Thomson Majesty Disaster

[pressy]

Hi Dreamgirl, I am fine thanks, but it goes to show how we take these things for granted at times.

Just feeling for the families of the crew members concerned at such an upsetting time and those crew and staff and passengers still on the ship.

[Julessmiles]

I think there will be a huge smokescreen between TUI and Louis. Where are the families of those who have lost their lives going to get the money to sue two large organisations.

What is definite is that whoever was to blame for this tragedy is wasnt those poot guys who have lost their lives today.

 

I think it's very sad what had happened. I also think it is sad people commenting on 'sue-ing' Thomson. The management on the cruise ships I believe do seem to look after the welfare of their employees. It is too early to be posting comments like this. May those poor crew rest in peace & condolence to their families- this is the reason they work so hard & away from home, to support their families x

[Flopsy]

Accoding to an article in the Guardian:-

 

"lifeboats has a history of accidents, and the seafarers' union said it advised members they should not sit in lifeboats being lowered during drills.

Government officials quoted emergency services as saying crews were sent to the dock just after midday local time (12pm GMT) after "a lifeboat with occupants had fallen overboard from a cruise ship docked at the pier".

According to Spanish reports those killed were believed to be three Indonesians, a Filipino and a Ghanaian. Two Greek nationals on the lifeboat were seriously injured, with another Filipino slightly hurt. It is believed the boat dropped between 20 and 30 metres into the water before overturning. It was not known what caused the boat to fall.

According to the report about 2,000 passengers were on board the Majesty at the time, though none were involved in the drill. The ship is based in the port and usually operates cruises around the Canaries and Madeira.

A spokesman for Nautilus International, a trade union for seafarers, said lifeboat drills had a prior record of being notoriously dangerous.

Andrew Linington said: "We've had this happen so often and the industry has moved lamentably slowly to deal with the problem. There's been research which suggests that more people are dying in lifeboat drills than are being saved by lifeboats. It's that serious.

"The death toll has been such that we advise our members: if you're doing a drill the drill is about raising and lowering the lifeboats. It shouldn't be about people actually getting into them. We advise them to do it without people in the lifeboats."

An investigation into the issue in 2001 by Britain's Marine Accident Investigation Branch found 15% of all deaths involving professional seafarers involved lifeboat drills, totalling 12 deaths over 10 years, with 87 more people injured.

Linington said the danger was caused by a variety of factors including the heights involved, corroded equipment being poorly maintained, unclear instructions and poor crew training.

Deaths at sea remained all too common, he said: "It's an inherently dangerous life, even in the 21st century, and we'd say too dangerous. For British seafarers, and they tend to be working at the higher end of the industry, the workplace death and injury rate is over 50 times what it is on average for all land-based workers."

In general, he added, safety on cruise ships tended to be better than in some sectors, but could still be patchy: "We would say there are still too many preventable accidents on cruise ships, and lifeboats is a classic example of that."

The great majority of non-officers working on board tended to come from developing nations, particularly the Philippines or elsewhere in south-east Asia, Linington said: "It's certainly hard work. For the officers the pay is pretty good and the working conditions are hard, but for the ratings they work very hard.

"They're often away for eight or nine months at a time and do very long hours, and in many cases the work is very physical. It's a tough life. The pay can be good by the standards of their home countries but it's pretty low."

A spokesman for Thomson, which is owned by the German travel giant TUI, said: "Thomson Cruises can confirm there was an incident involving the ship's crew during a safety drill on board Thomson Majesty, in La Palma, Canary Islands today at 11:50am local time.

"We can also confirm that there have sadly been five crew fatalities and three crew members injured. One person has been discharged from hospital and we expect the other two people to be released from hospital imminently. Our thoughts are with the families of those involved.

"We are working closely with the ship owners and managers, Louis Cruises, to determine exactly what has happened and provide assistance to those affected by the incident. We are also working closely with all relevant authorities and will be co-operating fully with their investigations."

 

Leaves a lot of questions as to why the crew were expected to be in the lifeboat when it was being lowered?

 

Flopsy

 

 

 

[Yorkylad52]

My heart goes out to the families of the deceased. Many of the crew are sending their wages home to support their families. I am wondering if there may be some sort of collection for their families. I feel sure that there will be many who would want to contribute if something was organised.

[Lionesss]

I first read the story as I opened AOL. then I found this thread on CC.

How heartbreaking.

Our prayers go out to the families.

[kalos]

My heart goes out to the families of the deceased. Many of the crew are sending their wages home to support their families. I am wondering if there may be some sort of collection for their families. I feel sure that there will be many who would want to contribute if something was organised.

 

Have a look at this post and read number six Topsey made a donation to the Dream welfare fund . I should imagine and hope that the

Majesty has a fund as well.

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1713476#

[Yorkylad52]

Thank you, I had forgot about the Welfare fund do now remember that whilst on the Dream last year a map of the cruise signed by the Captain had been auctioned for the crew welfare fund.

[geomagot]

its a sad fact but deaths of seamen are common, too common, this occupation is fraught with dangers, this was an industrial accident, a terrible, tragic accident, the deployment of lifeboats is a dangerous activity, this is why many passenger ships insist on comprehensive training for all their crew

 

and for us, the passengers we are lucky that they do

 

imo it is reassuring to know that thomsons do hold regular training and safety drills that includes the deployment of the lifeboats, the crew are incredibly well trained and the ships have comprehensive procedures in place so that should there be a real emergency there will be a safe and well practised evacuation of all on board, they do this so that our cruises can be as safe as they can be

 

not all cruise lines procedures are so well practiced....remember the chaos after the concordia accident

 

I feel sure that thomsons main priority at the moment will be providing assistance to the families and those that have been injured and looking after their crew and those passengers that may have been affected, I believe that thomson have a good record of looking after the welfare of their crew to a good standard

[kalos]

Looks like the ones who survived will make it back onboard the ship tonight :)

A lucky escape for them, in that they were not too badly injured :D

 

Thomson Cruises issued a statement, saying "there was an incident involving the ship's crew during a safety drill".

"We can also confirm that there have sadly been five crew fatalities and three crew members injured.

"One person has been discharged from hospital and we expect the other two people to be released from hospital imminently.

"Our thoughts are with the families of those involved.

"We are working closely with the ship owners and managers, Louis Cruises, to determine exactly what has happened and provide assistance to those affected by the incident. We are also working closely with all relevant authorities and will be co-operating fully with their investigations."

[frecgenswl82]

First reports say that 5 crew members have died during a routine safety drill when a ifeboat fell 30metres into the sea

 

Sorry for the loss of your crew members.

[Minoushka]

I read here deploying. Lifeoats was extremely dangerous ? I. Have seen very rusted parts on lifeboats andi am wondering how many would be ok to be launched inanemergency

I think someone should look over all lifeboats of all companies to make sure all parts are top knotch and will not break as these did .Soeone here said if this had. Been full of pax the numbers of injured or worse would be extremely high Eachot can hold 150 pax

This Majesty is the old Ncl majesty ....which was. Very oldwhen. i went on it years ago ...sold to Louis IT has not been very lucky having another incident not too long ago

I think old ships shouldbe retired completely or refurbished. Like new

I wonder what they will discover after investigation

a shame it is always after tragedy that things change ...which I am hoping will happen ...such as regular checking of all lifeboat equipment after every voyage .yes it will be costlybut we must protect all ...crew and pax

if we all count on lifeboats in emergencies then they too will have to be scrutinized before departure . no point of drills and lining us up in front ofthen

M if they cause harm or can do so potentially

[Single Cruiser]

I've noticed Thomson mentioning Louis Cruises in their press statement too. Almost trying to say that as Louis Cruises owns the ship, they have more responsibility. I would think both have responsibilities on something like this, but we'll see what happens.

 

If you rent a property it is your landlords responsibility to maintain and do all necessary safety checks, it's your responsibility to inform landlord if anything that needs attention.

 

Majesty is owned by Louis Cruises so would imagine they employ a lot of the engineering crew with Thomson employing the bar/ents/waiting staff.

[Anglesonian]

So sadMy sympathies are with the family and crew. I am sure it will be very difficult for the rest of the staff to put on a smiley face and get on with serving the customers tonight.

This is a tragic industrial accident and I am sure the investigation that follows will find out what really happened. Just goes to show how dangerous some jobs are.

The deck department probably don't receive many (if any!) tips as they are mainly working behind the scenes.

My husband was a merchant sailor on the deck department for over 40 years and is aware of how dangerous the deployment of lifeboats is. He has told me of many 'near misses' and tragic accidents that have happened. They don't all make the news!

 

[Wightryder]

As said by an earlier poster, it is quite wrong for people to rush to judgement on this. It is not known at this stage what happened, why it happened or whether there were any any deficiencies in either the equipment or staff training. Nor should statements be made to the effect that Thomson were to blame. All these issues will come out in the investigation which will involve Louis Cruises as owners and managers of the ship and the Maltese Authorities as the ship is registered in Valetta.

 

Basically Thomson simply charter the vessel and are unlikely to have much if any involvement in this dreadful accident at all.

 

Airing predjudices is no substitute for establishing the facts!

[Dreamgirl1957]

As said by an earlier poster, it is quite wrong for people to rush to judgement on this. It is not known at this stage what happened, why it happened or whether there were any any deficiencies in either the equipment or staff training. Nor should statements be made to the effect that Thomson were to blame. All these issues will come out in the investigation which will involve Louis Cruises as owners and managers of the ship and the Maltese Authorities as the ship is registered in Valetta.

 

Basically Thomson simply charter the vessel and are unlikely to have much if any involvement in this dreadful accident at all.

 

Airing predjudices is no substitute for establishing the facts!

 

You are quite right whightryder as was Jules.

I think emotions are just running high with the shock as it is the lovely crew who really make our holidays and this has been such a tragedy .

 

I'm sure Thomsons will do their very best for all involved in this and of course it will all be delt with properly by the authorities and hopefully lessons will have been leaned. Just so awful there has been loss of life.

 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[Isis2]

Absolutely tragic accident, my thoughts are with the families and crew, must be awful for them.

 

May not sail tonight, the Port Authorties will want to investigate what went wrong, and if there is a problem with the lifeboats, they will NOT let it sail, I bet they are checking all the lifeboats now.

 

Will see what I can find out tomorrow once I get into the office, but will not be able to post when in the office, will be later tomorrow night.

[Single Cruiser]

The facts coming to light are that it was end of the crew lifeboat drill.

 

The lifeboat with the crew members onboard was being winched back onboard when a cable snapped causing it to fall and flip over 20M.

 

Spanish port authorities checking if the ship is safe before it can be released to sail to next port.

 

Thomson charter the ship and the officers from Louis cruises.

[csmjfmbe]

May those who lost their lives rest in peace, our thoughts go out to their family and loved ones and all the other crew members who will have known them.

Truly sad.

[petronella]

I have been on 4 cruises though none with Thomson.

 

But any of us who have been fortunate enough to have been able to cruise, however long, with whichever cruise line and whether in a little inside cabin or a grand suite, know how much we owe to the crew. They keep us keep us fed and comfortable, they make us feel special; most of all they keep us safe.

 

I don't know these people who lost their lives but my sincere thoughts go out to their families and loved ones. I hope these crew members always knew how grateful we all are.

[kate52]

A shocking and distressing incident. My heart goes out to those poor young men, and their friends and family.

kate

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Not had a good night. I woke up early and thought of the Majesty. So dreadful, especially when you have just come off her after a lovely holiday.

 

She is still in La Palma. I wonder if the passengers will be offered a flight home or to stay in hotels or will they just continue with some of the cruise?

[clive and anne]

Hopefully Infoqueen or Dave will give us an update when they can.

[Sshehow]

O so sorry whot can one say feel for them all left on her thinking of all the family's x

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

Very sad that this has happened, there are many questions that we here just do not the answers to,

 

we have been told that a cable snapped, OK we know that these cables

are tested and approved for use when new,

 

but do they get replaced after so many years of use

 

do they get replaced after a fixed number of uses,

 

are they inspected if so how often by what means,

 

then can the ship sail,

 

do all cables need to be inspected or replaced,

 

can she sail with one life boat out of action,

 

as to who is at fault, time will tell,

 

however you might find Thomson has little risk,

 

if you think about accidents were some one has hired a bus,

 

it has been the bus driver, the bus owner , the bus maintenance company

 

that has been at fault, the folks that charter the bus have a duty to

 

select a responsible company and check but thats all.

 

What is very important is we get a detailed report as soon as possible as

 

to what went wrong and if the industry needs to improve things then these

 

need to be done with out delay, the industry owes it to the men that

 

have lost their lives that this dos not happen again, sadly this is not the

 

first accident of this type, but it should be the last.

 

yours Shogun

[carrs]

As said by an earlier poster, it is quite wrong for people to rush to judgement on this. It is not known at this stage what happened, why it happened or whether there were any any deficiencies in either the equipment or staff training. Nor should statements be made to the effect that Thomson were to blame. All these issues will come out in the investigation which will involve Louis Cruises as owners and managers of the ship and the Maltese Authorities as the ship is registered in Valetta.

 

Basically Thomson simply charter the vessel and are unlikely to have much if any involvement in this dreadful accident at all.

 

Airing predjudices is no substitute for establishing the facts!

 

this is a tragic accident, and as wightryder correctly states above,

we sould be thinking of those who lost thier lives and those who are injured.

also think of those who witnessed this horrible event.

its easy to speculate and spread gossip, this event will be investigated and the findings published in due course, lets do the right thing and think on our statements before pressing the submit button.

carrs