Cruise ship safety

[davecttr]

Report in the Financial Times this morning that some fire resistant panels used in cruise ships have failed safety tests, up to 45 ships may be affected.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-66140306

 

scroll down to the FT Weekend

Edited July 8, 2023 by davecttr

[Harry Peterson]

It’s certainly an interesting story, and maritime lawyers will be licking their lips. The prospect, remote though it is, of a Grenfell-style fire on one of the new, huge, ships is chilling.

 

It may not prove too much of an issue for P&O - time will tell.
 

“Carnival, the world’s biggest cruise operator, said the panels in question were fitted on one ship in its fleet but they had passed “all required certifications at the time of installation”. However, it said it was aware of the recent test failure.”

[AndyMichelle]

Thanks for posting Dave. 

I see Meyer Werft get a mention, which could affect P&O. 

IMO are very stringent on approving products prior to them being used, so surprised this has been allowed to happen. 

Let's hope it's an isolated incident of someone taking a chance and getting caught early... 

I wonder if this will affect P&Os reluctance to do anything about smoking on balconies? 

Andy 

[molecrochip]

Concerning however such detailed records are kept of parts used in building a ship, batches etc, thus should be easily identifiable.

 

Parts are tested and certified before first use then retested periodically/every so many.

 

For me this is the system working. Clearly something has changed between certification and retest. It causes a problem, it’s been caught and cruise operators can swap out the affected parts.

 

Whether the ships continue to sail until the issue is resolved likely depends on if there is one panel or 100, is it in a public space or is it in each cabin.

 

Finally the FT suggests it affects one Carnival ship. This likely rules out the Excel or Royal classes where multiple ships were being built at overlapping times. One off ship builds could be Rotterdam, Queen Anne or Seabourn Venture/Pursuit.

[yorkshirephil]

I noted a report of a fire on Marella Discovery which occurred yesterday causing the cancellation of the current and next cruise, reported that no one was injured.

[kalos]

4 hours ago, yorkshirephil said:

I noted a report of a fire on Marella Discovery which occurred yesterday causing the cancellation of the current and next cruise, reported that no one was injured.

Bit more over on this board ... https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2949152-discovery-this-week/

 

[molecrochip]

Understand that other sources that no body was injured and crew did amazing job dealing with the fire.

 

As is usual, other ships in the area will have been put on alert in case assistance with evacuating passengers and crew was needed, but thankfully not this time.

[tring]

15 hours ago, molecrochip said:

Concerning however such detailed records are kept of parts used in building a ship, batches etc, thus should be easily identifiable.

 

Parts are tested and certified before first use then retested periodically/every so many.

 

For me this is the system working. Clearly something has changed between certification and retest. It causes a problem, it’s been caught and cruise operators can swap out the affected parts.

 

Whether the ships continue to sail until the issue is resolved likely depends on if there is one panel or 100, is it in a public space or is it in each cabin.

 

Finally the FT suggests it affects one Carnival ship. This likely rules out the Excel or Royal classes where multiple ships were being built at overlapping times. One off ship builds could be Rotterdam, Queen Anne or Seabourn Venture/Pursuit.

 

Could it be that someone had forgotten to renew a safety cert for tha panels?

 

Thanks for your opinion on this previously, good to hear from someone who understands the system.

 

[Guest ldtr]

The issue is more related to panels installed since 2020. So it may impact so recent new builds and any ships that had panels installed in recent dry dock.

[tring]

8 hours ago, ldtr said:

The issue is more related to panels installed since 2020. So it may impact so recent new builds and any ships that had panels installed in recent dry dock.

 

That sounds like it could be a lot of ships overall.  If there is only one Carnival Corporation ship affected they have done well.

 

Just thinking who would pay for all the rectifications.  I would assume the panel makers, but will the company survive given the costs involved?  That leaves any affected cruise lines paying.

 

[showingdiva]

45 ships believed involved including Rotterdam, Queen Anne, MSC Euribia and the new MSC luxury Explora 1, whose delivery rejection seems to have been the catalyst in all this.

[Host Hattie]

6 minutes ago, showingdiva said:

45 ships believed involved including Rotterdam, Queen Anne, MSC Euribia and the new MSC luxury Explora 1, whose delivery rejection seems to have been the catalyst in all this.

That's 2 Carnival ships in your list of 4, where have those ship names come from?

[Winifred 22]

I would be interested in that information too. Just tried to access the original F T article but it’s membership only. 

[Megabear2]

45 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

I would be interested in that information too. Just tried to access the original F T article but it’s membership only. 

Hopefully I can post this, but Cruise Radio mentions the problems.

 

https://cruiseradio.net/fire-hazard-delay-cruise-ship-delivery-impacted/

 

I believe Molecrochip's post above was the first to mention the Rotterdam and Queen Anne despite the FT stating one Carnival ship.  I assume that was to suggest which two ships could be the one under discussion.

[Winifred 22]

Yes  thank you. Just read Doug Parker’s article. He also throws Sun Princess into the mix and somewhere else mentioned an Aida ship. 

Edited July 9, 2023 by Winifred 22

[Megabear2]

2 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

Yes  thank you. Just read Doug Parker’s article. He also throws Sun Princess into the mix and somewhere else mentioned an Aida ship. 

Bit more here as well.  It's beginning to break elsewhere, seen mention in a Florida paper as well.

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/faulty-safety-materials-may-put-dozens-of-cruise-ships-at-risk/105929

[Winifred 22]

This is similar to the article I read but from different publication. Think it was the Insider. Definitely a watch and wait situation. 

[showingdiva]

1 hour ago, Host Hattie said:

That's 2 Carnival ships in your list of 4, where have those ship names come from?

 

It was a US article I read late last night.    I've got a significant interest in Euribia being identified / sorted before October  .

Discovery Princess may also be in a similar already operational position as Euribia.

Edited July 9, 2023 by showingdiva

[molecrochip]

So Carnival did mention that they had one affected ship. They will however be checking records for each ship.

 

It could be that Rotterdam is the only ship in service. That would make sense if Queen Anne and Sun Princess are all being mentioned.

 

Seems to be a problem related to ships built by Fincantieri at present. That fits with the three ships listed above.

 

Discovery Princess was the last Royal class delivered from Fincantieri so sensible that it is checked.

[showingdiva]

51 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Seems to be a problem related to ships built by Fincantieri at present. That fits with the three ships listed above.

 

 

MSC Euribia was built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique

[molecrochip]

17 minutes ago, showingdiva said:

 

MSC Euribia was built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique

Yeah, I’ve since read some of the other articles. From a Carnival perspective, I meant.

 

The articles are limited use as they basically list every new cruise ship delivered since 2020.