what will it take to sink a medium sized cruise ship

In light of what happened recently, what will it take to sink a medium sized cruise ship of about 80000 gross tons?

Who knows and let's hope we never find out.

Keith

In light of what happened recently, what will it take to sink a medium sized cruise ship of about 80000 gross tons?

Though there are a variety of factors to consider, what basically determines whether a ship floats or sinks is its density (mass per unit of volume) compared with the density of the body of water it is in. If the ship becomes denser than the ocean, it will sink. As long as the ship remains less dense, then it will float. (Of course, it might no longer be upright - but that's another story.)

Though there are a variety of factors to consider, what basically determines whether a ship floats or sinks is its density (mass per unit of volume) compared with the density of the body of water it is in. If the ship becomes denser than the ocean, it will sink. As long as the ship remains less dense, then it will float. (Of course, it might no longer be upright - but that's another story.)

I mean what will capsize a 80000 grt cruise ship, are cruise ships today less stable than the old ocean liners like the Normandie?

I mean what will capsize a 80000 grt cruise ship, are cruise ships today less stable than the old ocean liners like the Normandie?

You do realize that "capsize" mean to turn the ship upside down. There are too many variables to provide a formulaic answer for that improbable occurrence. Do know that what the Anthem encountered was far from the "perfect storm" needed to cause it to capsize.

Sensitive question. Is there a reason you need to know this?

Sensitive question. Is there a reason you need to know this?

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Didn't take much to sink the Costa Concordia. The larger newer ships look very unstable but I suppose they know what they are doing:)

Didn't take much to sink the Costa Concordia. The larger newer ships look very unstable but I suppose they know what they are doing:)

Yes, they look unstable because they're much taller / more decks than ships of the Normandie's era. But much of the higher superstructure is of lightweight materials, they have aids like bulbous bows & stabilisers and, like all ships driven by engines, the heavy stuff - engines & other machinery, storage tanks, ballast tanks, etc - is mounted way down low.

So a capsize is a remarkably unlikely eventuality. :)

A collision with the scenery which punches a gash in the hull below the waterline is more likely to sink a ship than instability issues or high seas, as the captains of Titanic and Costa Concordia discovered. Even then, if the gash doesn't penetrate more than a couple of watertight compartments and the crew are tolerably competent at closing the watertight doors, the vessel is very unlikely to sink.

But any seafarer will tell you that a fire is much more of a hazard than a sinking.

One more thing to worry about :D

JB :)

Didn't take much to sink the Costa Concordia. The larger newer ships look very unstable but I suppose they know what they are doing:)

Well, it did take a rock ripping through the hull, flooding the engine compartments when an incompetent captain made a vanity deviation from the known safe course. Don't think there's much chance of that happening again.

Ms Estonia sank in the Baltic sea due to the fact that the loading door was left open, I remember that about 1000 people were killed. Back then they did not have as many watertight compartments either.

But basically medium sized ships will sink due to incompetent crew, doesnt really matter how it is built, when armed with a bunch of idiots. That why costa concordia and estonia sank. And Titanic too among others.

Check, check and triple check is what keeps ships from sinking. Im sure there will be other even bigger ships in the future that will sink due to human error. :(

In light of what happened recently, what will it take to sink a medium sized cruise ship of about 80000 gross tons?

Murphy's Law.

Ms Estonia sank in the Baltic sea due to the fact that the loading door was left open, I remember that about 1000 people were killed. Back then they did not have as many watertight compartments either.

 

But basically medium sized ships will sink due to incompetent crew, doesnt really matter how it is built, when armed with a bunch of idiots. That why costa concordia and estonia sank. :(

The sinking of the Estonia was a horrible tragedy but remember that she was a car ferry so her structure was very different ship from a cruise ship. There was a problem with the locks on the bow doors - they gave way in a storm and water entered the ship on the vehicle deck. The slow reaction of the captain and crew contributed to the high death toll (852 out of 982 passengers and crew).

Well, it did take a rock ripping through the hull, flooding the engine compartments when an incompetent captain made a vanity deviation from the known safe course. Don't think there's much chance of that happening again.

Actually I think that's the most likely concern, as it's the only passenger ship sinking in the past many decades. If it happened once . . .

A fire that can't be brought under control.

The sinking of the Estonia was a horrible tragedy but remember that she was a car ferry so her structure was very different ship from a cruise ship. There was a problem with the locks on the bow doors - they gave way in a storm and water entered the ship on the vehicle deck. The slow reaction of the captain and crew contributed to the high death toll (852 out of 982 passengers and crew).

Both the Estonia and the Herald of Free Enterprise had ultimately the same problem - a huge deck running the length of the ship which filled with water and sloshed about, causing a capsize. I don't think there was enough water to have sunk either ship, or nothing like as quickly anyway, if it hadn't been for the fact that it was sloshing round unchecked.

Even car ferries aren't built like that now. Cruise ships never were.

Exactly the same thing as would sink any sized ship: loss of buoyancy.

An awful lot of things going wrong at just the wrong time.

Torpedo.

Torpedo.

Best answer

Best answer

Naw.

Easiest answer.

Who knows and let's hope we never find out.

 

Keith

Best answer!

Someone has waaaaaaay to much free time on their hands to be worrying about this. :rolleyes:

Well, it did take a rock ripping through the hull, flooding the engine compartments when an incompetent captain made a vanity deviation from the known safe course. Don't think there's much chance of that happening again.

What? ... You believe that human error, arising from either stupidity or arrogance, has been culled out of the ranks of merchant seamen?

I guess you have more faith in the curative effects of Darwinism than I (who happen to retain confidence in the ability of people to continually come up with new ways of causing bad things to happen).

Torpedo.

Sorry --- while a likely contributing factor, not necessarily - a destroyer, USS Kearney, while on Neutralaity Patrol near Iceland before state of war existed, was torpedoed by a German U-boat and survived, as did battleship North Carolina hit by a Japanese torpedo in 1942 Solomons campaign. Torpedoes don't sink ships (although they certainly help) - only loss of bouancy sinks ships.