Bad day in Anacortes

[TimBennet]

. . . Of course this absolutely begs the question as to why the yard allowed the launch to continue when they . . .

. . . were using a completely amateurish, lash up job to launch a multi million pound yacht. You can see the two dollies were completely inadequate in the film and lacked any proper control.

The previous project manager at the build yard (who left a few months prior to launch), said the decision to launch in that way was 'unbelievable'.

Clearly there was 'something' amiss at the yard in the final stages of the build. It's hard to believe there wasn't enough money left in the budget for a travel lift or large crane. There's plenty of them available in Anacarotes.

 

[TimBennet]

Anyone know what happened to the boat afterwards?

She was righted in the following days and was towed out to a barge crane that then lifted her out onto a quayside.
She then sat there on the hard whilst the investigation took place but I've now heard she's been broken up.
The yard closed and everyone lost their jobs.

 

[jfm]

Anyone got a good guess as to what happened @ 0:59 when it jolted? And what is the white water exiting the transom @ 1:13?

The thing rolled when the bow was almost completely down to the waterline, so the upward force of the bow dolly seems not to be that significant to the capsize, as I had thought earlier. It looks in this video like the stability calcs with the partially ballasted hull were just wrong

 

[Delfin]

I don't know about that. In the vid at about 0.50 you can clearly see that the boat lurches suddenly and starts listing to port. As the boat is still well out of the water at that point, there has to have been some failure of the launch trolley, either the wheels slip off the launch ramp on one side or the trolley itself fails structurally. By the time the boat hits the water it is still listing to port and yes at that point the lack of roll stability ensures that it goes over

The naval architect has stated

Since the accident, the project naval architect/Professional Engineer has confirmed that the yacht, as designed, had adequate stability with the amount of ballast aboard at the time of launch, provided that “severe heeling moments” were not induced during the launch.

So it seems that the initial lurch to port which may have been caused by the failure of the launch trolley was indeed the reason that she eventually went over. Of course this absolutely begs the question as to why the yard allowed the launch to continue when they presumably knew that a 'severe heeling moment' during the launch was going to put the boat in danger of rolling

Yup a complete f*** up

Anyone know what happened to the boat afterwards? Was she repaired, were any major changes to the weight distribution made and did the buyer agree to take delivery of her? What about Northern Marine? Are they still in business?

I think it's true that the dolly came off the concrete ramp, but just prior to the point where the vessel has started to float free at around 1:50 you can see that the only thing holding her upright was the dolly. Once floating, over she went. You can measure the angle of heel and it isn't anything close to "severe". I have no idea whether some of the ballast was moveable and began to shift, although I did hear that speculation.

She sat on the hard for a couple of months, then they came and took the flybridge off so they could get it back in the shed. It wasn't Northern Marine's project, but New World's, who bought the molds and the name from NM. New World was in financial trouble before this event and I think it is all now in the hands of lawyers and as far as I know, the boat is still inside the shed.

 

[colhel]

I wonder if they continued with launch but a much quicker pace the boat would have floated itself. By slowing down there wasn't enough water beneath the hull to allow it level itself.

 

[Erik C]

Looking at the boat it just feels wrong, way to high in relation to it's underwater part. ( not pretending to know anything about naval architecture)

 

[JumbleDuck]

The thing rolled when the bow was almost completely down to the waterline, so the upward force of the bow dolly seems not to be that significant to the capsize, as I had thought earlier. It looks in this video like the stability calcs with the partially ballasted hull were just wrong

Agreed. There were theories going round - elsewhere - at the time that she was unstable with the stern afloat and the bow held up, but it's clear from the video that she only really started going over when she was fully afloat.

Wasn't there some question about the credentials of the designer, who was sacked, and about an independent firm who said she wouldn't be stable but were overruled?

 

[MapisM]

Anyone got a good guess as to what happened @ 0:59 when it jolted? And what is the white water exiting the transom @ 1:13?

Re. the first, I think it's safe to assume that's when the dolly came off the ramp (or met a hole in it, whatever).
That was one of the things immediately disclosed, though I'm also skeptic that it had anything to see with the final result.

Re. the latter, no idea. There were speculations back in the days that the transom door was left open, hence flooding the lazarette and eventually the e/r, but I'm not sure if that was confirmed. A video taken from the stern would have been MUCH more interesting, in this respect.

 

[Delfin]

Agreed. There were theories going round - elsewhere - at the time that she was unstable with the stern afloat and the bow held up, but it's clear from the video that she only really started going over when she was fully afloat.

Wasn't there some question about the credentials of the designer, who was sacked, and about an independent firm who said she wouldn't be stable but were overruled?

It wasn't the designer but the project manager who was sacked. He stated that he had reservations about stability, but perhaps that is hindsight, and New World has not surprisingly rejected is opinions. The stability report was done by an independent firm, who made recommendations on ballasting to deal with the addition of another deck to an already quite tall vessel. That in itself doesn't mean she couldn't be stable, but clearly in the state she was launched, she wasn't stable enough. We'll have to wait for the Coast Guard and NTSB report to get the straight poop.

 

[MapisM]

We'll have to wait for the Coast Guard and NTSB report to get the straight poop.

Just curious, do you have an idea abut how long will that take?

Besides, am I right in recalling that you are based not far from Anacortes?
If so, I will probably return in that area sometimes next year, and I'd love to see your beautiful vessel in flesh, if there will be an opportunity to catch up!

 

[Delfin]

Just curious, do you have an idea abut how long will that take?

Besides, am I right in recalling that you are based not far from Anacortes?
If so, I will probably return in that area sometimes next year, and I'd love to see your beautiful vessel in flesh, if there will be an opportunity to catch up!

They say months, so who knows. And yes, we moor next door to the marina this event occurred in. Please do PM me when you get close - always happy to have visitors!

 

[MapisM]

I surely will.
In fact, my personal travel agent (aka wife ) recently agreed a home exchange with some folks who have a beautiful waterfront house in Lopez Island.
They will come to our place in Lake Como this summer, but we will probably come to WA only next year, during a long trip around the US that we are just beginning to organize.
For 2015, we already arranged our yearly long-haul trip down under - we are in fact enjoying the City of Sails as I'm writing...
...but in the meantime, if by chance you will come to the Eastern side of the Pond and you'd like to try some warmer waters (compared to what you are used to!), gimme a shout. Boaters are always more than welcome on our old timber tub - and even more so if they are trawler lovers!

 

[JumbleDuck]

It wasn't the designer but the project manager who was sacked. He stated that he had reservations about stability, but perhaps that is hindsight, and New World has not surprisingly rejected is opinions. The stability report was done by an independent firm, who made recommendations on ballasting to deal with the addition of another deck to an already quite tall vessel. That in itself doesn't mean she couldn't be stable, but clearly in the state she was launched, she wasn't stable enough. We'll have to wait for the Coast Guard and NTSB report to get the straight poop.

Although he was called the project manager, I believe that he claimed to have done most of the design and was expecting to be captain of the boat once she was commissioned. My recollection is that his dismissal came soon after he rejected the independent report on stability, though if that was the case I am surprised that his successors didn't take action.

 

[petem]

I don't know about that. In the vid at about 0.50 you can clearly see that the boat lurches suddenly and starts listing to port. As the boat is still well out of the water at that point, there has to have been some failure of the launch trolley, either the wheels slip off the launch ramp on one side or the trolley itself fails structurally. By the time the boat hits the water it is still listing to port and yes at that point the lack of roll stability ensures that it goes over

The naval architect has stated

Since the accident, the project naval architect/Professional Engineer has confirmed that the yacht, as designed, had adequate stability with the amount of ballast aboard at the time of launch, provided that “severe heeling moments” were not induced during the launch.

So it seems that the initial lurch to port which may have been caused by the failure of the launch trolley was indeed the reason that she eventually went over. Of course this absolutely begs the question as to why the yard allowed the launch to continue when they presumably knew that a 'severe heeling moment' during the launch was going to put the boat in danger of rolling

Yup a complete f*** up

Anyone know what happened to the boat afterwards? Was she repaired, were any major changes to the weight distribution made and did the buyer agree to take delivery of her? What about Northern Marine? Are they still in business?

This doesn't seem to be consistent with the story of an attempted slings launch after the boat was salvaged.

Personally, I don't think I've ever seen such a top heavy pleasure boat. Perhaps instinct rules after all? Indeed, she even looks top heavy compared to my previous benchmark (of course what's under the water that matters too):

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

She sat on the hard for a couple of months, then they came and took the flybridge off so they could get it back in the shed. It wasn't Northern Marine's project, but New World's, who bought the molds and the name from NM. New World was in financial trouble before this event and I think it is all now in the hands of lawyers and as far as I know, the boat is still inside the shed.

Sorry what do you mean by 'bought the name'? Northern Marine's website is still up and running http://www.northernmarine.com/home.php but the News section hasn't been updated since 2011. NM is not a builder we hear much about in Europe but I believe they had a good reputation in the USA. Are they still building boats?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Personally, I don't think I've ever seen such a top heavy pleasure boat. Perhaps instinct rules after all? Indeed, she even looks top heavy compared to my previous benchmark (of course what's under the water that matters too):

Yes it does all depend on what's under the water! If you looked at a boat similar in concept to this Northern Marine boat, like the Nordhavn 55, out of the water you'd wonder how it stayed upright in a marina let alone the sea but of course the N55 was one of Nordhavn's most popular boats and owners have cruised them all over the world. It's about how the weight is distributed and in how much ballast is added. The N55 has a hugely strong and heavy hull plus about 5t of ballast in the keel so that means that the centre of gravity is a lot lower than it looks and partly explains why it stays upright in the worst sea conditions.

In the case of the Northern Marine launch accident, it appears that some or all of the ballast had not yet been added to the boat apparently because of fears of overloading the launch trolleys. Had the full amount of ballast been present, I don't doubt that the boat would have stayed upright

 

[Delfin]

Sorry what do you mean by 'bought the name'? Northern Marine's website is still up and running http://www.northernmarine.com/home.php but the News section hasn't been updated since 2011. NM is not a builder we hear much about in Europe but I believe they had a good reputation in the USA. Are they still building boats?

Bud LeMieux founded the company as Northern Marine, sold it, got it back, then sold it again to New World and now will probably end up with it back again. LeMieux is going to great lengths to try to make it clear that even though the Baden was called a Northern Marine, it was so in name only as it was a poorly conceived stretched version of the 81 (http://www.yachtworld.com/core/list...im=quick&ybw=&sm=3&Ntk=boatsEN&currencyid=100) with some extra space (and weight) added to the superstructure.

When LeMieux sold the company one of the principal assets would have been the brand name. Now that he probably will own it again he is doing what he can to preserve the resale value of NM vessels since that name is now tainted by this event and isn't going to be worth much without some serious damage control.

New World laid off all employees and has been embroiled in legal disputes with other projects locally for some time before this incident involving delayed completion, cost overruns, etc.

 

[Delfin]

I surely will.
In fact, my personal travel agent (aka wife ) recently agreed a home exchange with some folks who have a beautiful waterfront house in Lopez Island.
They will come to our place in Lake Como this summer, but we will probably come to WA only next year, during a long trip around the US that we are just beginning to organize.
For 2015, we already arranged our yearly long-haul trip down under - we are in fact enjoying the City of Sails as I'm writing...
...but in the meantime, if by chance you will come to the Eastern side of the Pond and you'd like to try some warmer waters (compared to what you are used to!), gimme a shout. Boaters are always more than welcome on our old timber tub - and even more so if they are trawler lovers!

With a little luck, we'll be crossing over to Hawaii summer of 2016.....

 

[Delfin]

This doesn't seem to be consistent with the story of an attempted slings launch after the boat was salvaged.

Personally, I don't think I've ever seen such a top heavy pleasure boat. Perhaps instinct rules after all? Indeed, she even looks top heavy compared to my previous benchmark (of course what's under the water that matters too):

My understanding is that they build cruise ships to be top heavy to slow the period of roll, and of course to add more cabin space with a view. Not sure what the ultimate stability of one of these monsters is, but it might not be much different than the Baden. The difference is that it takes a rather smaller wave to roll a 90' to 65 degrees than the Costa Concordia so I always wonder how important functioning stabilizers are for pleasure boats to stay upright in extreme conditions.

And you are right. The Baden would not stay upright when the slings were lowered. I don't know whether that was because of shifting of ballast, infiltration of sea water to the port tanks or what, but one would think they had taken that into consideration when they lowered to slings to see if she could motor to her haul out location. She couldn't because she wouldn't stay upright.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Bud LeMieux founded the company as Northern Marine, sold it, got it back, then sold it again to New World and now will probably end up with it back again. LeMieux is going to great lengths to try to make it clear that even though the Baden was called a Northern Marine, it was so in name only as it was a poorly conceived stretched version of the 81 (http://www.yachtworld.com/core/list...rue&slim=quick&ybw=&sm=3&Ntk=boatsEN¤cyid=100) with some extra space (and weight) added to the superstructure.

When LeMieux sold the company one of the principal assets would have been the brand name. Now that he probably will own it again he is doing what he can to preserve the resale value of NM vessels since that name is now tainted by this event and isn't going to be worth much without some serious damage control.

New World laid off all employees and has been embroiled in legal disputes with other projects locally for some time before this incident involving delayed completion, cost overruns, etc.

Interesting. Thanks for that Delfin. I've always liked the look of Northern Marine boats so I'm pleased they may getting back into business again