Sea Diamond Runs aground and starts sinking

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

More questions: Why did the crew have to go around yelling for people to put on their life vests? Where was the alarm or PA system? Also, has anyone noticed that there are only 6 lifeboats on that ship? Two of which seem like small utility boats. I know that there are probably sufficient inflatable life boats, however, ships sailing from US ports have more than enough real life boats for people. This to me is yet another example why we will not sail on any ship not leaving from a US port. Maybe this is a wake up call for everyone over seas to change their shipping laws to abide by more stringent ones.

[MMSmith]

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- The captain and five other senior crew members of a Greek-flagged cruise ship which ran aground and sank off an island in the Aegean Sea have been charged with negligence and violating international maritime rules.

 

Two French passengers were missing Saturday and an official in the prosecutor's office told CNN charges against the captain and crew could be upgraded if they are declared dead. The Cyprus-owned Sea Diamond carried 1,153 passengers -- including 731 Americans -- and 391 crew when it ran aground on a rocky reef while trying to dock at harbor of the holiday island of Santorini.

 

The prosecution official said the captain admitted in an interview that he tried to free the ship from the reef before evacuating the passengers as required by international rules. The ship's hull was ripped open by the effort to move off the rocks, causing it to sink in Santorini's volcanic lagoon 18 hours later.

[chienfou]

Whew... I was on this ship less than 2 weeks ago, having been transferred from another booking when the scheduled departure did not book enough berths and was cancelled. We had originally been set to go to Santorini, but much to our chagrine, the 3 day trip we were assigned did not stop there. As one of the leaders of a group of 17 we had a string of rooms on the 2nd level, right in the area apparently breached by the rocks. It is entirely possible that one of those rooms was the one the ill-fated Frenchman and his daughter were in. Here are some of my thoughts on all this:

1) The ship was in good shape when we were on her.

2) The staff was friendly and professional.

3) Complaints have been made about the lack of life vests. I cannot address this as there were plenty during the lifeboat drills, but they were of course primarily the ones from the berths, and would not necessarily be the ones used in a true emergency.

4) Complaints have been lodged about the use of 'steep rope ladders' during the evacuation. DUH! In an emergency evac. you cannot expect the availability of level gangplanks etc. As evidenced by the pics available on line, there were plenty of staff assisting in the process and it appears to have been done pretty efficiently and professionally.

5) Any time you leave the 'safety' of your house you are at risk for some unforeseen, untoward event. Does this mean you should not leave your house? I think not!

6) The ship sank in approximately 120 meters of water after being towed off the rocks. This depth is not conducive to SCUBA operations due to pressure and de-con requirements. This will make any attempt to explore the vessel more complicated than if it had gone down in shallower (less than say 50 meters) waters.

7) Talk of prosecution of the crew is still early, and should be based on the outcome of the investigation that is still under way.

8) Greece is a truly remarkable country, and I would not hesitate to venture another cruise there. I believe that Louis is a good company, and that they are not any more negligent than any other operator in the area.

9) A similar rock breached hull occured to the RCI Monarch off the coast of St. Martin ... I have also sailed that ship on that itinerary... hmm... maybe I should be buying trip insurance in the future!

Ciao

-Chienfou

[wvdleek]

I know that there are probably sufficient inflatable life boats, however, ships sailing from US ports have more than enough real life boats for people. This to me is yet another example why we will not sail on any ship not leaving from a US port. Maybe this is a wake up call for everyone over seas to change their shipping laws to abide by more stringent ones.

 

No ship is sailing without sufficient lifesavings equipment.

And it does not matter from which port.

You know as well as I do that there are only a very few US cruiseships.

Most of the cruiseships might be owned by US companies, but are NOT US-flagged.

The Sea Diamond was classified by Den Norske Veritas, last update 28 April 2006.

A little investigation on Equasis would learn you a lot more about the ships concerned.

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

No ship is sailing without sufficient lifesavings equipment.

And it does not matter from which port.

You know as well as I do that there are only a very few US cruiseships.

Most of the cruiseships might be owned by US companies, but are NOT US-flagged.

The Sea Diamond was classified by Den Norske Veritas, last update 28 April 2006.

A little investigation on Equasis would learn you a lot more about the ships concerned.

 

I never said US cruise ships - I said ships which dock at US ports! As for sufficient life boats - yes every ship does. But why does this one only have 4 "real" life boats? Maybe you should do a little investigation as to why all older ships which used to call at US ports are now over seas? Could it be because they do not and would not pass US Coastguard and SOLAS stringent safety regulations. We have sailed on older small ships which now call Europe home because the cruise companies did not want to invest in upgrading them to US/SOLAS regulations. AGAIN, how many "real" life boats do you see on that ship? How many passengers where on the ship? Each lifeboat has an approximate capacity of 80 passengers. Do the math! Passangers should not have to rely on inflatable life rafts for rescue. US Coast guard does not consider an inflatable raft as a primary life saving vessel.Passenger immersion is required to board a raft,ask the Estonia survivors what they thought about those.Rafts are a good back up in the event that boats cannot be launched but it's the strong swimmers who will get to these,no elderly or handicapped would preffer the raft over the lifeboat.

[skittl1321]

I wonder if those who were on this ship were given the option to just fly home. Had this been me, there would be NO WAY I would get on another ship to continue my vacation.

 

I'm so glad that they were able to get so many people off safely and really hope the remaining two people are found. I also really hope that they did not become stuck behind fire doors. All the precautions to keep the ship afloat do no good if they are at the sake of the lives behind them. (Ever since seeing Titanic and all the lower class cabins being shut behind doors to drown, I wondered how they prevented that today. Apparently with fire doors being closed to seal water, it might still be a problem?)

[wb2]

Son is finally home from his ordeal on the Sea Diamond, he was luck to have been at the right place at the right time and was the 50th person off the boat!

[JLC@SD]

I know that there are probably sufficient inflatable life boats, however, ships sailing from US ports have more than enough real life boats for people.

 

......No they don't.....like all ships, they rely on the inflatable life rafts as well.

 

This to me is yet another example why we will not sail on any ship not leaving from a US port. Maybe this is a wake up call for everyone over seas to change their shipping laws to abide by more stringent ones.

 

......wel....that wil really limit your choices....:)

[robsvacation]

I never said US cruise ships - I said ships which dock at US ports! As for sufficient life boats - yes every ship does. But why does this one only have 4 "real" life boats? .

 

By and large, while the majority of passengers will be in "real" lifeboats, almost all ships assign some passenegers to inflatable life rafts. Case in point: On the Carnival Destiny/Victory/Conquest class of ships, passengers in the forward most muster stations are partially assigned to inflatable rafts

 

Maybe you should do a little investigation as to why all older ships which used to call at US ports are now over seas? Could it be because they do not and would not pass US Coastguard and SOLAS stringent safety regulations. We have sailed on older small ships which now call Europe home because the cruise companies did not want to invest in upgrading them to US/SOLAS regulations.

 

This is partly true. All ships sailing from Europe meet the SOLAS 2005 sprinkler requirements, some do fall short on specific items of the code. The Sea Diamond, because she was a car carrying ferry at one point, would be subject to slightly different design regulations. Not better or worse, just different as would be required by a vessel with a deck running end to end. The ship would have been subject to special operating proceedures given her design.

 

AGAIN, how many "real" life boats do you see on that ship? How many passengers where on the ship? Each lifeboat has an approximate capacity of 80 passengers. Do the math!

 

Doing the math I agree, there was not enough capacity in the "real" lifeboats for all passengers. That said, a modern laft boat is more in the 150-200 passenger range

 

Passangers should not have to rely on inflatable life rafts for rescue. US Coast guard does not consider an inflatable raft as a primary life saving vessel.Passenger immersion is required to board a raft,ask the Estonia survivors what they thought about those.Rafts are a good back up in the event that boats cannot be launched but it's the strong swimmers who will get to these,no elderly or handicapped would preffer the raft over the lifeboat.

 

The US coast guard does consider inflatables to be sufficient for passengers and EVERY ship I've sailed on from the USA does have them in significant numbers and should a ship require evaculation pasengers would be assigned to them. The design of the inflatable systems however vary widely. In most cases passengers board the inflatable life rafts at the level of the deck and once loaded the raft is lowered into the water with pasengers already onboard. Many european ferries have complex evacation systems that include escape slides and loading platforms at the water level. This is particularly common in the north sea ferries where water temperatures dictate that passengers stay as dry as possible.

 

As for this particular evaculation, it appears that there was a hasty decision to rapidly evacuate passengers at first, likely due to the partial flooding of the lower passenger decks. However the last of the passengers can be seen transferring to a tender vessel from the loading platform of what appears to be the old car deck. This is FAR more perferrable to even using the "real" lifeboats which in itself is a highly hazardous operation and an absoultely last resort. It appears that as this incident unfolded and it was evident that the ship was not in immediate danger of sinking, the safer approach using the tenders from shore was adopted.

[wvdleek]

Just to clarify one more thing:

 

Birka Princess was never a ferry ! !

 

Birka Princess was built by Valmet (yard nr. 321) at Helsinki, Finland for Birka Line. As built she had a garage for about 20 cars, but this was removed during her major refit in 1998.

 

Togerther with her fleetmate Birka Paradise, she was used on 24 hour duty free and party cruises from Stockholm.

They ware also used on some longer Baltic Sea cruises.

 

(Source: Cruise Ships by William Mayes).

 

Another well informed source is also telling that the hatch at portside aft was used to load supplies and a small number of cars as passengers could park onboard, if booked in advance.

 

http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/birka_princess_1986.htm here you can find photos of her while she was Birka Princess.

[HeinBloed]

But anyway since 1999 it was not possible anymore to "park" his car within the ship. This function was disenabled.

 

Regards,

HeinBloed

[wvdleek]

But anyway since 1999 it was not possible anymore to "park" his car within the ship. This function was disenabled.

 

Regards,

HeinBloed

 

That is just what Bill Mayes' book said.

My other source was talking about the time she sailed as Birka Princess.

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

Originally named M/S Birka Princess, the ship was built by the Finnish state-owned company Valmet at their Vuosaari shipyard in Helsinki at a cost of 350 million Finnish Markka (60 million euros).[1] She was delivered in 1986 and operated for Birka Line in the Baltic Sea cruiseferry market, sailing on 24 hour cruises between Stockholm in Sweden and the Åland Islands in Finland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M/S_Sea_Diamond

[wvdleek]

Originally named M/S Birka Princess, the ship was built by the Finnish state-owned company Valmet at their Vuosaari shipyard in Helsinki at a cost of 350 million Finnish Markka (60 million euros).[1] She was delivered in 1986 and operated for Birka Line in the Baltic Sea cruiseferry market, sailing on 24 hour cruises between Stockholm in Sweden and the Åland Islands in Finland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M/S_Sea_Diamond

 

 

Birka Princess salied 24 hour duty free/party cruises !

She was never used as a ferry !

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birka_Line

[1particularharbor]

Son is finally home from his ordeal on the Sea Diamond, he was luck to have been at the right place at the right time and was the 50th person off the boat!

 

 

Were there any students from Georgia on this cruise ..could you ask your son?

 

Thanks

[true salt]

Whilst I agree with most points that you have said robsvacation, this part is not correct

"Doing the math I agree, there was not enough capacity in the "real" lifeboats for all passengers. That said, a modern laft boat is more in the 150-200 passenger range"

 

SOLAS limits the size of lifeboats to a TOTAL complement of 150 persons, including crew.

 

Almost no cruiseships at sea can fit all passengers and crew into the lifeboats only. This is a FACT. The vast majority need the liferafts as well to fit ALL souls onboard for an abandonship

 

thanks

 

David

 

Master Mariner

[DocF]

Several things need to be clarified in this thread. If one will refer to the link of the photos of the Birka Princess as built, one will see the garage space, which, I've read, originally was to hold 80 cars. In the later photos, one can see how this space was converted to cabins.

 

Second, the number of rigid lifeboats carried is, indeed, limited. The number of inflatable life rafts visible in the photos and videos of the sinking tell me that there were more than adequate provisions in this regard. Given the choice, I would take an inflatable over a rigid lifeboat any day. Read your history folks, use of lifeboats is highly problematic. It always has been and always will be. Witness the Titanic, Lusitania and Andrea Doria sinkings.

 

I was involved in the news coverage of the sinking of the Carl D. Bradley on Lake Michigan in 1958. The two survivors were found on a life raft, not in a life boat. The one survivor of the sinking of the Daniel J. Morrell was also plucked from a life raft. Has anyone seen the lifeboats from the Edmund Fitzgerald? They were crumpled and torn like beer cans.

 

Third, managing to evacuate over 1,000 passengers and crew in under three hours is quite a feat of seamanship. The decision to use harbor tenders and other smaller craft rather than lifeboats was prudent. The former auto ramp seems to have been used to off-load most, if not all, of the passengers. There is little need to have climbed down rope ladders and I saw only a couple in evidence in the photos and videos.

 

Finally, as to panic and lack of organization on the part of the crew. I'm certain there was. Most of the crew of a passenger ship are not seamen. They are waiters, barmen, and housekeepers. These people are usually fine, hard working, employees, but they are not sailors. Given that fact, I do not expect them to be the most efficient persons in an emergency of this magnitude.

 

The question in my mind is still why did the Captain decide to get the ship off the rocks and then evacuate? He would have been better served by getting the passengers and non-essential crew off while it was still on the reef. That, however, is hindsight.

 

Thank you for reading; I do not mean to offend any posters here, I am trying to inform.

 

Doc

[Matsonbrat]

Doc:

 

Great reply and appreciated here. :) Easier for me to use a raft then a lifeboat anyway, they even have hoods.

 

I was wondering about the crew going bananas until I thought about your reply. I guess I am use to back in the 30's-40's when passenger ship stewards dept. personnel were highly trained in lifeboats and emergency procedures. They went to sea for years and were I believe certified by the Coast Guard. I know my father was and he was a Chief Steward or lesser rank in that dept for 30 years before he got a shore job.

 

So much of the passenger service workers now are ill trained, underpaid, and get out of the work as soon as they can from my experience talking to the younger staff on the 5 cruises I have been on in past 15 years. In the case of the Sea Diamond crew, I haven't a clue as to their backgrounds or experience,training.. What ever the local law calls for and Cypriot passenger ship requirements?

 

Great island , Cyprus, I lived there in the 50's.

[wb2]

My son was on the reception deck when he ship ran aground, he was pushed into the bar and they all looked at each other and knew that the ship was in trouble as it began listing. They made a dash to their room in on the 4th deck and got their life jackets and cameras. Then they made their way back up to the upper decks. They were in a group of 3 but one got separated (he was one of the last taken off the ship)

My son and his friend were lowered in the second lifeboat, once the boat was in the water they were transfered to a fishing vessel and taken to shore. I think that the crew raised and lowered the life boat to transfer passengers to waiting ships below. Once the vehicle loading ramp was opened passengers were transfered directly to a ferry and shuttled ashore. It's amazing that so many were safely evacuated given the seriousness of the situation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the French family who has lost the father and daughter. There were many reports of people coming up from the lower decks wet to the waist. They then ate dinner in Santorini and watched the events unfold and saw the sinking of the ship before they boarded the Perla. All were given 300 Euros and a bottle of wine. (confiscated by chaperons in my son's group)

 

We went shopping today for necessities and a new iPod (a necessity if your 13) Their group leader has given all of the traveling students Monday off to recover. There have been some rumors that they will be offered a voucher for another cruise. My son said "no thanks", I think this may be his first and last cruise!

 

I know that there were student from NC, FLA, but didn't hear of any from GA.

[Rudi610]

Curious to how US Customs handles a situation like this. With all of the Americans on board, I am sure some lost their passports and other ID. I would hope that the US Embassy in Greece will assist them in getting replacements or at least some sort of pass to get back in the USA.

[wb2]

All passports were held by the ship and returned to the passengers.

[wb2]

Santorini to sue Louis Cruise Lines for damages/pollution.

 

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,23483,21525508-27977,00.html

[Cassandra]

They did an interview this morning on one of the NYC news channel with a woman with blond hair.

 

She said about the 2 missing passengers that it was a family of 4 and the wife/son in the cabin had escaped. The husband waved the wife onwards to get out. But the water rushing into the area held back the husband and daughter. She said something about airtight doors shutting, but I missed that part. But she believes they drowned & were probably trapped.

 

You can probably see it on CNN.com or MSNBC.com's website. They post these type of video's all the time.

[Matsonbrat]

In reply to Rudi's comments above. The U.S. Emb at Athens is large and had they lost their passports a large Consular staff would have estabished their citizenship quickly and given them a document to allow them entry in U.S. at the very least. They would also if requested contacted family in the U.S. to send them money if it was also needed.

 

I was not Consular and the above is not carved in stone, but my recollection and belief.

 

I was stationed in Athens when the current embassy was opened in 1961.

 

U.S. State Dept. Ret.