Was there almost an incident with Viking Star in Kotor

[algaes]

This website leads with the following courtesy of Google Translate:

 

"During his stay cruisers " Viking Star " in our port , and avoids the serious accident . Somewhere around 14 hours , a ship that had previously stayed at the anchorage at about four cables north of the waterfront at Luzia , he began to " plow anchor " .

 

Anchor in fact , did not stick well , but retraced on the seabed , drawn by the ship which was carrying a strong storm .

 

The situation was further aggravated by the fact that the " Viking Star " brand new boat that is still being removed some technical deficiencies , and the crew has not been completely rehearsed . Therefore , while they run all machines and achieved maximum power called . bow and stern thrusters , 227 meters long cruiser at one point found at less than 100 meters from the shore of Kotor ."

 

see photos at http://www.vijesti.me/vijesti/kotor-norveski-kruzer-se-umalo-nasukao-bura-ga-odnijela-sa-sidrista-827807

 

To hear the wind conditions see this video:

 

From other sources it seems there is an ongoing controversy regarding the port not providing safe anchorage buoys for ship to tender at. Saw a mention that Royal Carribean has expressed its dissatisfaction with port facilities. Perhaps this episode will get the project going.

 

Should we infer the ship is skipping Santorini and heading straight for Istanbul for a reason - whether regarding ship's systems or personnel. Perhaps the decision was made with tough weather across the area to just head for safer waters.

Edited April 9, 2015 by algaes

[NeilP57]

I found another article about this incident again in the Bosnian language that has been translated by Google Translate. The full article is repeated below:

 

Kusovac about the incident with the old Viking: We have reports, so we'll see

Comments (1) A A A

Director of the Port of Kotor Basil Kusovac said that the company have reports about the incident with the cruise ship Norwegian company "Viking Star", a ship's captain to your quality system.

*Viking Star

The situation that occurred in Kotor port, on his first trip cruise ships Norwegian company "Viking Star", jeopardizes the safety of ships in the Bay of Kotor.

 

Cruiser that was two days ago arrived in the Port of Kotor due to strong north winds, almost not stranded. Neither the anchor could not prevent the movement of the ship to Kotor Park freedoms.

 

How strong wind carried the boat toward shore by the fact that he tore spearfishing marking the sandbar at the mouth of the river Škurda.

 

The disaster, however, prevented thanks to maximal engagement standing who managed to reach full power and thus stop further movement of the ship to the shore.

 

The commander of the Norwegian cruise ship captain Gjulik Svalastog announced it would invest so. sea ​​protest or official application of maritime accidents.

 

Director Luke Basil Kusovac said for Radio Antena M that the company would not prejudge anything.

 

"First we'll wait and see what happens. We have our own reports, the captain has the quality system your report and we will see, "said Kusovac.

 

President of the Tourist Organization of Kotor Krcic Mirza said that the situation with the cruise ship "Viking Star" warns.

 

"The incident occurred due to weather conditions, the anchor is dragged along the ground and there was to it. What matters to me now known Luke does not have any information about possible cancellations. We have a job as a state to think about the security services to be adequately equipped. Service maritime security, tugboats in the Bay of Kotor, "he added.

 

This is not the first such case. The prestigious cruise company "Royal Caribbean", but asked that the mandatory set buoys, as a similar situation would not happen and to safety was in accordance with international standards governing this field. Kusovac says the Port of Kotor in October trying to solve this problem.

 

"Tender procedure showed that it was not possible to complete before the season. All in Montenegro little late but we hope that we will provide it. We were willing to provide the money and technical documentation, find the best performer but that's the procedure was a problem. After some complaints and procedures, the Public Procurement Commission has decided that the project could not be completed because there are deficiencies in procedti. To me as a manager wrong as it has not been previously reported but are waiting for the start of the season, "he stressed.

 

Cruiser 227 meters long was transferred to anchor in goodness.

 

 

Not a perfect translation but clearly something happened, I guess time will tell what the implications (if any) are.

 

Neil

[pukekolive]

Kotor : Norwegian cruise ship was almost stranded , storm it took from the anchorage

 

Bow of the ship of almost 48 000 tonnes was to only a few dozen meters away from the beach below the former URC

"The boat was docked normally no trouble maintained that position in the wind power around 20 knots. However, literally a minute wind had reached a strength of almost 50 knots which caused a "dragging" the ship approaching the coast. The crew is the best way to react and prevent stranding. The ship at no time their hulls did not touch the sea floor, and even signal buoy which is one monmentu ended under it, has not been damaged and again at his station. Everything went without any damage to the ship, the port of Kotor, or anyone else, "he said," News "a source close to the company" Viking Ocean Cruises "adding that all the time while the" Viking Star "was in the port of Kotor, including during the duration of the emergency, the command bridge of the Norwegian cruise ships, in addition to pilot the Port of Kotor, captain Zdravko Milosevic, was captain of the ship, the captain Gjulik Svalastog, his deputy and first officer of the deck.

[Logistigr8r]

I saw this article last night too, but it didn't have all the cool photos and I had no clue what it said :rolleyes:

 

But I did notice that this article was dated 7 Apr, and the second article with all the photos was dated the 8th. If that was the real order of things the ship looks like it was pretty much back to normal after the incident. Thanks for translating the article--it does make a difference

[Bear_Music]

Here's a screen cap from Vessel Tracking showing the whole incident in chilling detail; I had noticed this yesterday and not paid as much attention to it as I should have: that was a VERY close call.

 

[roothy123]

I noticed all the circles, too - but the screen capture is a little misleading. If I remember correctly, the point where the ship is closest to the dock and town is when she left Kotor, as she was turning around. Nevertheless, it sounds like a scary incident. I hope the weather calms down soon in the Bay of Kotor, as I hear it's a beautiful place to visit.

[TPAtravelfan]

I was aboard and yes, the ship dragged anchor and possibly ran her bow aground on sandy bottom close to shore. In addition to churning up lots of sand and mud about 10 meters from shore, she dragged a string of floats that marked a swim area as well as another buoy.

 

This week the ship's masthead light was clipped off as the Viking Star went under a bridge over the Cape Cod canal.

[roothy123]

I was on another cruise ship that went through the Cape Cod Canal less than a week ago. The Captain had to lower one part of the masthead. Maybe one of the 3 bridges on the Canal is a little lower than it's reported to be. It was quite an interesting trip. I didn't even know there WAS a Cape Cod canal before last week.

Edited October 14, 2016 by roothy123

[Bear_Music]

This week the ship's masthead light was clipped off as the Viking Star went under a bridge over the Cape Cod canal.

I actually got to watch that incident live as I live here on Cape Cod and wandered down to the Canal to say "Hi!" to the old Gal :-) Bizarre incident. We'll be on Sky from Norway to Montreal next September; I wonder what strangeness awaits us on THAT voyage?

[chengkp75]

Ships dragging anchor is a fairly common occurrence. From the reports above, it sounds like the Star was subjected to a "Bora" wind, a katabatic wind that sweeps down off the mountains suddenly and can reach over 300 kph. A sudden shift in wind speed and most likely direction can swing the ship to a position where it is pulling sideways on the anchor, and even in good holding ground it will drag.

 

I doubt she was aground, and even with 3-4 meters of water under the keel, if you hit the thrusters or props hard, you will stir up a lot of mud.

 

The ship's propulsion and thrusters are secured when at anchor, and it takes a few minutes to get additional engines running and start up systems, and that harbor is narrow to begin with.