p_mori7

As of 04:30am ship time.

Still on same heading to Honolulu.

Speed still about 10-11 knots.

Approximate distance to Honolulu 90 miles.

Depending on weather, you should start to see mountains of Hawaii by about mid-morning I think.

:)

The platform which is used to tender passengers to and from land when anchored in port is not part of the ships watertight integrity.

I don't buy this line of their statements.

Coming up on 5pm shipboard time.

Still on course for Honolulu. Speed still about 10-11 Knots.

Still being trailed by a fishing vessel on same heading, although he has fallen back a little bit...estimate about 60-70 miles behind now.

Looks like about 200 to 230 miles to Honolulu.

This will be my last update for today. Currently 10pm here...so nite nite !

GPS is an acronym for Global Positioning System. Most cell phones also use cell towers in addition for location, but not 100%.

Not all GPS satellites are available to civilians, so at sea, you may not be able to receive their signals, whereas the ship will be able to use the military (non consumer) satellites for coverage.

 

ex techie

That I know, I didn't think smart phones had the same hardware/software in them as the GPS in my car or on my handheld unit that I use when I go hunting.

Hmmm. Will have to try that next time I am aboard and at sea. I thought cell phones relied on cell towers for GPS...where the ship service is satellite direct.

Almost Noon ship time right now.

Same heading towards Honolulu. Still about 300 miles to go.

There has been a fishing vessel about 50 miles behind you since I first started tracking yesterday. He is in the blue box on the map. Coincidence might have him heading towards Honolulu at the same time as you...or maybe he was asked to shadow the ship "just in case"...no way to know.

:)

Thank you! This thread is how we are getting our positioning information. All is well onboard as we travel at a very sedate pace. There is a person on the bridge constantly watching the side of the ship. Think it is a 24 hour vigil.

You're welcome. I will update again later on today. Your average speed has been about 10-11 Knots. If you (or anybody else) could get more photos (safely, no need to hang off the side of the ship), we'd love to see them.

Ship Tracker sometimes shows your speed as slow as 1 Knot...have you noticed that at all so far ? Was thinking maybe they had to slow down periodically to help pump any ingested water back over the side...but that's just speculation on my part.

For the benefit of those on board who may be following this thread; As of 9:30 am Hawaii Time you have now backtracked about 300 miles (maybe a bit more) towards Honolulu.

The tug mentioned earlier does not appear to be headed towards you, it is about 100 miles north of you right now.

For the benefit of those on board, as of 3am Honolulu time, you have back tracked about 250 miles towards Hawaii. The tug referred to in the previous post is in the little blue square on the below map. Intention of tug unknown, it may or may not be waiting for you.

Right now it is 8:51 pm Honolulu time.

For the benefit of those onboard monitoring this thread, you have backtracked a little over 150 miles already since turning around earlier today.

Yup, back up now. I wonder if they have to slow down periodically to allow for pumping out of seawater.

Appears to be a tug/special service craft, standing 200 miles off her starboard bow.

Speed is way down as well. 1 knot.

The sudden halt was after he drunkenly removed a life ring to keep as a souvenir. A man overboard alarm sounded and he threw the life ring overboard to get it out of his hands.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Anchor released by passenger story here:

http://gcaptain.com/cruise-ship-passenger-sentenced/

USCG will be aboard the ship asap once it gets to Hawaii.

So speculate... what the hell happened here?

Chief is working in Texas tonight. He may not be able to answer quickly.

In light of the situation, what are the chances of the 'backup watertight doors' failing?

Watertight doors are manually dogged...once they are closed...they don't fail...I don't know if the compartment is watertight.

I'd be more concerned about pumping out ingested seawater...but I have no clue what the configuration is like for that on that ship.

IF the platform had some type of manual locking system that needed to be engaged as routine procedure before getting underway...the platform would never have fallen open even though the hydraulics failed.

The fact that is has fallen open while underway tells us a few things:

1- The main rams that open close the door failed somehow and the door opened.

2- As Chief mentioned earlier, there are hydraulic locking rams that actually hold the platform in the closed position, not just the big rams that open/close the platform.

3- There are probably indications on the bridge that should show the platform in the closed/locked position or in the open/deployed position...If the ship got underway without the closed/locked green light...somebody on the bridge as well as the crew responsible for the platform overlooked some pretty important indications/procedures that emperiled the ship/passengers.

This is a SERIOUS situation.

I am extremely surprised they are heading to Honolulu and not Hilo. From their present position as I write this, Hilo is 110nm closer than Honolulu. At 11 knots, that makes Hilo 10 hours closer

Sea state might be a factor in the chosen heading, to minimize water coming in through the gaping hole in the side of the ship.

And any comments on the hole in the red part of the ship on the right of the picture? Looks like torn sheet metal.

The orange in the picture is part of a lifeboat. The photo is taken from an elevation above and outboard of the lifeboat. it is much higher than the waterline.

Whoever took the picture is probably on a balcony above the lifeboat, stuck their arm out as far as they could, aimed their camera at an angle downwards; and snapped a few pics to try and get the shot.

This is what it normally looks like when it is in the "open" position.

Didn't think about the possible damage from the door moving while underway. Hopefully there is not a bunch of damage and its a fix that can be done without causing much more delay.

A large tender platform like that must weigh several tons...having it swaying on it's hinges in the water for 2 more days & nights would make me very edgy if I were on board.

From what has been posted previously on my thread, it is per table.

Per couple actually. Some tables can accommodate 4-6 people or more depending on ship. Have seen tables of 4 with 2 bottles.