MSC Armonia Hits Dock Today

[GOLDENBONNY]

European based line, Panama registered ship, Belize port, and roundtrip from Cuba. Not sure this one is anywhere close to USCG jurisdiction.

 

thank god to that.

[nealstuber]

Per a ship captain, they use what is called anchor wash to rinse off the silt from the anchor chains as they retract them.

 

 

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Did anybody else notice how the anchor chain got pinched and dragged between the pier and the ship?

 

I Didn’t see anybody inspecting the chain as they hauled it back in.

 

I guess they think they won’t need it to hold position in Belize. An Azi Pod ship shouldn’t need an anchor for station keeping - but...

 

 

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[flag fan]

Would the ship be under the control of a pilot rather than the captain, or are pilots only used for some ports? I suspect this will end up being a mechanical/electrical problem.

[Kingofcool1947]

Are you sure this is legit? I googled 'Msc Armonia' and nothing about this came up. Anybody seen it reported anywhere other then Facebook?

 

Don’t rely on Facebook for anything.

Trust no one.

[sidari]

flag fan ... Spoke to a friend yesterday who is head of one of the MSC ship departments, from our discussion it would appear that regardless of a pilot being onboard the Captain remains in overall control.

 

nealstuber ... Armonia has azimuth pod propulsion

Edited April 12, 2018 by sidari

[PensFan1028]

Morning after crew party :')

[chengkp75]

The Captain is always in command, and always responsible for the vessel (only two exceptions, but these don't apply here). The harbor pilot is an advisor to the Captain on local conditions. The Captain may grant the pilot "the conn", or the authority to give commands to the bridge crew, but the Captain retains overall responsibility for the ship, and can relieve the pilot at any time. As a non-employee of the cruise line, the pilot is not allowed to touch any control, so he is not "steering" the ship even when he has the conn. He gives orders to the bridge crew for them to operate the propulsion, steering, and thrusters. He is not even allowed to change a setting on a radar without permission.

 

The water seen at the bow is anchor chain washdown, used to remove the silt from the anchor and chain before it goes into the chain locker. Perfectly normal. The anchors are always ready to drop when a ship is entering or leaving a port, for just this kind of emergency.

 

I doubt that the passengers really felt much, so there was no reason to go to a "safe location". It would have felt like a very strong wave hitting the bow, more than a car hitting a wall.

 

The ship was surveyed by Honduran Port State Control, the "authority" in this case. They cleared the vessel to proceed. They are the equivalent of the USCG for Honduras. As stated, the ship does not call in the US, so the USCG has no jurisdiction over the movements of the vessel. I'm sure the classification society (insurance underwriters) will also inspect the vessel at the next port. Of course MSC knows more than has been made public, the only thing that might be made public is the results of the Honduran PSC investigation, but that depends on their laws regarding public access, not ours.

 

Hit the dock at 8-12 knots? Where did you hear this figure? Can you verify?

 

As for the anchor chain, it is far more durable than the hull, any damage from running over the chain would be to the ship, not the chain. Secondly, you cannot see into the forward mooring deck, where the chain comes up from the hawse pipe, over the windlass, and then down into the chain locker, to tell whether anyone was inspecting it or not.

 

As I've posted on about 4 other threads on this topic, my belief is that the ship has to approach the pier perpendicularly due to channel configuration, it then stops, swings 90*, and then moves sideways to the dock. I believe that when approaching the dock perpendicularly, the azipods failed to reverse (swing around 180*) to provide braking thrust, so the ship continued towards the dock. The Captain dropped at least on anchor to try to slow the ship down, knowing that running over the anchor can cause damage to the hull. I can't stream video here onboard, but others have reported that the thrusters were working hard, but tunnel thrusters like the Armonia has at the bow lose about 90% of effectiveness when the vessel speed is above 3-4 knots, so they would be trying but not doing much. Since the apparent failure affected both separate azimuthing systems on the pods, I suspect it was a failure of the bridge control system, or even a failure when transferring control of the pods between the seagoing controls (engine telegraph and helm) to the docking controls (joysticks), or even an error in selecting which set of controls was placed "in command" (port wing, stbd wing, center console).

[Expat Cruise]

chengkp75

 

 

 

 

 

While we have not always seen eye to eye here on this site, your posting here I agree 100% with. I only have very limited knowledge having only been involved with small ocean yachts. But your reasons, layout and details here are very clear and make this very understandable for anyone reading.

 

 

Thank you for posting and providing the information.

[fish_guru]

As an avid boater for most of my life, I am reminded of the sage advice I once received from my father-in-law pertaining to the docking of a boat...

 

"Approach the dock at the speed in which you intend to strike it." :')

 

In other words, do it slowly!

[sidari]

Hi Cheng ... Nice to see you are still around, thanks for your post.

[flag fan]

flag fan ... Spoke to a friend yesterday who is head of one of the MSC ship departments, from our discussion it would appear that regardless of a pilot being onboard the Captain remains in overall control.

 

nealstuber ... Armonia has azimuth pod propulsion

 

The Captain is always in command, and always responsible for the vessel (only two exceptions, but these don't apply here). The harbor pilot is an advisor to the Captain on local conditions. The Captain may grant the pilot "the conn", or the authority to give commands to the bridge crew, but the Captain retains overall responsibility for the ship, and can relieve the pilot at any time. As a non-employee of the cruise line, the pilot is not allowed to touch any control, so he is not "steering" the ship even when he has the conn. He gives orders to the bridge crew for them to operate the propulsion, steering, and thrusters. He is not even allowed to change a setting on a radar without permission..

 

Thanks for the information--I always thought that the pilot was in charge when docking, now I know that's not the case. Cruise Critic really is a great place for information.

[chengkp75]

Thanks for the information--I always thought that the pilot was in charge when docking, now I know that's not the case. Cruise Critic really is a great place for information.

 

The only two times the Captain relinquishes responsibility for the ship are the Panama Canal, and when the ship crosses the sill of a drydock. In both cases, the outside party (shipyard or Canal Authority) assumes full financial responsibility for the ship, so their pilots are now "in command".

[WackyWayne]

The only two times the Captain relinquishes responsibility for the ship are the Panama Canal, and when the ship crosses the sill of a drydock. In both cases, the outside party (shipyard or Canal Authority) assumes full financial responsibility for the ship, so their pilots are now "in command".

 

I know you had mentioned this previously, but was curious if the new Panama Canal locks have the same policy (since they don't have the mules)? What makes the Panama Canal different than the other locks and canals around the world?

[chengkp75]

I know you had mentioned this previously, but was curious if the new Panama Canal locks have the same policy (since they don't have the mules)? What makes the Panama Canal different than the other locks and canals around the world?

 

Yes, the new locks are the same. The reason is that the Canal Authority take full financial responsibility for the ship. The other locks and canals don't do this. Since you have a choice of using the Panama Canal or not, you have to abide by their rules, which is that their pilot is in command, in exchange they will pay for all damages done to the ship, other ships, or the canal themselves, whereas anywhere else, the ship, being the moving object, is always responsible for any damages.

[JennyMominRI]

Hi all. I’m on the Norwegian getaway and we are docked in Cozumel today right next to the MSC Armenia. I have time stamped pics to prove it. Outside of the ship, on the dock is a bunch of luggage, I don’t know it it’s the end port or not.

[sidari]

I think you meant Armonia lol.

[JennyMominRI]

I think you meant Armonia lol.

Yeah, sorry. Spell check. Armonia

[skypilot52]

How to make nessesary repairs before getting under way, by Earl Scheib, home of the cheap paint and body shop:

 

First you gotta slather on the Bondo, then you wet sand it smooth, then you buff. However, don't press too hard, or you'll burn the paint, and for God's sake, you better not leave any swirl marks in the paint;p;p;p;p;p;p

[TEXASMUNK]

Panama Canal locks are NOT the same as the original locks. The original are hinged on each side and open separately, the new locks are slide type locks that recess into on of the canal walls.

[chengkp75]

Panama Canal locks are NOT the same as the original locks. The original are hinged on each side and open separately, the new locks are slide type locks that recess into on of the canal walls.

 

Yes, but what I was referring to was the question as to whether or not the Captain relinquished command whether using the old locks or the new locks, and the answer is yes, for this question the locks are the same. The actual question was in regards to "policy" in the new locks compared to the old, not whether the locks were the same.

[gimletgal]

Yes, but what I was referring to was the question as to whether or not the Captain relinquished command whether using the old locks or the new locks, and the answer is yes, for this question the locks are the same. The actual question was in regards to "policy" in the new locks compared to the old, not whether the locks were the same.

 

(y)(y)

[nealstuber]

MSC has said they were going to aggressively target the American Cruise market.

 

With this first strike, they’ve kept the Allure from docking a Coxen for a season.

 

A couple more hits to shorten piers in Cozumel, Nassau, Falmouth and the Oasis Class ships will be doing 7 day cruises to Labadee.

 

 

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[mafig]

Well, it's not the first time something like this has happened.

 

And Royal Caribbean is hardly innocent with this kind of incident.

[BermudaBound2014]

OMy... I just saw this video. That’s wild. Glad everyone was ok.

 

Unlike when the infinity took out one of the piers in Alaska, this looks more like malfunction vs wind/sea conditions. I wonder if we will ever know the cause.

 

 

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[nealstuber]

Well, it's not the first time something like this has happened.

 

 

 

And Royal Caribbean is hardly innocent with this kind of incident.

 

 

 

If you have a link to a video of ANY ship hitting a pier like this I’d love to see it.

 

Yes there is the Celebrity video where the ship was a dead stop feet from the pier and misjudged wind/waves pushed here in

 

There’s the Carnival Video where they hit the gangway when essentially at the Baltimore dock, and another where Carnival hits an RCCL ship after more than a few minutes of close in maneuvers at the dock.

 

The Costa ship that sunk was not a docking thing...

 

Beyond those three, about the only thing that comes close on you tube is Forest Gump’s shrimp Boat hitting the pier after he jumped off it!

 

 

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