In article , says...
On 2010-09-09 12:58:26 +0100, Moonraker said:

On 09/09/2010 10:33, Martin wrote:
On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:52:57 +0100, wrote:

On 09/09/2010 00:57, Ian B wrote:
shazzbat wrote:
Just in case you're thinking of booking a cruise you might want to
check this out first -

http://thedailywh.at/post/1081298486...g-cctv-footage

And

thi is what it looked like from outside -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deX7R...1&feature=fvwp

I should feel guilty, but I don't. I LOLd and LOLd.


Ian


So there was no warning of this? Was the radio operator asleep?

It was a bit late to think about bolting furniture to the floor.
Batten down the hatches is a well know saying for a reason. It was too
late when they were in the mess, but with modern technology there must
have been some warning!

If there was a warning it could have been too short and of little use
when out at sea. That vessel clearly didn't expect to encounter heavy
weather. Nothing was secured. But judging by the demeanour of the
stewards at the bar at the beginning, that storm hit them out of
nowhere. It would be interesting to know how long it lasted for but
we've all heard of e.g. freak waves, I'm sure.

These ships rely heavily on their stabilizers to prevent severe rolling
without them they are boardering on unstable, having done the stabilty
calculations for many of these types of ships, nothing not even a fully
paid for cruise would persude me to set foot on one.

Stabilizers like any automated computerised system occassionally get
overwelmed and the results are as you see.

Traditional ships built in traditional shipyards had everything bolted
down and attachments for all the chairs in the saloon, raisable edges to
tables etc but ship owners found yards that would deliver cheaper ships,
without the tradition of shipbuilding and seafaring they don't think to
do all the attachments (one of the reasons they are cheaper)

I once sailed on a new build, built in St Johns Newfoundland, their yard
normally built small fishing boats and the resulting 35,000 ton ship we
ended up with was a disaster, and it too went into self destruct when we
hit the first bad weather, it never occured to us that all the bunks etc
wouldnt be attached.

And no there would be no warning, not even on the bridge would they see
it coming, excepting of course if they were changing course at the time
in which case the company would be 100% to blame (we allways made
anouncements for course changes in heavy weather)

It is not just the size of the wave but its timeing coupled with the
ships size and speed that makes the ship roll in a particular way
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea