Passengers hurt when storm hits Pacific Sun

[Growler]

Sounds like this was a really bad storm....

 

Daily Telegraph Report

 

My thoughts go to out to all those injured......

 

Tim :(

[Yarco]

Sounds like this was a really bad storm....

 

Daily Telegraph Report

 

My thoughts go to out to all those injured......

 

Tim :(

Having recently completed a cruise on Ventura, were the weather conditions reached force 9, & in which she developed a list to port as the wind around 60mph played on her side. I believe that some of these mega cruise ships to my mind anyway, do not handle rough seas well.

 

Now with RCCL building ships twice the size of Ventura, i again believe this is not as is being shown when these ships, encounter not particularly the worse weather ever encountered, they perform badly.

 

Mark

[Vampire Parrot]

Without getting too technical, the stability of a ship and how much it rolls is due to many factors, one of which is the metacentric height.

 

Google for metacentric height to find out more.... but some modern cruise ships have a metacentric height that is fairly small, which means they roll more (even with stabilizers extended), and the ride is not as comfortable as it should be.

 

Other ships have a larger metacentric height, which reduces the roll and the ride in rough seas is better. Because of this, the original Vista class (Zuiderdam and her HAL sisters, plus Arcadia) are ride rough seas very well, unlike some of the larger ships which actuall roll more. Having been on the Arcadia in storm force 10 in the Atlantic, I can personally state that while ship movement could be felt, it wasn't uncomfortable and there was no noticable list. The pitching (up and down motion) at the bow did at times get interesting, but as the foredeck was at times almost under water, I can't say I was surprised!

 

On my last trip on a Vista class ship, we encountered severe gale force 9 winds directly on the bow..... and pretty much no one actually noticed. It did help that the waves were short and steep, so the ship just ploughed through them with the only felt motion being a very slight surge (forwards and backwards movement, with no up and down). I suspect in similar conditions that Ventura would behave pretty much the same.

 

VP

[Yarco]

Just googled metacentric height, very interesting i had heard of GM before but now i'm a little wiser. Obviously all new ships must be sea worthy and meet IMO regulations, but the one thing sticks in my mind about cruise ships as appossed to cargo ships, is the draughts Ventura has a draught of just 8m ( 26.24ft ) & maybe 180ft from the water line to the funnel top which means the ships hull acts like a big sail to a strong wind.

 

I have travelled twice aboard container ships the last vessel had a draught of 14.5m ( 47.57ft ), & was around 157ft to the top of her funnel, but her beam was also wider 43m to Ventura's 36m this made her very stable, even in worse conditions than i experienced on Ventura. Another misconception is when a cruise ship, such as say Freedom of the Seas, is promoted as weighing 160,000 tons, as i'm sure you know cruise ships tonnage is nearly always given in gross tons ( GT ) but this is actually a measurement of enclosed space within the ships hull & not weight, and she would be likely to actually weigh around half that.

 

I just think that comparing, my two trips on cargo ships with that of my cruise on Ventura, i don't think that Ventura, whom seems to be having a few problems when the wind blows, would give a too comfortable ride if she got caught out in really bad weather. Where as a similar sized container ship with greater draught & weight, well the ones i went on anyway, handle the bad sea conditions much better.

 

Mark

[NSWP]

Like others I have followed the Pacific Sun's adventures closely. Many good reports from pax on board on P&O Australia site. It would appear Pacific Sun did the BIG roly poly as the ship did a sharp manouver turn, the Capt announced the turn on board.

 

P&O Australia's Pacific Sun ex 'Carnival Jubilee' is a 47,000 tonner. Been operating recently from Brisbane through South Pacific, NZ and Japan. Mainly Aussies and Kiwis on board..they breed them tough in OZ and NZ !

 

Just my two bobs worth anyway..Cheers..Les:cool: