chengkp75

This is the difference between a USCG approved life raft and a SOLAS approved raft. For the annual inspection, USCG requires the raft to be inflated via the CO2 cannister, not by a compressor, to simulate the actual inflation in an emergency, and to fail rafts that are marginal in seam strength.

Since the Star is over 15 years old, the ship is required to dry dock twice in 5 years. She would be due for mid-period docking in the Feb to Aug 2024 span.

This should absolutely have been a part of the SMS, but then again, the plan is so comprehensive that sometimes things are left out, only to be found after an incident. Not condoning, just saying it does happen. If that is what they were thinking, they weren't clear on the facts. 10*F reduction in temperature results in a 1 psi drop in pressure, so a 100*F drop would be 10psi loss (probably less as the base pressure is a bit lower than most pressurized things). And, the temp could not have been that colder than where the boat was originally, or the pressure in the keel bladder would have likely dropped below the allowable pressure. The USCG MSA is an advisory to foreign flag cruise ships, and they are not routinely distributed to foreign shipping companies, nor are they required to have been seen by the lines. USCG has no jurisdiction unless they find this condition on a ship in US waters. I'm not sure if the NSIA is required to issue a "final" report, if they feel that all topics and concerns were covered in an interim report. They may feel that a final report is not required. No. Prior to publishing, it would only be shown to the ship owner, the class society, the flag state, the port state, and any "interested parties" that were actively attending the investigation.

The closest is at the airport, a 20 minute drive away from the pier. There is no Enterprise there, they've closed.

You are right, they will still be doing that, but those things are the finishing touches (the lipstick and mascara), not real construction work. And, sea trials are typically only 3-5 days, so not a lot of hotel work can get done in that amount of time. Everything in the hotel, like all the laundry machines, the galley equipment, the cappuccino machines, etc, have to be shown to be working as designed before delivery.

No, what the poster you quoted is correct. The ship's crew do not touch the baggage until it is loaded onto the ship. The longshoremen take the bags from you, place them into the carts, then through security, where the longshoreman driven forklifts take the carts to the ship and place them on the side port platforms. The crew then wheel the carts into the ship. And, technically, a "stevedore" owns the company that provides the "longshoremen" to load/unload ships.

Are you sure it was surge protected, or merely had a circuit breaker on it? How was it identified as being surge protected? Genuinely curious.

The dry dock is valuable real estate. The sooner they can float the ship out, the quicker they can start on the next ship. At float out, the hull is complete, most major mechanical systems are installed, but much of the topsides (hotel) is not complete, or even started. Yeah, 9 months from float out to delivery is about right for a cruise ship. The last tanker I built was about 5-6 months from float out to delivery.

Queen Mary had huge problems, resulting in the ship going back into dry dock to install a skeg between the two inboard azipods to improve course tracking when in following seas. While nearly every system has been "dock trialed" (operated) before sea trials, many have never been run together with other dependent systems, many systems have not been tested at full load, and some cannot be tested at all while at the dock. So, yes, as Jim says, they will find items, and the shipyard will have technicians onboard to fix whatever they can while on trials, but some require parts and time at the dock, but there is usually a few days set in the schedule after trials for potential repairs. There will also likely be items that cannot be repaired in time for delivery, but that don't majorly impact vessel operation, and the yard will set up time schedule for when these repairs will be made while the ship is in service.

Well, let's see. Was the first point made about NCL returning to the e-muster in their "operational update" quoted a few posts up, that the change was made to "improve passenger safety"? Nope. "In an effort to enhance the onboard guest experience" is the major point they presented.

SMH. Still not answering questions.

And, who are you quoting that is saying this is the justification? I guess this is the current trend in debates, say the "information" often enough, and it will be accepted as the "truth".

I think the rationale used to justify the e-muster is that it does provide safety training. The question is not whether the drill has no function, but whether the "training" the e-muster provides is what is intended by, and adequate for, the SOLAS regulation. These kinds of real life applications of the e-muster training is what is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the muster, and while the lines claim that the information is presented better, and received better, in the e-muster format, this pertains to the information that is contained in the video presentation, and the video presentation has for years been an accepted adjunct to the traditional muster drill.

And, based on reports here on CC about an RCI ship that had a passenger muster due to a potential man overboard emergency, the e-muster drill is not providing the safety that should be required, in favor of "the customer's" comfort. After 5 days onboard the ship, the muster was apparently chaotic, even though it was announced as a "non-emergency" muster, due to many passengers not knowing even what deck their muster station was on.

When they are buying 2-3000 per ship, can you blame them?

Huh? Not quite accurate regarding how AC current flows in wiring systems, but never mind. The surge protector will disrupt current flow on both legs of the power strip, the circuit breaker only interrupts one leg (for US type consumer power strips)(this is a problem with the USCG Safety Notice about surge protectors on ships, in that it combines a failure of a surge protector and a single leg circuit breaker into explaining why surge protectors are dangerous). You will see in the photo above of the power strip supplied by the ship, that it has a two pole circuit breaker, so it will interrupt current flow in both legs. Again, not accurate. A failure of a surge protector, even with a single pole circuit breaker, will not magically "transfer" the fault to another area of the ship, causing a fire there. What I have mentioned before, and you may have misunderstood, is that a wiring problem somewhere else on the ship (like a light fixture outside filled with water, that would normally not be a fire hazard on its own), can cause the surge protector in your cabin to fail and catch fire. So, it is a problem elsewhere that can cause a fire at your cabin, not a problem in your cabin that can cause a fire somewhere else.

This does not really explain the jurisdiction overlaps and limitations well. In the cases mentioned, where the local law enforcement are called onboard at the next port, this is at the Captain's invitation, and still depends on the jurisdictional limits.

Actually, I'm not. That poster asked about inspection of all the food that supplies the islands, which is inspected and dutiable, but also food for personal consumption is dutiable. According to this website, even foodstuffs brought in while flying to Bermuda are dutiable. See the answers to the questions: https://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda_000260.htm Typically, only cigarettes, liquor and wine (in limited quantities) are duty free. There is no minimum amount of foodstuffs that is not dutiable. The article does mention that many times it is not detected, or allowed to slip by customs agents, but that is the risk.

Uh, no. Most of the major cruise lines have specified that civil cases will be tried in federal court in the Southern District of Florida. And, for criminal cases, the US federal government only has limited jurisdiction over certain crimes against US citizens while in international waters. The state of Florida's jurisdiction totally ends at the 3 mile limit, and the US federal jurisdiction continues to the 12 mile limit. The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that the state can exercise jurisdiction beyond the 3 mile limit, but this has not been tested as whether it is constitutional or not, and to the best of my knowledge has not been applied.

Nope.

As far as Bermuda is concerned, it isn't about health and food safety, but about collecting duty on the items brought into the country. Contents of shipping containers will be declared prior to arrival, and random containers selected for inspection as to accuracy of declaration. But, this applies to everything brought in, not just foodstuffs.

The "code" calls vary by cruise line. If RCI uses "oscar", then that would have been the announcement to crew. If the Captain then decides to hold a passenger muster, then sounding the "muster drill" alarm may not have been a good (IMHO) first choice, as this is actually the "fire and general emergency" alarm for the crew, so the entire crew would have stopped guest services and mustered at their emergency stations. I think an announcement for pax to proceed to their muster locations would have been a better first step (and it sounds like what happened), and if there was continuing uncertainty about a pax or crew whereabouts, then the "muster signal" should have been sounded to account for every soul onboard. This is a judgement call on the Captain's part, whether to try to account for everyone, without a full muster, or whether to call the muster as soon as an overboard is reported, and you can be damned if you do, or damned if you don't, when you factor in passenger services.

Wasn't even going to address that.

Again, the benefit of realistic training. Learning how to do it in a crowd, at a time when some may have been inebriated, or just not expecting it, is similar to doing it when you don't know your way around the ship. And, whether it is the e-muster or the traditional muster, it is done on the first day when no one knows their way around. Should you have to rely on your seapass card to tell you where to go in an emergency?

While everyone had to go to their stations on embarkation day, what I see as the fatal flaw of the e-muster is that it is not done "en masse", as it was for the real thing. The more realistic the training, the more it tends to stick. If people can't remember where their stations are after less than 7 days, that information isn't sticking.