Is Royal Princess having trouble at sea?

[Optotronics]

ive been watching the direction and location crossing the Atlantic the past few days and just noticed that for at least the past hour instead of a west course at 20kts, it has reversed direction to the northeast and slowed to 2 kts. Am I just paranoid? I've never been on a TA so not sure if this is normal.

[Micahs Grandad]

Certainly not normal. We did one where they changed course to avoid a storm but going 2 knots is strange.

[Optotronics]

Certainly not normal. We did one where they changed course to avoid a storm but going 2 knots is strange.

I am concerned because if the don't reverse course and get up to max speed in the next few hours, I don't see it arriving in Ft lauderdale Sunday morning:(

[WVBill]

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:371790/mmsi:310661000/imo:9584712/vessel:ROYAL_PRINCESS

 

Shows multiple speed changes from 19 to 2 kts and back over the last 2 hours and basically stationary in the same position.

[chengkp75]

Not sure what tracking site you're using, but where she is in the ocean, it is only by satellite AIS, which is very limited (about 2 updates per day), so lots of that "track" you're seeing is "speculation" based on the last known AIS position. I use marinetraffic, and every vessel around her is shown as "received by satellite" without identification (which is normal). However, the Royal has "pinged" something that gave her position about 35 minutes ago, so this may be either an SSAS (Ships Security Alert System) that sends a GPS position, if they were having mechanical troubles, or a notification to a national coast guard that they have a medical emergency. Those are the only two instances I can think of where the AIS system would pick up a ship at a random time in the middle of the ocean. She could be returning to the Azores for evacuation.

 

She is shown now as doing 19.9 knots on a course of 026*.

[WVBill]

Not sure what tracking site you're using, .... I use marinetraffic, .

 

See the link I posted: marinetraffic.com is the tracking site I used also.

[chengkp75]

See the link I posted: marinetraffic.com is the tracking site I used also.

 

But again, as she is way out of range of AIS, she would normally only be showing as "received by satellite" and without a ship's name. Highly unusual that all that data would be picked up by a commercial site in the middle of the ocean. Also, it's not listing the station receiving the position, so I think something is up.

[WVBill]

The Naval Aviator in me says "man overboard profile" but a Chief Engineer would know better than me. ;-)

 

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[chengkp75]

The Naval Aviator in me says "man overboard profile" but a Chief Engineer would know better than me. ;-)

 

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Yeah, didn't think of man overboard, but yes, that could be it. The ship's ECDIS (electronic chart display) has a function to mark a spot when something like this happens, so you can return to that spot regardless of drift, etc. Much better than the old way of Williamson turns and guesstimating drift and set. They may have triggered a signal for any available coast guard air support (have to be fixed wing out there) to home on, which is why their position is visible. If that's the case, unfortunately, finding someone out there in the open ocean is slim to none.

[geocruiser]

Not sure what tracking site you're using, but where she is in the ocean, it is only by satellite AIS, which is very limited (about 2 updates per day), so lots of that "track" you're seeing is "speculation" based on the last known AIS position. I use marinetraffic, and every vessel around her is shown as "received by satellite" without identification (which is normal). However, the Royal has "pinged" something that gave her position about 35 minutes ago, so this may be either an SSAS (Ships Security Alert System) that sends a GPS position, if they were having mechanical troubles, or a notification to a national coast guard that they have a medical emergency. Those are the only two instances I can think of where the AIS system would pick up a ship at a random time in the middle of the ocean. She could be returning to the Azores for evacuation.

 

She is shown now as doing 19.9 knots on a course of 026*.

 

So, there is no tracking site for when they are in the middle of the ocean that we would be able to track her?

[antsp]

On the Royal as I type, all normal no deviation from route, we do have zombies in the Atrium though

[chengkp75]

So, there is no tracking site for when they are in the middle of the ocean that we would be able to track her?

 

Even if you pay marinetraffic, or the other sites, for their "upgrade" to satellite AIS, they only give two updates every 24 hours. The problem with satellite AIS is the sheer volume of messages that a satellite handles. These are specific satellites to receive the AIS radio signal, and their footprint is very large, so there may be a couple of thousand ships in the area, all transmitting AIS signals. The satellite also has to transmit the signal to a ground station, and if the queries from ground are too much, or there are too many ships in the area, then the signals can "collide" and get lost or corrupted.

 

The best way to track a ship in the middle of the ocean is to look for the last known ground based AIS position, know the destination, and then figuring the distance traveled, you look for a ship of the proper color (blue for passenger) on the approximate course, and in the approximate position, and take whatever ship is labeled "received by satellite" that looks about right as your target.

 

Now, the satellite AIS system will give national authorities real time updates on ships that they are interested in, either for SAR, or maritime security reasons. So, it is possible to get the data, but you'd have to work for the USCG or Homeland Security. :o

[Optotronics]

On the Royal as I type, all normal no deviation from route, we do have zombies in the Atrium though

That's good news. Are you sure of the direction you are travelling? GPS shows a heading of 026 (NE) away from the states.

[chengkp75]

This could be a prime example of message collisions on the satellite, or it could be another explanation. The ship is equipped with life rings on the bridge wings that can be dropped, and will have a SART (Search and Rescue Transponder) attached, which will send out the vessel's name, call sign, and GPS position. The ship could have lost one of these (they sometimes fall out of their holder in high vibrations) and when it hits the water it automatically starts transmitting.

 

Maybe antsp should call the bridge and let them know that something is transmitting the Royal's name and position.

[Optotronics]

Or if antsp is correct about everything seeming normal, it could be just a limitation of the marinetraffic software where for some reason the last digit is getting dropped from the speed and heading ie 2.0kts at a heading of 26 degrees is really 20kts at a heading of 260 degrees.

[WVBill]

This could be a prime example of message collisions on the satellite, or it could be another explanation. The ship is equipped with life rings on the bridge wings that can be dropped, and will have a SART (Search and Rescue Transponder) attached, which will send out the vessel's name, call sign, and GPS position. The ship could have lost one of these (they sometimes fall out of their holder in high vibrations) and when it hits the water it automatically starts transmitting.

 

Maybe antsp should call the bridge and let them know that something is transmitting the Royal's name and position.

Great info. Thanks for the education, Chief.

 

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[chengkp75]

Great info. Thanks for the education, Chief.

 

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I was working an offshore oil platform off Sable Island, Canada, quite a few years back. We suddenly got a call from Canadian Forces SAR asking us what our emergency was. We, of course, didn't know what they were talking about, so they told us our beacon had started transmitting about 3 minutes ago. We found out that one of the painters had taken the life ring off it's rack to paint the rack, and turned the beacon upright which is all it takes to start transmitting.

[AE_Collector]

We turned around to check a capsized boat we had passed when on Pacific Princess in 2014. They decided it had been floating upside down at sea for quite some time, reported it to US Coast Guard and we were on our way to Hawaii again.

[geocruiser]

Chengkp75,

 

Thank you for the information. You all ways have great info to share.

[Lucky TGO]

On the Royal as I type, all normal no deviation from route, we do have zombies in the Atrium though

 

Those aren’t zombies there my old Girlfriends.:eek::eek::eek:

Tony

[cloveygrl]

That's good news. Are you sure of the direction you are travelling? GPS shows a heading of 026 (NE) away from the states.

 

 

I mean zombies don't sound like good news at all

[ar1950]

Those aren’t zombies there my old Girlfriends.:eek::eek::eek:

Tony

 

Hmmm......I may have know one or two of them many years ago. ;):)

[drpack]

I was working an offshore oil platform off Sable Island, Canada, quite a few years back. We suddenly got a call from Canadian Forces SAR asking us what our emergency was. We, of course, didn't know what they were talking about, so they told us our beacon had started transmitting about 3 minutes ago. We found out that one of the painters had taken the life ring off it's rack to paint the rack, and turned the beacon upright which is all it takes to start transmitting.

 

I was in the Coast Guard for 32 years. You wouldn't believe how often this happens. Same with ELTs on aircraft. At a large civil aviation airport, there could be hundreds of small private aircraft that had to be searched to find which one's ELT had gone off. Of course this was before GPS was on everything. I imagine now they can pinpoint the location relatively easy.

[Micahs Grandad]

Hope someone comes back and reports what actually happened.

[antsp]

Hope someone comes back and reports what actually happened.

Nothing to report from the Royal