Statendam Loses TWO Anchors - we just got back

You won't believe this story! I just got back yesterday from a wonderful 7 day Alaska cruise on the Statendam. We left one bow anchor in the Sitka harbor last Wednesday, and the other bow anchor now sits in the Ketchikan harbor where we left it on Friday! Our captain kept us well informed on the whole situation and in fact, held a special meeting the next day to answer questions and tell us all about it. It was strictly mechanical difficulties and he did a tremendous job and made critical decisions that allowed us to continue the cruise, basically on schedule. Luckily, Sitka was the only port where we had to tender, so that helped. I'll try to be as brief as possible, but here's what happened! Just as the anchor was almost all the way in before leaving Sitka, the electric motor burned out. After 3 and a half hours of trying to lift it using the other motor on the other side of the bow, the decision was made to attach some buoys to it and leave it in the harbor and be on our way. He made up the time and we were only an hour and a half late into Juneau and all the shore excursions waited for us. THEN, in Ketchikan, the captain decided to test the remaining bow anchor and just as it was almost in, the chain broke and it dropped to the bottom. I guess they spent the day filling out paper work, calling everyone from Lloyds of London to the Coast Guard figuring out whether we could sail. They brought in one scrap anchor - too small. Then, found a rusty anchor washed up on shore in Ketchikan, brought it to the ship on a barge, and it met the regulations so we were able to set sail. (Ketchikan wants this anchor back). We were a little late, but still made the Inside Passage in time (much concern when traveling from the north cause of tides, etc.). If our captain had set sail from Ketchikan without a bow anchor we would have had to go far outside and be pushed into Vancouver by tug boat and would have been many hours late and people would have missed their planes. We commend the captain for his hard work and good decisions. We still had a wonderful time!

whoa....What an adventure Statendam had last week!! Happy all worked out well for the pax and that your excursions were not cancelled.

You sure had a great attitude about it and were great to continue having a good time.....regardless.

Welcome back.

(Hope they get those anchors back......:) )

Holy Cow! What a story! What are the chances of any ship losing both anchors in one sailing? Absolutely amazing. Kudos to the captain for what sounds like exemplary handling of what could have been a disastrous situation.

The older ships carried a spare anchor on the foredeck. Maybe the newer ones should consider that----Murphy's Law, you know.

Certainly puts a diffferent spin on "Anchors away!!!" LOL

Good Lord - What a story.

Thanks for telling us about it.

Hope the Statendam gets everything straightened out in the next 6 weeks - new anchors, retrieve old ones, fix motors, what ever they have to do.

Wonder if she will be able to do the cruise this week?

Yep, there's no problem now. Everything was repaired and taken care of yesterday in Vancouver. The one anchor engine was being replaced as we disembarked yesterday morning, and a new anchor and chain was also happening....I guess the ship (with us on it) went into drydock yesterday morning to pick up the new anchor and chain and then we were pushed into the Vancouver dock right on time. There was a barge and a crane next to the ship as we disembarked. I'm sure that everything is fine now. They said that the one anchor in Sitka would be recovered in the next two weeks, but that would not have any effect on future cruises, except that until it's removed, no other cruise ship can throw its anchor in that same spot. No big deal. Our captain did say that he notified the captains of the sister ships to the Satendam to inform them of this weakness in the chain around the area of the swivel since their ships might be showing the same wear and tear, since they are the same age. This way they might be able to catch theirs before they break in the same way (as ours did in Ketchikan).

The older ships carried a spare anchor on the foredeck. Maybe the newer ones should consider that----Murphy's Law, you know.

I think there was more to it than just needing a new anchor. The chain had broken inside of the swivel (keeps the anchor rope from getting twisted) so they needed a new chain and swivel as well (I think - it was complicated). I know that when we took the "junk" anchor on board, it would have been hooked up without a swivel, but they said that was ok because it would be needed only in an emergency. This was a very complicated story to listen to - lots of technical information - but the bottom line is, the captain did a great job and saved the whole trip! It would have taken 36 hours to repair the engine motor in Sitka, so we would have had to spend an extra day there and missed one of our other ports. He said no to that, so we went on our way, which was great.

whoa....What an adventure Statendam had last week!! Happy all worked out well for the pax and that your excursions were not cancelled.

 

You sure had a great attitude about it and were great to continue having a good time.....regardless.

 

Welcome back.

 

(Hope they get those anchors back......:) )

This really didn't affect the passengers at all....it was only traumatic for the crew, I think. Besides, how could I have a bad attitude when I was upgraded from a BB to a SUITE!!! Nothing could have spoiled that!

Who is the Captain?

Congratulations on your wonderful upgrade.

Who is the Captain?

 

Congratulations on your wonderful upgrade.

Captain was Pieter Bos.

Do you know if Captain Peter Bos will still be on the Statendam in Ocotober?

Sometimes the cpatains will mention if they are going on vacation.

Just wondering.

Wow! What a story. Thanks for telling.

Just think---you can dine out on this tale for years!

Wow, this story is the stuff of nightmares for mariners (the working ones, not necessarily the pax)! Glad the anchor problems didn't happen in bad weather, that could have been real trouble. I'm impressed that the emergency was handled so well. I think it demonstrates that Holland deserves its longstanding reputation as one of the great seafaring nations.

Fascinating! Thanks for letting us know....

-dave

Do you know if Captain Peter Bos will still be on the Statendam in Ocotober?

Sometimes the cpatains will mention if they are going on vacation.

Just wondering.

Don't know if he will be on the Statendam in October. He did say that in two weeks or so he will be taking his first vacation since November. I think he said that as captain, they normally cruise for four months and then are off for two, but that because of certain circumstances he has only had a few weeks off since last November. He has only been on the Statendam for a few weeks, but has captained five HAL ships in the last year! Don't remember if he said where he would be going after his vacation. He really was wonderful!

Glad to hear you had Peter Bos as your Captain...can't find a better one anywhere. He is very experienced and reliable.

Didn't Captain Peter Bos used to alternate with Captain Halle Gunderson on Prinsendam? After he was Captain on Rotterdam? Seems they move the Captains around alot more than they used to.

Our captain did say that he notified the captains of the sister ships to the Satendam to inform them of this weakness in the chain around the area of the swivel since their ships might be showing the same wear and tear, since they are the same age.

i leave in 3 weeks on the statendam heres to the crew and everyone else for a job well done, sure hope it doesn't happen again thanks for the story

yes he did alternate with captain gunderson. they are two fabulous captains and delightful to be around. both have this wonderful ability to spend time explaining without giving the feeling of being interupted.you could not get finer profesionals.

Saw the Statendam in Juneau last Wed when we were in port on the Amsterdam. I recall seeing a huge fork lift truck delaying traffic on the

high street as it carried a very large metal object ( covered with a tarp)

to the bow of the ship. Having said that the Statendam is obviously doing

ok as I also watched her take our berth in Ketchican with very little effort on Friday.

Thanks for the up-date. Sounds like the Statendam is getting it's anchor problems fixed. Looks like she'll be ready for our cruise in October.

I believe that the Statendam will go into drydock after the Alaska season for its 30 month check up. Hope they have all fixed before the Panama Canal cruise in mid October. We were on the Noordam after its normal drydock and we had several problems.

Saw the Statendam in Juneau last Wed when we were in port on the Amsterdam. I recall seeing a huge fork lift truck delaying traffic on the

high street as it carried a very large metal object ( covered with a tarp)

to the bow of the ship. Having said that the Statendam is obviously doing

ok as I also watched her take our berth in Ketchican with very little effort on Friday.

Hmmmm....are you sure that was the Statendam that you saw? I was on the Statendam on the 8/22 to 8/29 southbound trip with the anchor problems. Is that the week you were refering to? Anyway, you said you saw it in Juneau on Wednesday, but we were in Juneau on Thursday. Also, the captain chose not to test the remaining anchor in Juneau, instead he waited until the ship was in the correct orientation at the dock on Friday in Ketchikan. So, I have no idea what would have been approaching the ship on a crane in Juneau...anyway, I'm sure the problem was fixed in Vancouver.

Also, someone just wrote this morning saying that the Statendam was headed into drydock now. I don't think that was the plan, in fact I know it wasn't. After this week's southbound cruise to Vancouver, they are repositioning the ship to San Diego (some company has the whole ship reserved for the three day repositioning trip!). Then they will begin the 15 day trips from San Diego to Hawaii. They were all excited about that, so I don't think drydock was planned. The Statendam is just fine now.....not to worry.