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Carnival ship aground off San Juan Harbor?


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Thank you for the explanation. Very interesting and makes a lot of sense.

 

Indeed, very good info. I have heard before that a ship cannot go into port with a missing anchor, and given this explanation... wondering if this will create issues until the anchor is replaced?

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It sounds like their anchor likely got fouled on the bottom, and couldn't be raised. They will then let out all the chain, and where the end link of the chain is fastened to the ship, there is a pin that can be driven out to let the chain free.

 

A ship can enter port with one anchor missing, but depending on the port, and country, they may need to make notifications and meet various requirements. For a US port, they will need to notify the USCG, but I don't recall their being any restrictions, like having additional tugs, for losing an anchor.

 

Most likely the company has a spare anchor for each class of ship, if the anchors are significantly different, and anchor chain is fairly easy to obtain. Probably a month or so to get everything staged to turn around port, and line up barges and cranes for installation.

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When a ship prepares to go into restricted waters (like into port), or get underway, the anchors are prepped for instant use in case of emergency, so all of the "safety devices" are removed, and the anchors are holding just on their brake bands. Sometimes, if the bands are not tightened enough, severe vibrations, like when a ship gets going too fast in shallow water (the propeller wake bounces off the bottom and vibrates the ship), the windlass brake band can slip, and the anchor fall under its weight to the sea bed. It's embarrassing, but it does happen.

 

Good info! Thanks!

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It sounds like their anchor likely got fouled on the bottom, and couldn't be raised. They will then let out all the chain, and where the end link of the chain is fastened to the ship, there is a pin that can be driven out to let the chain free.

 

A ship can enter port with one anchor missing, but depending on the port, and country, they may need to make notifications and meet various requirements. For a US port, they will need to notify the USCG, but I don't recall their being any restrictions, like having additional tugs, for losing an anchor.

 

Most likely the company has a spare anchor for each class of ship, if the anchors are significantly different, and anchor chain is fairly easy to obtain. Probably a month or so to get everything staged to turn around port, and line up barges and cranes for installation.

 

Non sequitor, but I'm curious on how much chain a ship of that size holds.

 

And I can imagine that a stateroom near the chain locker must be noisy when they drop an anchor.

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Non sequitor, but I'm curious on how much chain a ship of that size holds.

 

And I can imagine that a stateroom near the chain locker must be noisy when they drop an anchor.

 

Anchor chain is measured in "shots" (each shot being 15 fathoms, or 90 feet). I would say the typical cruise ship carries 12 shots on each anchor (1080 feet). Yes, anchoring and maneuvering with the thrusters can get noisy for lower deck, forward cabins, which is why the ones really close to the chain lockers are crew cabins.

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I know from a recent Carnival BtF Tour that some ships carry a spare anchor on the bow near the ship's bell, but it would require a heavy-duty crane at a port to haul it up. It was either on the Vista or the Conquest where it was pointed out to us; if the latter, then Glory should also have one available.

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How the heck does that happen? Isn't there a safety detent or something?

Usually, weight of chain holds ship, and anchor just holds chain. To retrieve anchor, ship rides up on top of it and reels it in. If it got stuck in a reef, it may be problem, but ships have spare anchor in case one is lost.

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I know from a recent Carnival BtF Tour that some ships carry a spare anchor on the bow near the ship's bell, but it would require a heavy-duty crane at a port to haul it up. It was either on the Vista or the Conquest where it was pointed out to us; if the latter, then Glory should also have one available.

 

Is there spare chain?

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I know from a recent Carnival BtF Tour that some ships carry a spare anchor on the bow near the ship's bell, but it would require a heavy-duty crane at a port to haul it up. It was either on the Vista or the Conquest where it was pointed out to us; if the latter, then Glory should also have one available.

 

I believe you are referring to a spare propeller. This is found and stored on the bow of the ship near the bell & crew rec area.

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+5

Took a Floridian to get that. I wanted to say "Danforth and conquer" but...

 

Enjoyed your states weather a couple of weeks ago, my girls ran the half-marathon at Disney.

 

Tight lines to ya. Caught a nice flounder and speckled trout off the pier tonight. Chartreuse Gulp and 3/8 jig slow rolling.

 

.

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I believe you are referring to a spare propeller. This is found and stored on the bow of the ship near the bell & crew rec area.

 

Some ships carry a spare propeller, some a set of propeller blades, if they use a variable pitch propeller, and some carry spare anchors.

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Wow lol I was on the ship. It really wasn’t as bad as everyone makes it sound. The only way we were affected was that we arrived in Grand Turk a couple hours late but they let us stay late so we got all of our time there. The captain kept in constant contact with the guests informing them of any updates. Other than that, It was business as usual. We were told by the cruise director that it was a mechanical error that caused the anchor to release, it was not human error.

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I believe you are referring to a spare propeller. This is found and stored on the bow of the ship near the bell & crew rec area.

 

No, it was clearly a spare anchor. We were informed it weighed around ten+ tons. That's a tad excessive for a prop.

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No, it was clearly a spare anchor. We were informed it weighed around ten+ tons. That's a tad excessive for a prop.

 

Well, the relatively small propeller on my tanker weighs 17 tons. Even the Titanic's propellers were 38 tons each, and the largest propellers in the world, on the Emma Maersk and her sister ships of the Maersk Lines E-class container ships, weigh in at a whopping 131 tons. Most cruise ship propellers are in the 30-40 ton range.

 

But I do agree with you that some ships carry spare anchors.

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