Emma Maersk in trouble the in Suez - DMAIB report published.

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[danny]

The Emma Maersk Ran into trouble in the Suez canal on the 1/2/2013 at 2200 hours central European time.

She was transiting eastwards through the canal when water ingress occurred in her machinery spaces. A "significant" volume of water entered her main engineroom - leaving her Wärtsilä 14RT-Flex96c main engine inoperable. She was towed to birth by a small armada of tugs. She has now unloaded, and divers are due to inspect the damage today.

The water is said to have entered the spaces via a "leak" in the sternsthruster propeller seal.

It is unclear as to how badly the 14 cylinder beast has been damaged, and whether or the damage can be repaired. If the damage is irreparable however, there is a significant chance of the Emma Maersk being scrapped.

Report released, see bottom post.

[danny]

Following an investigation by divers, It is now known that SEVERAL propeller blades sheared off, ripping through the thruster wall.
A spokesperson for Maersk has stated "It is now known that several propeller blades have broken off and there is severe damage to the propeller mounting, resulting in a crack in the forward stern thruster tunnel which caused the ingress of water."
The resulting flooding caused the Emma Maersk's engineroom to be flooded with no less than 18 metres of water. This is just short of the top of the engine casing.

Maersk has said it could take months before the Emma Maersk is put back into service. All other E-class vessels (7 of them) have been ordered not to use their stern thrusters until the cause of the propeller failure is known.

[clanky]

18 metres of water!

Bloody hell!  I bet the engineers found out what colour adrenaline is!

One would have to guess that this was caused by a foreign object passing though the thruster tunnel, either that or a catastrophic failure of the tunnel itself.

If the engine room was that full of water then the vessel may be declared a total constructive loss by the insurers.  It will be interesting to see how this pans out, has it been confirmed that no-one was hurt?

[danny]

The news reports I've been reading suggest that the intend to repair the machinery and get her going again... (apparently they want to repair her without drydocking!?!)

They also said that "Naval architects have confirmed that a fully loaded E-class vessel can sustain full flooding of the engine room and still stay afloat". Really? I guess those naval architects aren't as dumb as they look!  

No-one was hurt, and human error (by the crew) has been ruled out.

[clanky]

Much will depend on the damage (if any) to the main engine crankshaft.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out, good news that no-one was hurt.

[Ballast]

The Emma has arrived in Palermo, Italy for repairs. She's been towed there by the Fairmount Alpine. It's expected that the repairs will take upto 3 months.

[danny]

The Danish Maritime Accident Investigation Board has released its report into the foundering of the Emma Maersk.

The report is highly critical of the shipyard, class society and the shipyards subcontractors (particularly those involved in cable installation). It also praises the actions of the crew, especially the captain and the engineering department.

It's evident from the report that, if the Emma Maersk had been crewed by less experienced, less competent sailors she would have most defiantly sunk in the Suez - Causing shipping chaos.

REPORT HERE (http://www.dmaib.com/Ulykkesrapporter/Flooding%20of%20engine%20room%20-%20EMMA%20M%C3%86RSK%20on%201%20February%202013.pdf)

(Sorry for the bump, but I thought it would be a better idea to post the report in this topic - instead of starting a new one)

[clanky]

Read that this morning via gCaptain, very interesting reading.

Having dealt with class surveyors on new building projects I am not at all surprised that the cable penetrations were missed by them, if they were half as fussy when the ships are being built as they are when they come to survey the things in service things would run much more smoothly.

And yes, as always, it looks like the engineers saved the day!

[Captain Cadet]

Looking at the photos in the report and it looks crazy the flooding. Who would have stood there to take them?
The engineers must have smelt of fear when they came out!