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Anyone care to comment on what caused this cargo container ship to lose ability to steer ? I heard this evening that this was the third time the owners of this company have wound up in trouble while sailing the seas ! Insurance will probably pay out 2 - 3 billion to get everything paid off.
I can say with 100% confidence that what caused this cargo container ship to lose ability to steer is that something either broke or stopped working properly.
A safety probe into a Baltimore bridge collapse will include whether contaminated fuel played a role in a giant cargo ship losing power and crashing into the span, according to people familiar with the investigation.
The lights on the Dali began to flicker about an hour after the ship began its voyage early Tuesday. A harbor pilot and assistant reported power issues and a loss of propulsion before the crash, according to a Coast Guard briefing report viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
“The vessel went dead, no steering power and no electronics,” said an officer aboard the ship Tuesday. “One of the engines coughed and then stopped. The smell of burned fuel was everywhere in the engine room and it was pitch black.” The ship didn’t have time to drop anchors to stop drifting, the officer said. Crew members issued a mayday call before the accident.
Blackouts at sea aren’t common, but they do happen and have long been considered a major accident risk for ships.
One cause is contaminated fuel that can create problems with the ship’s main power generators, said Fotis Pagoulatos, a naval architect in Athens. A complete blackout could result in a ship losing propulsion, he said. Smaller generators can kick in but they can’t carry all the functions of the main ones and take time to fire up.
@Derf- They will definitely be taking a close look at that. If it should turn out to be the cause, will the money saved by buying crappy fuel cover the value of the lost lives and the loss of the bridge? Maybe Boeing CEO David Calhoun would be a good person to help evaluate that.
Today's Times reports that all members of the ship's crew are still on board and working full time to maintain the vessel where it sits. Seems odd to me, but they certainly have enough fuel and provisions to do so.
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Following are excerpts from a current report in The Wall Street Journal:
A safety probe into a Baltimore bridge collapse will include whether contaminated fuel played a role in a giant cargo ship losing power and crashing into the span, according to people familiar with the investigation.
The lights on the Dali began to flicker about an hour after the ship began its voyage early Tuesday. A harbor pilot and assistant reported power issues and a loss of propulsion before the crash, according to a Coast Guard briefing report viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
“The vessel went dead, no steering power and no electronics,” said an officer aboard the ship Tuesday. “One of the engines coughed and then stopped. The smell of burned fuel was everywhere in the engine room and it was pitch black.” The ship didn’t have time to drop anchors to stop drifting, the officer said. Crew members issued a mayday call before the accident.
Blackouts at sea aren’t common, but they do happen and have long been considered a major accident risk for ships.
One cause is contaminated fuel that can create problems with the ship’s main power generators, said Fotis Pagoulatos, a naval architect in Athens. A complete blackout could result in a ship losing propulsion, he said. Smaller generators can kick in but they can’t carry all the functions of the main ones and take time to fire up.