Spotted in Bequia

[Bajansailor]

Ooops, sorry, I got it wrong when I said she was discharging cargo rather than loading.....

I also received a similar update from Jerry recently - he mentioned that the aft buoyancy / ballast tank in the barge is full width for some reason, and that there was water in this tank which sloshed to one side as the barge heeled slightly when the tug made it's sharp turn.
And like the water in the frying pan sloshing about, it seems that this caused a heel angle sufficient to allow the cargo to start to shift sideways as well, with disastrous consequences.
These barges usually have a high (perhaps 1.5 - 2m) bulwark all around, set in perhaps 1.5 m from the sides, to contain and restrain the cargo, but maybe this barge was completely open, to allow the cargo to 'fall over' between the tug and barge (and perhaps on to the tug as well?).

BTW, re the sinking of the Herald of Free Enterprise, she also suffered a dramatic loss of stability due to this sloshing effect when water came through the open bow door and sloshed about on the car deck, causing her to rapidly fall over.

 

[Bajansailor]

Here are a couple more photos, received recently from Jerry.

The poor tug does look rather bashed in.

 

[TQA]

They have got the tug moored on the side of the barge and in fact have swopped sides a few times in the last few days so something is going on.

As you say the damage to the side of the tug is considerable, I wonder if there is any insurance involvement.

 

[TQA]

Update on the efforts to flip the barge

Back in Bequia and watching the harbour antics. The mooring buoy vendors scurrying out to greet every incoming charter boat, the magnificent frigate birds harrying the masked boobies and the efforts of the tug crew working on the inverted barge.

They tried again to flip the barge yesterday and got it past the vertical for the first time but as soon as the tug stopped pulling back she went.

 

[Bajansailor]

They tried again to flip the barge yesterday and got it past the vertical for the first time but as soon as the tug stopped pulling back she went.

I'm just wondering how they set about doing this - was it as per your proposal a few posts earlier to flood and submerge one side?
They would probably have to anchor the submerged side, bow and stern, so that the tug could create a righting moment (?).

 

[TQA]

I'm just wondering how they set about doing this - was it as per your proposal a few posts earlier to flood and submerge one side?
They would probably have to anchor the submerged side, bow and stern, so that the tug could create a righting moment (?).

Thats is what they appear to be doing, they have flooded the tanks in such a way that it is lying at quite an angle and have attached the down side to an anchor somehow.

At least one attempt resulted in that anchor dragging. I think they could do it now if when they take it past the vertical they get some lift on down side to keep it that way. Either a couple of big flotation bags or some kind of lifting winch.

 

[mike_bryon]

word is that one of the crew on the tug, a young man, lost a foot in the accident.

 

[TQA]

A local that I was discussing another matter with thought it was only part of his foot, maybe a toe.

When you see the damage to the side of the barge and the superstructure on the tug it is amazing that there were not more injuries/fatalities. The mental picture of the 1500 tonnes of cement toppling against the side of the tug then the barge flipping over is not a pretty one.

They had another go today and for the first time got it well past the vertical and on its way to righting but when the pull was relaxed back she went. Still they are nearer to success!

 

[RichardS]

They had another go today and for the first time got it well past the vertical and on its way to righting but when the pull was relaxed back she went. Still they are nearer to success!

Perhaps some of the cement is still stuck inside the barge and has set to the inside somewhere up high and off the centreline. If that's the case they will presumable never right it without some large buoyancy bags on the outside to counteract the weight of the cement?

Richard

 

[TQA]

Perhaps some of the cement is still stuck inside the barge and has set to the inside somewhere up high and off the centreline. If that's the case they will presumable never right it without some large buoyancy bags on the outside to counteract the weight of the cement?

Richard

On one of the last attempts I could see as a I passed that the cargo carrying area has been swept clean.

They are having another go as I write this and have got it well past the vertical again as you can see from the pic. [Sorry about the fuel barge getting into the shot. ]

 

[TQA]

I think they have cracked it. The tug has been holding her at this angle and they are running a pump to dewater the barge.

 

[Helly]

Great pics and story. One of the things that I love about being on the water is that there's almost always a situation happening around about to keep you interested.

If you see a Rival 36 called Osprey, give them a wave. It's my Mum, Dad, brother and girlfriend and I think they are going into Bequia anytime soon.

 

[RichardS]

One of the things that I love about being on the water is that there's almost always a situation happening around about to keep you interested.

Too true - the last time I was in Bequia we managed to get the dinghy painter round the prop as we came in! Succeeded in dropping anchor quickly giving me time to dive down with a serrated knife and cut it free!

A great show for all the other boats!

Richard

 

[TQA]

SUCCESS!

Hi Helly

Osprey was anchored next to us for a couple of days and we wished them Bon voyage as they set off for the Tobeago Cays.


THE BARGE IS UPRIGHT well almost.

I bet there is a bottle or two being cracked onboard the tug tonight. They got the barge turned over and pumped out enough water so as it looks like it is stable now.

JOB DONE!

 

[Bajansailor]

Re: SUCCESS!

Apologies for dragging up such an old thread again, but I thought that maybe some folk on here might be interested in knowing what subsequently happened to this poor barge.

There are some more photos of the barge (upside down still) in this thread - the poster is a marine surveyor in St Lucia.
http://www.lucianriders.com/forum/v...AvG9CMI5L_rWgl5vAQaxG6TayfKtvAeYA4zPoqDFMGoaw

After righting her successfully in Bequia she was put back into service.
And a few years later she capsized again, this time while bringing a cargo of pozzolan from Martinique to Barbados for the Arawak Cement Company here.
Or rather she arrived here (Barbados) with a heavy list - and the Authorities refused adamantly to allow her to enter the harbor, or even to be beached. After stooging around outside for the next 12 hours, the inevitable happened and she flipped, dumping 2,000 tonnes of pozzolan into deep water off Bridgetown.
A pal of mine subsequently bought her 'as is, where is' (ie upside down) at anchor in Carlisle Bay and towed her (still upside down!) 100 miles west to Carriacou in the Grenadines where she was righted (again).

I later heard that she is no longer in service now.
One reason for being a bit 'tippy' was that she was much narrower than when she was originally built.
At some stage in her life she had run aground and all the shell plating along one chine was well mashed up.
So they just chopped it back to good plating and welded in new side shell plating (not worrying about bottom or deck plating), thus making her narrower.....
It also didn't help that she had a full width aft peak tank for happy sloshing of free surface effect water.

 

[Seajet]

Re: SUCCESS!

Jeez,

I thought my ' to do list ' was a bit long with some wiring jobs and a bit of deck paint - surely towing the thing inverted was never going to have a happy ending :ambivalence:

 

[Bajansailor]

Re: SUCCESS!

After she was righted the second time she was put back into service for a couple of years, and my pal was very careful regarding how she was loaded (and he also kept a keen eye on the tank spaces in the hull re water that could slosh about).
However the hull interior was not painted, and everything was cheerfully rusting, and it got to the stage where it was not economic to start welding in new shell plating and framing, so she was scrapped.

 

[auditdata]

Re: SUCCESS!

I wonder if it is the same one upside down here in Tyrell Bay in 2014!!

 

[capnsensible]

Re: SUCCESS!

My most favouritely named bar in Bequia. Yes, I know........


https://foursquare.com/v/whaleboners/4f6a7edbe4b095242fee7dea

 

[Bajansailor]

Re: SUCCESS!

Auditdata, thank you for the photos - yes, that is definitely SP 2 (later renamed SK 2).