Lifeboat falls off Carnival Dream

[Ddfoofoo]

A lifeboat fell off of the Dream on Saturday.  It was damaged and not recovered.  

 

Didnt see this posted. Sorry if it is a duplicate. 

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/lifeboat-damaged-after-falling-from-carnival-cruise-ship/28542

Edited December 31, 2018 by Ddfoofoo
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[chengkp75]

My first thought is how long ago was this boat last in the water, as these kinds of problems are frequently caused by the releasing gear that locks the boat to the lowering wires (the "falls") may not have been completely or correctly engaged, and vibration caused it to release the boat.   My next question is whether there is a matching hole at the stern of the boat.  I have seen failures where the fiberglass around where the releasing gear is bolted into the boat has failed and the whole thing has ripped out of the boat, but this was on cargo ships where the davits and falls are load tested every couple of years by overloading with weight.  Cruise ships typically weight test the davits using water bags instead of a loaded boat, so it stresses the boat less.  With as little detail as I can see in some of the photos, I think the boat was not secured properly, and the chain links that are between the pulley on the falls and the releasing gear, are what tore out the top of the boat on the way out.

[BoDidly]

I would think the media would have ate this up if it had fell at port where a person could have been beneath the life boat. This could have easily been a different story .I cant say if it was secured properly or not ,either way it fell and that in itself should be raising major alarms to Carnival Corp. Every cruiser and family should take this information with concern for their safety . Who knows really how or why the life boat actually fell off the ship.

Edited December 31, 2018 by BoDidly

[FSHLOT]

They will probaly never know why this happened, as they just left it floating out there. I think it would be funny if they were towing it to the next port with long tow lines. 

Edited December 31, 2018 by FSHLOT

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, BoDidly said:

I would think the media would have ate this up if it had fell at port where a person could have been beneath the life boat. This could have easily been a different story .I cant say if it was secured properly or not ,either way it fell and that in itself should be raising major alarms to Carnival Corp. Every cruiser and family should take this information with concern for their safety . Who knows really how or why the life boat actually fell off the ship.

Of course this is a serious concern, and will be addressed in the company's ISM manual regarding training and checks to ensure the boats are truly secure.  This is not something unique to Carnival, other lines have had failures of lifeboat wires, boats damaged by seas, etc, and just adds to the database of information used to develop industry best practices.

2 hours ago, FSHLOT said:

They will probaly never know why this happened, as they just left it floating out there. I think it would be funny if they were towing it to the next port with long tow lines. 

Without knowing exactly where the boat was left, it had to be reported to the nearby coast guard agencies as a "hazard to navigation" as well as a piece of safety equipment abandoned, and the coast guards would normally go out and retrieve this, simply to keep if from hazarding another ship, or having another ship stop to think there had been an emergency.  Very likely it will end up with the manufacturer investigating the failure to determine the root cause.

[sparks1093]

54 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Of course this is a serious concern, and will be addressed in the company's ISM manual regarding training and checks to ensure the boats are truly secure.  This is not something unique to Carnival, other lines have had failures of lifeboat wires, boats damaged by seas, etc, and just adds to the database of information used to develop industry best practices.

Without knowing exactly where the boat was left, it had to be reported to the nearby coast guard agencies as a "hazard to navigation" as well as a piece of safety equipment abandoned, and the coast guards would normally go out and retrieve this, simply to keep if from hazarding another ship, or having another ship stop to think there had been an emergency.  Very likely it will end up with the manufacturer investigating the failure to determine the root cause.

How much do the life boats cost? Does the cruise line have to pay for the recovery of the errant life boat?

[chengkp75]

3 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

How much do the life boats cost? Does the cruise line have to pay for the recovery of the errant life boat?

A boat like that is probably $75-80k.  They probably wouldn't have to pay to have it retrieved, though I'm not sure, and it could depend on the country involved.

[lauraingalls]

I was on this ship when it happened. Rumor was that a teenager let it loose.... Personally I dont see how that could have happened but that was all that was talked about.

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, lauraingalls said:

I was on this ship when it happened. Rumor was that a teenager let it loose.... Personally I dont see how that could have happened but that was all that was talked about.

Nope.  The boat is released from inside, so if someone were to do this, they would experience a quick ride down and a broken spine for their trouble.  Seen far too many of these accidents.  However, passenger vessel lifeboats are equipped with "off load release", which means that the releasing gear cannot be released until the weight of the boat is supported in water, as sensed by two float chambers in the boat.  Until both of these floats rise signifying that the water level around the boat is high enough, the release gear cannot be operated.

[hockeyluver]

The article I read  said that the navigational beacon  will direct another ship, possibly the coast guard to retrieve it.  I am sure the people that be  will want it inspected.   

[jordanaire]

Would a missing lifeboat constitute an "unsafe vessel" as it now doesn't have enough lifeboats for the passengers and crew? Would the cruise, therefore, be shortened and the ship turned back to port for safety reasons? I wouldn't believe that a ship would be allowed to leave port while missing a lifeboat.

[shof515]

20 minutes ago, jordanaire said:

Would a missing lifeboat constitute an "unsafe vessel" as it now doesn't have enough lifeboats for the passengers and crew? Would the cruise, therefore, be shortened and the ship turned back to port for safety reasons? I wouldn't believe that a ship would be allowed to leave port while missing a lifeboat.

No. They are extra lifeboats and life rafts onboard the ship. on the goccl carnival website, it has this interesting stat about the carnival dream:

Life Saving Equipment
Grand Total Life Saving Capacity: 7545

• 30 Life Boats (occupancy each: 150 / total occupancy: 4500)
• 44 Launchable Life Rafts (occupancy each: 35 / total occupancy: 1540)
• 43 Life Rafts (occupancy each: 35 / total occupancy: 1505)
• 2 Rescue Boats
•  

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, jordanaire said:

Would a missing lifeboat constitute an "unsafe vessel" as it now doesn't have enough lifeboats for the passengers and crew? Would the cruise, therefore, be shortened and the ship turned back to port for safety reasons? I wouldn't believe that a ship would be allowed to leave port while missing a lifeboat.

That would depend on how close to maximum capacity the ship sails.  Typically, they will need to restrict the number of 3rd/4th guests at least, to keep the pax count below the reduced boat capacity.  Oasis sailed for a couple of months minus the two forwardmost lifeboats when they got damaged on the Transatlantic.  As to the present cruise, which I believe is ended, there is enough capacity (lifeboats and liferafts) for 125% of all souls onboard (as required by SOLAS), so losing a boat does not necessarily create a problem.  Okay, I was working from rough, and admittedly sketchy data on Dream, but shof515 provided better detail.  As noted, they have a lifesaving capacity of 7545, while max passengers is 4600+- and crew is 1350+-, or 6000 all souls.  Therefore, there is 1500 extra capacity, so losing one 150 person boat does not present an unsafe condition.

[BoDidly]

Should be mandatory to have enough backups with inflatable floatable (Life Rafts)  😎

[chengkp75]

8 hours ago, BoDidly said:

Should be mandatory to have enough backups with inflatable floatable (Life Rafts)  😎

As stated, it is.  The ship has to have capacity in boats and rafts of 125% of all souls onboard at maximum passenger capacity.  Maximum passenger capacity of 6000 (pax and crew) and lifesaving capacity of 7500.  That is a SOLAS requirement.