Nieuw Amsterdam Explosion.

[SUESEABE]

57 minutes ago, PSR said:

 

I'm just catching up and cannot find the comment you are referring to; was it removed by the monitors? And who is "Walker"?

 

James Walker, a maritime lawyer who runs the Cruise Law News blog.

[Heidi13]

26 minutes ago, SUESEABE said:

 

James Walker, a maritime lawyer who runs the Cruise Law News blog.

 

They may focus on claims against shipping companies in the USA, but I highly doubt he is a specialised Admiralty or Maritime Lawyer.

[Heidi13]

On 3/22/2024 at 8:31 PM, tomahawk43 said:

So it appears there is more damage to the ship than anyone is saying.  Tonight, the Rolling Stones lounge was closed and the entertainment there canceled although there was no announcement of this, we found out by trying to go.  I peaked in and there were water buckets abound, also in the hallway outside there was water dripping from the ceiling and fans set up everywhere. The cruise director has not been heard from since the incident, the only announcements have been from the Captain about our departure time and expected arrival in Florida in the morning.  

 

This is the type of post that is most counter-productive post incident. Assuming the Rolling Stones Lounge is many decks above the tank top, why would you assume the incidents are connected, especially with many hours in between. Do entertainment lounges have steam pipes in the deckhead?

 

Fact 1 - The had an incident in an engineering space around 09:00, which is initially reported to involve steam. I have some thoughts regarding the cause, since I experienced a similar incident many years ago, but since it is not based on fact, will keep it to myself until the facts are posted.

 

Fact 2 - Many hours later, a lounge is closed and water is dripping from the deckhead. This is actually a fairly common occurrence on cruise ships.

 

While it is highly unlikely they are connected, only when the final investigation report is published will we know for certain. In the interim, this type of post does nothing but start potential rumours. You could have tagged the resident Chief Engineer, advising of the lounge incident and requesting his professional opinion on the potential cause.

 

 

[SUESEABE]

@Heidi13 Only restating his own description of himself

[Heidi13]

On 3/23/2024 at 12:49 PM, AllTheSun said:

Was the alarm accompanied by a voice announcement so novice cruisers who might have forgotten about the final blast knew not to rush to the lifeboats?

 

First question should be was it a crew alarm or the General Emergency Signal. Pax only need to listen for 1 signal on the alarms.

[Heidi13]

5 hours ago, Funsun60 said:

This has been a terrible experience for the passengers and I suspect even more so for the captain and crew who knew the persons who perished.. I am not conversed on official investigations, but I wonder how the safety inspectors can properly determine the cause when the ship sailed from the place of the incident and I presume (possibly in error) that the room where the incident occurred  has been cleared. What procedures would be used to investigate after the fact and if, in fact, evidence may not be in the same place as when the accident took place. Maybe someone more familiar with maritime critical incidents can explain. Thank you

 

I expect Bahamas had inspectors onboard to commence the inspection and upon completion, they will have cleared the vessel to sail. If the equipment that failed is required for the operation of the vessel they will have acquired sufficient evidence, otherwise that equipment will not be used.

 

Modern ships retain all the history in the Automated Information Systems, etc. so lots of information is available for the subsequent investigation. They will also review the maintenance records, which are again on a database.

 

The ship's Flag State, which in this case is The Netherlands has a Marine Accident Investigation Branch, who is advised of reportable incidents. With fatalities, an investigation is automatic. Additional countries can request to assist, with the US NTSB often involved. The Bahamas will probably be involved, as could the deceased crew members countries. Depending on the number of British pax, the MAIB may also request to be involved.

 

Regardless of the number of countries assisting, the lead investigators are the ship's Flag State. In addition, the ship's Classification Society and the Bahamas will also conduct investigations. The company, in accordance with their ISM, will conduct an in-house investigation to determine the root cause and all contributing factors, so the ships SMS can be updated to reduce the potential for another similar incident.

 

The Dutch investigation is not to lay blame, but to determine the facts, root cause and contributing factors. They will also make recommendations.

 

Here is a link to a recent investigation completed by Norway. This took just under 5 years to complete, so provides some insight into how thorough the investigations are completed after the fact. In this case, all deficiencies were corrected and the engines returned to normal operation before Inspectors even boarded the vessel

 

https://www.nsia.no/Marine/Published-reports/2024-05

 

[Heidi13]

35 minutes ago, SUESEABE said:

@Heidi13 Only restating his own description of himself

 

Mariners tend to have a more colourful description, and I believe the Chief already let it out the bad.

[cruiseaholic78]

This is a translation from an article in a Dutch Maritime newspaper De Schuttevaer.

OVV investigates fatal accident on cruise ship Holland America Line

The Safety Research Council (OVV) is investigating an accident on a Holland America Line cruise ship, in which two crew members were killed on Friday. Two OVV employees traveled to the Caribbean, where the accident happened, the council said.

[HappyInVan]

sad sad! 😬

[chengkp75]

11 hours ago, Funsun60 said:

What procedures would be used to investigate after the fact and if, in fact, evidence may not be in the same place as when the accident took place.

To elaborate on what Andy described as the investigations, since the deaths occurred in the Bahamas, Bahamas law enforcement will have done an investigation prior to the ship leaving.  As the incident was happening, the Captain was notifying HAL headquarters of the incident.  HAL would then have notified the Class society (Lloyds Register) that certifies the safety and seaworthiness of the ship, and they would have sent their local surveyor (most ports have surveyors from nearly all Class societies resident there) to the ship, and he/she would have inspected the site and collected statements, before clearing the vessel to sail.  As Andy said, if the equipment was not needed for operation of the vessel (either not critical, or one of two or more redundant equipment), then it will be left alone.  In some cases, the Class surveyor may sail with the ship to continue investigation.  The surveyor's data, along with crew statements, anything from Bahamas law enforcement, and HAL's internal investigation will be used by the Flag State investigation board.