Cruise ship sinking...

[Will66]

It\'s got azipods, that\'s cheating for berthing!

[rx7boy]

Insurance Fraud !! :driving

[oyvindjs]

The ship apparently hit some reefs/rocks about 300 metres from shore, an unmarked reef. And trust me, there are millions of unmarked reefs, the norwegian coast is littered with em and you need very local knowledge to know about em. When the cruiseliner hit the reef, the captain was at first sitting in the restaurant, as is normal on cruiseliners. The bridge officer was on the bridge. As normal seamanship and emergency routines dictate, if it is concidered safe, running the ship ashore gently is an accepted manouver and it possibly saved lifes here. That ship is salvagable as it is now as the damage is visible and in broad daylight. Airbags on the underside of the ship, close off the damage by wielding hullplates over the damaged area, and tow the ship to dry dock.
On the other hand, the captain is facing 12 years in jail for leaving the ship long before every passenger and crewmember was safely off the damaged vessel.

[Will66]

My question would be what were they doing 300m off shore without the Captain on the Bridge.  I\'ve been an Officer of the Watch in warships for over 7 years and we never take ships that close to shore without having all watch-keepers and the Captain on the Bridge.  If there were uncharted navigational hazards in the area and they had to be in that close to shore why didn\'t they have a pilot onboard to advise the bridge where they were and to keep them clear.  If it were me I certainly wouldn\'t have beached her on that shore either, it\'s rocky and if the tide fell then she\'d have become unstable and potentially turned over, cutting off escape routes when the tide rose again.

Personally I reckon her watchkeeper was trusting his electronic system too much and not looking out of the window.  They don\'t drive those sort of ships through poorly surveyed coastal waters without a pilot onboard, the risk is too great.  His Electronic Charting system may have picked up an error, it\'s not common but it can happen, it\'s why Officer\'s of the Watch on warships have to take a traditional fix and plot it on the Electronic Charting System at regular intervals from an independent source to ensure the system is working correctly.

[oyvindjs]

maybe its a case of "mediterranian mañana mañana" ?

[1990_fc3s_t2]

I heard today the captain went off coarse to wave at somebody he knew onshore! Damn...

[billybobbooth]

least they didnt build the biggest cruse ship around and hit something and sink because im pretty sure ive hurd that story before.

[hayden]

least they didnt build the biggest cruse ship around and hit something and sink because im pretty sure ive hurd that story before.

Isn\'t that pretty much exactly what they\'ve done :xconfused

[Arnie_O]

least they didnt build the biggest cruse ship around and hit something and sink because im pretty sure ive hurd that story before.

Hmm sounds familiar i guess they did it to mark the 100 year anniversary of the original.

[billybobbooth]

I do think its a major thing and do feel for the family and people involved but surly people should look at history before they build these things. On a good note least well get a film out of this.

[Will66]

Titanic sunk due to procedures being incorrectly followed and the mistaken belief that it was unsinkable.

[B.Martin]

I\'ve read loads of conspiracies about the titanic, some are pretty interesting.

[Will66]

They didn\'t close doors on it and the safety procedures were poor.

[B.Martin]

I remember reading about the Titanic and the Olympic and it being a massive insurance thing, highly unlikely but very interesting non the less.

[Brett]

My question would be what were they doing 300m off shore without the Captain on the Bridge.  I\'ve been an Officer of the Watch in warships for over 7 years and we never take ships that close to shore without having all watch-keepers and the Captain on the Bridge.  If there were uncharted navigational hazards in the area and they had to be in that close to shore why didn\'t they have a pilot onboard to advise the bridge where they were and to keep them clear.  If it were me I certainly wouldn\'t have beached her on that shore either, it\'s rocky and if the tide fell then she\'d have become unstable and potentially turned over, cutting off escape routes when the tide rose again.

Personally I reckon her watchkeeper was trusting his electronic system too much and not looking out of the window.  They don\'t drive those sort of ships through poorly surveyed coastal waters without a pilot onboard, the risk is too great.  His Electronic Charting system may have picked up an error, it\'s not common but it can happen, it\'s why Officer\'s of the Watch on warships have to take a traditional fix and plot it on the Electronic Charting System at regular intervals from an independent source to ensure the system is working correctly.

Exactly... you don\'t move a 100,000ton vessel that close to shore without assistance from the local pilot.