HMS Bounty

"began to experience difficulties ... on Sunday when it lost power and was unable to continue "de-watering".

De watering????

Whaaat???????
 
Last edited:
From here: http://www.tallshipbounty.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=587


UPDATE: Coast Guard responds to vessel in distress 160 miles from hurricane's centerPORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard has received word that the crew of the HMS Bounty has abandoned ship approximately 90 miles southeast of Hatteras N.C., Monday.

The 17 person crew donned cold water survival suits and lifejackets before launching in two 25-man lifeboats with canopies.

The Coast Guard continues to monitor the situation and assess the weather conditions to determine the soonest Coast Guard aircraft or surface assets can be on scene to conduct effective rescue operations.

Coast Guard Sector North Carolina initially received a call from the owner of the 180-foot, three mast tall ship, HMS Bounty, saying she had lost communication with the vessel's crew late Sunday evening.

The Coast Guard 5th District command center in Portsmouth subsequently received a signal from the emergency position indicating radio beacon registered to the Bounty, confirming the distress and position.

An air crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City launched aboard an HC-130 Hercules aircraft, which later arrived on scene and reestablished communications with the Bounty's crew.

The vessel was reportedly taking on water and was without propulsion. On scene weather is reported to be 40 mph winds and 18-foot seas.
 
MASH said:
"began to experience difficulties ... on Sunday when it lost power and was unable to continue "de-watering".

De watering????

Whaaat???????
Click to expand...
Loss of power shouldn't stop 'dewatering', every one knows that the most efficient method of removing water from a boat is a frightened man with a bucket. 17 frightened crew could shift quite a lot of water provided they've got enough buckets!

Extract from CG report 'The vessel was reportedly taking on water and was without propulsion. On scene weather is reported to be 40 mph winds and 18-foot seas.' I would have thought that 40mph wind would provide sufficient propulsion.

Seriously though, I wish the crew all the best of luck and hope they can be recovered.
 
Last edited:
ghostlymoron said:
Loss of power shouldn't stop 'dewatering', every one knows that the most efficient method of removing water from a boat is a frightened man with a bucket. 17 frightened crew could shift quite a lot of water provided they've got enough buckets!
Click to expand...

Sure, a lot of water by yacht standards. But in a ship that size with planking working and letting in water, a dozen or so people with buckets will achieve bugger all. Most of them would be stood in companionways passing the buckets up from the lower decks to the weather deck where they can be emptied, you'd probably only have one or at best two people actually dipping buckets. We do a chain in the opposite direction to pass provisions down to the dry stores and cold stores on Stavros, and we'd need more than 15 people to do a hand-to-hand (rather than walking backwards and forwards) chain up to the deck.

That said, on a well-found ship it should be very difficult to knock out the mechanical pumping systems. I don't know exactly what the pumping arrangements on Stavros are, but I do know we have four large generators that could power them, one of which is located in its own compartment forward, above the maindeck, and fitted with spring-powered hand starting.

On Pelican, there's a self-contained diesel pump on a trolley on the maindeck, with its own suction down to the bilge already installed and ready to be connected.

ghostlymoron said:
Extract from CG report 'The vessel was reportedly taking on water and was without propulsion. On scene weather is reported to be 40 mph winds and 18-foot seas.' I would have thought that 40mph wind would provide sufficient propulsion.
Click to expand...

The same thought crossed my mind :) 40mph should be of no great significance on that size of ship. Like any square-rigger, she won't go to windward at all well, so it depends what they were trying to do. Also remember the story is filtered through people who are used to motor ships.

ghostlymoron said:
Seriously though, I wish the crew all the best of luck and hope they can be recovered.
Click to expand...

Indeed. And let's not forget that news stories are never entirely accurate.

Pete
 
prv said:
Also remember the story is filtered through people who are used to motor ships.
Click to expand...

And if they use the expression "dewatering" for pumping out a flooded vessel one wonders if they have ever been near a boat, let alone a ship at all. Dear me!

Bounty must have aux generators and self powered pumps so a simple loss of main engine isn't going to be the cause. Badly contaminated fuel perhaps, but ingress (sorry, watering) at a level to cause abandonment into hazardous weather must be caused by something very serious in addition.
 
MASH said:
And if they use the expression "dewatering" for pumping out a flooded vessel one wonders if they have ever been near a boat, let alone a ship at all.
Click to expand...

Actually it's a perfectly standard term in the commercial shipping world as far as I can see, albeit possibly a US-specific one. Certainly I've heard it plenty of times before now.

Pete
 
ghostlymoron said:
Loss of power shouldn't stop 'dewatering', every one knows that the most efficient method of removing water from a boat is a frightened man with a bucket. 17 frightened crew could shift quite a lot of water provided they've got enough buckets! . . . . .
Click to expand...

I think you have misunderstood the situation?

The Captain reported that this 180 foot ship was "taking on water at a rate of 2 feet per hour". The 'crew' are youngsters not hardened seamen.

The order to abandon ship would have been given, in the light of this knowledge and in the teeth of a strengthening hurricane with sustained wind speeds of 85 knots.

Your call? :confused:
 
lenseman said:
I think you have misunderstood the situation?

The Captain reported that this 180 foot ship was "taking on water at a rate of 2 feet per hour". The 'crew' are youngsters not hardened seamen.

The order to abandon ship would have been given, in the light of this knowledge and in the teeth of a strengthening hurricane with sustained wind speeds of 85 knots.

Your call? :confused:
Click to expand...

The Captain should not have put to sea with the winds forecast, especially with an inexperienced crew.
 
ghostlymoron said:
Loss of power shouldn't stop 'dewatering', every one knows that the most efficient method of removing water from a boat is a frightened man with a bucket. 17 frightened crew could shift quite a lot of water provided they've got enough buckets!

Extract from CG report 'The vessel was reportedly taking on water and was without propulsion. On scene weather is reported to be 40 mph winds and 18-foot seas.' I would have thought that 40mph wind would provide sufficient propulsion.

Seriously though, I wish the crew all the best of luck and hope they can be recovered.
Click to expand...

The two diesel engnes are capabe of pushing the ship along. Be interesting to know why both engines failed. Maybe yet another case of water in the fuel tanks. One of the problems of on deck fuel tank vents as many ships engineers are aware. The self closing valves do not always work if not maintained or set correctly. An east coast UK pilot boat suffered the same problem recently and was towed in by a sister boat.
 
UPDATE: Bounty sunk, Skipper missing at sea

Two crew members of a Nova Scotia-built replica vessel are missing after abandoning ship off the coast of North Carolina in high seas brought on by Hurricane Sandy.

Officials with the U.S. Coast Guard told CBC News the 16-member crew of HMS Bounty decided to abandon ship after getting caught in 5.5-metre seas off Cape Hatteras on Monday.

Three crew members were washed overboard as they tried to get to two covered life-rafts, said the U.S. Coast Guard. Only one of the three members made it to the life-raft and was among the 14 people hoisted onto helicopters.

Coast Guard officials said the two missing crew members — a man and a woman — are believed to be in cold water survival suits and life-jackets. He said the air search is being plotted based on wind direction and speed, and will be expanded.

Claudia McCann, whose husband Robin Walbridge is the captain of the Bounty, told CBC News her husband is one of the two missing crew members.

HMS Bounty sank several hours after the evacuation.

The U.S. Coast Guard was originally told 17 people were on the Bounty, but now say 16 people were on board. Officials have spoken to all 14 survivors and say they're all "in good shape."

A U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter arrived on scene at approximately 6:30 a.m. and hoisted five people from the life-rafts. A second helicopter arrived later and rescued nine more people

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/10/29/ns-hms-bounty-hurricane-sandy.html
 
lenseman said:
I think you have misunderstood the situation?

The Captain reported that this 180 foot ship was "taking on water at a rate of 2 feet per hour". The 'crew' are youngsters not hardened seamen.

The order to abandon ship would have been given, in the light of this knowledge and in the teeth of a strengthening hurricane with sustained wind speeds of 85 knots.

Your call? :confused:
Click to expand...

BBC news are now reporting the ship as 'lost' so it was a serious situation. Perhaps I was a bit flippant in my initial post particularly as 2 crew are unaccounted for. I had not heard that the intake of water was so high and that sheds a different light on the order to abandon ship which should not be given until sinking is imminent.
 
They lost all power at about 6:30pm their time and put up a shout to the CG. That is when they started to take on water and they activated their EPIRB.

They abandoned ship at about 4:30am during their night and were picked up by helicopter about 2 hours later.

The Skipper and one female crew member are listed as still missing.

Very sad.
 
ghostlymoron said:
Loss of power shouldn't stop 'dewatering', every one knows that the most efficient method of removing water from a boat is a frightened man with a bucket. 17 frightened crew could shift quite a lot of water provided they've got enough buckets!

...
Click to expand...

In 5m seas I seriously doubt that even an experienced crew could do much bailing - you'll be working flat out simply to avoid being thrown around.
 
LATEST NEWS UPDATE:

One of two crew members missing from HMS Bounty off North Carolina found by coastguard but is "unresponsive". The skipper is still missing.

The US Coast Guard said they have found the body missing HMS Bounty crew member Claudene Christian, 42, off the North Carolina coast after the ship sank earlier today.

The search for the ship's missing captain, Robin Walbridge, 63, continues.

A spokesperson said, "A crew aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., located Christian who was unresponsive, hoisted her into the helicopter and took her to Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

T
Notices to Mariners - Week 51
Replies
4
Views
675
Shaz77
S

Share this page

Top