Oasis of the Seas Person overboard

[spookwife]

As pointed out in other posts- had they brought the ship to a stop too fast, the person would have been thrown off his position. Much like how passengers and crew would have been thrown forward if they quickly idled the engines.

 

I don't think they would have wanted to throw him off via the ship stopping.

 

concur.

you DO NOT want a crashback scenario. trust me on this.

[chengkp75]

Going to asked another question. And hopefully it doesn't come across insensitive.

 

How long does it take for the crews and emergency people to get to the man? Is this something that happens within a couple minutes?? I would like to think so.

 

Not clear what you mean by "how long does it take to get to the man". Do you mean to get to where he was found hanging on the davit, or how long to get to him in the water. Since RCI has stated that he was observed by crew going over, they would have notified the bridge immediately, and the bridge would have mobilized security and available deck crew to try to get him back onboard. There would have been someone nearby within a minute, and more crew within 5 minutes. There are not crew just sitting around waiting for an emergency, so they have to be found, notified, and report to the scene from wherever they are.

 

Yes, I do understand how long it takes to slow a ship. I understand they don't have brakes. I know they cannot reverse the props at that speed. Actually, with azipods, or with controllable pitch propellers, you can reverse the propellers at any speed. This is called a crash stop, but as I've pointed out a couple of times, when this is done, there is a lot of momentum to be overcome, and things that are not part of the ship (like humans) will be thrown forward.

 

Clearly, in the video, the ship is still traveling at a good clip. As others have pointed out here, according to the captain, they slowed down a bit, but did not attempt to stop or idle the engines until after he fell. It was pretty clear that he was ready to fall at any moment. The onboard posters did not say the ship slowed down "a bit", and unless you are an expert in determining ship speed from the water flow at night you have no idea how fast the ship was going. It also is not clear from the short video how long the person was hanging there, so it could have been only a minute or two after the bridge was notified that he was on the davit until he fell, so the ship could not have been slowed significantly by then.

 

I'm just saying that this needs to be reviewed, and safety procedures updated if necessary so this doesn't happen again.

 

As I've said before, without access to the bridge recorders, you have no idea what procedures are in place, what procedures were followed, or what needs to be reviewed or updated. With 40 years experience at sea, I won't speculate on how the situation could have been done better, since I, just like you, do not have all the data. Until you do, leave the speculation to the investigative agencies.

[Trekker954]

A poster on another site stated that the "disturbance" had been reported to the Captain and he had already slowed the ship before the incident became quite so serious.

 

this is accurate information. Domestic disturbance reported by numerous neighbors, security called, jumper and "his husband" were involved.

[chengkp75]

Does anyone know how long it takes Oasis class ships to stop at full speed? I was looking and couldn't find it but I do know that is part of sea trials before the ship is delivered.

 

From the start of the video that was posted until it cuts off, it is very clear - from a visual perspective - that the ship didn't change speed/slow down.

 

That's not a common piece of data that would be out there. It is posted on the bridge on the "pilot card" which tells the stopping distance and the turning radius. As I've said, the video is pretty short, and I would like to challenge someone to tell me the "visual perspective" of the difference in ship speed from a height, at night, between 7 and 12 knots.

[setsail]

 

From the start of the video that was posted until it cuts off, it is very clear - from a visual perspective - that the ship didn't change speed/slow down.

 

Have you ever seen a tide get off against a stationary object like a small boat?It can pull them under. Couple that with the wind and a slow moving ship can look like its traveling full speed when the ship is hardly moving.

 

So none of this is clear unless you have all the facts

Edited November 6, 2015 by setsail

[Tommy3putts]

Well stated.

[alfaeric]

Even looking at the long video- at the start of what we saw, it was pretty clear that there were crew members trying to get to the man- I can't see passengers getting to the area above the life boats like that.

 

One can logically speculate that this situation had been going on for a while.

 

Not that it answers your question.

 

So watching the news tonight- it appears that I missed some other posts.

 

As has been posted- there was a dispute, security was called, and they got there in time to see the person go over the rail- so it would have been only a few min if they knew he landed on the life boat brackets.

 

It was apparently loud enough for a passenger to notice, go and get something to record it, and get that video.

 

Long enough for many people to have a lot of second guessing. Which must be torture. I can't fathom the woulda/coulda/shoulda's that people are repeating in their minds all day.

[Tonka's Skipper]

Not clear what you mean by "how long does it take to get to the man". Do you mean to get to where he was found hanging on the davit, or how long to get to him in the water. Since RCI has stated that he was observed by crew going over, they would have notified the bridge immediately, and the bridge would have mobilized security and available deck crew to try to get him back onboard. There would have been someone nearby within a minute, and more crew within 5 minutes. There are not crew just sitting around waiting for an emergency, so they have to be found, notified, and report to the scene from wherever they are.

 

 

 

As I've said before, without access to the bridge recorders, you have no idea what procedures are in place, what procedures were followed, or what needs to be reviewed or updated. With 40 years experience at sea, I won't speculate on how the situation could have been done better, since I, just like you, do not have all the data. Until you do, leave the speculation to the investigative agencies.

 

 

Well said Cheng............I would not add a thing

 

AKK

[pinguy]

Why didn't they stop the ship before he fell/jumped? Clearly the crew was aware of the situation because you can see the spotlights come on before he falls. Why didn't the captain idle the motors until he was safely off the lifeboat? Royal really needs to look at their procedures when responding to this type of situation. Had the ship been stopped when he fell, he likely would have been easily found alive and saved.

 

According to my conversation with a 2nd officer, it takes six minutes and one mile to stop the Oasis. This is very fast for a ship this size.

[chengkp75]

According to my conversation with a 2nd officer, it takes six minutes and one mile to stop the Oasis. This is very fast for a ship this size.

 

That may be true, but this would have been a crash stop, and the result is that anyone not warned would be thrown to the deck, and all plates and glassware would be broken.

[pinguy]

It does help to check dates on a story before reporting it. Completely different event than the current one.

 

And, people jump all the time. We'll get more of this story, but we don't know if he was alone, if he was with one other person or a group, what they witnessed, etc. The majority of people either jump or are drunk and do something stupid. It's very difficult to push someone overboard. You have to be able to lift them high enough that they will tumble over the railing. A shove/push would just mean the person hits the railing. It's not the movies.

 

Actually, man overboard is very uncommon. I spoke to numerous officers on the Oasis today and every one said this was a first in their career. Some had ten+ years on cruise ships.

[cruiselvr1]

It does help to check dates on a story before reporting it. Completely different event than the current one.

 

And, people jump all the time. We'll get more of this story, but we don't know if he was alone, if he was with one other person or a group, what they witnessed, etc. The majority of people either jump or are drunk and do something stupid. It's very difficult to push someone overboard. You have to be able to lift them high enough that they will tumble over the railing. A shove/push would just mean the person hits the railing. It's not the movies.

When I went on my first cruise I was 9 years old. The ship the Matson Matisona, its railings were low enough, that it would now reach my waist, maybe a little higher. When I was in the navy railings were not much higher. On our first cruise with my DW. I was surprise to see how high the railings were. If you go over, you have make in effort to do it.

[pinguy]

That may be true, but this would have been a crash stop, and the result is that anyone not warned would be thrown to the deck, and all plates and glassware would be broken.

 

The 2nd officer told me they did this type of stop today after the "Oscar, Oscar, Oscar" call was sounded. He said they stopped in less than one mile. As far as I can tell, nothing happened to dishes or people sleeping (like me - just fifteen cabins down the hallway from the incident)

[mugtech]

Yes, I do understand how long it takes to slow a ship. I understand they don't have brakes. I know they cannot reverse the props at that speed.

 

Clearly, in the video, the ship is still traveling at a good clip. As others have pointed out here, according to the captain, they slowed down a bit, but did not attempt to stop or idle the engines until after he fell. It was pretty clear that he was ready to fall at any moment.

 

I'm just saying that this needs to be reviewed, and safety procedures updated if necessary so this doesn't happen again.

 

This will be happening again, no one can control this.

[pinguy]

Yes, I do understand how long it takes to slow a ship. I understand they don't have brakes. I know they cannot reverse the props at that speed.

 

Clearly, in the video, the ship is still traveling at a good clip. As others have pointed out here, according to the captain, they slowed down a bit, but did not attempt to stop or idle the engines until after he fell. It was pretty clear that he was ready to fall at any moment.

 

I'm just saying that this needs to be reviewed, and safety procedures updated if necessary so this doesn't happen again.

 

Actually, they can reverse within seconds at any speed. The Oasis has three Asipods than can turn 360 degrees. They did turn them after the Oscar alarm and stopped just short of one mile. I was sleeping at the time and it did not wake me up. Based on my conversation with others today, many of us slept through the reversal.

[mugtech]

Actually, man overboard is very uncommon. I spoke to numerous officers on the Oasis today and every one said this was a first in their career. Some had ten+ years on cruise ships.

 

Evidently none of them were on the Oasis in January 2015. Would not expect them to say "Second one of the year"

[setsail]

Actually, man overboard is very uncommon. I spoke to numerous officers on the Oasis today and every one said this was a first in their career. Some had ten+ years on cruise ships.

 

http://www.cruiseserver.net/travelpage/other/man_overboard.asp

[chengkp75]

Actually, man overboard is very uncommon. I spoke to numerous officers on the Oasis today and every one said this was a first in their career. Some had ten+ years on cruise ships.

 

This is the second overboard for Oasis this year alone, and at least the third one I can find for Oasis, as a crewmember went over in 2010. Cruise junkie lists an average of "missing" (let alone those found) of 19.5 per year over the last 10 years.

[oneputt18]

The 2nd officer told me they did this type of stop today after the "Oscar, Oscar, Oscar" call was sounded. He said they stopped in less than one mile. As far as I can tell, nothing happened to dishes or people sleeping (like me - just fifteen cabins down the hallway from the incident)

They don't stop until they perform either an Anderson or Williamson turn. It is ship procedure to return to the area the man overboard occurred.

Edited November 7, 2015 by oneputt18

[BND]

Actually, man overboard is very uncommon. I spoke to numerous officers on the Oasis today and every one said this was a first in their career. Some had ten+ years on cruise ships.

 

I never said man overboard was common, which is debatable. Of course, "common" is a term that isn't specific. I think even one is too much.

 

That said, people do jump off of ships, but rarely do they get thrown or pushed off. In all our cruises, we've never had man overboard happen, but plenty of others have reported it on CC.

Edited November 7, 2015 by BND

[BND]

When I went on my first cruise I was 9 years old. The ship the Matson Matisona, its railings were low enough, that it would now reach my waist, maybe a little higher. When I was in the navy railings were not much higher. On our first cruise with my DW. I was surprise to see how high the railings were. If you go over, you have make in effort to do it.

 

DH was a US Navy officer and I have been on a few ships. They don't usually bother with railings, usually just a chain around the fore decks. The rest of the ship has what, railings that hit about maybe waist height?. Navy ships aren't about the view so the railings are actually solid walls, but nowhere near as tall as cruise ships. Everyone learns pretty quickly to not get too close to the edge and even then those that do go overboard are trying to for the most part. There are occasional accidents, but they're in seas that most cruise ships avoid. I'm 5'3" and the railing on cruise ships hit me well above my waistline. My mom always tells us to be careful and not fall overboard when we cruise. I laugh at that, because 1) I know the railing height and 2) I'm 55 and don't need mom to tell me that, although I still tell my adult children to be careful lol.

Edited November 7, 2015 by BND

[PelicanBill]

Most cruise overboards are drunk people. It is easy to survive a fall to the water from most points on the side of a cruise ship if you can swim and you are NOT drunk. It is a hard impact and you will go far under and need to kick back to the surface pretty fast - and you can be disoriented about which way is up especially in the dark. Then there are the sea conditions. Seas were 7 foot and it was rainy. In many of these cases the person drowns right away which is why they don't find them right away. If they were floating, the search ships would find them right in the wake within about 1 mile.

[sr4mjc]

This is the second overboard for Oasis this year alone, and at least the third one I can find for Oasis, as a crewmember went over in 2010. Cruise junkie lists an average of "missing" (let alone those found) of 19.5 per year over the last 10 years.

 

Yep, it was May of 2010 on Oasis with the crew member. I was on that cruise. He had just returned from leave.

[Piratepirate]

If any of the people watching from their balconies threw their life vest out for him.

[LMaxwell]

If any of the people watching from their balconies threw their life vest out for him.

 

Aren't there no lifejackets in cabin on Oasis? thought they are all at muster stations