P&O and Mallorca - repercussions of weather elsewhere

[Neeves]

Mallorca: P&O ship with thousands of Britons onboard collides with tanker

I was under the impression that mooring lines on these ships were dyneema (and basically indestructible).

If the conditions were that bad there must be other horror stories.

Jonathan

 

[Concerto]

More information with a video here.

P&O Britannia cruise ship crashes during Mallorca storms

 

[Sandy]

I was under the impression that mooring lines on these ships were dyneema (and basically indestructible).

Nothing is indestructible. What was the gross tonnage of the liner?

 

[Neeves]

Nothing is indestructible. What was the gross tonnage of the liner?

No idea - I suspect windage is a bigger factor

Google might be your friend

MV Britannia (2014) - Wikipedia

What do you deduce from this link?

Jonathan

 

[Clancy Moped]

https://forums.ybw.com/threads/at-last-🌨️🌩️.600366/#post-8273897

 

[dunedin]

At what point do they stop making these tower blocks of balcony cabins taller and longer?
Even if the ropes didn't break they would break any bollards off the piers.
And God forbid one loses all power and ends up broadside to a severe storm.

 

[capnsensible]

Cruise ship loses power in stormy seas off Norway | Watch News Videos Online

 

[capnsensible]

No idea - I suspect windage is a bigger factor

Google might be your friend

MV Britannia (2014) - Wikipedia

What do you deduce from this link?

Jonathan

All large vessels put out a lot of docklines to share the load from what I've seen regularly passing cruise ship and container ship docks. I believe they may double up on those when bad weather is forecast.

I deduce from the brief moments captured on mobile phones that it is futile to try and outguess Ships Masters, Crew and Designers.....

 

[Helidan]

All large vessels put out a lot of docklines to share the load from what I've seen regularly passing cruise ship and container ship docks. I believe they may double up on those when bad weather is forecast.

I deduce from the brief moments captured on mobile phones that it is futile to try and outguess Ships Masters, Crew and Designers.....

I believe the oil and LNG terminals at Milford Haven use load cells to continuously monitor mooring line forces. Anything getting close to the limits and tugs will likely be called over.

 

[Neeves]

If you google 'mooring line failures on cruise ships' you will find that the problem is not uncommon. It is spectacular if its a cruise ship and maybe if you extend the search, to other classes of ship, it becomes even more common. Given the cost of mooring lines - the availability of data, see post 9, the cost of getting it wrong,...... its surprising it occurs at all.

But then I note capnsensible's final comment on his post 8 and at the end of the day the responsibility is solely that of the Captain of the relevant ship and also the port authorities.

Port authorities can deny access to ports for a whole variety of reasons (I bracket the ones I know), weather (Sydney), lack of operable thrusters (Port Botany) etc, they can order ships of anchorages (Newcastle, Oz) - why not demand extra mooring lines when the forecast merits intervention?

Jonathan

 

[westernman]

I am surprised that this kind of thing still happens.
It is not difficult to calculate the load due to the wind and the number of lines which should be required to share the load.

Also, these ships have pod drives and can bring a huge amount of power to drive the ships side ways. Why wasn't this used?

 

[RunAgroundHard]

I am surprised that this kind of thing still happens.
It is not difficult to calculate the load due to the wind and the number of lines which should be required to share the load.

Also, these ships have pod drives and can bring a huge amount of power to drive the ships side ways. Why wasn't this used?

I work on dynamically positioned vessels. The bollards that the vessels tie to have limited working loads limits, which requires a harbour plan to provide thrust support to reduce loads. However, some ports have limits on thruster use as the scour from them can be significant. In addition, it can be too shallow to use thrusters at some berths. Normally this is contained in a plan with various contingencies, including leaving an anchoring outside.

 

[westernman]

I work on dynamically positioned vessels. The bollards that the vessels tie to have limited working loads limits, which requires a harbour plan to provide thrust support to reduce loads. However, some ports have limits on thruster use as the scour from them can be significant. In addition, it can be too shallow to use thrusters at some berths. Normally this is contained in a plan with various contingencies, including leaving an anchoring outside.

It was not a bollard which failed.

The harbour prefers a ship to crash into another one rather than use a thruster???

 

[ylop]

Presumably since passengers received minor injuries, and it seems to be a U.K. flagged vessel there will be an MAIB investigation so you can all do less speculation.

 

[Sandy]

No idea - I suspect windage is a bigger factor

Google might be your friend

MV Britannia (2014) - Wikipedia

What do you deduce from this link?

Jonathan

I always enjoy quoting a good friend and CEO of a major UK organisation, 'Shit happens, get over it.' in events like this. My reply was always, 'as you know it is my job to ensure that the shit does not happen', it always raised a smile as we both knew what our jobs were.

 

[capnsensible]

I hadn't realised that Internet Captain was such a worthy rank.

 

[Stemar]

Am I right in thinking that many ports now require ships to hook up to mains power (I know it isn't a 13amp plug ) and stop their engines to reduce pollution?

If so, starting up is going to take a bit longer than a few seconds preheat and turn the key, so engines may not be available in time.

 

[Neeves]

Am I right in thinking that many ports now require ships to hook up to mains power (I know it isn't a 13amp plug ) and stop their engines to reduce pollution?

If so, starting up is going to take a bit longer than a few seconds preheat and turn the key, so engines may not be available in time.

It depends on shore side facilities, some have power, others do not.

Sydney, where complaints have been rife does not have shore power - bizarre.

Jonathan

 

[[3889]]

Dyneema mooring lines? Surely not. I was once rafted on by a Dutch boat that used a retired dyneema halyard as springs. In very settled conditions we were together for less than an hour before I gave in and relocated for fear my cleats were going to part company from the deck.

 

[Stemar]

Slightly verbose description of the incident: