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Accident on Harmony

Sirkeline

By Sirkeline,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Sirkeline

Sirkeline

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Posted (edited)

From news in Norwegian newspaper:

 

 

24:58 13/09/16 SHARE Share

One dead after accident on the world's largest cruise

One person is dead after a lifeboat accident on the world's largest cruise ship Harmony of the Seas, according to AFP. In addition, four people injured, two critically and two seriously.

 

The boat was docked in the port of Marseille when the accident occurred, according to La Province.

Edited by Sirkeline
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Single Cruiser

Single Cruiser

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The crew was doing a standard drill in port today. Three lifeboats lowered as per normal drill. There was a code Alpha mid drill which said adjacent to lifeboat x but nothing else was mentioned and the boats recovered after the drill. Will let you know if I hear anything else.

 

 

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the griswolds

the griswolds

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From the BBC website,

 

One crew member has died and four others have been injured, two seriously, after a lifeboat accident on the Harmony of the Seas cruise liner, the world's biggest.

During a stopover in Marseille, the crew were reportedly taking part in a safety exercise when the lifeboat became detached from the fifth deck.

 

Thoughts are with all involved.:(:(

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chengkp75

chengkp75

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If the boat dropped, most likely scenario, then it would almost certainly be a mechanical failure. The boats have "off load" release, meaning the boat has to be floating before the mechanism allows the boat to be released, regardless of what the operator does. This mechanism can be overridden, and is done periodically for testing, but requires tools and a lot of knowledge and some force.

 

With regards to delays, if the ship is below maximum capacity, they could sail without the boat, or if they have a spare wire onboard (usual), they could have it repaired in a few hours. Police investigation would be the same whether it was human or mechanical failure.

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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

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Not sure what will happen but guess it depends if it was human or mechanical error.

 

If mechanical I'd imagine we'd stay here for 24/48hrs.

 

 

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I'm wondering, not having any real facts, if this is/was the first scheduled lifeboat drill with the crew. What are they monthly when sailing out of the US? I also wonder if we will ever get the facts.

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chengkp75

chengkp75

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I'm wondering, not having any real facts, if this is/was the first scheduled lifeboat drill with the crew. What are they monthly when sailing out of the US? I also wonder if we will ever get the facts.

 

No, given that the ship has been in service from May, and SOLAS requires monthly boat drills, they've done this before (doesn't matter where the ship sails from). SOLAS only requires one boat per drill to be launched, but also requires that every boat be launched every 3 months, so this may be the first time since the shipyard that these three boats were launched. Given 18 boats, this would mean 6 per month, or more likely 3 every two weeks.

 

There should be a BMA investigation, but whether the report will be published is another thing.

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Single Cruiser

Single Cruiser

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If the boat dropped, most likely scenario, then it would almost certainly be a mechanical failure. The boats have "off load" release, meaning the boat has to be floating before the mechanism allows the boat to be released, regardless of what the operator does. This mechanism can be overridden, and is done periodically for testing, but requires tools and a lot of knowledge and some force.

 

 

 

With regards to delays, if the ship is below maximum capacity, they could sail without the boat, or if they have a spare wire onboard (usual), they could have it repaired in a few hours. Police investigation would be the same whether it was human or mechanical failure.

 

 

Quoting a crew member so might be wrong but they said aft line "had detached " throwing everyone back. The small rescue craft was launched presumably with medical team onboard and that and all three lifeboats involved in drill are moored at quayside still. All aft areas cordoned off.

 

We are at 6217 passengers

 

 

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chengkp75

chengkp75

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Quoting a crew member so might be wrong but they said aft line "had detached " throwing everyone back. The small rescue craft was launched presumably with medical team onboard and that and all three lifeboats involved in drill are moored at quayside still. All aft areas cordoned off.

 

We are at 6217 passengers

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

If the boat dropped from any height at all, the releasing hook could have been incorrectly fastened at one end, but usually that is found out pretty quickly as soon as the weight of the boat is put on it when you start lowering. My guess is that one of the wires parted, dropping one end of the boat. This is always a danger with lowering boats, and why they never have more than the minimum crew in them.

 

Those are the 365 man mega-boats, and you are down about a boat and a half below capacity, so even if the boat is damaged, or the davit assembly is damaged, you could sail without the boat.

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