 years in service according to the thread title, hardly a fatigue issue. So it was either badly designed and/or built, the specifications were incorrectly stated, the analysis was done improperly, the software had an error, the sea state was over its limit, it was overloaded or incorrectly loaded, the load shifted, there were material inadequacies or it was over-stressed during a previous voyage. Add any others I missed as I'm not an NA. As I mentioned before, if this were an aircraft the FAA and NTSB would be moving heaven and earth to find out why and prevent its recurrence. Marine safety authorities seem a bit more relaxed.
     
  2. Ad Hoc
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    Ad Hoc Naval Architect

    That's the point, it is not an aircraft and not carry a large number of fare paying passengers. So one must not equate one set of values with another, red herring.

    Investigations are and have been under way since the accident. Again, because you're not aware of such investigations does not mean none are taken, nor that "heaven and earth" is moved in doing so, it is. But since this involves high value freight and thus insurance, it is 99% of the time conducted behind closed doors and the results are feed back, if design issues, into new rules.

    The reasons have however finally been made public:

    http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/sector/containers/article439141.ece

    The claim is that vessel defects and the shipbuilder’s negligence caused the to split. And this is based upon a very very through design/technical evaluation of the vessel. These investigations take many months since the vessels are large and many factors need to be addressed. It does not happen over night.

    Finally, a ship goes down every day somewhere in the world. But rarely reported,...why....no fare paying passengers on board thus not newsworthy.
     
  3. ancient kayaker
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    ancient kayaker aka Terry Haines

    Thanks for the information about the claim. You're right about lack of passengers making a sinking not newsworthy: do the officers and crew of these ships get a mention someplace?
     
  4. Ad Hoc
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    Ad Hoc Naval Architect

    Only in Lloyd's List or similar...if at all.
     
  5. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    Speaking of Lloyds list

    "Lloyd's List - single user 12 month subscription - $3,250"


    It would cost you 3 grand to get the details of the incident ? I'll stay uninformed !
     
  6. ancient kayaker
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    ancient kayaker aka Terry Haines

    I couldn't get much off their website
     
  7. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

  8. jehardiman
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    jehardiman Senior Member

  9. NavalSArtichoke
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    NavalSArtichoke Senior Member

  10. ceproof87
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    ceproof87 CE Boat Certification

    oooh, the reason of this kind of mishappening is due to lack of maintenance or overloading. I think there is joint between the ship that is broken.
     
  11. NavalSArtichoke
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    NavalSArtichoke Senior Member

    What sort of mention are you looking for? In terms of the MOL Comfort, I believe the crew survived without any fatalities or injuries reported.

    Although the ship eventually sank, it remained afloat long enough (even in two pieces) to allow salvage tugs to be dispatched to its location in the Indian Ocean. The photographs taken of the incident were, I believe, taken from these salvage vessels.
     
  12. joz
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    joz Senior Member

    Great way to get rid of the competition :p
     
  13. Ad Hoc
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    Ad Hoc Naval Architect

    Boat losses 2014.jpg

    Here is the "official" list for 2014...and when i say "official" it is only vessels that are legally registered and over 100GT. Thus those vessels running up and down rivers and coastal routes in lesser developed countries with little to no safety standards or enforcement rarely become part of this list.

    But despite the number, this was the safest year ion shipping for over 10 years!
     

  14. Rurudyne
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    Rurudyne Senior Member

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