Live from Queen mary 2

[violetta58]

Awoke to a powercut thoughout the ship at 4.36 in the morning. No engines and we were just drifting off the coast of Barcelona. POwer came back on after 15 mins in the staterooms and about 1 hour later we slowly started to move. According to AIS we are now doing about 7 knots and limping towards port. To add to our early morning awakening we then got a major leak from the ceiling in our room that needed many buckets and currently the plumber and many helpers are working on it !!

I am off to bed now for a few more hours while my husband keeps an eye on things on the balcony...will let you know if we hear any more about the problem

[izarradar]

Awoke to a powercut thoughout the ship at 4.36 in the morning. No engines and we were just drifting off the coast of Barcelona. POwer came back on after 15 mins in the staterooms and about 1 hour later we slowly started to move. According to AIS we are now doing about 7 knots and limping towards port. To add to our early morning awakening we then got a major leak from the ceiling in our room that needed many buckets and currently the plumber and many helpers are working on it !!

I am off to bed now for a few more hours while my husband keeps an eye on things on the balcony...will let you know if we hear any more about the problem

 

How far out from Barcelona are you? Please keep us advised.

[William Dean]

Awoke to a powercut thoughout the ship at 4.36 in the morning. No engines and we were just drifting off the coast of Barcelona. POwer came back on after 15 mins in the staterooms and about 1 hour later we slowly started to move. According to AIS we are now doing about 7 knots and limping towards port. To add to our early morning awakening we then got a major leak from the ceiling in our room that needed many buckets and currently the plumber and many helpers are working on it !!

I am off to bed now for a few more hours while my husband keeps an eye on things on the balcony...will let you know if we hear any more about the problem

 

She's doing 18.5 knots as I write.

[Bionicbonce]

We're on the ship too. The Commodore made an announcement to the crew to report to stations when the failure happened but nothing since then. We were still moving quickly and it was quite worrying to look down at the water with no lights and with no power. Eventually we came to a stand still and sat motionless for about an hour. We await to see if an explanation is offered.

[guernseyguy]

Maybe its the 'revenge of Rolls Royce' who have been forced to pay up $17 million for the azipod problems........(JOKE! :rolleyes:)

 

Hope you are well underway again....and in a sense this is all part of the 'tradition' - QE2 used to lose power too....but for days, not a few measly hours!

[Oahucruiser]

The webcam shows the ship docked in Barcelona now. Glad you got there.

[Cruachan]

We're on the ship too. The Commodore made an announcement to the crew to report to stations when the failure happened but nothing since then. We were still moving quickly and it was quite worrying to look down at the water with no lights and with no power. Eventually we came to a stand still and sat motionless for about an hour. We await to see if an explanation is offered.

 

Sounds like exactly the same thing that happened in Quebec, although they seem to have fixed it a bit faster this time. Maybe they are gaining experience in addressing this particular glitch.

 

J

[Cruachan]

QE2 used to lose power too....but for days, not a few measly hours!

 

ROFL !!! :D:D

 

Ah yes - good old QE2. Unequalled in every way.

 

J

[dreamlooker]

i hope you are at the port and the fix the problem also i hope they give u something for your trouble in your room

[capnpugwash]

i hope you are at the port and the fix the problem also i hope they give u something for your trouble in your room

 

Dreamlooker, they gave them a bucket and some staff or were you suggesting that there may be the opportunity for Compensation. How very modern.

[Cruachan]

Dreamlooker, they gave them a bucket and some staff...

 

I hope it wasn't Hyacinth !!! :eek:

 

J

[Summergee]

What deck are you on and were any of your belongings damaged?

[Cruise Liner Fan]

Maybe its the 'revenge of Rolls Royce' who have been forced to pay up $17 million for the azipod problems........(JOKE! :rolleyes:)

 

Hope you are well underway again....and in a sense this is all part of the 'tradition' - QE2 used to lose power too....but for days, not a few measly hours!

When QE2 lost power for days not hours was it before or after the conversion to diesel-electric power? Regards,Jerry

[pnhmrk]

When QE2 lost power for days not hours was it before or after the conversion to diesel-electric power? Regards,Jerry

 

Both :(

[QM2 fan]

Sounds pretty similar to the Quebec problem-we did the EB transat between the two trips,and although we had no electrical probs, I suspect there was trouble with the toilet systems.We were on deck 9,but I went walkabout on the ship and there was a nasty niff of sewage in the corriders of deck 4, then later in the day our cabin toilet refused to flush, but in the middle of the night woke us up by flushing repeatedly on its own....strange...

[The Real PM]

Sounds pretty similar to the Quebec problem-we did the EB transat between the two trips,and although we had no electrical probs, I suspect there was trouble with the toilet systems.We were on deck 9,but I went walkabout on the ship and there was a nasty niff of sewage in the corriders of deck 4, then later in the day our cabin toilet refused to flush, but in the middle of the night woke us up by flushing repeatedly on its own....strange...

I suppose the flushing of the toilets requires some sort of power.

[Ray66]

I notice that the webcam picture looks clearer now. It's had a greyish tinge ever since the problems in Canada. Now it's back to its normal blueish tinge. :rolleyes:

 

So maybe everything's sorted.

[violetta58]

What deck are you on and were any of your belongings damaged?

 

We are on deck 10 and luckily no damage to anything, just had to have the carpet dryer on all day. Same time as the plumber came to our cabin he got a call from deck 9 with similar problem, we think it was the effect of the power cut on the air conditioning system.

Now its 5 o'clock pm and we were told this morning we will not leave until 1.00am so on board by midnight. They are obviously trying to fix the problem.We will have to move pretty fast to get to monte carlo on time tomorrow as its 282 miles .!!

[Cruise Liner Fan]

I admit that I am no expert but since the diesel and gas turbine engines are needed to generate the electricity needed to operate the ship and these same engines are probably controlled by computer.All of the QM2'S diesel and gas turbine engines must be in good condition so the problem maybe that since next January the QM2 will be entering her 8th year of service and if they are still using the same original computers from Day 1 in January 2004,maybe those computers are getting old and have to be replaced.This is just speculation on my part. Regards,Jerry

[TheOldBear]

Perhaps the software was copied from the trial 'Smart Ship' software on the USS Yorktown :p

 

[from wikipedia]

From 1996 Yorktown was used as the testbed for the Navy's Smart Ship program. The ship was equipped with a network of 27 dual 200 MHz Pentium Pro based machines running Windows NT 4.0 communicating over fiber-optic cable with a Pentium Pro based server. This network was responsible for running the integrated control center on the bridge, monitoring condition assessment, damage control, machinery control and fuel control, monitoring the engines and navigating the ship. This system was estimated to save $2.8 million per year by reducing the ship's complement by 10%.

On September 21, 1997, while on maneuvers off the coast of Cape Charles, Virginia, a crew member entered a zero into a database field causing a divide by zero error in the ship's Remote Data Base Manager which brought down all the machines on the network, causing the ship's propulsion system to fail.[4]

Anthony DiGiorgio, a civilian contractor with a 26-year history of working on Navy control systems, reported in 1998 that the Yorktown had to be towed back to Norfolk Naval Station. Ron Redman, a deputy technical director with the Aegis Program Executive Office, backed up this claim, suggesting that such system failures had required Yorktown to be towed back to port several times.[5]

[ /wikipedia]

[violetta58]

Just heard from Commodore Warner that we are sailing from Barcelona just after midnight and will get to Monte Carlo at 2.15 pm approx, he hopes to make it earlier if possible, (Hubby says that QM2 could do 29 knots which should get us in around midday but perhaps the cost of fuel is just too high or the problem maybe won’t allow us to do that speed?).

We are staying at Monte Carlo until 8.00 pm and will still get a full day in Civitavecchia the next day.. No real explanation for the power failure and he has only said they need to check systems afterwards, so no reason for the actual power cut given

We have no excursions in Monte Carlo but hope to get off for a couple of hours

PS Our carpet is nearly dry – had to turn the dryer off it was just too noisy!! :)

[patwell]

Violetta...thank you so much for taking your time to keep us all informed with what you know. We were supposed to be on this trip but cancelled and chose Norway in August instead. However our closest friends kept the booking and are on with you now,, so I'm very interested in how things are going.

 

I do hope you haven't been too badly inconvenienced by your cabin "rain shower" and I am hopeful that Monte Carlo plans for all won't be too badly impacted. Most of all I sincerely hope the rest of the voyage is without incident for all of you. Obviously QM2 has some ongoing "issues" that continue to plague her.

 

Cheers, Penny

Penny’s Affair to Remember QM2 Review

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=471053

November 10,2007...the “Affair” continued...did it ever!

 

October 16,2008...the “Affair” goes transatlantic as we sail in tandem with the grand QE2 on her final transatlantic voyage...what a thrill!

 

December 9, 2008....the “Affair” resumes again....Life is good!

 

July 30, 2009....transatlantic again...some “Affairs” just get better

 

August 7, 2009....the “Affair” goes on...this time “home” to Norway

 

Feb. 7, 2010....the “Affair” takes a sunny detour when Penny meets a Princess

 

Aug 14, 2010....the “Affair” returns to Norway, all the way to the top!

 

2011....new adventures...decisions, decisions

[Cruise Liner Fan]

Perhaps the software was copied from the trial 'Smart Ship' software on the USS Yorktown :p

 

[from wikipedia]

From 1996 Yorktown was used as the testbed for the Navy's Smart Ship program. The ship was equipped with a network of 27 dual 200 MHz Pentium Pro based machines running Windows NT 4.0 communicating over fiber-optic cable with a Pentium Pro based server. This network was responsible for running the integrated control center on the bridge, monitoring condition assessment, damage control, machinery control and fuel control, monitoring the engines and navigating the ship. This system was estimated to save $2.8 million per year by reducing the ship's complement by 10%.

On September 21, 1997, while on maneuvers off the coast of Cape Charles, Virginia, a crew member entered a zero into a database field causing a divide by zero error in the ship's Remote Data Base Manager which brought down all the machines on the network, causing the ship's propulsion system to fail.[4]

Anthony DiGiorgio, a civilian contractor with a 26-year history of working on Navy control systems, reported in 1998 that the Yorktown had to be towed back to Norfolk Naval Station. Ron Redman, a deputy technical director with the Aegis Program Executive Office, backed up this claim, suggesting that such system failures had required Yorktown to be towed back to port several times.[5]

[ /wikipedia]

On these ships whether it is a passenger ship like the QM2 or a military ship like the USS Yorktown,I can understand using computers to operate systems like navigation.However is it really necessary to use computers to operate the ship's diesel and or gas turbine engines? For instance in my own car I use a key to turn on the ignition to start the car's engine.Why can't the same simple technology be used to turn on and off the ship's diesel and or gas turbine engines? As I have said in my last post I admit that I am no expert in the operation of diesel and or gas turbine engines for ships. Regards,Jerry

[TheOldBear]

On these ships whether it is a passenger ship like the QM2 or a military ship like the USS Yorktown,I can understand using computers to operate systems like navigation.However is it really necessary to use computers to operate the ship's diesel and or gas turbine engines? For instance in my own car I use a key to turn on the ignition to start the car's engine.Why can't the same simple technology be used to turn on and off the ship's diesel and or gas turbine engines? As I have said in my last post I admit that I am no expert in the operation of diesel and or gas turbine engines for ships. Regards,Jerry

 

On ships one generation older [FFG-7 class], the gas turbines were controlled by a mechanical analog computer, similar to the mechanical fuel injection in my old Mercedes 300E. This was normally controlled by an electronic computer linkage from the bridge [one control for engine speed and propellor pitch] but in a pinch could be controlled by moving a lever on the side of the mechanical computer.

 

Many of today's cars are 'fly by wire' and things like the gas pedal and ignition key only connect to the computer. Without the computer, the car is simply a 3000 lb paperweight.

[pnhmrk]

For instance in my own car I use a key to turn on the ignition to start the car's engine.

 

It is my understanding that modern cars (built within the past 15 years or so) contain computers. When you start your engine you are also starting its computer.