I just exhausted my entire knowledge of cruise ships in one sentence.
Posted on 07/19/2006 7:49:50 PM PDT by MindBender26
There is a strong but previously undisclosed undercurrent running through the Coast Guard’s investigation of yesterday’s cruise ship accident that left 92 passengers seriously injured, two of them critically. The questions are being whispered, but there is no denying them; “Was this a terrorist attempt to sink the ship?”
This much is known. The 3000 passenger 22-knot floating hotel "Crown Princess" was 11 miles south of Port Canaveral, heading out on a Western Caribbean cruise when suddenly, everything turned topsy-turvy. According to passengers, the ship listed somewhere between 20 and 40 degrees as the vessel made a violent and unnecessary turn to the left.
I’ll leave the passengers descriptions of down becoming up, merchandise sliding earthquake-like off shelves and people flying everywhere with a force that was so strong the water cascaded out of the ship’s four swimming pools to other accounts.
Here is the understory.
So far there is absolutely no explanation of why the ship executed the vicious turn to port and everything not tied down slipped to starboard. It had been to sea before, recently docking in Florida on a trip down from New York. The weather was fine, the sea calm and clear and no other vessels in the area. They can find no mechanical problem…. and ships weighting 226,000,000 pounds don’t just turn like that by accident.
The current question then is; was it attempted sabotage?
Two factors are on everyone in the federal law enforcement and news media fields minds tonight. These ultra modern cruise ships (the ship was launched in 2003) are nothing more than top heavy, barely seaworthy floating Miami Beach-like art deco hotels. Many experienced seamen think they are an accident waiting to happen with their huge sail-like sides ready to catch a freak wind or wave and little natural stability. More than one marine architect thinks it’s just a matter of time until one capsizes.
Add to that the composition of the crews. Cruise lines “rent” their ship’s crews. The dining room staff, from waiters and busboys to the overly gracious matre-d are supplied from one agency, the cabin stewards from another, while another company supplies the deck department, (the traditional “sailors.”)
On one ship I was on last year, the only direct employees of the cruise line were the Master, the Chief Engineer, the Purser (who is really a nautical hotel manager) and the Social Director with the bad toupee. Everyone else, from head pastry chef to hull painter to helmsman were all “rented” from a Ships Chandler (supplier) service.
Remember that word; “helmsman.” He’s the one who steers the ship. Too fast a turn and perhaps a huge ship turns over and becomes huge permanent underwater monument to wretched excess.
Many of these rented crews, especially the “sailors” are from Indonesia. Indonesia has a huge and increasingly violent and fundamentalist Moslem population.
The questions being asked tonight, as I said, quietly, here in Florida are, was there a radical Moslem at the wheel and did he try to capsize the Crown Princess and thereby take 3000 infidels to the bottom with her?
Think about the Moslem mind. 3000 scantily clad, alcohol drinking, pork eating Christians and Jews drowned in a flash. What a great way to guarantee a madly hyper-focused helmsman his 76 virgins! No need to get a shoe bomb on a Trans-Atlantic airplane. Just take a hard left and they’re all dead, in time and in range of the cameras for the evening news.
(We all hope) It will probably turn out to not be the case, but in the Islam’s war on America, stranger tales have turned out to be true.
Yes, but they will be boys."
I was thinking they'd be goats.
I just exhausted my entire knowledge of cruise ships in one sentence.
Ask Michael Moore, he's always veering to the left...
Cheers!
Look at those balloons!!!
And, I should point out that this accident report was posted back in 2001, prior to 9/11
I'm sure glad you're here to keep all these speculatin FReepers on an even keel, if ya know what I mean...
Back in my navy days, I kid you not, EVERY time we sailed between Bermuda and Florida th ship would mysteriously loose steering and the ships gyrocompass would spin in circles.
We'd switch to manual steering and after a while everything would mysteriously begin working fine again.
That thing would have to have one tremendous rudder to make a turn as described. It just does not sound probable. I await the experts who often show up on this board when something like this needs explaining. My experience on big boats (40 years old) tells me that these babies do not turn on dimes, even if it is attempted.Maybe if bow thrusters were activated as the helm is put hard over??
Ships that big have 'thrusters' to allow for in port manuevering.
What happens when you turn it full sideways and crank it up high?
The ship did turn, that is a fact. If it was not due to a mistake or deliberate sabotage, what caused it?
A Giant Squid?
"So no, it didn't happen in the manner offered. "
So no, you happen to be completely wrong.
Powered bow and stern thrusters.
Stabilizer Vanes.
Gyroscope.
Do you have any of these on that 32' boat?
It will be quite telling if the data are never released.
Do you captain a cruise ship?
A few lines of code and the stabilizers, rudders, thrusters and main screws all push towards the same goal...
Rogue wave? Bermuda triangle? :0
Now your argument has some validity to it.
I could agree the passengers or reporters statements could be exaggerated and the assessment of just the rudder having the ability to 'spin' the ship an invalid conclusion.
My interpretation of your initial statement, mainly due to lack of info on your part, was wrong.
I go with the the stabilizers or a combination of various steerage components, possibly a computer error (sail by wire).
save for later
Cruise ships sometimes have stabilizing systems to maintain the smoothest possible ride in rough seas. As this ship was only one its second cruise, it seems at least equally plausible that a technical fault in the stabilizing system could have caused the accident.
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