MS Explorer

[karohemd]

So apparently the cruise ship has now sunk in the Antarctic after hitting an obstacle in the water and suffering a fist-sized hole. How is that even possible? Modern ships are designed in a way that a damaged section can be completely sealed off so the ship won't flood completely. Now this can be tricky if the damage is extensive (like a gash along the side of the ship covering multiple sections) but shouldn't be a problem at all when just one section is affected. Something must have seriously gone wrong there or the ship was completely unfit for travel (a recent inspection had shown that the water-tight doors "weren't as required"). This is very scary indeed. This is about a month earlier than I was there last year so there would have been a lot more ice but these ships are actually equipped for arctic waters so the damage caused must have been due to a serious fault. I wonder if they're going to salavage the ship to carry out a proper investigation. It's been in service for almost 40 years

When the Nordkapp hit a cliff off Deception Island in January, the damage was much bigger and while the passengers were moved to the sister ship, the ship went back to Argentina under its own steam with a skeleton crew. However, the damage to the Nordkapp was just above the waterline which probably made a difference but a high seas, that doesn't matter much.

At least the MS Explorer's evacuation procedures were very efficient, everybody got out safely, there were no injuries but according to the linked article, several people suffered from hypothermia. In a way that's real adventure with having to use lifeboats and spending the night on a base on King George Island but certainly not the sort of adventure the passengers had signed up for.

On my trip, everything went smoothly, at least on the ship, and I felt very safe, even when the terrain was trickier as it was very clear that the crew knew what they were doing. Incidentally, I was on the ship, the Nordnorge, that has come to the rescue twice now, to pick up the people from the Nordkapp in January and again now. At least they didn't have to get the people all the way to Argentina this time.

Comments

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

Modern ships are designed in a way that a damaged section can be completely sealed off so the ship won't flood completely.

As was the Titanic, IIRC

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Well, the Titanic suffered much more extensive hull damage, not just a hole the size of a fist and the bulkheads didn't work properly. Apparently, there were a series of factors (brittle steel, poor workmanship, low quality rivets etc.) that prevented the system from working.

[belak-krin.livejournal.com]

ahh, but it is pretty much a paraphrase of what was said after the Titanic sank ;)

[pinkapplejam.livejournal.com]

I thought you typed "When the Nordkapp hit a cliff off DECEPTICON ISLAND" :D

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

The Antarctic is still hiding many secrets. Give it a few hundred years until the ice has melted further, who knows what might be revealed. ;o)

[pinkapplejam.livejournal.com]

Waitaminnit, Megatron was frozen in the movie! D:

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, that was a random stab into the dark, I haven't actually seen the movie, but, well, evil adversaries are often frozen in ice. However, I was more thinking of Cthulhu...

The only unsinkable ship....

[will-sample.livejournal.com]

...is one in drydock.

Remember, the development of compartmentalization hasn't been enough to save a great many ships.

[xambrius.livejournal.com]

I thought that was the ship on which you sailed. My memory isn't as bad as I feared it was.

--
Tim Harris
The Seeker
Time Lord

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

MS Explorer sounds too much like some dodgy piece of Microsoft software. It was bound to crash.