Ship lost last night :(

[hidetheelephants]

Bulkers make up a disproportionately large %age of ships sinking suddenly like this; habitual overloading and/or poorly distributed loads resulting in overstress of the hull girder, add in some inclement weather and you get dead seamen.

[Mr Dave]

baldy1926 said:

I wonder how the rescue co-ordination went with no fixed wing cover

There was fixed wing cover.

[Eric Mc]

Mr Dave said:

baldy1926 said:

I wonder how the rescue co-ordination went with no fixed wing cover

There was fixed wing cover.

Provided by the Irish Air Corps.

[pacman1]

Another beeb article.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15909625

[ApexJimi]

A situation like this must really be the stuff of nightmares, sounds absolutely horrific.

[Rum Runner]

The boat sank on close to a bad patch of water at the end of the Llyn near Bardsey Island. It often blows here as I live on the a hill not very far away.
Talking to the crews it sounded like the hull was already split. Taking on water, then hit beam on, free surface effect of the water sloshing around, rolled, split in two and sank ASAP. The crew which where found were already in survival suits on deck when it turned over.

[ApexJimi]

So the decision to go on deck by the two crew members undoubtedly saved their lives. Sheesh.

[pacman1]

From the article:

The 34-year-old British-managed ship had a history of defects, according to safety inspections by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Over the past five years, 85 faults were highlighted - including cracks in the ship's decks and defective life-saving equipment identified in May this year.

Marine safety management expert Dr Phil Anderson said that, even allowing for the ship's age, the number of defects seemed surprisingly high.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16055328

And the description of poor loading practice really is quite shocking.

[hidetheelephants]

Marshall Islands FoC has a pretty low reputation, the MCA should have a bigger budget for inspecting ships like this.

[Popeyed]

hidetheelephants said:

Marshall Islands FoC has a pretty low reputation, the MCA should have a bigger budget for inspecting ships like this.

Where did you get this information from, the Marshall Islands flag is on the Paris MOU and Tokyo MOU white lists of Flag States, and it is not targetted by the United States Coast Guard. I'll think you'll find it does not have a "pretty low repuation".

[Popeyed]

pacman1 said:

From the article:

The 34-year-old British-managed ship had a history of defects, according to safety inspections by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Over the past five years, 85 faults were highlighted - including cracks in the ship's decks and defective life-saving equipment identified in May this year.

Marine safety management expert Dr Phil Anderson said that, even allowing for the ship's age, the number of defects seemed surprisingly high.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16055328

And the description of poor loading practice really is quite shocking.

I had to laugh at the quote attributed to "Marine Safety Experts", that "loading heavy unsecured cargo into a single hull could cause displacement which might cause a ship to roll in bad weather".

What expert came out with that; bulk cargo is not secured (it may be overstowed to ensure it does not shift in the case of some commodities), they all have their own inherant properties which have to be managed, i.e. some are prone to liquefaction therefore they need to be carried with a moisture content below their Transportable Moisture Limit, otherwise they may shift in the hold. Some need to be trimmed on the completion of loading to minimse the likelihood of cargo shift etc. What is "displacement" in this context and how would it cause a ship to roll in bad weather. A ship will roll regardless in bad weather, the magnitude and speed of the rolling a function of the vessel's stability and the angle of attack of the swell to the hull. Maybe they meant cargo may shift causing the vessel to list.

When you have quite a decent knowledge of a subject, and then read about that topic in the press, it makes you realise how much twaddle they publish.

[Robb F]

"And, of course, the rescuers have been searching since two o'clock, it's been very dark overnight, so that's made it more difficult as well."

Apparently it was 'very dark' over night.

Who'd have thought....

[RegMolehusband]

Now I've read the BBC article I recall seeing this ship reversing out of the Llandulas jetty in the summer and turning westwards. Very sad to think of where it and some of its crew are lying now.

AIS Information from Shipspotting.com

Last known position:
53°27’7.56” N, 4°38’15.86” W

Status: Underway

Speed, course (heading):
8.4kts, 244° (223°)

Destination:
Location: Raynes
Arrival: 26th Nov 2011
07:00:09 UTC

Last update:
14 days 23 hours ago

Source: AIS (AirNav ShipTrax)

Edited by RegMolehusband on Sunday 11th December 17:15

[Simpo Two]

RegMolehusband said:

AIS Information from Shipspotting.com

Last known position:
53°27’7.56” N, 4°38’15.86” W

Hmm, if I put that into Google Earth it's almost a mile inland!

[hidetheelephants]

Popeyed said:

hidetheelephants said:

Marshall Islands FoC has a pretty low reputation, the MCA should have a bigger budget for inspecting ships like this.

Where did you get this information from, the Marshall Islands flag is on the Paris MOU and Tokyo MOU white lists of Flag States, and it is not targetted by the United States Coast Guard. I'll think you'll find it does not have a "pretty low repuation".

Rather a moot point as I was misled by a previous article; the BBC report it as registered with the Cook Islands.

It sank quickly in bad but not terrible weather causing fatalities; with reports from the crew describing catastrophic structural failure I'd like to know what happened to it and will look out for the MAIB report when it appears.

[davepoth]

From university, I recall bulk carriers are especially prone to quick sinkings once their cargo gets wet. I don't know what she was carrying, but the usual sequence is something like

1)cargo hold cover not secured properly
2)water gets into cargo, which soaks up the water increasing the mass significantly, leading to overload
3)ship breaks in two.

[Popeyed]

davepoth said:

From university, I recall bulk carriers are especially prone to quick sinkings once their cargo gets wet. I don't know what she was carrying, but the usual sequence is something like

1)cargo hold cover not secured properly
2)water gets into cargo, which soaks up the water increasing the mass significantly, leading to overload
3)ship breaks in two.

In the case where the hatches are not weathertight, water will get in to the hold when waves are crashing on deck; the magintude of the problem with the sealing of the hatches will vary and affect the amount of water that by-passes the hatch cover sealing arrangement.

Once water gets in to the hold in a significant quantity, it will cause loss of stability due to the free surface effect. Just the weight of the additional water in the hold will cause the vessel to sit lower in the water, so more waves crash on deck, and more water enters the hold. The additional water in the hold will perversely cause the ship's centre of gravity to sit lower, improving stability initially, but there will come a time when the centre of gravity of the free water in the hold will rise, such that the loss of stability caused by the free surface effect will cancel out and surpass the gain due to the additional weight of water low down. This will cause the vessel to loose stability (due to loss of righting level as the centre of gravity rises; as in ship stability, the effect of free surface effect is evaluated as a movement of the centre of gravity upwards) such that eventually, she will probably capsize in poor weather.

The other problem on bulk carriers is when the cargo is loaded too moist, such that it liquefies (when subject to excitation as the ship moves in a seaway and due to engine vibration) and behaves as a liquid, causing the vessel to capsize as in the above scenario.

The scenario where the vessel actually breaks in two is not so common, although there are some well known cases such as the "MSC Napoli", where she failed IWO a change of framing arrangement at the engine room bulkhead. Mostly, and in all the cases I've dealt with in the last 18 months, the vessel has just sunk due to water ingress into the holds or due to liquefaction of the cargo onboard.