Topic: What's new (Read 46611 times)

Rbsanford · « **Reply #25 on:** August 25, 2011, 16:09:25 »

uh, wouldint he need access to the bridge to drop the anchor?

i doudt he could just lift the heavy thing and toss it in the water all by himself while drunk.

something seems fishy here...

vin_sun · « **Reply #26 on:** August 25, 2011, 18:17:03 »

Quote from: Rbsanford on August 25, 2011, 16:09:25

uh, wouldint he need access to the bridge to drop the anchor?

i doudt he could just lift the heavy thing and toss it in the water all by himself while drunk.

something seems fishy here...

Whoa! whoa! ..... Sanford !!! I think you need an "education" about dropping an anchor from a ship.

On some ship, anchors can be dropped from the bridge by remote controlling the machinery (or windlass in nautical terms) and monitoring it on CCTVs. This is not very popular on merchant ships but it may be there on cruise liners. But to do this there is quite some initial preparation.

Anchors are housed inside angled pipes called 'hawse pipes' at the fore end of the ship. Depending on the size of the ship an anchor can weigh anything from 1 ton to 20 tons. So, it's humanly impossible to just pick it and throw it over the side !!! Once an anchor is "housed" in the hawse pipe, a huge and heavy bar goes across the anchor chain. Further, a brake is applied tightly and as a further precaution wire lashings are placed at convenient points.

Well, this drunk guy somehow gained access to the fore part of the ship and released the lashings, opened the bar and finally the brake. He has certainly entered a "prohibited area" which may not have been under surveillance by crew or cameras. The brake is operated normally by turning a big hand wheel and the anchor gets dropped by gravity. The noise created during this operation can be quite loud.

Well are you convinced now, that an anchor cannot be just lifted and tossed into the water ??

To give you an idea as to how 'huge' an anchor can be .........

Here is a picture of the 'windlass' with the anchor chain lashed with wires and the bar down on it.

The size of just one link of an anchor chain

Rbsanford · « **Reply #27 on:** August 25, 2011, 20:48:17 »

if its a prohibited area, then wouldint there be a locked door saying something like "crew only"?

vin_sun · « **Reply #28 on:** August 25, 2011, 21:00:27 »

Quote from: Rbsanford on August 25, 2011, 20:48:17

if its a prohibited area, then wouldint there be a locked door saying something like "crew only"?

I am sure there would have been some sign saying so. Some spaces on ships are not kept locked always. Whatever the case may be, this guy was drunk and it wouldn't have registered that it was a prohibited area for him !

Rbsanford · « **Reply #29 on:** August 25, 2011, 21:35:35 »

but shouldint the anchor-room have security cameras?

vin_sun · « **Reply #30 on:** August 25, 2011, 21:46:57 »

Well if it did, then some one was not keeping a good watch! I am sure some heads would have rolled !!!

saltydog · « **Reply #31 on:** August 25, 2011, 23:13:53 »

If you read the first article carefully you will see this is about the ships stern anchor..

Rbsanford · « **Reply #32 on:** August 26, 2011, 01:27:32 »

thats right saltydog, good job, you can read.

btw, what were the penalties this guy faced?

saltydog · « **Reply #33 on:** August 26, 2011, 02:46:08 »

"According to a plea agreement filed yesterday in U.S. District Court, Rick Ehlert faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine in connection with the November 2010 incident on the MS Ryndam." (quote from second article)

vin_sun · « **Reply #34 on:** August 26, 2011, 06:43:56 »

Quote from: saltydog on August 25, 2011, 23:13:53

If you read the first article carefully you will see this is about the ships stern anchor..

You are sure right there, Salty ! Even this anchor is a heavy one and does require lashings and brakes to be released for it to drop. All in all I assume surveillance of these prohibited areas was not up to the mark.

saltydog · « **Reply #35 on:** August 26, 2011, 06:50:46 »

Right Vin, apparently even the stern anchor weighs a hefty 18 ton..
There were surveillance cameras in the area, but I guess no one was watching at the time.
But with the images they were later able to identify the culprit..

--tractorman-- · « **Reply #36 on:** August 26, 2011, 09:49:31 »

Hefty 18ton? I've towed that on the back of a tractor!

I actually have.

Stuart2007 · « **Reply #37 on:** August 26, 2011, 09:58:23 »

I've strayed onto the engineering deck of a well known large cruise ferry because of slack security standards, an open door (which due to it being open I couldn't read the sign saying "keep out").

I was virtually ignored by the personnel on duty and had I just walked purposly through the engineering sections rather than standing and watching I'd probably have been left alone. God knows what I could have done/changed/destroyed had I wanted to do so.

saltydog · « **Reply #38 on:** August 26, 2011, 13:41:13 »

Still a question lingers.. 30 minutes after dropping the anchor the drunken passenger released a life buoy..
It was only then that the captain noticed there must be an emergency and stopped the ship.
How could he sail half an hour without noticing he was dragging his stern anchor behind him?
All in all it's a good thing they weren't sailing in more shallow waters. Who knows what could have happened had the anchor touched the sea floor..

vin_sun · « **Reply #39 on:** August 26, 2011, 14:35:47 »

I think the anchor must have been released when in deep sea and may not have touched the bottom. A ship moving at its full designed speed with an anchor dragging across the sea bed will certainly feel the resistance by the 'load' the main engine would show.

Another aspect which surprises me is how they did not lose the anchor and the entire chain. An anchor paying out uncontrolled can gather immense momentum and it is quite normal for the 'bitter end' in the chain locker to be yanked off and thus lose the entire chain and anchor.

Same matter ..... but a bit more detailed

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4255

saltydog · « **Reply #40 on:** August 26, 2011, 14:51:29 »

Perhaps the ships speed was what saved them..I don't know the length of the anchor chain compared to the depth of the sea, but I imagine at cruising speed of 15-20 knots the anchor would be trailing in a diagonal fashion, thus reducing its depth.. I just wonder how much drag that would create, and if the captain didn't question what it was that was suddenly slowing him down..

Stuart2007 · « **Reply #41 on:** August 26, 2011, 15:40:02 »

Naval submarines trailing cruise ships for practice would do well to remember this...

Wave Music · « **Reply #42 on:** August 31, 2011, 19:51:58 »

I was curious/bored:

Tumtum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tumtum may refer to:
Tumtum, a carriage drawn by one or more horses to carry people or cargo. It used to be the mode of transport before the advent of the motor car, in Pakistan, India and neighboring areas, also known as Tonga in some of those regions.
Tumtum (Judaism), a person whose sex is unknown (like some androgynous people or intersex people) by the Halakha
Tumtum people, an ethnic group in the Nuba Hills in Sudan, or their language, one of the Kadu languages. The population is likely below 10,000.
Tumtum, a drum, made from a hollowed-out tree trunk, used in the music of Barbados
Tumtum [təmtəm] is a word in Chinook Jargon that can mean "heart", "feelings", "thoughts", "self", and "character".
Tumtum, Washington, a community in Stevens County, Washington, USA
Tumtum River, a river in the U.S. state of Oregon

So which definition of tumtum applies to toptopic tititle?

saltydog · « **Reply #43 on:** August 31, 2011, 20:08:58 »

In Holland, Tumtum is an assortment of various sweets.. That's where this name comes from..

dexter7 · « **Reply #44 on:** August 31, 2011, 21:45:37 »

Hmm tumtum yumyum

saltydog · « **Reply #45 on:** September 06, 2011, 11:51:35 »

Spambot falls overboard from Newcastle ferry..

http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/breaking-news/2011/09/06/Spambot-falls-overboard-from-newcastle-ferry-72703-29371139/

Rbsanford · « **Reply #46 on:** September 06, 2011, 21:26:10 »

would you like some epic with that fail?

dexter7 · « **Reply #47 on:** September 06, 2011, 22:18:14 »

sure, mr. failburger... jumbosize anything and everything

Rbsanford · « **Reply #48 on:** September 06, 2011, 23:04:59 »

okay, wat would you like today at failburger?

dexter7 · « **Reply #49 on:** September 06, 2011, 23:43:08 »

Quote from: dexter7 on September 06, 2011, 22:18:14

sure, mr. failburger... jumbosize anything and everything

Author Topic: What's new (Read 46611 times)