Topic: ANOTHER COASTA SHIP IN TROUBLE (Read 7175 times)

Welsh Wizard · « **on:** February 27, 2012, 09:07:36 pm »

It appears another Costa ship is in trouble drifting with no power NOT good for that company is it

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16178168

Dave

john s 2 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 27, 2012, 09:18:20 pm »

No its not. Also the ship is not in an ideal place. Lets hope all goes well. John.

Navy2000 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 27, 2012, 11:39:23 pm »

According to the report at the end they have put onto the ship 8 Marines from some country to help dter the priates. I wonder how many people will be cancelling their cruises with Costa?

Duane

DavieTait · « **Reply #3 on:** February 27, 2012, 11:57:40 pm »

There's a large French tuna fishing boat reached her and transferred the 8 French Naval Marines she had onboard as protection against pirates to the cruise ship.

Fires onboard can happen on a brand new ship , with the pressure thats in the fuel lines if one ruptures it sprays hot fuel everywhere which will burn if it hits the exhaust ( had this happen on a fishing boat back in the 90's , fire burst very quickly and lucky for us once we'd isolated the fuel it burned out very quickly ) so maintenance will pick up obvious problems but if the fault is in the thickness of the fuel line and it wasn't picked up at the manufacturer then something like this can just happen

Shipmate60 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 28, 2012, 10:41:40 am »

Dave,
The IMO regulations state that ALL high pressure fuel lines have to be double skinned.
If the main pressure line fractures the escaping fuel is contained within the outer pipe.
I must admit my concern is more about the emergency systems on the vessels.
What has happened to disable the Emergency Generator?
Why have the Main Engines shut down they should be 24 volts with battery backup and chargers supplied from Emergency Generator.

Bob

MikeK · « **Reply #5 on:** February 28, 2012, 01:11:26 pm »

Quote from: shipmate60 on February 28, 2012, 10:41:40 am

Dave,
The IMO regulations state that ALL high pressure fuel lines have to be double skinned.
If the main pressure line fractures the escaping fuel is contained within the outer pipe.
I must admit my concern is more about the emergency systems on the vessels.
What has happened to disable the Emergency Generator?
Why have the Main Engines shut down they should be 24 volts with battery backup and chargers supplied from Emergency Generator.

Bob

That's what I wondered when the report said she was on battery power - where's the emergency genny in all this ? There again with the usual inaccuracies any report connected to ships usually have, the generator may well be chugging happily away providing this 'battery' supply !

Mike

Bryan Young · « **Reply #6 on:** February 28, 2012, 04:03:52 pm »

But this is certainly NOT a new ship. In fact it seems to be older than most Mayhemers.
But as Davie said.....this can happen on any ship. Do I need to remind you of an "incident" not so long ago when a well maintained and well run Norwegian ship had a similar outbreak ...albeit within the confines of the fjiords.
Emergency generators are exactly what the name implies....in no way can they provide the power to run all "normal" services. To do that you'd need to have a complete duplicate set-up. Not feasible.
Not good news for Costa of course, but please don't read too much into this (yet). BY.

Colin Bishop · « **Reply #7 on:** February 28, 2012, 04:59:24 pm »

My understanding is that there are normally one or more emergency generators situated on the higher decks which are designed to keep the sufficient lights and communications facilities operating while the ship is evacuated should the main generators fail. There is reference to a generator being in operation on Costa Allegra but that it of course has only limited capacity and is probably not designed to be run for extended periods. I can't imagine there would be battery capacity on board to keep the lights etc. going for more than a few hours at most.

I should think the crew of the fishing boat towing her are rubbing their hands with glee - Salvage!

Colin

Shipmate60 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 28, 2012, 05:14:23 pm »

It should be "Lloyds Open Form"
The full value of the ship AND cargo!

Bob

Shipmate60 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 28, 2012, 05:30:41 pm »

"Emergency Switch Board

As the name indicates, it supplies to equipment and machinery that are essential during any emergency like fire, flooding, etc. One important aspect about the emergency switch boards is that it is located above the load water line or the upper most continuous deck, where as the main generators and main switchboards are located below the weather deck or the load water line. Thus this ensures that the emergency supply is maintained when the vessel is flooded with water to the weather deck.

During normal operation, power is supplied from the main generators to the main switch board. The emergency switch board gets it supply from the main switch board. When the main generators fail, the main switch board looses its supply and this causes the emergency generator to start automatically, which will supply the emergency switchboard that is connected to various ship board auxiliaries. Thus critical equipment and machinery (essential services) are supplied always to maintain the safety of the ship and personnel."

The critical equipment includes 1 x Steering Motor, Main Fire Pump, Bridge Supply including nav + radio, power to Main Engines and Controlls.
Emergency Lighting etc.

Bob

Umi_Ryuzuki · « **Reply #10 on:** February 28, 2012, 06:03:39 pm »

If you have the time, and are interested in how a fire can put out power ship wide, and
the trouble it can create, then take a moment to read the BLOG by John Heald.
He was cruise director aboard the Carnival Splendor when it suffered a fire
off the coast of Mexico. Cold meals were the least of their problems.

http://johnhealdsblog.com/2010/11/12/smoke-on-the-water-part-1/

http://johnhealdsblog.com/2010/11/12/smoke-on-the-water-part-2/

http://johnhealdsblog.com/2010/11/12/smoke-on-the-water-part-3/

http://johnhealdsblog.com/2010/11/13/smoke-on-the-water-part-4/

http://johnhealdsblog.com/2010/11/15/smoke-on-the-water-part-5/

http://johnhealdsblog.com/2010/11/16/smoke-on-the-water-the-final-chapter/

Shipmate60 · « **Reply #11 on:** February 28, 2012, 07:31:52 pm »

Umi,
I have read it through and I have been directly involved in an actual Engine Room Fire.
Although not on Cruise Ships, other ships such as Naval Armament Vessels, Tugs, Salvage and Mooring Vessels, RORO Ferries etc.
It does seem that the Cruise Ships do not have anywhere near the capability for self help as most cargo ships.
All the other ships I have served on had a small diesel compressor that could give enough air to start the Main Engines and a provision for Local (Hand) Control of the engines and also hand Steering but 1 x Steering motor supplied via the Emergency Switchboard.
These vessels are heavy fuel but should have enough diesel to run for a few days even if you have to hand pump the fuel from the bunkers to the ready use tank(s).

Bob

meechingman · « **Reply #12 on:** February 28, 2012, 09:10:52 pm »

You can bet that Costa would have tried their hardest to avoid a Lloyds Open Form agreement. the ship is not abandoned and not in iminent danger of sinking. Enough time to let the tugs arrive for an agreed price.

And I guess that 'no cure, no pay' - the heart of LOF - would entail the fishing vessel towing her all the way to safety.

Andy

DavieTait · « **Reply #13 on:** February 28, 2012, 09:15:14 pm »

considering she is in a pirate danger area I would think the fishing boat would have insisted on the highest payout possible to begin a tow towards the salvage tugs , they will be paid a handsome reward for towing her for 48 hours before handing over , if Costa tried to refuse the fishing boat would be within its rights to refuse to drop the tow making it too dangerous for the crew to drop the cable due to tension on the wire , best guess is that the fishing boat will get a minimum of a $1m maybe $2m and the trawler owners a free cruise with all perks paid for !!

john s 2 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 28, 2012, 09:26:22 pm »

An elderly boat definately. Built in 1972. Does make you wonder how old the engines are? Also would it meet modern safety standards? John.

cos918 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 28, 2012, 10:06:22 pm »

if I am not misstaken she was a cargo ship or ferry before she was converted in to a cruise ship.

John

DavieTait · « **Reply #16 on:** February 28, 2012, 10:20:52 pm »

Think they said cargo ship on Sky News at 5pm John possibly a container ship but not 100% sure

Colin Bishop · « **Reply #17 on:** February 28, 2012, 10:33:22 pm »

She is a converted container ship.

Colin

Xtian29 · « **Reply #18 on:** February 28, 2012, 10:53:39 pm »

Hello

Yes of course she's a former container ship and I heard that lawyers will make trial for lying to customer ... Such a strange world !

Xtian

DavieTait · « **Reply #19 on:** February 28, 2012, 11:12:15 pm »

Costa cruises list her build date as 1992 with a refurbishment in 2006 so the legal eagles will have a field day with this one

http://www.costacruises.co.uk/gb/costa_allegra.html

Colin Bishop · « **Reply #20 on:** February 28, 2012, 11:27:51 pm »

I think it is entirely irrelevant what the origin of the ship is. Many ships have been converted from one role to another quite successfully.

One must assume that the ship conforms to the current SOLAS regulations and will have been surveyed to ensure this.

It does seem however that several passenger ships have recently suffered major electrical failure, not excepting the Queen Mary 2 temporarily, although the most publicised case was the Carnival Splendour.

Colin

DavieTait · « **Reply #21 on:** February 29, 2012, 12:01:00 am »

Could be a sign of cutting back on planned maintenance or engineers/electricians not fully qualified or experienced with the equipment and not able to see signed of problems

Something needs to be done to make sure things like this are as close to impossible as humanly possible and not left to chance

Circlip · « **Reply #22 on:** February 29, 2012, 08:21:12 am »

Could have been a lot worse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4FIS1FnOQg&feature=player_embedded

Regards Ian.

Colin Bishop · « **Reply #23 on:** February 29, 2012, 09:28:32 am »

Quote

Could be a sign of cutting back on planned maintenance or engineers/electricians not fully qualified or experienced with the equipment and not able to see signed of problems

Something needs to be done to make sure things like this are as close to impossible as humanly possible and not left to chance

Well, I don't think model boaters are very well placed to criticise. We are always blowing fuses (or not fitting them) frying speed controllers and looking for the cheapest bit of kit we can get out of China which may or may not work. And most of us don't really understand what we are doing either.....

Colin

john s 2 · « **Reply #24 on:** February 29, 2012, 01:15:32 pm »

Colin you are right about some of us having troubles. But. We have not had the training and qualifications that one expects the enginners to have. Also most of us dont work with our boats all day as the crew does with the engines. John.

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Author Topic: ANOTHER COASTA SHIP IN TROUBLE (Read 7175 times)

Welsh Wizard

Navy2000

Umi_Ryuzuki