MAIB report into explosion on board QM2

Catastrophic failure of a capacitor and explosion in an 11kV harmonic filter on board the passenger cruise vessel RMS Queen Mary 2

http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/SB4-10.pdf

That could have had some horrible consequences, the Ship and the crew were fortunate.

MAIB SAFETY BULLETIN 4/2010

 

Catastrophic failure of a capacitor and explosion in an 11kV harmonic filter on board the passenger cruise vessel RMS Queen Mary 2

 

http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/SB4-10.pdf

Before we all get upset at this blog. Is this something that happened several months ago and all is well since?? I am having a problem reading the file on my computer.

It happened in September 2010

It happened in September 2010

She is still sailing - do we assume she has been repaired and all is well. Looking forward to our January cruise.

I would think that the fault has been repaired, wouldn't you?

The following link is to the thread which was posted on here at the time about the power cut:

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1280274&highlight=power

Thats really interesting to find out what happened.I was on that cruise( see previous post ) and remember well the loss of power and drifting silently off Barcelona. They had to get parts hence we remained in Barcelona until midnight.

Hopefully with the recomendations of the MAIB , similar events can be prevented from happening

I would think that the fault has been repaired, wouldn't you?

You would think so, but maybe not, we had quite a few pewer cuts while on board during the whole of October, mostly in the buffet area, maybe this was all part of it

Interesting reading.

OT: Why do they call her RMS Queen Mary 2?

Does she indeed carry the Royal Mail??

I'm currently on board QM2. Happily, I've not noticed any problems with the ship. -Salacia

I would think that the fault has been repaired, wouldn't you?

I do understand that the damaged capacitor has been replaced or repaired. However the article implied that several of the others could be in poor condition. The same problem could happen again.

We were on the September 3rd sailing when the power went out in Quebec. After the outage, the planetarium didn't work for the remainder of our cruise. Our son will be sailing on the QM2 on January 3rd. Is everything working properly, including the Planetarium?

I'm currently on board QM2. Happily, I've not noticed any problems with the ship. -Salacia

So is my boss and her husband!

If you see a little Irish-American couple in Queen's Grille or stepping off the starboard glass elevator into the Commodore Room (He with a handlebar moustache) tell them "Hello"

:)

We were on the September 3rd sailing when the power went out in Quebec. After the outage, the planetarium didn't work for the remainder of our cruise. Our son will be sailing on the QM2 on January 3rd. Is everything working properly, including the Planetarium?

I'm not a fan of the planetarium but some of my tablemates visited it on my November Transatlantic and were very impressed. On the November 10-16 voyage they also inagurated live Planetarium shows.

Not a trace of power trouble on my voyage.

Roy

Interesting reading.

 

OT: Why do they call her RMS Queen Mary 2?

Does she indeed carry the Royal Mail??

I don't know if she does actually carry mail, but Cunard did some kind of deal with the Royal Mail so she can be called RMS. :)

i dont think QM2 does carry any mail, although we do still have a good surface mail which is still in use, the QM2 was given the name RMS as a guesture to the Cunard history.

Unless any one know different

I don't know if she does actually carry mail

...so if she does, we now know where all those lost letters go.

;)

It may not be the best reason for the RMS designation, but there is a Royal Mail pillar box on board. At the naming ceremony, Cunard's president Pamela Conover mentioned in her address that the ship has been designated a Royal Mail Ship. The Royal Mail pennant has flown from the mast on our two crossings.

It may not be the best reason for the RMS designation, but there is a Royal Mail pillar box on board. At the naming ceremony, Cunard's president Pamela Conover mentioned in her address that the ship has been designated a Royal Mail Ship. The Royal Mail pennant has flown from the mast on our two crossings.

+++++

Royal Mail came to Cunard to offer the RMS designation if Queen Mary 2 would carry one letter. The pillar box is a fine artifact but then many ships accept mail from passengers aboard. Royal Mail does not deliver sea mail to the ship at Southampton to carry over to New York.

RMS St. Helena is the only ship I know that regularly carries the post as the island she serves has no airport.

Ted

+++++

Royal Mail came to Cunard to offer the RMS designation if Queen Mary 2 would carry one letter. The pillar box is a fine artifact but then many ships accept mail from passengers aboard. Royal Mail does not deliver sea mail to the ship at Southampton to carry over to New York.

 

RMS St. Helena is the only ship I know that regularly carries the post as the island she serves has no airport.

Ted

Thanks for the info, this is what I had heard. I wonder then how does surface get to the USA these days, The Royal Mail still provides this service and it is used

I have sailed on the QM2 twice and will sail again on her and several other ships in 2011. However, that doesn't remove my concern about fires and power losses on her and several other new ships in the past two to three years. I had thought that all the new advances they are putting on new ships would have greatly reduced if not eliminated these types of issues. However, like some of the new airplanes recently introduced, these ships are still having issues. What is the problem? Is it all of the new facilities and services now provided that are causing extra demand? Or is it just bad management? In any event, IMO it should not be happening.

We were on QV on Sept 25, 2010- Rome to Venice. QM was docked on Rome (Civetavehcia) on Sept 25 and matter of fact QV left Rome 30 minutes earlier to Naples> Next day QM-2 docked before QV arrived in Naples. Despite of the electrical explosion she was able beat QV by few hr to Naples. I don’t think we should worry about her sea worthiness.

Shouldn't these guys have an obligation to tell passengers something about what actually happened? Certainly, they don't want to alarm people, but I would sure like to know if an explosion occurred on my ship.

Airlines do the same thing. "Oh, it will just be a couple of minutes while the mechanic checks out the XXX."

Shouldn't these guys have an obligation to tell passengers something about what actually happened? Certainly, they don't want to alarm people, but I would sure like to know if an explosion occurred on my ship.

 

Airlines do the same thing. "Oh, it will just be a couple of minutes while the mechanic checks out the XXX."

If it didn't affect the power delivery to the engines and hotel services while people were awake, and there was never any danger from fire or smoke - Why bother?

This clearly wasn't an instance like Carnival Splendor...