Splash!

splash

This is the biggest nightmare I have had, as I have used this type of transport twice (no problems) and plan to use it again later this year. Does anyone know the name of the transport company involved.

All,

Hundreds of boats are moved every year on conventional vessels. The key things to have are proper preparation, experienced crews and port captains, and a good insurance policy. Accidents obviously happen to even the best operations. We are involved on the logistics of many technical heavylift moves every year for the oil/gas exploration and international construction industries. Some of these are pieces weighing upwards of 500-1000 metric tons and you can imagine the value of the units.. We put our own heavylift engineers on site for the lifts and 99.999 percent of the time we have no problems.

But, things happen and even experienced operators do have problems:
http://www.cargolaw.com/2007nightmare_crane-yacht.html
http://www.cargolaw.com/2007nightmare_jumbo_challe.html

Conventional vessels will and should continue to be a viable method for yacht transport.

I don't think the name of the transport company needs/should be posted here, unless it is shown that there has been negligence on their part...

Lifting a boat is dangerous and sometimes, even with all the best people and preparation, splash can happen... it is unfortunate but it is the reality.

It was one of the things in the back of my head when we changed our mind and went with dockwise to ship our boat. I wouldn't choose dockwise if it werent competitive, just because of that, but I would agree in paying slightly more if I have a good experience with them. So far I've heard good things... Tomorrow I should hear from the captain, or i'll call him later today... Hope all is well...

Roy and others,
Didn't want to but I'm going to chime in here.
I have always been concerned when taking boats out of the water on slings, either on a travel lift or by crane or other means. And not just from the point of slipping/falling, but load points and possible flexing of the hull. There is an inherent risk when lifting a boat/yacht. Now, I had a chance to observe first-hand the Dockwise operation, from ballasting to float-off to float-on and deballasting (I did this for a story I wrote). The process went smoothly, especially since this is their business, what they do. Having divers in the water to block the vessels, slow deballasting to ensure the ship meets the yacht correctly, blocking of yachts for trans-oceanic crossings with welded beams, and all the crew working together for hours all show the level of professionalism the Dockwise crews have. And folks from the office were on board, overseeing, monitoring and checking in with captains was part of the process too. Seeing all of this gave me a greater appreciation for the float-on, float-off process they use. I would not want to be the captain telling his owner the boat slipped out of the slings. Take a look at their magazine articles on their site for the story.
Capt Tom

Hey Tom,

As usual, good things about the DYT... Let's hope it comes through for us (as I know, and wish, it will) and we'll hopefully be on some voyage back...Anyways, its always good to hear nice words... Our boat came off a cargo ship when it came in, and the moments under-crane were tense (we were on board for the final moments into water - with cradle)... Anywys, so far its been very good with DYT, very accurate on leave date and all... I'll post on the yacht transport forum with pics and all of loading and unloading and all my cmmnts.

rgds

See ya'll in the euro-land...

I have spoken to the Dubai dealer who witnessed the whole incident and reassured me that both the crew members have now recovered. Something caused the forward strap to slip causing the whole boat to drop around 15m into the sea.

Notice the folded

The antennas have been folded. The larger one to the left in pic 2 is folded forward and that goes for the smaller one to the right as well (both with truly authentic shadows). I find it hard to think that the antennas would be folded unless this photo is authentic...

Add the other bits of "evidence" by sharp eyed users in here and I say this truly one of the most amazing pictures i have seen

Best Boat for Free Fall

Some criticize this brand's design standards. How would a Bertram have held up, instead? Any boats with a negative COG that would self-right? We could make this a new sport.

Chris Amsden in SoCal

hi all
this is not real, it's well done i know, but not real.
for one the boat in the hoist,and in the water are totally different from the main pic. in the hoist you can see the flybridge, but its a different type to the falling pic, besides its also way a bigger boat. the nose on the first is all rounded with a lip, and the one capsized is all pointy with no anchor plate.

the splash is too perfect, no reflection of the water on the front windows, only of the sun lounger. or water on the boat, which would be way too hard to draw. the guys leg is casting a badly drawn in shadow that does not match up with the direction of the sun or show his flaring jeans.

so i work on shed loads of boats, and spend too much time on the internet, and its just not right, though it looks cool. there are 3 boats and the last ones are a way tiny boat.
sorry to be a git
j

oh come on, it's so fake. I can list many reasons, but the main one bieng, they are different boats.
its super obvious.
but very well constructed.

Guys,

I too can tell you it is authentic. I am not at liberty to say how I know, but it is.

just found on a german funpage: http://www.isnichwahr.de/redirect296211.html

they even cut the pic so that "yachtforums.com" isn't visible...

Its really FACT

It is real, fact! The two guys on the back are in the office next door to me and a good friend was on board the ship when it happened. Plus I have seen the boat since she has been lifted out of the water.

So no matter how hard you look at the picture to try to work out if it has been photo shopped or not it did happen. And trust me i have spoken with Miran the guy on the back, who hats off to him turned up at 8.30 for work the next day, try telling him its photo shopped!

The Real Story.

To inform you all completely of the pictures and situation. This Yacht was being unloaded from a dry dock in Dubai. The weight distribution between the front and back straps was incorrect, as a result the first strap slid forward to the bow of the boat and slipped off completely. This meant the boat was turning instantly to free fall bow first, as it did, the rear strap caught hold of the propellar and tore the whole shaft out, the jolt causing the boat to flip completely over. The crane assistant seen on the boat free falling fell inside the door, stopped by a table.
This is retold from the magazine "Afloat" Australia.

so im afraid to tell u all the photos are completely real and the reason the photo was taken at that time was because the owner wished for photos of the entering of his brand new yacht. Sorry all. matt.

Guys,

The Cargo law website - http://www.cargolaw.com/2007nightmare_marquis.ride.html - has picked up on the story. They also report it was dropped by the MV "Rickmers Dalian". As noted when this was originally posted here. So it was a vessel mishap and not a dry dock incident.

Sharky

Hindenburg Rises Again!

Clearly, the launching authorities involved forgot the golden rule of strap-assisted boat launching: ALWAYS fill the boat full of helium FIRST!