Concerto
Well-known member
This happened on 20 Jan at 06.26. Maybe the captain was not awake.
Out of control ferry causes destruction in Barbados harbour - YouTube
Out of control ferry causes destruction in Barbados harbour - YouTube
Glad I was not moored in Barbados
- Thread starter Concerto
- Start date
capnsensible
Well-known member
Eek!
westhinder
Well-known member
?
Sandy
Well-known member
If that had been in the UK about 100 heads would have popped out of boats in the marina. In the USA lots of people screaming OMG.
It will be an interesting investigation. I hope everybody was insured.
It will be an interesting investigation. I hope everybody was insured.
NormanS
Well-known member
Something similar happened at the pontoons at Lochmaddy a few years ago. Fortunately it was late in the season, so no boats were on the pontoons at the time. The people on duty in the ferry office on the pier got a fright.
Frogmogman
Well-known member
? before I watched the clip I was going to suggest that it was all work for Bajansailor.
However, unless he’s a dab hand with a dustpan and brush, maybe not so much.
Stemar
Well-known member
Yeah, RIP that cat - that is NOT a phone call I'd like to get! OTOH, at least it's clear where the responsibility lies, so getting a payout shouldn't be too much of an issue unless there are some real weasel words in the mooring contract.
Charlie Boy
Well-known member
Anyone injured?
Bajansailor
Well-known member
I am involved in this (on the survey side) - I have seen a few other videos as well, and it is all becoming rather 'interesting'.
The yellow cat has been hauled out with a crane in the main harbour; she was impaled on a steel piling which cut right through one hull.
I had a look at her on Saturday. She is 'fixable', but at what cost?
The white cat which was almost submerged in the impact was hauled out this morning on a trailer at Carlisle Bay - I shall go to have a look at her tomorrow morning.
Both cats have had their rigs taken off with a crane, as various shrouds had broken, and there was not much holding them up.
The ferry is Admiral Bay III - there is a court injunction against her, stopping her from leaving, until both parties reach an amicable agreement.
Bajansailor
Well-known member
Thankfully, and very fortunately there were no injuries - it could so easily have been much worse.
If it had happened when each catamaran had perhaps 40 or 50 guests on board, about to leave on a sailing trip up the coast, I hate to think what the outcome would have been.
Similarly, if the masts had come down there could so easily have been casualties - these masts are probably 70' - 80' long, and they could have come down across the road / roundabout (which is just to the left of the video screen), or across the buildings on the dock.
capnsensible
Well-known member
Ah, I thought they looked like day tripper cats. As you say, nightmare of they had been packed with tourists.
Concerto
Well-known member
Thank you for the on the spot comments. Do keep us informed.
The noise of the boats breaking up was horrible on the video. Any knowledge as to what went wrong?
Bajansailor
Well-known member
Apparently the electronic controls for the engines malfunctioned, and they could not slow down or change gear from the bridge - and it sounds like nobody was on duty in the engine room at the time.
penfold
Well-known member
Not on duty while manoeuvring and an accident has occurred; that's gross misconduct. It looks like an old fashioned Norwegian car ferry, are you sure it has electronic anything?
Bajansailor
Well-known member
Aye, she is a former Norwegian Hurtigruten ferry, and she would have originally had traditional engine controls with a telegraph between the bridge and the engine room, and the engineer(s) would adjust the settings according to the commands from the bridge.
And there would not have been much to go wrong.
But I guess that some bright spark decided that if they had electronic controls retrofitted, then they would not need to have somebody in the engine room.
Which is fine until something goes wrong.......
Frogmogman
Well-known member
Thanks for the info Bajansailor.
Quite astonishing really, that neither mast came down. A miracle that nobody was hurt.
Quite astonishing really, that neither mast came down. A miracle that nobody was hurt.
AngusMcDoon
Well-known member
It looks and sounds like the ferry skipper tried to stop by navigating into the shore (6s to 12s on the clip). After that failed not much more the skipper could do.
emandvee44
Well-known member
Engine emergency stop buttons/controls? Drop anchor(s)? (probably nowhere near ready). Rudders hard over both ways?
M.
M.
AngusMcDoon
Well-known member
As the Miracle on the Hudson investigation showed, brain freeze in an unexpected situation that is usually routine accounts for 10 seconds before much useful can be done. It's easy giving a list of what could or should have been done sitting behind a keyboard, but in real life human factors have an impact. We're squishy fallible bags of biochemistry and aren't good at responding quickly to complex unexpected situations when we're anticipating another normal dull day. We evolved to run away from hungry predators that are bigger than us and keep our head above water if we find ourselves in it - and that's about it.
Last edited: