Cruise ship sinking near 'King George' island

[malaise]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7108835.stm
<snip>
Passengers and crew have been rescued off Argentina from a cruise liner, which began sinking after it hit ice.

The M/S Explorer ran into trouble near King GeorgeIsland in the Antarctic Ocean, near the South Shetland Islands.

Andy Cattrell, of the UK's Falmouth Coastguard, told the BBC about 100 passengers and 54 crew members have been evacuated and are in lifeboats.

The captain and the chief officer remained on board the vessel until everyone was evacuated.

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King George's ship is also sinking -hopefully in Shet.

[SoCalDem]

1. Watch the anti-global warming people comment on the ICE part

I just hope that ship does not sink.. all that fuel on board would not be a good thing to dump into that water :(

[malaise]

2. It is listing badly and I fear it will sink

Saw a pix on BBC a short while ago. Here she is in better days

[ulysses]

3. "a hole the size of a fist" - ?

They can't keep up with a hole the size of a fist?

[malaise]

4. Pix

from BBC -The M/S Explorer is listing precariously at 30 degrees

[ThomWV]

5. I read that too - it would have to be inaccurate

Because they have pumps far larger than the size of a fist and they have more than one of them too. Having said that though, and having some familiarity with boats and how fast water comes in through a hole I will tell you that it is simply astounding how much water can come in through even a small hole in a short time when its just a couple of feet below the waterline.

[ulysses]

6. yeah.

I'm certainly no mariner, but I'm enough of a dreadnought history geek to know that the water comes in faster than you'd expect through a hole below the waterline. Still, what you said about the pumps was on my mind.

[HooptieWagon]

7. A fist sized hole

especially if it is well below the waterline, admits a huge amount of water. That cruise ship is pretty small, it's doubtful they have pumps of a size necessary to keep up. And most passenger-carrying ships are required watertight bulkheads by law, but it's not clear what laws the ship was constructed and is operating under. Plus, even watertight bulkheads are no guarantee - remember the Titanic?

[malaise]

8. More on the M/S Explorer

Built: 1969, Finland
Capacity: 100 passengers
Tonnage: 2,400 Cruising speed: 11 knots
Engines: 3,800 hp diesels
Crew: 54
First custom-built expedition ship
Known as the 'Little Red Ship' to aficionados
Became the first passenger vessel to navigate the North West passage in 1984
Involved in rescue of crew from Argentine cargo vessel off Anvers Island, Antarctica, in 1989
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She's 38 years old and working in some rough waters.

[ulysses]

9. I don't see why they wouldn't have sufficient pumps to deal with it.

I know it's a lot of water, but still. I always thought the problem with Titanic was that the bulkheads didn't go all the way up.

[HooptieWagon]

10. Yes, partial bulkheads were the main flaw of the Titantic

I assume this cruise ship has full bulkheads. Still, water is persistant and will find a way in - damages to the bulkheads, ports left open, ventilators, etc. - or even something as sloppy as years of paint (or rust) buildup on the doors that doesn't allow them to seal properly.

If the hole was at the waterline, the water coming in would be at atmospheric pressure, it would be like pouring water from a pitcher. If the hole is deeper, say 15 feet or so, the water comes in much faster due to higher pressure. I've seen water coming in an opened 1.5" sea-cock (boater term for a valve)that was only a couple feet below the waterline - it's like a freaking firehose. I looked up in a book - this flow rate is 71 gallons per minute. I estimate the flow coming into the sinking cruise ship from a larger hole deeper in the water is at least 10-15 times as much, 700-1000 gallons per minute. It would take one hell of a pump to hold even.

It's possible pumps may have kept up with the leak for a while - but there is much that can go wrong. Fuel can become contaminated or filters clog, and eventually, as the ship lists, there will be an oil-pressure problem in the motor as the oil goes to one side leaving the oil pickup sucking air. Or the air intakes for the pump engines can become submerged. It would take a massive pump to keep up with the amount of water coming in, you'd have to have an engineer attending to the pump, and still cross your fingers it didn't fail - assuming it could even keep up with the water flow.

I don't know what caused the accident, but kudos to the Captain for evacuating the ship while it was still level - people could move to the lifeboats easier, and the lifeboat davits could work properly. If he had waited until the ship was listing heavily, the situation would have been extremely difficult, and possibly would have resulted in many people ending up in freezing water where their chances of survival after a couple minutes is almost zero.