My sister was onboard and texted me about this on Friday. They donned life vests, prepared life rafts, etc. She arrives from HK Wed so I will get more of a report then. I've been on the lookout for an article in the maritime news but saw no reports until this today on CNN: Luxury cruise liner involved in collision off Vietnam - CNN.com
Hi, Something meaningful will no doubt turn up soon Reading disasters as reported on CNN etc is much like reading the testimony of a legally blind eye witness to a car accident Too much "He Said, She Said" type language for my liking coupled with journalists who have no idea what thy are actually writing. Right, that's my rant over for today .
Initial reports state that the cruise liner T-boned a cargo carrier in the fog. Reportedly, no injuries.
You have a right to rant. Nowhere is it more evident than the yachting media. Just last week I received an email from the editor of a boating magazine wanting to know why I've banned their IP address and domain extension. Too many of these bottom feeding remoras come to YF looking for scraps that soon become their ramblings. That's my rant for today, too.
I have no problem with the negative comments about the media, but maybe a topic for another thread. My point was (1) there was yet another accident on a high end cruise ship and (2) there was no mention in any of the maritime reports that I receive nor that I could find. The Silver Sea ship t-boning a cargo ship should have been announced somewhere other than in a text from my sister to me. And several days later it finally showed up somewhere which was CNN. Thank goodness there were no fatalities, at least not on the cruise ship. It happened about midnight and had to have been fairly scary for the passengers. The unauthorized text from my sister: "Like we weren't having enough fun our ship was hit by a freighter this morning. We had about 5 minutes to report to our Muster station all ready to get into our life boats in The Gulf of Tonka. After about an hour in life vest and all possessions back in room they announced we were still sea worthy. Still extremely foggy!!! 3 days until curse I mean cruise is over."
This falls in the speculation category, but if the t-boning story is correct, how the heck does the beam side of a cargo ship not show up on the cruise ship's radar? Guess we will find that out, dunno.
If it T-boned the boxboat we would have front page coverage and video enough to make the Concordia affair look minor. Given the mass of those ships, a T-bone collision does a huge amount of damage. It sounds like it was a sideswipe incident. As far as radar, a cruise ship ran into the cliffs off St. Thomas a few years ago. A radar is useless if no one is looking at it.
Silversea Cruise Ship Collides With Container Vessel Off Vietnam | Maritime News | Maritime Executive Magazine
Even my little boat has a collision alarm. I wouldn't run in the fog without it activated. The explanations for this collision are going to be interesting!
Yes, the details will be interesting. I noted that my sister, a few hours after the collision, said that their ship was hit. What would the captain tell the passengers - we hit a ship? Well that's certainly better than, "don't make me go back to the boat - it's dark and cold."
From reading that article it sounds as if the ship was well aware of the cargo vessels position and course ('started sounding its forward horn'). I should imagine that 5 miles from port it's not unusual to have other boats in the vacinity. It doesn't state if they were the stand on or give way vessel, but it sounds like they stood on. I'd guess (and only that) that the cargo vessel wasn't maintaining a proper watch or wasn't adept at using their radar. When I cross the channels that come into NY harbor I don't expect those ships to take any action except to sound their horn and try to raise me on the radio if they doubt the prudence of my action. As for it being a minor collision, I guess that all depends which vessel you're on.
Report from passengers in Cabin 821: My sister and her husband (S & E) were in their cabin around midnight when they felt the impact. They had been hearing the fog horn all night but perked up when they heard a long blast and then felt a hard hit. They ran for their life jackets knowing that listing, taking on water, and numerous other possibilities immediately coming to mind might require them. The alarm was blaring along with the announcements to proceed to the muster stations. They called out cabin numbers to make sure everyone was in attendance. They had passengers prepare to board the life rafts. S wanted to make a fast return to their cabin for passports, money, and jewelry. She could imagine being in Vietnam without id and money. But fortunately after a short while, the captain announced they could return to their cabins. S said that CNN had it wrong. She thinks the Silversea hit the cargo ship starboard to starboard. The cargo ship got connected onto the cruise ship, swung around the bow, and then got hit again on by the port side. One of the crew members told her that he had been with the company for 17 years and they hold a practice for this type of emergency every week. She said the captain never left the bridge, and all crew were very organized and professional. They haven't heard from Silversea...yet. I hope to have some pictures to post.
Funny how CNN reported that passengers said they suddenly saw a huge ship broad side right infront of them!! The picture taken here shows that the cargo vessel is very small in comparison to the cruise ship, which also would have meant a surgeon precise cut from side to side if it was a T-bone collision! (With respect to speed factor) The dent on the side is not so clear but looks above waterline, wonder what happened to them, other than re-writting the saftey manuals! Hope non got injured. Thanks to you and to Judy for the post. Cheers, Alfred
Maybe a nice dent low, stb in front of the house. Just on bottom of picture frame. Just forward of the stb outboard vent can.
