Volendam Stuck in the Mud

[Fb_cruiser]

Passengers on the Volendam are reporting that it ran aground at 4am this morning on the Amazon about 30 miles from Santorem. Supposedly no damage to the hull and they’re trying to work themselves out. Hoping all goes well for them.

Edited November 29, 2019 by Fb_cruiser

[HappyInVan]

27 minutes ago, Fb_cruiser said:

Passengers on the Volendam are reporting that it ran aground at 4am this morning on the Amazon about 30 miles from Santorem. Supposedly no damage to the hull and they’re trying to work themselves out. Hoping all goes well for them.

 

 

61k tonne vessel!

[jakkojakko]

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2751347231596010&id=100001622817586

 

Holland America ms Volendam has run a ground in the Amazon river about 30 miles east or Santorem she ran aground with two pilot at the helm and at 4 AM we got an announcement saying there was an emergency 20 minutes later we got another emergency saying that we had run a ground we have been run aground since 4 am We currently we have all electricity and the rescue boats have been deployed to look for damage but we have not moved I would think this would be breaking news. We have not been updated on our situation which probably means it’s serious but there are no local authorities sent out so I do not think there’s much diamonds except for us being sunk in the silt

Edited November 29, 2019 by jakkojakko

[GeezerCouple]

Do all ships have properly trained scuba divers on board during all voyages "just in case" something (e.g., like this) happens and they then need to inspect the integrity of the hull before proceeding?

How much can be seen from "rescue boats" at the surface?

 

How would this happen with two (?) pilots on board and underwater sensors of varying/whatever types?

 

GC

[foodsvcmgr]

GC agree with your point about this happening with two pilots on the bridge but I have been told several times by ship’s officers cruise ships do not have sonar, only naval vessels.

[rucrazy]

We are watching this story closely.. We are due to board next (12/20) needless to say I hope all goes well!

 

Joseph

[3rdGenCunarder]

The Amazon carries a lot of silt, and I suspect the bottom contours are always changing. 

 

I remember on a tour of the bridge on QE2 many years ago, someone asked the captain about sonar and he said there wasn't much point in seeing the bottom suddenly getting closer when your stopping distance is about a mile. 

 

[*Miss G*]

Oh no.  If I found the right tidal chart then they ran aground during high tide.  This is not good. ☹️ 

[Himself]

2 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

Oh no.  If I found the right tidal chart then they ran aground during high tide.  This is not good. ☹️ 

 

 

 

I hope they can get her going without damage to the ship.  I have sailed on her many times.

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

8 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

Oh no.  If I found the right tidal chart then they ran aground during high tide.  This is not good. ☹️ 

 

Eeek! I was hoping a high tide would float them off the mud. 

[*Miss G*]

12 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Eeek! I was hoping a high tide would float them off the mud. 

 

It’s been very difficult to google and match to maps.  I am hoping I am wrong.  Perhaps some tugs can pull them out during the next high tide.

Edited November 29, 2019 by *Miss G*

[usn1964]

Saw a post on a passenger's blog that the pilots took them on an 'alternate' route around an island. 

Sounds like a lot of other 'shortcuts' in life. Some days you're the windshield, some days you're the bug. 

I'm thinking the Captain is not too impressed with these two pilots. Did one of them say "Turn right here" when he really meant "Turn left now"?

[rucrazy]

1 minute ago, usn1964 said:

 'alternate' route

 

Never a good thing!

[chengkp75]

Grounding in the Amazon is a fairly common occurrence.  Even the charts used by the pilots are completely out of date, and it is very much like the 1800's on the Mississippi river where the pilot's knowledge, gained over years of experience, will know where the channel has shifted to.  My last time up the Amazon, about 4 years ago, we ran aground, with two pilots onboard, and there were about 6 other ships aground at that time, one had been for nearly a month.  Our electronic chart was so out of date, we were shown as passing through an island that had shifted over time.

 

Ships will have depth sounders, not sonar, but that only tells you the depth directly under the ship, not what is up ahead.

 

Grounding in the Amazon rarely causes damage to the vessel, the most serious problem is sucking silt into, and blocking the sea water cooling strainers, causing the engines to overheat and shut down.

 

This is the start of the rainy season in the Amazon basin, so the river will be rising daily.  We were there in the summer (northern hemisphere), and the river was falling, and fell nearly 10 meters in 30 days.

[rucrazy]

4 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Grounding in the Amazon is a fairly common occurrence. 

 

That is encouraging Thank you.. @chengkp75

[IRL_Joanie]

2 hours ago, jakkojakko said:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2751347231596010&id=100001622817586

 

Holland America ms Volendam has run a ground in the Amazon river about 30 miles east or Santorem she ran aground with two pilot at the helm and at 4 AM we got an announcement saying there was an emergency 20 minutes later we got another emergency saying that we had run a ground we have been run aground since 4 am We currently we have all electricity and the rescue boats have been deployed to look for damage but we have not moved I would think this would be breaking news. We have not been updated on our situation which probably means it’s serious but there are no local authorities sent out so I do not think there’s much diamonds except for us being sunk in the silt

 

2 Pilots on board.... I would hazard a guess that the sand bars had moved since they came aboard.

 

As to Head lines for the Volendam being stuck I believe that another cruise line's passengers privately booked excursion went very very wrong:(

 

Joanie

[Krazy Kruizers]

This doesn't sound good.

 

Hope they can get her off without any damage to the ship.

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, IRL_Joanie said:

 

2 Pilots on board.... I would hazard a guess that the sand bars had moved since they came aboard.

 

As to Head lines for the Volendam being stuck I believe that another cruise line's passengers privately booked excursion went very very wrong:(

 

Joanie

I wouldn't say the sand bars had moved since the pilots got onboard, since that would only be about 24 hours before.  However, it may be that these pilots were returning from vacation, having been away from the river for a few weeks, as the river won't change drastically overnight, but over the span of a week it can change quite a lot, especially when the river is falling (not this case).

[chengkp75]

58 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

This doesn't sound good.

 

Hope they can get her off without any damage to the ship.

In most cases, it is just a matter of reversing the engines to pull it off backwards, and to have the prop wash scour away the sand around the ship, and working the rudders back and forth to "wiggle" the stern, making the bow move sideways as well, widening the area that the ship is stuck in.

[usn1964]

Update from HAL. The ship was grounded at 0430 and back underway at 1130. All is well. No word on the conversation between the Captain and the pilots. 8-) 

[Sir PMP]

4 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

Do all ships have properly trained scuba divers on board during all voyages "just in case" something (e.g., like this) happens and they then need to inspect the integrity of the hull before proceeding?

How much can be seen from "rescue boats" at the surface?

 

How would this happen with two (?) pilots on board and underwater sensors of varying/whatever types?

 

GC

Even if there were 7 pilots on board, the captain will be responsible..

[kazu]

1 hour ago, usn1964 said:

Update from HAL. The ship was grounded at 0430 and back underway at 1130. All is well. No word on the conversation between the Captain and the pilots. 8-) 

 

Thanks 🙂. Good news.

 

[drowelf]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

In most cases, it is just a matter of reversing the engines to pull it off backwards, and to have the prop wash scour away the sand around the ship, and working the rudders back and forth to "wiggle" the stern, making the bow move sideways as well, widening the area that the ship is stuck in.

Does the Volendam even have rudders? I thought the ship has the directional azipods at the stern, which would probably do an even better job of scouring when pulling the ship backwards. 

[Wehwalt]

1 hour ago, usn1964 said:

Update from HAL. The ship was grounded at 0430 and back underway at 1130. All is well. No word on the conversation between the Captain and the pilots. 8-) 

Aboard and all well and heading into Santarem. Captain said pilots anticipated deep water where it happened.

[GeezerCouple]

38 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

Even if there were 7 pilots on board, the captain will be responsible..

Thanks, I understand that.

However, I did not ask "who" would be responsible.

 

How something happens and who is responsible are not necessarily the same thing.

GC