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130’ S/V "My Song" fell off ship deck?

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by Pascal, May 27, 2019.

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  1. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Statement from shippers CEO.


    A full investigation into the cause of the incident has been launched, however the primary assessment is that the yacht’s cradle (owned and provided by the yacht, warrantied by the yacht for sea transport and assembled by the yacht’s crew) collapsed during the voyage from Palma to Genoa and subsequently resulted in the loss of MY SONG overboard. I will add that this is the initial assessment and is subject to confirmation in due course.
  2. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    This is going to get interesting and very ugly in all likelihood. Was cradle inadequate for conditions or were conditions too rough for cradle? Did cradle break first or did seas toss boat, breaking cradle in the process? Very quick disavowal of all responsibility by shipper.
  3. German Yachting

    German Yachting Senior Member

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    I’m not quite sure of the answer for this but don’t these ships usually have some sort of forward facing camera recording? If so, wouldn’t that presumably show the incident and chain of events?
  4. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    All depends on what happened vs what the steam ship line says what happened.
    Either on video or the camera was down that day. LOL
  5. ApreMare

    ApreMare Senior Member

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    I saw this incident on many yacht related sites and was saddened by the loss of the yacht, especially for such a passionate owner who organizes regattas all 0ver the world. How typical for shipper to completely put the blame on the owner and the yacht crew. I would also prefer ship transportation for super long crossings but I would choose a transporter that takes full responsibility of the yacht, and wouldn't require the yacht owner to provide parts such as cradle etc as it creates liability. Dockwise seems to be the better option in my honest opinion.
  6. Maxwell

    Maxwell Senior Member

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    I can’t comment on shipping options, however especially for racing sailboats by me (50-70’ carbon fiber boats) it seems they do have their own custom cradles etc built specifically for their boats. While I always try and minimize my personal liability, assuming it was engineered properly, I would think that using the boat’s cradle would be a safer and more cost effective option than having the shipping company provide one. Either way I feel terrible for the owner losing that beautiful boat and will be curious to see if the actual cause ever comes to light.

    Max
  7. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I too have seen many of the very deep draft sailboats, having their own keel. The issue when putting them on the deck of a ship is the very high center of gravity, due to the keel length/draft. Who knows at this point what the real story is, BUT if the shipping company strapped the yacht properly and the cradle collapsed, then it's the liability of whoever built and whoever provided the cradle.
  8. Captain Zemo

    Captain Zemo Senior Member

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    Deck and cradle inspection on the MV Brattinsborg after the fact.

    [​IMG]
  9. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    No beam scope on any of the straps. Some for/aft a lil bit.
    That mast went to lean and the boat went over.
    Who approved the strapping?
  10. German Yachting

    German Yachting Senior Member

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    How much more beneficial is it to ship a yacht of this size versus sail it under its own keel? I get the range limitations which wouldn’t be an issue here. I also understand the wear and tear aspect but how significant is that compared to the shipping cost? For sail boats, that must be an extra risk especially for shipping like that versus dockwise as you can see she is pretty high off the deck with the keel and then the swing of the mast.
  11. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    I'd be very hesitant to call that a cradle. To me, a cradle is something a boat fits down into and rests secured on all sides. This set up seems little more beneficial than stands used all the time on boats without cradles. In fact, well placed stands would seem to me to provide more protection against shifting side to side and flipping over. I'm not that knowledgeable about all the setups used but this wasn't at all what I was expecting when talking about cradles.
  12. wdrzal

    wdrzal Senior Member

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    When I read assembled then seen the stand, warnings starting 30 years back popped into my brain from OSHA, ASME, SAE, and NIST, oh the FAA too about FAKE bolts that don't have the tensile and shear strength as per engineering standards. If you can get a pretty good fake Rolex for a hundred bucks, bolts are easy to fake. IIRC they where even found on Air Force One. I'm not implying anything, just another thing for forum readers to be aware of.
  13. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Assuming the straps are secured to deck cleats and not going across to the other side, having a few of them vertical gives maximum power to counteract the leverage of the mast in a cross wind.

    I m actually surprised they ship boats with such tall masts without removing the masts. On dockwise the boats are pretty low but in this case winds 100’ or 120’ up are much stronger
  14. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Any pictures of what's left of the hull? There may have been a salvage.
  15. RER

    RER Senior Member

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    That's a typical cradle I've seen for that type of deep keel racing sailboat ...for use in a boat yard anyway. A lot of the hull sits in mid air. I don't know about using it for transit. I agree the straps look all wrong. There is next to nothing stopping a fore to aft shift. Notice the white hull sailboat to port has much more degree of angle on spring lines. That's what's missing on the blue boat.
  16. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    Key words, "for use in a boat yard." I'd expect much more for shipping across the Atlantic.
  17. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I see a lot of them come across the Atlantic to Palm Beach in cradles very similar to that one. But, who knows.
  18. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Wondering and typing out loud, if the hull shifted fore/aft, she would not be on her designated frames. Then beam roll, the hull could cave in and lean over hard. It's going to be important to capture any hull pics when she went it. Again, who passed the strapping?
  19. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I load lots and lots of yachts on freighters. Well I don't actually load them, but I run the yachts to the freighters. The straps are what I commonly see all of the time on sailboats that are sitting so high above deck, because there isn't enough room to get more scope. Almost all of the time, the yachts are inches away from each other on the sides and such. I'm not sure why someone would be shipping a 130' sailboat anyways. A motoryacht I can understand, but a sailing yacht?
  20. Fishtigua

    Fishtigua Senior Member

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    I have been told by an Italian shipwright that the original cradle, that has moved the boat many times, was built in Italy by a well renowned boatyard. Must have got a bit tired.