Freighter Aground Because her Anchors Dragged

[Hydra]

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

While I understand the concept, I have trouble reconciling that picture with the sight of calmly moored boats behind it and the otherwise intact dock. It's as if the boat was flung or dropped on that piling. Extraordinary.

In fact, the people living in the area also had trouble imagining this could happen. Many of them built houses behind dykes but below the water level at high tide, just like in New Orleans.

Just google "Xynthia Rochelle" for pictures. You will see many more wrecks.

Alain

[S/V Alchemy]

Thank you. The power of the sea revealed is awe-inspiring.

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by Hydra

The video doesn't show the actual rescue: it happened at 3am, during the storm. And if the waves were powerful enough to push the ship on the beach, the "dry" side wasn't so dry. The grounding happened at low tide. Then, the ship kept climbing on the beach for a few hours. IMO, not a good idea to be on the ship side at that time.
Alain

In the video I looked at it looks like the helo work is taking place in the daytime and the waves are not making it around the ship.

Originally Posted by SteveT

Sorry but it is just you - Once she goes aground she would lose her cooling water which means she'd have no power so cranes etc would be dead. Also when something goes that badly wrong the easiest and safest way by far to evacuate any vessel is via Helicopter if there is one available. There are a number of SAR helicopters dedicated to doing just that.

Whenever a commercial vessel goes aground or has any serious incident there is always a full enquiry so I'd hold off on casting blame all over until the FACTS are known. With oil on the beaches there is no way the French will let it be swept under a carpet. The Master is probably looking at jail time or at least a substantial fine regardless of how much to blame he personally is.

I apologise if I sound grumpy here but as a professional seaman myself I get a bit snarly when folks start making wild assed guesses about something we mainly know nothing about.

You do sound very grumpy but in the video I saw the ship was dry on one side and the helicopter was taking crew off in daylight hours. Seems to me that a cargo net or rappelling would have been the most cost efficient way to get off of the ship safely.

[Hydra]

Charlie,
The video mentioned by IslandHopper shows an EC 145 "Sécurité Civile" helo lowering personnel on the ship (I suppose it's an inspection team) in daylight. But the "Préfecture Maritime de l'Atlantique" (French Navy authority in charge of the French western coast) clearly states that the rescue was done at 3am by a French Navy NH90/Caïman Marine helo: Préfecture maritime de l'Atlantique

However, I agree with you: putting an inspection team onboard during the day could have been done in an other way. In addition to that, a "Gendarmerie" (French military police) helo overflew the site for a long time yesterday. This wasn't really necessary. I think they were observing the crowd on the beach...

Alain

[Charlie]

Hydra

Thanks for the info. I guess if I had studied the video more carefully I would have noticed that there were no crew ready to be rescued.

[Hydra]

The ship is now being dismantled on the beach. The work is going on 24/7, making good progress: BREMEN 6 - Déconstruction de jour comme de nuit ! - BLOG Philip Plisson

Alain

[Hydra]

The official report on the grounding has just been published: http://www.beamer-france.org/BanqueDocument/pdf_297.pdf

The (poorly translated) English text begins on page 41. Unfortunately, the appendices have not been translated. However, there is some interesting information:

The port authority failed to make the master understand that he could stay in port until after the storm.

The ship dragged anchor even with 7 shackes of chain (189m) veered in 7m of water, corresponding to a 13:1 scope if considering 6.7m of freeboard. She had two 2.4t anchors but it wasn't enough to hold her in gale to storm force wind, even in good holding ground.

The master didn't use the propulsion to reduce the traction on the anchor until the ship dragged.

Alain

[jeremiason]

Originally Posted by Charlie

Is It just me or were they wasting a huge amount of money with that helo. I would think that some cargo nets over the dry side of the boat would have been an easy way to evacuate the ship. Worst case rescuers could have got some rappelling gear to the crew. Of course they did have cranes as well.

Charlie

The photo is out of perspective... I have attached a link showing the ship on the beach and its subsequent dismanteling. A few pics show waives washing it's decks

The last place I would want to be in a situation like that would be hanging from cargo nets...

Salvaging the TK Bremen - In Focus - The Atlantic