Sea Princess, Severe list - onboard damage

[Vabralee]

I was on the Sea Princes and can vouch that the ship did list to starboard quite badly at quarter past 6 in the morning. I was up but not able to catch stuff falling onto the floor - don't recall any loud bang - there was no wind and the ship was sailing beautifully and suddenly it listed quite severely. Quite a few passengers were thrown out of bed etc, we went upstairs to the Horizon eatery which was closed as all the food and crockery were on the floor. The Captain came over the loudspeaker about an hour later and said that some steering thing had malfunctioned and that all was OK now. Not enough information and quite a lot of passengers (including me) were wary every time the ship swayed for the rest of the cruise. Am sure that there will be (or should be) an incident investigation by the authorities.

[Lanlubba]

Since Sea Princess is a propeller and rudder propulsion system, I would bet she has Becker, or trim tab, rudders. These are designed to give additional steerage at slow speeds like when docking, but also give the added disadvantage of huge amounts of turning force when the ship is at sea speed. Most likely, a helmsman or bridge officer entered a new heading into the autopilot, without checking that the rate of turn filter was engaged, and the rudders went to "hard over". This will result in the ship heeling over to the 40*+ range. I experienced this while working on the Norwegian Sky about a decade ago, and there wasn't an unbroken piece of crockery or glassware onboard, and we sent about 100 passengers to the hospital in Vancouver. Its probably lucky it happened at night, when most of the passengers were asleep, so the worst was getting tossed out of bed.

 

Though 35-40 minutes sounds excessive unless something locked up and she was circling for that long.

 

I was on the Sea Princess too and agree with Vabralee. I was awake but groggy when it happened at 6:15am and initially I thought it was a freak wave because the seas were a bit rough. I remember peering out the window and seeing nothing but water and commenting to my wife, "It's not coming back (to vertical)." Our cabin was forward, starboard side, deck 6. I don't recall hearing a noise other than the one that had kept us awake all night (but that's another story). Personally, I don't think it listed for any longer than a few minutes. The captain's announcement was as Vabralee said but there were about three other versions circulating among passengers, the most credible being attributed to one of the ship's officers and akin to what chengkp75 has quoted above.

[Beanb41]

Cant help thinking of my role on Trip Advisor and the number of first timers who suddenly appear in moments of strife.

 

We have heard nothing about this incident and I am sure that had the ship ended up with a 45 degree list prior to coming into the port of Tauranga the NZ Maritime Agency and local news would have been all over the ship like a rash. It wouldn't have been allowed to sail until properly cleared

[Lanlubba]

Cant help thinking of my role on Trip Advisor and the number of first timers who suddenly appear in moments of strife.

 

We have heard nothing about this incident and I am sure that had the ship ended up with a 45 degree list prior to coming into the port of Tauranga the NZ Maritime Agency and local news would have been all over the ship like a rash. It wouldn't have been allowed to sail until properly cleared

 

Hmmm, first time poster but personally I have cruised several times.

 

The incident was supposedly reported in Tauranga by a passenger but it actually happened on the third day out from Brisbane before it reached Auckland. It probably wasn't even in NZ waters at the time because another full day and night passed before the ship reached Auckland (it's first port of call). I Googled the incident after it reportedly made the Courier Mail in Brisbane. Didn't find that news item but found the Cruise Critic item instead. The only reason I posted is because doubt had been expressed that the incident really happened.

[Vabralee]

I am surprised that there has not been more said about the incident (severe list to starboard), but Sea Princess has had some negative media not too long ago (A Current Affair on Sea Princess having the title "Fawlty Towers of the Sea") so the less said the better. I have travelled a few times before and love cruising and have actually been on a ship in the wake of a cyclone - so this was no 'wave' and as it was in the morning the bars were closed! I would think that this was serious enough for an investigation, and I for one would really love to know what really happened and more importantly assurance that it wouldn't happen again - possibly worse next time! I won't be travelling on the Sea Princess again.

[chengkp75]

If the incident happened in international waters, the NZ Maritime Authority would have no reason or jurisdiction to investigate. Once the ship entered NZ waters, if there was any problem with the ship's propulsion or steering, that would have had to been reported to NZMA, and they would have required extra measures (such as a tug escort) if the authorities felt it was justified. They would have gone onboard, examined logbook entries of the incident, tested the steering, and gone on their way, probably in an hour or two, and no one onboard would have known the difference.

 

Since the ship is Bermudan flagged, the Bermuda Maritime Authority is the agency that might require a report of the incident, as well as the classification society.

[chengkp75]

I am surprised that there has not been more said about the incident (severe list to starboard), but Sea Princess has had some negative media not too long ago (A Current Affair on Sea Princess having the title "Fawlty Towers of the Sea") so the less said the better. I have travelled a few times before and love cruising and have actually been on a ship in the wake of a cyclone - so this was no 'wave' and as it was in the morning the bars were closed! I would think that this was serious enough for an investigation, and I for one would really love to know what really happened and more importantly assurance that it wouldn't happen again - possibly worse next time! I won't be travelling on the Sea Princess again.

 

This could happen to any ship at any time, as I posted a similar occurrence on an NCL ship. If it is human error, then training will mitigate its repetition. If it is mechanical (more likely electronic), then review of maintenance will mitigate its repetition. You will almost be guaranteed that you will never hear "what really happened", and no one can assure you it won't happen again. Ships are machines. Machines have problems, and whether human or mechanical, you can never be assured of 100% reliability. The odds of this happening to the Sea Princess again are almost infinitesimal (the incident will lead to more scrutiny onboard), but the odds of it happening on another cruise ship are far greater.

[Brisbanelionsfan]

Cant help thinking of my role on Trip Advisor and the number of first timers who suddenly appear in moments of strife.

 

We have heard nothing about this incident and I am sure that had the ship ended up with a 45 degree list prior to coming into the port of Tauranga the NZ Maritime Agency and local news would have been all over the ship like a rash. It wouldn't have been allowed to sail until properly cleared

 

I can't help thinking of your role on TA either. Who are you?

Are you doubting the word of people who were on the ship? I hope not.

New posters have to start sometime, and now that they have lets hope they stay around and contribute some more.

[Sandielle]

This could happen to any ship at any time, as I posted a similar occurrence on an NCL ship. If it is human error, then training will mitigate its repetition. If it is mechanical (more likely electronic), then review of maintenance will mitigate its repetition. You will almost be guaranteed that you will never hear "what really happened", and no one can assure you it won't happen again. Ships are machines. Machines have problems, and whether human or mechanical, you can never be assured of 100% reliability. The odds of this happening to the Sea Princess again are almost infinitesimal (the incident will lead to more scrutiny onboard), but the odds of it happening on another cruise ship are far greater.

 

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. My FB friends who were on the Sea Princess have reported the event too. They still enjoyed the cruise. We got off the Sea Princess a month ago- marvellous cruise and staff/crew. Very strict regarding preventing norovirus. We were not allowed to serve ourselves in the buffet for 48 hours in case a passenger had brought the disease aboard. Captain Kent was very good at informing us what they were doing to avoid the approaching cyclone and what decisions he had made. This incident would not prevent us from going on Sea Princess again. In fact we have booked a 35 day cruise to Hawaii on her for 2016.

[wombat50]

I too was on the Sea princess when this happened at 6-15am. I'm not a 1st time poster like Lanlubber or Vabralee but it did happen as stated.

only lasted a few minutes but that was enough to cause a lot of damage.

it seemed to tilt in 3 stages. it listed a bit then 10 secs or so later went a bit more then went a bit more again. all the stuff on our dressing table ended on the floor.

I though it was rough weather. I got dressed and went up top but sea was reasonably calm to a slight swell.

in the bistro there was plates and cups and cutlery all over the floor plus in the gift shop everything on the floor.

someone was brought on board at Auckland to investigate the reason.

friends who attended the captains lunch and sat at the table with the second in charge were told it was a problem with the hydraulics that caused the rudders to do what ever caused the problem. we will never know the truth.

had it of happened an hour or two later when most people were up and about there would of been a lot of injuries.

to Beanb41 and others who douth this happened. we were there you weren't and know that it did happen

[Observer101]

HI

To confirm the list did occur. It was significant. Somewhere on the web passengers have posted photos of pool deck but I have been unable to find these. There were injuries to staff and passengers (one wrist fracture I sighted). The length of time closer to 10 minutes ... but no announcements from the captain for more than 40 minutes... although I was more concentrated on the angle of no return at the time and not whether or not someone was making the announcements..

The angle was significant enough to be scared and many in our group were tipped out of bed.. I heard terms such as automated hydraulic (?steering) port... I am not mechanical enough for it to be remembered.

How do they keep it out of the press is interesting though isn't it?

And any re-assurance to passengers on the cruise that it would not happen again did NOT occur. Nor did any thorough explanations. So sorry to Princess fans but that safety breach was SIGNIFICANT and the Ocean was calm ... give a 15 knot wind plus onto into the list at same time I ponder if the outcome would have been as simple.

SO no offence to mechanics in cyber space just to the Captain on Board and his immediate crew.. change your debriefing mentality, even lie but give passengers some knowledge.

 

Plus can I point out the hand hygiene of staff needs an overview.