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MSC has crashed ANOTHER ship into a dock, this time in Venice


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https://metro.co.uk/2019/06/02/least-five-injured-cruise-ship-smashes-dock-venice-9774386/

Per the article, the ship had a mechanical issue at the last moment and couldn’t be stopped. They didn’t just hit the dock like the collision in Roatan; they also hit a smaller boat in the canal at the same time. 5 people are injured, article doesn’t indicate how badly.

MSC has not been having the best track record this past year. Still an infrequent thing for the number of sailings they do, but hardly a ringing endorsement for their older ships (if I’m remembering rightly that the Roatan dock crash was also with an older ship and was blamed on mechanical problems).

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Glad that I got to sail out of Venice while I still could! That canal is incredibly busy and those little boats have no chance except for being more maneuverable than the huge ships. Tough to do in the confined space of the cruise ship basin, though. 

Also, glad I saw this two weeks AFTER my MSC cruise! 

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If you search for cruise ship crashes it becomes apparent that it happens fairly often. Mostly with piers or docks and sometimes with other boats and rocks.

Navigating and piloting open and near shore waters  are governed by volumes of national and international marine rules and laws. Many times it simply boils down to "don't run into anything."

 

Conversation between a US naval ship and Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland.

US Ship: Please divert your course 0.5 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.

CND reply: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

US Ship: This is the Captain of a US Navy Ship. I say again, divert your course.

CND reply: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course!

US Ship: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS CORAL SEA*, WE ARE A LARGE WARSHIP OF THE US NAVY. DIVERT YOUR COURSE NOW!!

CND reply: This is a lighthouse. Your call.

 

PS ... it is a joke .. this did not really happen.

 

 

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That video is stunning and scary.  I know that particular ship isn't a behemoth, 

but still, she's huge when you're on the dock and she's coming right at you.

 

If I were the king of MSC, I'd fork out some ducets and hire away a couple of RC Captains.

And some RC mechanics, while I'm at it.

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Here’s what I don’t understand because this is quite a frequent thing, the last happening in March in San Juan.

 

OK, so the GPS is out of wack with ships computer, or the ships guidance system is not communicating with the engine room; really the mechanical issue doesn’t matter.

There is a pilot that has boarded the vessel sitting in one of the command chairs, the captain is sitting in the other.  (FYI: in these instances responsibility and fault falls on the captains shoulders, NOT the pilots) There has got to be at least a dozen people with stripes on their shoulders assisting with the docking. None of these dockings are anybody’s first time there. Collectively it’s hundreds of dockings if not thousands at any particular port; no matter what cruise line.

So, with all that experience and human oversight. How do they not know “Hey, we should be much slower at this point in time” “Dude, there is another vessel that is way too frick’in close to our berth” or “We are Waaaytooo close to the dock” 

It seems awareness of a problem should have been known well before the ship collides with the end of the pier and some evasive actions taken beforehand.

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58 minutes ago, bobroo said:

So, with all that experience and human oversight. How do they not know “Hey, we should be much slower at this point in time” “Dude, there is another vessel that is way too frick’in close to our berth” or “We are Waaaytooo close to the dock” 

I suspect they did know and may have been trying to do something about it.  There is incredible momentum involved, even at slow speeds.

"Reverse 1/3"

"Engines not responding Captain"

Captain can repeat or scream it all they want, if the ship doesn't respond to commands issued, that is a mechanical failure.

In the case of Roatan they dropped anchors to try to slow it down.  That takes time to do when the crew isn't expecting that command.  

Even when a Captain allows a staff Captain or first officer to make the approach, they will quickly jump in when they see things going South.  

Two ships in the same class a few months apart having the same outcome.  Hmmm.

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4 hours ago, bobroo said:

So, with all that experience and human oversight. How do they not know “Hey, we should be much slower at this point in time” “Dude, there is another vessel that is way too frick’in close to our berth” or “We are Waaaytooo close to the dock” 

It seems awareness of a problem should have been known well before the ship collides with the end of the pier and some evasive actions taken beforehand.

Good points but in this case, they weren't trying to dock anywhere near where they hit.  They were supposed to keep going down the canal and turn into the berths at the end of the island.  Their speed may have been perfectly appropriate if the ship was going in the right direction.  There were 2 tugs guiding the ship down the canal with cables attached.  One of those cables broke at some point.  I've seen some reports say it was after the collision and some before.  I think before makes more sense because then the remaining tug could have accidentally turned the ship with its cable due to lack of balance from the other tug.

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2 hours ago, Atlantix2000 said:

Good points but in this case, they weren't trying to dock anywhere near where they hit.  They were supposed to keep going down the canal and turn into the berths at the end of the island.  Their speed may have been perfectly appropriate if the ship was going in the right direction.  There were 2 tugs guiding the ship down the canal with cables attached.  One of those cables broke at some point.  I've seen some reports say it was after the collision and some before.  I think before makes more sense because then the remaining tug could have accidentally turned the ship with its cable due to lack of balance from the other tug.

Not sure I accept the tug inclusion.  

First we are talking about an Azipod ship.  Bow thrusters, 2x azipods plus a stern thruster.  

If she was a shaft and rudder ship I might see it different   

I agree it was supposed to transit the channel but the momentum observed started long before she hit the pier and subsequently the River boat.  

The question is what drove the bow so off course and into the pier and river vessel. Did they know it was going to be bad and turned hard to starboard ?   This would absorb most energy into the pier rather than destroying the much smaller vessel   

If they hit that small river boat first it would disintegrate.  Perhaps the Captain is a hero who saved a lot of lives by driving into the pier when he/she knew it would be better to play their ship into the pier  

 

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