A Whale stuck to the Breakaway?

[Mytime2014]

The 1st article linked above - seriously - they were delayed 3 hours and people started screaming and yelling....another 30 minutes and they'd probably have been killing each other and jumping overboard. Take a Xanax people and relax...where were these people from anyway that their life is so perfect there are never delays

 

But crashes do happen—to the great irritation of the humans involved. Thousands of guests writhed in their Bermuda shorts on Sunday as their Norweigian Cruise Line ship—fresh from a dip down the Caribbean—sat stranded in the Hudson River for three hours. Passengers, unaware that a dead whale may have caused the delay, started to panic. “Everyone was trying to cut in line, Long Island resident Eileen Sodano told the Post. "People were screaming and yelling. It was terrible. I started to cry, and now, we missed our limo."

:rolleyes:

[carol54]

So much nonsense. Did you see some of those people on the news? The looked like refugees. White Trash bags slung over the shoulders and carrying boxes of booze.

 

I hope everyone realize that it was probably about 1% of the total cruisers that got upset. Most people just followed the captain's instructions.

[Single Cruiser]

Still don't see the connection between a dead whale and a faulty port side Azipod unless it had somehow gone under and got caught on the propeller as it came into the harbour.

 

I'm fairly certain they have some sort of underwater cameras that monitor the Azipod prop so could have seen it there? :confused:

[S&S Cruisers 1983]

When we were on our Alaskan cruise we actually asked the captain at a Q&A how often ships hit whales. He said that it does happen but the they have equipment on board to tell them if whales is near, especially important in the breeding season. He also said that if they do hit a whale a big fine is given. Just curious if this was just his standard answer or if this is actually true?

[sebas030]

Here is an other one :

 

http://m.edmontonsun.com/2014/05/06/us-cruise-ship-stranded-in-nys-hudson-river-hit-a-whale

 

It seems clear that the BA did hit the whale, but not sure it was dead or alive...and not sure that caused the delay....

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[Medtech2]

The 1st article linked above - seriously - they were delayed 3 hours and people started screaming and yelling....another 30 minutes and they'd probably have been killing each other and jumping overboard. Take a Xanax people and relax...where were these people from anyway that their life is so perfect there are never delays

 

But crashes do happen—to the great irritation of the humans involved. Thousands of guests writhed in their Bermuda shorts on Sunday as their Norweigian Cruise Line ship—fresh from a dip down the Caribbean—sat stranded in the Hudson River for three hours. Passengers, unaware that a dead whale may have caused the delay, started to panic. “Everyone was trying to cut in line, Long Island resident Eileen Sodano told the Post. "People were screaming and yelling. It was terrible. I started to cry, and now, we missed our limo."

:rolleyes:

Joan Rivers should add this to her material. Now THAT passenger was funny!

[sebas030]

Docking right now in Bermuda on port side. No tugboat help needed !

 

I guess BA is fine :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[Crusin6]

the local news is reporting that the necropsy report shows broken bones etc on the whale in NY Harbor. probably caused by a cruise ship strike and possibly the Breakaway. It was supposedly still alive when it was found on late Sunday/Monday....

 

I guess all ships should then be banned from NYC harbor

 

Of course don't hit the whale purposely but enough now it was an accident

[Crusin6]

Well, I definitely mourn the whale but I agree it IS cool that "our" cruise ship was involved...

 

Yes by all means mourn the whale.

 

This whole thing is crazy and the mainstream media will make it worse

 

A ship hits a whale and it gets stuck and dies but apparantly not immediately

 

News to me that there even are whales in the harbor ...but now I know that whales are common in NYC area and have been hit before because we are an active harbor

 

The ship didn't purposely hit the whale

 

The media finds the irritated pax to interview and only shows parts of the interview that make the pax look like idiots and makes for a reality show type of interview with a reality show type of pax. No surprise there

 

The media shows pix of passengers who look like dopes carrying homeless people bags because they know that will be sensational

 

We really should be able to see thru this stuff by now and be able to come to some realistic conclusion about what really happened

 

A simple accident with a sea mammal that has been known to happen before and it delayed a cruise ship from docking on time

 

Btw delays have happened before for numerous reasons

 

This is not really such an incredible news story. Must have been a slow day for the media.

 

However the person who missed her limo and probably had her credit card charged anyway would get her money back if she has travel insurance

 

This I know from experience

Edited May 7, 2014 by Crusin6

[mking8288]

For all we know, which we don't know for sure (do we ??) - the possibility existed that this "poor" whale could've been injuried or sick before getting struck by ships passing by - including the BA, but not only the BA. CCL's Splendor was ahead of the Breakaway that also sailed thru the Lower & Upper Bay, up the Hudson - in the early morning/pre-dawn hours - & then docked at the cruise terminal. The question for us is whether the whale could've been hit by more than one ship, injuried & died - and, somehow managed to damage the Breakaway's port side "steering" gears and/or the bow - do we? Now that they are docked at Bermuda, perhaps diver(s) will go underneath the ship and inspect it again for whatever.

 

Deers ran into moving vehicles on the road, birds flew into the path of aircraft's flight path, especially around airports - and, yes, it's possible that whales like this one that they found in the harbor - for whatever reasons unknown - got into the path of the ship(s) in the harbor. These are, unfortunately, accidents and I seriously doubt that they purposely planned to collide together.

 

It's more sensational to report than Noro-virus and/or passengers with heart attack & taken off the ship, etc. - next story, :rolleyes: :eek: . Geeze!

Edited May 7, 2014 by mking8288

[SeagoingMom]

I guess I'm not following why some people in this thread are so upset about the dead whale to the point where they are using the red angry face. Because of the thought of the Breakaway running into and killing a whale? Perhaps the whale was already dead. It happens. Whales die just like every other living organism. Perhaps the whale swam into the path of the ship and the captain couldn't do anything about it. Just like when a deer jumps across a road and is hit by a car whose driver couldn't stop. Do you blame the driver for killing the deer when there was nothing he could have done to prevent the situation?

 

I recently recall reading a story about two dead whales washing up on the shores of small villages in Newfoundland. They are huge, and they are decomposing. The gases inside are building up and they are bulging from the inside. The villagers are seriously worried that the whales are going to explode. Not sure what the solution is in this situation. The Canadian government says it's the villages' responsibility to dispose of these whales at their own expense.

 

I think it may simply be that folks feel sad that the vacation experience they enjoy so much may result in harm to an animal. I am always sad to see dead animals in the road, for example -- even "vermin" like squirrels, opossums, and armadillos -- just a soft spot in my heart for animals, I guess, even though I know that often the death could not have been prevented.

 

And there may be an "environmentalist" aspect to folks' responses -- you know there is a strong anti-cruise industry faction among environmentalists because of the pollution ships produce from their stacks, the trash they create, and incidences of illegal dumping in the ocean. I rather doubt there are many super-sensitive environmentalists such as this on these boards, but there may be a touch of guilt among those who have read or heard about the environmental impact of cruising. Ultimately, I think it's just that folks want every person and every animal to be safe while cruising, so to speak...

[Susie51]

I guess I'm not following why some people in this thread are so upset about the dead whale to the point where they are using the red angry face. Because of the thought of the Breakaway running into and killing a whale? Perhaps the whale was already dead. It happens. Whales die just like every other living organism. Perhaps the whale swam into the path of the ship and the captain couldn't do anything about it. Just like when a deer jumps across a road and is hit by a car whose driver couldn't stop. Do you blame the driver for killing the deer when there was nothing he could have done to prevent the situation?

 

I recently recall reading a story about two dead whales washing up on the shores of small villages in Newfoundland. They are huge, and they are decomposing. The gases inside are building up and they are bulging from the inside. The villagers are seriously worried that the whales are going to explode. Not sure what the solution is in this situation. The Canadian government says it's the villages' responsibility to dispose of these whales at their own expense.

 

Your comment about a deer running in front of a car put things into perspective for me.

[gardiner41]

The sailaway barbeque featured fresh whale burgers! :D :rolleyes: :eek:

 

hahaha OMG :eek::rolleyes::D

[chengkp75]

While I will say that whale strikes are not unusual happenings, they are not "very common", and don't happen on "many" cruises. Other ships than cruise ships strike whales as well, they just don't get advertised. As one poster linked, there is a Right Whale speed restriction zone up the East Coast, that is updated weekly.

 

I remember a few years back when a cruise ship actually docked in Seattle or Vancouver with the whale still on the bow. The whales tend to get caught on the bulbous bow, as this is a projection forward of the ship's hull, and is there to generate a "lifting" wave that tends to pull the ship through the water, saving fuel. This lifting wave is what attracts marine mammals to ships, they tend to want to freeload on the wave, and an older or infirm whale or dolphin can end up being struck.

 

Cruise ships do not have "sonar" that can detect marine mammals. They do have a depth sounder, which uses sonar to locate the bottom, but this is a narrow band straight down, not listening systems like the Navy uses, and is less useful for finding things in the water than your bowrider's "fishfinder" sonar. There are also not any underwater cameras looking at the pods. Cruise ships that frequent whale habitat do tend to have equipment that is used to detect whales, but they are normally just night vision glasses. The NCL POA in Hawaii uses these every night when crossing whale sanctuaries. During the day, the ship's officers can see the whales, and for the most part, the whales will stay away, if the speed limits set for sanctuaries is met.

 

I don't believe the whale was anywhere near the azipods, nor did the pods cause the delay. Nor do I believe it caused a problem with the thrusters. A 45' whale weighs several tons, and will have perhaps 20-30 feet of whale hanging over each side of the bow. Not only would this be a visual PR problem for NCL, but it could prevent the ship from docking the bow as close to the dock as needed. I believe the delay was the ship jockeying to get the whale off the bow.

[sdmike]

I believe the delay was the ship jockeying to get the whale off the bow.

 

Excellent, well informed notes as always. I share your belief that the ship knew it had a whale and didn't want to (or couldn't) sail into port with it, rather than it interfering with the propulsion systems. My question would be, why would they discover it while heading up river and not before. Having more room at sea to maneuver might have solved the problem more quickly.

Edited May 7, 2014 by sdmike

[chengkp75]

Excellent, well informed notes as always. I share your belief that the ship knew it had a whale and didn't want to (or couldn't) sail into port with it, rather than it interfering with the propulsion systems. My question would be, why would they discover it while heading up river and not before. Having more room at sea to maneuver might have solved the problem more quickly.

 

Steerage drops off distinctly with ship's speed, so they may not have felt anything until either the pilot boat saw it (and it may have been too dark at that time out by the sea buoy), or they opened the bow mooring platforms and a surprised deck officer saw a strange wake. What I think happened is that they farted around trying to get it off, and missed the slack water at the pier, and then had to wait for tugs to get them through the turn into the pier. Those Hudson River passenger piers have always been dangerous, going back to the Normandie days, and the larger the ship, the bigger the problem. It all depends on the state of the river, the wind, the tide, and you'll end up getting a ship T-boned on the end of the downriver pier.

[sdmike]

Steerage drops off distinctly with ship's speed, so they may not have felt anything until either the pilot boat saw it (and it may have been too dark at that time out by the sea buoy), or they opened the bow mooring platforms and a surprised deck officer saw a strange wake. What I think happened is that they farted around trying to get it off, and missed the slack water at the pier, and then had to wait for tugs to get them through the turn into the pier. Those Hudson River passenger piers have always been dangerous, going back to the Normandie days, and the larger the ship, the bigger the problem. It all depends on the state of the river, the wind, the tide, and you'll end up getting a ship T-boned on the end of the downriver pier.

 

Good points. Shame they couldn't just get up to 25kts and "slam on the brakes" ;)

[biker@sea]

Steerage drops off distinctly with ship's speed, so they may not have felt anything until either the pilot boat saw it (and it may have been too dark at that time out by the sea buoy), or they opened the bow mooring platforms and a surprised deck officer saw a strange wake. What I think happened is that they farted around trying to get it off, and missed the slack water at the pier, and then had to wait for tugs to get them through the turn into the pier. Those Hudson River passenger piers have always been dangerous, going back to the Normandie days, and the larger the ship, the bigger the problem. It all depends on the state of the river, the wind, the tide, and you'll end up getting a ship T-boned on the end of the downriver pier.

 

I think your right .

I think they waited for the tide till 8: , and backed off it. As in this report .

May 4th, 2014, 08:09 AM

Cozmix

Cool Cruiser

 

Join Date: Apr 2012

Location: Connecticut

Posts: 4

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Submariner

From my vantage point, it has moved and is preparing to steer towards the pier.

EDIT: Nope. It just moved down the river a bit. No turning towards pier.

Yeah. We're moving very slowly, backward I think. No pertinent announcements about it yet, though.

 

Edit: just got more info. Updates port time: just before 10am. I'm ready to go home! Lol

__________

[chengkp75]

Good points. Shame they couldn't just get up to 25kts and "slam on the brakes" ;)

 

Oh, that ships had brakes like that. Would have saved a lot of collisions and lives. Getting a whale off the bulbous bow is a lot like getting a moose out of the front seat of your car here in Maine, when you whack one late at night. Moose legs are so long, that unlike deer, you tend to throw the whole one ton animal through the windshield and into your lap. In cases like this, size does matter.

[Single Cruiser]

That makes more sense and would also explain why during the first hour the nyportcam wasn't pointing at the ship!

[LrgPizza]

There is currently a post asking if anyone has ever seen a rat on their ship, and another post asking if anyone has ever had a bird in their cabin. I'm waiting for someone to start a thread, "So, who has had a whale stuck to their ship?"

[barnacle_boy]

I don't believe the whale was anywhere near the azipods, nor did the pods cause the delay. Nor do I believe it caused a problem with the thrusters. A 45' whale weighs several tons, and will have perhaps 20-30 feet of whale hanging over each side of the bow. Not only would this be a visual PR problem for NCL, but it could prevent the ship from docking the bow as close to the dock as needed. I believe the delay was the ship jockeying to get the whale off the bow.

 

NOAA says they have photographic evidence that proves the whale recovered near Brooklyn was on Breakaway's bow the previous day. I don't doubt that Breakaway carried the whale into the harbor, but there are some issues. The whale was found nearly 10 miles south from where, according to your theory, Breakaway was trying to get it off her bulb. I suppose it's possible that the whale could have drifted undetected 10 miles past downtown Manhattan before being spotted in Brooklyn, but the current couldn't have carried the whale that far in only two hours.

 

I agree that it's unlikely that the whale had anything to do with the pods. I think that was a separate, unrelated incident. If that was nothing more than a smokescreen for removing the whale, there's the issue of the recording of Svedung describing the issue as being related to the port-side pod. I can understand NCL's public relations stretching the truth, but for the Captain to intentionally lie when he didn't have to provide a specific reason for the delay seems less likely. While it's true that officers sometimes lie to protector their employers, a whale strike is hardly something worth lying about. I also find it hard to believe the USCG and the Sandy Hook pilot would buy into or support a false pretense.

[chengkp75]

NOAA says they have photographic evidence that proves the whale recovered near Brooklyn was on Breakaway's bow the previous day. I don't doubt that Breakaway carried the whale into the harbor, but there are some issues. The whale was found nearly 10 miles south from where, according to your theory, Breakaway was trying to get it off her bulb. I suppose it's possible that the whale could have drifted undetected 10 miles past downtown Manhattan before being spotted in Brooklyn, but the current couldn't have carried the whale that far in only two hours.

 

I agree that it's unlikely that the whale had anything to do with the pods. I think that was a separate, unrelated incident. If that was nothing more than a smokescreen for removing the whale, there's the issue of the recording of Svedung describing the issue as being related to the port-side pod. I can understand NCL's public relations stretching the truth, but for the Captain to intentionally lie when he didn't have to provide a specific reason for the delay seems less likely. While it's true that officers sometimes lie to protector their employers, a whale strike is hardly something worth lying about. I also find it hard to believe the USCG and the Sandy Hook pilot would buy into or support a false pretense.

 

I've just recently seen the news article on CC that quoted NCL as saying there was a maintenance issue with one pod (as opposed to a breakdown). The USCG will only know what the ship is reporting, and I agree that the Captain would most likely not report it falsely, but if questioned as to why they are stooging around in the river, it could have been a "white lie". I would say that from the statements, it sounds as if there was a "trip" on one pod, where something like a "chip" detector (a magnet in the oil piping that detects minute metal traces) tripped the pod, or a filter clogged, causing low oil pressure which tripped the pod. The reason the USCG was notified in the first place is that when one pod goes down, the required redundant steering system is out, so a tug escort is required, even if the tug is never used, and in that instance, the notification is required.

Edited May 7, 2014 by chengkp75

[LrgPizza]

I've just recently seen the news article on CC that quoted NCL as saying there was a maintenance issue with one pod (as opposed to a breakdown). The USCG will only know what the ship is reporting, and I agree that the Captain would most likely not report it falsely, but if questioned as to why they are stooging around in the river, it could have been a "white lie"....

 

A pod is the word for a social group of whales. Maybe they just misinterpreted. :)

[fishin' musician]

A little known fact; these azipods require a very specialized lubricant. Every 50,000 miles these vessels turn into whalers by deploying a large, specialized hypodermic harpoon that protrudes from the front of the bulbous bow. The whale is shishkabobbed, the specialized lubricant is syphoned out and the vessel is good for another 50,000 miles.