While we are handing out compliments......Sal, you get a star for this reporting. Great job gathering the footage, putting the pieces together and explaining the relevance. Fantastic Job!!!!
Sal, the cherry on the cake for this textbook example of situational awareness and teamwork would be transcripts of the communications that transpired during the event. The transcripts would reveal who took command and how the disparate component players were successfully orchestrated. That they were, is the real miracle, given that communications are the most likely to fail under stress.
Great idea: the radio traffic must be amazing. As @Richard Gilman pointed out, one or more people formally or informally took command and deployed resources. Or, might have been just a lucky break some skippers jumped in to manage the response.
Sal, this particular episode of yours should become textbook watching in maritime academies! For once, the domino effect was contained, thanks to all mariners closely involved, from tugs to cruising ships to Spar Lyra.
@@wgowshipping Do they teach the "Swiss cheese model" in Maritime academies? This is a perfect example of all the holes very nearly lining up. I think perhaps this owner's next vessel will not ever be run with a two-man crew.
Holy crap that was a quick response to jump on that bulker. Good thing they were fast too, that was REALLY close. DoD should give the tug crews medals for saving the DDG and the naval base.
Saved the navy millions, saved the kids. I have never seen a tug bury its rail like that....WOW. Proper team effort by people who do what has to be done - rather than standing around playing with themselves waiting for instruction.
@@wgowshipping Yeah and I looked at the angle of the Z1 when it was leaning and thought - how far can it go - Its rail was under water for a bit of that - can they turn turtle ( I suspect they were a ways away from that BUT...)... Awesome. An exemplar of "solve it solve it now" - Perhaps the lack of bureaucrats telling people to wait, having conferences, polishing egos etc... contributed to the rapid actions.
What a great job by these maritime heroes to ensure that everyone was evacuated without any hint of panic. Minimum amount of damage and everybody got home safely. Outstanding job.
The amount of situational awareness is what impressed me. The tug captains recognizing what was happening with Spar Lyra and responding without hesitation. That is some heads up seamanship.
This is my USCG AUX patrol area. I know it well. It is a very busy and constricted waterway. Traffic would have been worse if it happened during Harborfest this coming weekend. Bravo Zulu to all the mariners involved for a competent and skilled response.
Likely a fire re-flash once the fixed system had been expended since a CO2 or Halon system doesn't remove heat. Crew of both vessels did a great job in keeping everyone focused in getting personnel to safety. Tug crews earned their keep yesterday. That is pretty impressive footage of Z1 at full snort putting themselves in a pretty precarious situation on the bow with really no way out once they were just a slight bit closer to the boom.
In the event of a major casualty, a crew of 2 with over 100 mostly kids on board strikes me as a prescription for disaster. The skipper is going to be tied up with communication and coordination, leaving one crewmen to deal with everything else. Credit to all the marine professionals involved for avoiding injury and loss of life.
@@Jack_Wylie I'd be curious if thats operational crew or anyone that worked aboard from the Master to the bus boys... I doubt the bartenders on the local floating banquet hall are well versed in engine room fires and damage control procedures.
@@alexkitner5356 it is a mix of both i worked on this vessel. And i was able to talk to crew that worked that day. They had 2 captains, 2 mates, and 3 deckhands all else were restaurant staff. The marine operations staff is not trained in shipboard firefighting in a confined engine room they flaked out a hose but the chief mate said there was to much smoke. And the boat does not carry air packs. The restaurant staff is to ensure that all passengers onboard have life jackets on and assist with getting people to a safe location.
@@alexkitner5356 and of coarse when i say not trained i mean there is training for a general fire but for a fire like this. It was not worth risking the crew to fight that fire. It was in the best interest to get all off the boat and get it to where fire crews can fight it
@@Jack_Wylie That seems about what I'd expect for a crew on a boat like that. I wouldn't think they'd be able to be effective in fighting that fire, even with packs there's just not enough people to make an effective attack on an engine room fire and if things went bad they have no backup. What I don't understand is why there wasn't an effective fire control system, particularly if you're running with a crew of 7, or where it failed and why. Were hatches left open when they should have been closed, was there an issue with shutting ventilation, was there a training issue or a failure to follow procedures for that, did the system work but the fire reignited because someone opened the hatch before the fire had cooled off enough to prevent that...?
Incredible response by the crews on all of these ships. Definitely great work by the crews of Spirit of Norfolk and Victory Rover to ensure everyone got off safely. Plus, it was amazing watching the tugs rapidly shift focus from working to fight the fire and re-directing to stop the Spar Lyra from a significant collision.
Hello to all ..... This was a text book case of how it should be done I being a former US Coast Guard member I agree with sal The only thing I see that could have been done differently was to foam the engine room once all people was safe and vessels secured. The Coast Guard is over worked under paid and under recognized Now for my Rant.... Each member of Congress and of the cabinet in Washington NEEDS to pony up a Ben Franklin ( they can afford it ) and take the crews of the tugs and all other vessels involved in the rescue.... for a nice appreciation dinner to say thank you .... JOB WELL DONE!!!!
Wow! Just wow! Thanks for bringing this to us! The passion in your voice is palatable! Thanks to all who performed their tasks in a stellar way to prevent this from being a major major problem!
Thank God the crew of both vessels reacted intelligently and without panic. Victory Rover reacted quickly. Good work to everybody! Reminds me of Santa Fe jamming her side right up against the Franklin as the carrier burned. Saved many lives. The fact that as soon as someone is in peril on the water, everyone is united against the common enemy of the sea is always inspiring.
The marine radio channel 16 must have been lit. Don't know who coordinated, separated and directed the rescue communication, fire communication and collision communication was but they got all the right vessels to the right spots. If it was a coastie, they need one of those awards too.
Wow, just wow, excellent effort by everyone involved. Your reporting and background information was first class! Seeing that tug push that loaded tanker away from the pier was amazing. Growing up in the port of Rotterdam I learned at a young age to have the most respect for tug captains and crew. Last but not least a huge thank you to the crew that safely got those kids off the burning ship!!! They did an awesome job with only 2 crew members on board!!! I hope all these people get recognized for a job well done!
Professor Sal, EXCELLENT job at conveying this near catosropic event! I've been viewing your channel for quite some time, not one boring episode. I thank you sir for your perspective; it's refreshing to here about topics that you have actually lived! Most IMPORTANTLY, no loss of life, as you stated, nor injuries, material things can be replaced! Keep the great content of your channel coming, THANKS SAL!! GREAT WORK ALL RESPONDERS!!
THis was just amazing story of disaster averted this could have been a very dark day in shipping but thankfully everyone did there job with the up most professionalism.
If boats could get medals little Z1 must be right up there for one. Absolutely outstanding job. A lot of people did good work and should be proud of themselves.
Sal, as a fellow firefighter I can't agree more with your point. The whole risk a lot to save a lot idea is valid in many ways but all-too-often it gets twisted into the idea that we only take risk when its life that's in hazard. We are charged with protecting life and property, while we may take less risk for property we should still do our best to save both and more and more I hear "oh well the insurance will cover it" or "there's nothing worth saving". I contest that when I hear it because thats a cop out and there are times when some simple belongings might help a family or child get thru a devastating event or keep a situation like this from being such a loss that the company doesn't see an economic viability to starting over where they would have kept going if the ship or building or equipment wasn't written off and they had more to build from or salvage. We as a profession have been losing some of that preserving property motivation like how in the early days of my time and that of my father and grandfather we regularly put salvage covers over things and did our best to save whatever we can yet now many younger guys don't know what it is or departments just don't even have them on the rigs and certainly that people don't make using them a regular part of their operations. We can say risk a lot to save a lot and risk little to save little but its gotten way too much influence to the point where after the hazard to life is removed many go into a risk nothing to save anything mentality. I also am a believer in the idea that most times its not as much a rekindle as it was poor extinguishment and overhaul. I understand that shipboard fires are a whole different animal but as you said, if they are limited on how much water can be used because of flooding and stability issues then the best thing is to remove oxygen and smother the fire. It may be a ship but even structural guys should know that you don't vent unless you have ways to control fire growth when its fed air by ventilation or you have some confidence that the fire is out. You don't take the door off the hinges or pop a window without coordination, controlling flow paths or having lines in place to check the fire growth that comes with giving it oxygen. Now is this the same fed fire that was involved in the Bonhamme Richard failures? I'm just curious if it is and if so what improvements in their operations after that fire showed here or conversely what they haven't improved since the statements you hit on didn't seem to indicate that the tactics had improved significantly.
@@alexandermckay8594 yes, you're correct, don't know why I was thinking it was at Norfolk. The news conference that brought up the issues with tactics and how they're dealing with the fire was the Fed Fire chief and he was using the words "we are" an awful lot for an agency that's not fighting the fire. The fact that he was the one giving out information would also be a good indication of who has command on this incident. When we have a fire that's newsworthy the person that makes the statement is our chief or who he delegates that role to, it isn't the chief of the 3rd alarm station coverage department...
Fantastic video - thank you!!! I wish I didn't get so choked up about stories like this but I've traveled through this area a number of times and it just goes to show you what can happen. Great job of story telling and I hope all your recommendations are followed.
In the first minutes when a Mayday goes out or a craft is seen in trouble in populated waters the first response in my experience is "hey, they're in trouble, let's go. And the world shows up. The response is rapid, but not unsafe. The Captain of the injured craft handles the incoming resources in coordination with the other captains. With the bulker it looks like Z1 saw what was happening, grabbed a partner and did what they knew had to be done calling resources as they went. It's a law of the sea and everyone that knows it respects it and follows it. To be a successful mariner you need to be able to think quickly and clearly. All those involved with the incident on the water had that in spades.
Sal, thank you for sharing this unfortunate but amazing event with us. You certainly did your homework with connecting all the dots. God is good. Hats off to all!🙏👍🇺🇸😊!
Just liked mariners anywhere. You shout for help we respond. Not because it a rule its because it could be you next.. when needed 100% is not the norm its the minimum. The people involved will still have their heart pounding and many will be asking what MORE could I have done. Sal your adrenaline was pumping just watching, being on scene its the drive to help that takes over. Good work by many and many who will not be recognised or remembered. The families of the kids will always hold the full team in respect for years.
Great videos for classes on what and how to behave and do in emergency. Drills become memory functions of the body without thinking. Allowing the mind to be aware and work.
Sal, thanks for the great reporting and review. Retired Navy Surface Warfare Officer and Hampton Roads resident here. I've taken the tour on Victory Rover within the last few years. I have some questions that I know you can't answer, but hope the answers become available. 1. At 1151 gross tons she seems rather large to be operating with only two crew. I assume she had passenger facing crew, bar tender, servers, etc on board as well. So what are the crew requirements for this type/size vessel? 2. It there was no engineer onboard, I would assume that the engineering plant is controlled from the pilot house with the engine room sealed. Have there been any comments about the condition of the engine room water tight doors? 3. I would assume there is some type of fixed flooding system on board. Given the age of the vessel I might be either Halon or CO2. And that the system could be activated from the pilot house. I also believe that the current standard calls for activation of the system to shut down all engines and generators located in the space. Is there any indication that such a system was onboard and activated? Did it function as expected? 4. After activation of such a system my memory is that the space must be left sealed for some minimum time. Again from memory I believe the Navy called for 15 min. minimum for a Halon activation. Is there any indication that the space was left sealed? Again thanks for the detailed report. David
Halon has been banned as a greenhouse gas. 3M had an alternative, but I'm not sure if it is in use. My guess is if a system is fitted it would be CO2. There should be a fire control station fitted with engine kill switches, remote fuel valve control, ventilation fan shutdown and ventilation damper actiation. This, is based on my knowledge of ships, as opposed to harbor tour boats. The USCG may need to rethink their rules for tour boats. Bob
@@robertlevine2152 I agree that Halon is banned. BUT, my understanding is also that vessels with pre-ban systems can retain them as long as the bottles retain their weight. Thus my comment about the age of the vessel. I believe it's 30 years old. Our boat, an '89, has a Halon system that continues to pass inspection.
@@kd0r They stopped the manufacture of Halon in the mid-1990s. The Spirit of Norfolk was "built" in 1992. Assuming the design and construction started in the late 1980s the owners would have been aware that Halon was becoming scarce and very expensive. My guess is still that they used CO2. I worked for oil companies. Except for facilities on the North Slope of Alaska, we stopped using Halon for new construction before the end of the 1990s. For ship's use my first choice would be Halon. Unfortunately, it was not a logical choice for new construction by the late 1980s. In the late 1990s we used Inergen for machinery control rooms, and uninterrupted power supply (UPS) rooms. Inergen at the time was not a choice for machinery spaces due to volume and cost. My experience was with oil tankers. The volumes required for pumprooms and engine rooms were larger than the total volume of the Spirit of Norfolk. 3M does produce Novec 1230 as an alternative to CO2.
@@robertlevine2152 thanks. I didn't know when Halon become unavailable. Like I said our '89 Grand Banks does have Halon and still passes inspection. Yes, I suspect Spirit was equipped with CO2 flooding.
Irrespective of whether it was Halon or CO2 the big problem with those systems is that they're one shots. Good for getting out active flames but if it's a persistent issue, like say a bearing melting down on something that can't be turning off handily then once the shot has occurred the fire can start all over again because the initiator is still active. It's clear that whatever it was it was a bitch to get out. My guess something like a bilge pump down deep. The fire restarted and burned for quite a while until it broke through the forward compartment.
My company provided security during the moonlight cruises and I have some additional information I found out later. *The crewman on board had done his regular walk-through of the the engine compartment and found nothing. By the time he got up to the 3rd deck, there was smoke coming out of the engine room vents. 2-3 minutes? * The fire was contained in the engine room and apparently out at one point, but temperatures inside the vessel were still high and there was fuel on top of water throughout the bottom of the vessel. Firefighters from City of Norfolk Fire Rescue (not trained in shipboard firefighting) went below and opened the engine room door to investigate and the fire reflashed. They were standing in the water and barely escaped. *Irony - the previous night during the moonlight cruise there were 220 adults on board in various states of intoxication along with 4 crew, 10 hospitality staff, and 6 security officer. It would have been a very different outcome that night.
Maybe they can pickup a slightly used Russian oligarchs yacht as a replacement sightseeing MV PS - After seeing this video and your earlier videos / reading report on USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6), not sure what FedFire role / philosophy is toward vessel firefighting.
In the UK there are a small number of fire stations/fighters both on land and on boats that are only allowed to fight fires on ships from the inside because of all the extra training and equipment they have. So I understand the reticence of higher-ranking officers of wanting firefighters to go onboard to fight a fire when no lives are at risk.
I am hoping that ships that carry that many passengers, especially kids would want to put a couple of extra crew onboard, just in case something like this happens.
@@tinacatharinaeden2711 SAME HERE WAS IT 2 should at least 12-15 wow they were lucky who did the safety brief to 112 kids parents makes me wonder who certified the boat if thats true
But this wasn't a normal landside fire crew. This was FedFire, which is contracted by the Navy to support their piers. Surely, firefighting on a Navy ship isn't easier than a sightseeing vessel.
Worth a look at Z-One on tugboatinformation. She's a beast, 2 Z drives aft, another smaller one forward, each with a CAT engine. Main props are 86". Note how she's heeling over from the force of the 3 props, and note how beamy she is. Pleased to say she was originally built in 1996 for Great Lakes Towing Co. of Cleveland, ie, a "G" tug.
Excellent, factually based coverage. Agree, kudos to the skippers and crews of so many vessels. This reminds me of the many, many Table Top and Full Scale Exercises which I have helped write and in which I have participated. We call them "Injects" where the learners are dealing with one set of issues when "blammo," another crises demands attention. REQUEST: Sal, could you develop or point us toward resources on Unified Incident Command System (ICS) for harborside shipboard firefighting? Agree in principle with not risking lives to safe stuff. But at some point containing shipboard fires becomes vital, rather than letting them consume all the fuel as the method of extinguishment. Thank you.
Great job of showing what Mariners can do when working together. Unfortunately, Norfolk Base firefighters may be good at a house fire, but I see that they have not improved since my experience with them and shipboard fires. I retired in the late 1990s and hoped they would be better at ships by now.
We had a very good view of the fire from pier 3 throughout the night, there were a couple of small explosions and the fire reflashed several times. We were stoked to hear that everyone was safely evacuated. It made for an interesting duty day.
Vessel is low in the water, listing, and you're pumping tons of water onto it. Nobody's onboard. You get the ship out of the channel, but you don't put crews on board to send them down to the engine room of a vessel that is on fire and at significant risk of sinking with little warning. Fed Fire got this right. Of course it was the contract tugs and the other tour boat that did the majority of the meaningful work on this one.
That still doesn't mean ventilation without suppressing the fire is a good tactic though and I don't know how you can do ventilation without putting people aboard. I dont disagree with you about needing to ensure stability before putting crews aboard but it sounded more like they were, just with the wrong plan.
Somewhere in my head I'm having visions of the Rodney Dangerfield boat scene, but its the coast guard going "Hey you scratched my buoy..." but I'm sure they'll send a bill for the paint... In all seriousness thats a great job by a lot of people.
I was born at the New Port News shipyard in the fifties .One of my uncles was in the merchant marine in WW2 .Another uncle enlisted in the coast Guard in 1942 when he was 17.He stayed in the Coast Guard until he retired .I went to visit in 1999 and we took one of those tour boats from Hampton over to the navy base .That boat was much smaller than the Victory Rover .After 9/11 I went back to visit again and the boat tours weren't allowed anywhere near navy property .
So are you the designated ship fire fighting guru for your dept as well? Like you said great job by all that were involved in this. Also, I am interested in what the Coasties & NTSB [among the other alphabet agencies] reports are going to show as the cause. Is the Z1 tug a "Z" drive boat with the "egg beater" props extending straight below her hull
with the number of passengers on-board.....i hope they all were wearing their coof koof masks and maintaining 6' separation...... reminds me a little of the miracle on the hudson.
I've done that harbor tour, if not on the Victory Rover, on something that looks about the same. It's a dramatic story with a mostly happy ending, except maybe for insurance rates and maybe an engineering officer or inspector or two. And a bit for insurance rates. What do you mean when you say "dropping the plant"? Does the Spar Lyra have one of those setups where you have to stop and restart the Diesel engine to go into reverse? I watched a Chief Makoi video on that, and I was concerned about how that would go in a stressful situation like this one. I agree that the tugs and the Victory Rover are the stars of the show.
We are not sure if they lost their propulsion or it was a steering issue. She was not spinning her prop and she appeared not to turn, so we are not sure.
Great reporting. Why don't they use a foam suppression like airports have? Seems to me a combination of suppression types would work better. But this goes along with ur talks about the lack of infrastructure for shipping. Luckily this happened by the naval base that has an infrastructure. A few miles away this could have been ......
Sal, I think there needs to be more coverage of the Spar Lyra and why it got into this situation. It's fully laden and underway. Stopping in the water is not like on land, it takes lots of distance, in this case clearly more distance than she had, especially given the narrow channel. This means she needed to stop likely before she saw the problem. Did Spar Lyra properly listen and hear the Ch 16 mayday? Did it get situational awareness on AIS? Why given this would she continue through the channel? This is a freak occurrence, but calls into discussion the big issue with channels and speed and no tugs. Should she have had tug in these channels given stopping distance?
When you throw a ships engine into emergency stop you runn a very big risk of it shutting down or serious damage. Clearly this is most likely the cause
You needn't apologize for fanboying, they earned it. // You say 2 crew. That's the mariners. On her sister ships (e.g. i've done Whisky events aboard Spirit of Boston, same look, possibly same design, is it a franchise chain?), there's generally say half dozen or more hospitality staff aboard - bartenders, food service, reheat kitchen, etc. Since this was a morning kids' cruise, less of those needed than on the evening buffet & booze cruise, but probably still some "front of house" hospitality staffing, if only to serve sodas? (When i first heard "including kids" along with the evening rekindle photos, i assumed it was a HS Prom cruise, 'tis the season. Daylight was easier to deal with i'm sure!)
Great that everyone one is safe. I don’t think they understand that when a metal fire starts you can’t use water. Great video 👍😃 staying off the vessel was the right thing to do.
@What is Going on With Shipping? Dr. Sal, Why did Spar Lydia proceed past the active rescue operations? I would have though that the Spar Lydia would have tried to stop in the channel prior to reaching the active rescue scene.
Excellent response for every single first responder. Amazing work by Moran Tug crews. A+++++ effort should not go unnoticed. Heroes for sure. However, I have a few questions/beefs with how this went down: 1. The US Navy response seems to be quite invisible. Was anyone on watch? Were there any crews mustered? Was there any effort at all put forth by the US Navy in rescuing the people at risk? 2. The Fire Chief in the press conference rubbed me wrong. Wearing his pristine helmet and goggles to talk to reporters? Odds of him getting near a danger zone? I suspect nil is the answer. 3. The Spirit of Norfolk, while seemingly important, is just a boat/ship (don't know the length, and too lazy to look). If the owners were too cheap to man it properly while sending it on money-making excursions, then I say let it burn. Don't risk lives on an inanimate object. Good for the decision makers who chose not to risk lives to try to fight the fire. 4. Who was responsible for the freighter (Spar Lyra) for being sea-worthy? I don't know my butt from a hot rock when it comes to ships, but shouldn't they be expected to be able to make maneuvers like that, and still be functional? The ship did not run aground, or anything, did it?
Sal, Kudos to everyone involved in the rescue of the children and in preventing a catastrophe. I do have a few questions, how on earth does the USCG allow a vessel with 100 passengers sail with a crew of two? There should be a NTSB review of this incident. The heroes of this incident should be honored. The 'what ifs' should be investigated in detail. Whoever is in charge of the Federal Fire Departments should be fired. It is obivous that after the Bonhomme Richard in San Diego and this fire the Federal Fire Department is incompetent. They are clueless when it comes to damage control and fighting ship fires. Why hasn't the USN moved to protect their assets when they tie up to a dock? Bob
Need more detail on the ship “dropping the plant”? Obviously from movies it would be “full astern” and I understand why they could not steer out of the situation because of the channel but how can you “stall” a marine engine that big?
Good question. I'll bet that she somehow in the process of trying to slow her/stop she managed to either break a shaft or wheel. There's a few other things that could have gone wrong also that left her without the ability to make enough power to even get her to the Anchorage. It would be interesting to hear exactly what happened. Yet we still haven't heard what the problem was that got the Ever Forward in trouble up in Baltimore. So I wouldn't hold my breath.
My only question is the crew on the vessel. Just two people on a vessel this size in a crowded harbor with a load of passengers? Is this normal? They did do a great job!
I think it might be time to reexamine minimum crew complements. This case went flawlessly but if one or both of them panicked it would have been a very different situation.
Its nice to see a potentially very bad situation turn out so well (except for the loss of the vessel of course). Kudos to all involved. Gotta wonder though, why operate a vessel that size with only 2 crew?
Having only 2 crewmembers sounded flakey, so I texted a friend who's still living there after retiring from the Navy a few years ago. He says that it actually was a crew of 17. Another poster in the thread was able to break it down into 2 captains, 2 mates, 3 deckhands, and 10 involved with passenger care.
Congratulations to the crew for a great job! My question is, how can you have 100+ people on a boat that size and only have 2 crew. Is there not a minimum crew size for a certain number of passengers. Aircraft have regulations that specify how many cabin crew are required depending on the number of passengers.
Actually, it was a crew of 17, 2 captains, 2 mates, 3 deckhands, and 10 involved with passenger care. I suspect the "only two crew" came about because 2 crew remained on board after the evacuation when it was being moved to the dock.
The risk management rules that has been adopted and inhibits firefighters from risking their lives by boarding and protecting property damage was also noted and contributed to the hull loss of the USS Bonhomme Richard. Refer to to published report on the incident. I also note how the ferry evacuation was calm and quiet. Cabin Crew on aircraft are trained to shout and repeat instructions until all passengers are off the aircraft. This is designed to prevent people panicking and thinking outside the instructions.
You made no mention of McAllister which at one point you called a moran vessel. There were 2 and also one ( white & yellow ) Inter coastal marine tug. We hauled the spirit of norfolk a few times. I can say it was very old and poorly kept. The engine room was very nasty and as you go down the steps to get to it thats where the galley is which was disgusting. Given there line of work i would say between both them spaces with fire systems in place it seems they failed. Also having been on a few vessels that caught fire it spreads so incredibly fast... with everyone safe and great Mariners its an awesome ending.
Wow. What Seamanship. Bravo to all.
While we are handing out compliments......Sal, you get a star for this reporting. Great job gathering the footage, putting the pieces together and explaining the relevance. Fantastic Job!!!!
Sal, the cherry on the cake for this textbook example of situational awareness and teamwork would be transcripts of the communications that transpired during the event. The transcripts would reveal who took command and how the disparate component players were successfully orchestrated. That they were, is the real miracle, given that communications are the most likely to fail under stress.
Great idea: the radio traffic must be amazing. As @Richard Gilman pointed out, one or more people formally or informally took command and deployed resources. Or, might have been just a lucky break some skippers jumped in to manage the response.
Sal, this particular episode of yours should become textbook watching in maritime academies! For once, the domino effect was contained, thanks to all mariners closely involved, from tugs to cruising ships to Spar Lyra.
JF...thank you so much.
That means a great deal
@@wgowshipping Do they teach the "Swiss cheese model" in Maritime academies? This is a perfect example of all the holes very nearly lining up. I think perhaps this owner's next vessel will not ever be run with a two-man crew.
Holy crap that was a quick response to jump on that bulker. Good thing they were fast too, that was REALLY close. DoD should give the tug crews medals for saving the DDG and the naval base.
Saved the navy millions, saved the kids.
I have never seen a tug bury its rail like that....WOW.
Proper team effort by people who do what has to be done - rather than standing around playing with themselves waiting for instruction.
That was nuts. Z-One was southbound to the scene and spun 180 to get on the starboard bow.
@@wgowshipping Yeah and I looked at the angle of the Z1 when it was leaning and thought - how far can it go - Its rail was under water for a bit of that - can they turn turtle ( I suspect they were a ways away from that BUT...)...
Awesome. An exemplar of "solve it solve it now" - Perhaps the lack of bureaucrats telling people to wait, having conferences, polishing egos etc... contributed to the rapid actions.
Wow! Unbelievable save all around! Thanks Sal!
What a great job by these maritime heroes to ensure that everyone was evacuated without any hint of panic. Minimum amount of damage and everybody got home safely. Outstanding job.
Thank God! Thank you responders! Thank you all the Heroes!
OMG HOW EXCITING
I HAVE ALWAYS
GOTTEN CHOAKED UP AT THIS KIND OF BRAVERY .
THESE PEOPLE ALL GET HONORS IN MY BOOK. GREAT JOB
I agree with your praise! However, of course since things went well, the news media ignores it.
The amount of situational awareness is what impressed me. The tug captains recognizing what was happening with Spar Lyra and responding without hesitation. That is some heads up seamanship.
This is my USCG AUX patrol area. I know it well. It is a very busy and constricted waterway. Traffic would have been worse if it happened during Harborfest this coming weekend. Bravo Zulu to all the mariners involved for a competent and skilled response.
It was wonderful to hear a news story praising good men (and women) doing a fantastic job.
Likely a fire re-flash once the fixed system had been expended since a CO2 or Halon system doesn't remove heat. Crew of both vessels did a great job in keeping everyone focused in getting personnel to safety. Tug crews earned their keep yesterday. That is pretty impressive footage of Z1 at full snort putting themselves in a pretty precarious situation on the bow with really no way out once they were just a slight bit closer to the boom.
In the event of a major casualty, a crew of 2 with over 100 mostly kids on board strikes me as a prescription for disaster. The skipper is going to be tied up with communication and coordination, leaving one crewmen to deal with everything else. Credit to all the marine professionals involved for avoiding injury and loss of life.
There was 17 crew and 91 passengers
@@Jack_Wylie I'd be curious if thats operational crew or anyone that worked aboard from the Master to the bus boys... I doubt the bartenders on the local floating banquet hall are well versed in engine room fires and damage control procedures.
@@alexkitner5356 it is a mix of both i worked on this vessel. And i was able to talk to crew that worked that day. They had 2 captains, 2 mates, and 3 deckhands all else were restaurant staff. The marine operations staff is not trained in shipboard firefighting in a confined engine room they flaked out a hose but the chief mate said there was to much smoke. And the boat does not carry air packs. The restaurant staff is to ensure that all passengers onboard have life jackets on and assist with getting people to a safe location.
@@alexkitner5356 and of coarse when i say not trained i mean there is training for a general fire but for a fire like this. It was not worth risking the crew to fight that fire. It was in the best interest to get all off the boat and get it to where fire crews can fight it
@@Jack_Wylie That seems about what I'd expect for a crew on a boat like that. I wouldn't think they'd be able to be effective in fighting that fire, even with packs there's just not enough people to make an effective attack on an engine room fire and if things went bad they have no backup.
What I don't understand is why there wasn't an effective fire control system, particularly if you're running with a crew of 7, or where it failed and why. Were hatches left open when they should have been closed, was there an issue with shutting ventilation, was there a training issue or a failure to follow procedures for that, did the system work but the fire reignited because someone opened the hatch before the fire had cooled off enough to prevent that...?
Sal, you are correct---all involved deserve medals!!! Great Video (as usual) THANK YOU
Incredible response by the crews on all of these ships. Definitely great work by the crews of Spirit of Norfolk and Victory Rover to ensure everyone got off safely. Plus, it was amazing watching the tugs rapidly shift focus from working to fight the fire and re-directing to stop the Spar Lyra from a significant collision.
Hello to all .....
This was a text book case of how it should be done
I being a former US Coast Guard member I agree with sal
The only thing I see that could have been done differently was to foam the engine room once all people was safe and vessels secured.
The Coast Guard is over worked under paid and under recognized
Now for my Rant....
Each member of Congress and of the cabinet in Washington NEEDS to pony up a Ben Franklin ( they can afford it ) and take the crews of the tugs and all other vessels involved in the rescue.... for a nice appreciation dinner to say thank you ....
JOB WELL DONE!!!!
Wow! Just wow! Thanks for bringing this to us! The passion in your voice is palatable! Thanks to all who performed their tasks in a stellar way to prevent this from being a major major problem!
Wow! Thanks for bringing us this story. Would’ve have heard about this otherwise.
Thank God the crew of both vessels reacted intelligently and without panic. Victory Rover reacted quickly. Good work to everybody!
Reminds me of Santa Fe jamming her side right up against the Franklin as the carrier burned. Saved many lives. The fact that as soon as someone is in peril on the water, everyone is united against the common enemy of the sea is always inspiring.
The marine radio channel 16 must have been lit. Don't know who coordinated, separated and directed the rescue communication, fire communication and collision communication was but they got all the right vessels to the right spots. If it was a coastie, they need one of those awards too.
I fully agree
Wow, just wow, excellent effort by everyone involved. Your reporting and background information was first class! Seeing that tug push that loaded tanker away from the pier was amazing. Growing up in the port of Rotterdam I learned at a young age to have the most respect for tug captains and crew. Last but not least a huge thank you to the crew that safely got those kids off the burning ship!!! They did an awesome job with only 2 crew members on board!!! I hope all these people get recognized for a job well done!
Outstanding reporting and information on this heroic performance. This was terrific seamanship!
Great report on the Spirit of Norfolk and yes everyone involved did a spectacular job....
Professor Sal, EXCELLENT job at conveying this near catosropic event! I've been viewing your channel for quite some time, not one boring episode. I thank you sir for your perspective; it's refreshing to here about topics that you have actually lived! Most IMPORTANTLY, no loss of life, as you stated, nor injuries, material things can be replaced! Keep the great content of your channel coming, THANKS SAL!! GREAT WORK ALL RESPONDERS!!
THis was just amazing story of disaster averted this could have been a very dark day in shipping but thankfully everyone did there job with the up most professionalism.
I agree Sal. This is an amazing rescue. Glad your recognizing the hero's.
If boats could get medals little Z1 must be right up there for one. Absolutely outstanding job. A lot of people did good work and should be proud of themselves.
Vast improvement over the BHR event. Kudos to all involved.
Sal, as a fellow firefighter I can't agree more with your point. The whole risk a lot to save a lot idea is valid in many ways but all-too-often it gets twisted into the idea that we only take risk when its life that's in hazard. We are charged with protecting life and property, while we may take less risk for property we should still do our best to save both and more and more I hear "oh well the insurance will cover it" or "there's nothing worth saving". I contest that when I hear it because thats a cop out and there are times when some simple belongings might help a family or child get thru a devastating event or keep a situation like this from being such a loss that the company doesn't see an economic viability to starting over where they would have kept going if the ship or building or equipment wasn't written off and they had more to build from or salvage. We as a profession have been losing some of that preserving property motivation like how in the early days of my time and that of my father and grandfather we regularly put salvage covers over things and did our best to save whatever we can yet now many younger guys don't know what it is or departments just don't even have them on the rigs and certainly that people don't make using them a regular part of their operations. We can say risk a lot to save a lot and risk little to save little but its gotten way too much influence to the point where after the hazard to life is removed many go into a risk nothing to save anything mentality.
I also am a believer in the idea that most times its not as much a rekindle as it was poor extinguishment and overhaul. I understand that shipboard fires are a whole different animal but as you said, if they are limited on how much water can be used because of flooding and stability issues then the best thing is to remove oxygen and smother the fire. It may be a ship but even structural guys should know that you don't vent unless you have ways to control fire growth when its fed air by ventilation or you have some confidence that the fire is out. You don't take the door off the hinges or pop a window without coordination, controlling flow paths or having lines in place to check the fire growth that comes with giving it oxygen.
Now is this the same fed fire that was involved in the Bonhamme Richard failures? I'm just curious if it is and if so what improvements in their operations after that fire showed here or conversely what they haven't improved since the statements you hit on didn't seem to indicate that the tactics had improved significantly.
The BR was in San Diego. Other side of the country. And this had no Naval involvement, just civvy FF.
@@alexandermckay8594 yes, you're correct, don't know why I was thinking it was at Norfolk.
The news conference that brought up the issues with tactics and how they're dealing with the fire was the Fed Fire chief and he was using the words "we are" an awful lot for an agency that's not fighting the fire. The fact that he was the one giving out information would also be a good indication of who has command on this incident. When we have a fire that's newsworthy the person that makes the statement is our chief or who he delegates that role to, it isn't the chief of the 3rd alarm station coverage department...
how wonderful everyone survived
This is incredible to watch.
Fantastic video - thank you!!! I wish I didn't get so choked up about stories like this but I've traveled through this area a number of times and it just goes to show you what can happen. Great job of story telling and I hope all your recommendations are followed.
Fantastic evacuation! what an amazing sequence of near disasters with perfect response.
In the first minutes when a Mayday goes out or a craft is seen in trouble in populated waters the first response in my experience is "hey, they're in trouble, let's go. And the world shows up. The response is rapid, but not unsafe. The Captain of the injured craft handles the incoming resources in coordination with the other captains. With the bulker it looks like Z1 saw what was happening, grabbed a partner and did what they knew had to be done calling resources as they went. It's a law of the sea and everyone that knows it respects it and follows it. To be a successful mariner you need to be able to think quickly and clearly. All those involved with the incident on the water had that in spades.
Amazing! Thanks to all involved.
Sal, thank you for sharing this unfortunate but amazing event with us. You certainly did your homework with connecting all the dots. God is good. Hats off to all!🙏👍🇺🇸😊!
There was more then 2 crew. It was 17 between marine operations and restaurant staff with 91 kids and chaperones
Thanks for the clarification. They did make this clear in their reports.
Just liked mariners anywhere. You shout for help we respond. Not because it a rule its because it could be you next.. when needed 100% is not the norm its the minimum. The people involved will still have their heart pounding and many will be asking what MORE could I have done. Sal your adrenaline was pumping just watching, being on scene its the drive to help that takes over. Good work by many and many who will not be recognised or remembered. The families of the kids will always hold the full team in respect for years.
Great videos for classes on what and how to behave and do in emergency. Drills become memory functions of the body without thinking. Allowing the mind to be aware and work.
A+ for rescuing the passengers and avoid a collision between the bulk freighter and destroyer.
Sal … way to go. So much honest life is overlooked…. Especially lately ( Baltimore). z one almost lost but won. Such a heroic video
Excellent job Sal!!!
Sal, thanks for the great reporting and review. Retired Navy Surface Warfare Officer and Hampton Roads resident here. I've taken the tour on Victory Rover within the last few years. I have some questions that I know you can't answer, but hope the answers become available.
1. At 1151 gross tons she seems rather large to be operating with only two crew. I assume she had passenger facing crew, bar tender, servers, etc on board as well. So what are the crew requirements for this type/size vessel?
2. It there was no engineer onboard, I would assume that the engineering plant is controlled from the pilot house with the engine room sealed. Have there been any comments about the condition of the engine room water tight doors?
3. I would assume there is some type of fixed flooding system on board. Given the age of the vessel I might be either Halon or CO2. And that the system could be activated from the pilot house. I also believe that the current standard calls for activation of the system to shut down all engines and generators located in the space. Is there any indication that such a system was onboard and activated? Did it function as expected?
4. After activation of such a system my memory is that the space must be left sealed for some minimum time. Again from memory I believe the Navy called for 15 min. minimum for a Halon activation. Is there any indication that the space was left sealed?
Again thanks for the detailed report.
David
Halon has been banned as a greenhouse gas. 3M had an alternative, but I'm not sure if it is in use. My guess is if a system is fitted it would be CO2. There should be a fire control station fitted with engine kill switches, remote fuel valve control, ventilation fan shutdown and ventilation damper actiation.
This, is based on my knowledge of ships, as opposed to harbor tour boats. The USCG may need to rethink their rules for tour boats.
Bob
@@robertlevine2152 I agree that Halon is banned. BUT, my understanding is also that vessels with pre-ban systems can retain them as long as the bottles retain their weight. Thus my comment about the age of the vessel. I believe it's 30 years old.
Our boat, an '89, has a Halon system that continues to pass inspection.
@@kd0r They stopped the manufacture of Halon in the mid-1990s. The Spirit of Norfolk was "built" in 1992. Assuming the design and construction started in the late 1980s the owners would have been aware that Halon was becoming scarce and very expensive. My guess is still that they used CO2.
I worked for oil companies. Except for facilities on the North Slope of Alaska, we stopped using Halon for new construction before the end of the 1990s.
For ship's use my first choice would be Halon. Unfortunately, it was not a logical choice for new construction by the late 1980s. In the late 1990s we used Inergen for machinery control rooms, and uninterrupted power supply (UPS) rooms. Inergen at the time was not a choice for machinery spaces due to volume and cost.
My experience was with oil tankers. The volumes required for pumprooms and engine rooms were larger than the total volume of the Spirit of Norfolk.
3M does produce Novec 1230 as an alternative to CO2.
@@robertlevine2152 thanks. I didn't know when Halon become unavailable. Like I said our '89 Grand Banks does have Halon and still passes inspection.
Yes, I suspect Spirit was equipped with CO2 flooding.
Irrespective of whether it was Halon or CO2 the big problem with those systems is that they're one shots. Good for getting out active flames but if it's a persistent issue, like say a bearing melting down on something that can't be turning off handily then once the shot has occurred the fire can start all over again because the initiator is still active. It's clear that whatever it was it was a bitch to get out. My guess something like a bilge pump down deep. The fire restarted and burned for quite a while until it broke through the forward compartment.
My company provided security during the moonlight cruises and I have some additional information I found out later. *The crewman on board had done his regular walk-through of the the engine compartment and found nothing. By the time he got up to the 3rd deck, there was smoke coming out of the engine room vents. 2-3 minutes? * The fire was contained in the engine room and apparently out at one point, but temperatures inside the vessel were still high and there was fuel on top of water throughout the bottom of the vessel. Firefighters from City of Norfolk Fire Rescue (not trained in shipboard firefighting) went below and opened the engine room door to investigate and the fire reflashed. They were standing in the water and barely escaped. *Irony - the previous night during the moonlight cruise there were 220 adults on board in various states of intoxication along with 4 crew, 10 hospitality staff, and 6 security officer. It would have been a very different outcome that night.
Maybe they can pickup a slightly used Russian oligarchs yacht as a replacement sightseeing MV
PS - After seeing this video and your earlier videos / reading report on USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6), not sure what FedFire role / philosophy is toward vessel firefighting.
Real nice job by all involved. You also Professor!
In the UK there are a small number of fire stations/fighters both on land and on boats that are only allowed to fight fires on ships from the inside because of all the extra training and equipment they have. So I understand the reticence of higher-ranking officers of wanting firefighters to go onboard to fight a fire when no lives are at risk.
I am hoping that ships that carry that many passengers, especially kids would want to put a couple of extra crew onboard, just in case something like this happens.
@@tinacatharinaeden2711 SAME HERE WAS IT 2
should at least 12-15 wow they were lucky
who did the safety brief to 112 kids parents makes me wonder who certified the boat if thats true
But this wasn't a normal landside fire crew. This was FedFire, which is contracted by the Navy to support their piers. Surely, firefighting on a Navy ship isn't easier than a sightseeing vessel.
Great seamanship by all.
Worth a look at Z-One on tugboatinformation. She's a beast, 2 Z drives aft, another smaller one forward, each with a CAT engine. Main props are 86". Note how she's heeling over from the force of the 3 props, and note how beamy she is. Pleased to say she was originally built in 1996 for Great Lakes Towing Co. of Cleveland, ie, a "G" tug.
Great tip!
Excellent, factually based coverage. Agree, kudos to the skippers and crews of so many vessels. This reminds me of the many, many Table Top and Full Scale Exercises which I have helped write and in which I have participated. We call them "Injects" where the learners are dealing with one set of issues when "blammo," another crises demands attention. REQUEST: Sal, could you develop or point us toward resources on Unified Incident Command System (ICS) for harborside shipboard firefighting? Agree in principle with not risking lives to safe stuff. But at some point containing shipboard fires becomes vital, rather than letting them consume all the fuel as the method of extinguishment. Thank you.
Great job of showing what Mariners can do when working together. Unfortunately, Norfolk Base firefighters may be good at a house fire, but I see that they have not improved since my experience with them and shipboard fires. I retired in the late 1990s and hoped they would be better at ships by now.
Hi and thank you for this report. Wonderful rescue!
Do you have news of The Sullivans?
Thanks!
amazing work!!!!!
We had a very good view of the fire from pier 3 throughout the night, there were a couple of small explosions and the fire reflashed several times. We were stoked to hear that everyone was safely evacuated. It made for an interesting duty day.
That was close. Great job Moran.
A crew of 2 for a vessel that size and with that many passengers? Seems a little light.
Vessel is low in the water, listing, and you're pumping tons of water onto it. Nobody's onboard. You get the ship out of the channel, but you don't put crews on board to send them down to the engine room of a vessel that is on fire and at significant risk of sinking with little warning. Fed Fire got this right. Of course it was the contract tugs and the other tour boat that did the majority of the meaningful work on this one.
That still doesn't mean ventilation without suppressing the fire is a good tactic though and I don't know how you can do ventilation without putting people aboard.
I dont disagree with you about needing to ensure stability before putting crews aboard but it sounded more like they were, just with the wrong plan.
Somewhere in my head I'm having visions of the Rodney Dangerfield boat scene, but its the coast guard going "Hey you scratched my buoy..." but I'm sure they'll send a bill for the paint... In all seriousness thats a great job by a lot of people.
Fire reaching the middle might run into Propane tanks for the Kitchen. Might be the nighttime explosive restart. Glad all got out and no one was hurt.
Two crew members? I do hope there were many other workers on board. For safety reasons just like this.
Looks like a child trafficking take down.
Imagine being docked, and the collision alarm is sounded, and you're thinking WHAT?????
A passenger vessel of that size with two man crew, even if certified for that number is clearly unsafe. Only luck prevented a real sh^^show there.
Good job man... AND GOOD JOB MORAN TOWING!!
If I didn't see this then I wouldn't believe it!
I was born at the New Port News shipyard in the fifties .One of my uncles was in the merchant marine in WW2 .Another uncle enlisted in the coast Guard in 1942 when he was 17.He stayed in the Coast Guard until he retired .I went to visit in 1999 and we took one of those tour boats from Hampton over to the navy base .That boat was much smaller than the Victory Rover .After 9/11 I went back to visit again and the boat tours weren't allowed anywhere near navy property .
So are you the designated ship fire fighting guru for your dept as well? Like you said great job by all that were involved in this. Also, I am interested in what the Coasties & NTSB [among the other alphabet agencies] reports are going to show as the cause. Is the Z1 tug a "Z" drive boat with the "egg beater" props extending straight below her hull
Unfortunately, all I have is the Cape Fear River in my district.
with the number of passengers on-board.....i hope they all were wearing their coof koof masks and maintaining 6' separation......
reminds me a little of the miracle on the hudson.
I've done that harbor tour, if not on the Victory Rover, on something that looks about the same. It's a dramatic story with a mostly happy ending, except maybe for insurance rates and maybe an engineering officer or inspector or two. And a bit for insurance rates. What do you mean when you say "dropping the plant"? Does the Spar Lyra have one of those setups where you have to stop and restart the Diesel engine to go into reverse? I watched a Chief Makoi video on that, and I was concerned about how that would go in a stressful situation like this one.
I agree that the tugs and the Victory Rover are the stars of the show.
We are not sure if they lost their propulsion or it was a steering issue. She was not spinning her prop and she appeared not to turn, so we are not sure.
Great reporting. Why don't they use a foam suppression like airports have? Seems to me a combination of suppression types would work better. But this goes along with ur talks about the lack of infrastructure for shipping. Luckily this happened by the naval base that has an infrastructure. A few miles away this could have been ......
Wow!
👍👍👍👊
Sal, I think there needs to be more coverage of the Spar Lyra and why it got into this situation. It's fully laden and underway. Stopping in the water is not like on land, it takes lots of distance, in this case clearly more distance than she had, especially given the narrow channel. This means she needed to stop likely before she saw the problem. Did Spar Lyra properly listen and hear the Ch 16 mayday? Did it get situational awareness on AIS? Why given this would she continue through the channel?
This is a freak occurrence, but calls into discussion the big issue with channels and speed and no tugs. Should she have had tug in these channels given stopping distance?
So, Spar Lyda chose to stop or did she have a separate issue that caused the stop? Did I miss that? I kept waiting to hear the explanation.
When you throw a ships engine into emergency stop you runn a very big risk of it shutting down or serious damage. Clearly this is most likely the cause
Great video thanks.
You needn't apologize for fanboying, they earned it. // You say 2 crew. That's the mariners. On her sister ships (e.g. i've done Whisky events aboard Spirit of Boston, same look, possibly same design, is it a franchise chain?), there's generally say half dozen or more hospitality staff aboard - bartenders, food service, reheat kitchen, etc. Since this was a morning kids' cruise, less of those needed than on the evening buffet & booze cruise, but probably still some "front of house" hospitality staffing, if only to serve sodas? (When i first heard "including kids" along with the evening rekindle photos, i assumed it was a HS Prom cruise, 'tis the season. Daylight was easier to deal with i'm sure!)
Great that everyone one is safe. I don’t think they understand that when a metal fire starts you can’t use water. Great video 👍😃 staying off the vessel was the right thing to do.
What fuel did she burn ???????? diesel ?? no deaths, seems few if any serious burns/injuries - VICTORY for all.
ships run on diesel
they didn't want the Spar Lyra to be another ever given
@What is Going on With Shipping? Dr. Sal, Why did Spar Lydia proceed past the active rescue operations? I would have though that the Spar Lydia would have tried to stop in the channel prior to reaching the active rescue scene.
There is no way a vessel that size could stop in the time necessary. The best was to evade the scene and try to stay out of the way.
Excellent response for every single first responder. Amazing work by Moran Tug crews. A+++++ effort should not go unnoticed. Heroes for sure.
However, I have a few questions/beefs with how this went down:
1. The US Navy response seems to be quite invisible. Was anyone on watch? Were there any crews mustered? Was there any effort at all put forth by the US Navy in rescuing the people at risk?
2. The Fire Chief in the press conference rubbed me wrong. Wearing his pristine helmet and goggles to talk to reporters? Odds of him getting near a danger zone? I suspect nil is the answer.
3. The Spirit of Norfolk, while seemingly important, is just a boat/ship (don't know the length, and too lazy to look). If the owners were too cheap to man it properly while sending it on money-making excursions, then I say let it burn. Don't risk lives on an inanimate object. Good for the decision makers who chose not to risk lives to try to fight the fire.
4. Who was responsible for the freighter (Spar Lyra) for being sea-worthy? I don't know my butt from a hot rock when it comes to ships, but shouldn't they be expected to be able to make maneuvers like that, and still be functional? The ship did not run aground, or anything, did it?
Why was a passenger ship so near to a military base? Great tug work, totally in awe of those tuggers.
Bravo Zulu for sure 🎉
Sal,
Kudos to everyone involved in the rescue of the children and in preventing a catastrophe.
I do have a few questions, how on earth does the USCG allow a vessel with 100 passengers sail with a crew of two? There should be a NTSB review of this incident. The heroes of this incident should be honored. The 'what ifs' should be investigated in detail.
Whoever is in charge of the Federal Fire Departments should be fired. It is obivous that after the Bonhomme Richard in San Diego and this fire the Federal Fire Department is incompetent. They are clueless when it comes to damage control and fighting ship fires. Why hasn't the USN moved to protect their assets when they tie up to a dock?
Bob
Semper fi medals agree
Lots of good work. But I sense a trend here with Fed Fire and ships burning tied up to piers at Navy bases.
That's awful. Glad everyone is OK. Give them a Super Yacht or 2 or 3.
Spar Lydia? Name on the ship says Spar Lyra 🤔
I will fix.
Need more detail on the ship “dropping the plant”? Obviously from movies it would be “full astern” and I understand why they could not steer out of the situation because of the channel but how can you “stall” a marine engine that big?
Good question. I'll bet that she somehow in the process of trying to slow her/stop she managed to either break a shaft or wheel. There's a few other things that could have gone wrong also that left her without the ability to make enough power to even get her to the Anchorage. It would be interesting to hear exactly what happened. Yet we still haven't heard what the problem was that got the Ever Forward in trouble up in Baltimore. So I wouldn't hold my breath.
My only question is the crew on the vessel. Just two people on a vessel this size in a crowded harbor with a load of passengers? Is this normal? They did do a great job!
I think it might be time to reexamine minimum crew complements. This case went flawlessly but if one or both of them panicked it would have been a very different situation.
The tug in the video is the Rosemary Mcallister that responded to the fire, not a Moran tug.
There were Moran and McAllister tugs on site.
Its nice to see a potentially very bad situation turn out so well (except for the loss of the vessel of course). Kudos to all involved. Gotta wonder though, why operate a vessel that size with only 2 crew?
Having only 2 crewmembers sounded flakey, so I texted a friend who's still living there after retiring from the Navy a few years ago. He says that it actually was a crew of 17. Another poster in the thread was able to break it down into 2 captains, 2 mates, 3 deckhands, and 10 involved with passenger care.
@@sleepyjay2664 Thank you for the clarification.
Congratulations to the crew for a great job! My question is, how can you have 100+ people on a boat that size and only have 2 crew. Is there not a minimum crew size for a certain number of passengers. Aircraft have regulations that specify how many cabin crew are required depending on the number of passengers.
Actually, it was a crew of 17, 2 captains, 2 mates, 3 deckhands, and 10 involved with passenger care. I suspect the "only two crew" came about because 2 crew remained on board after the evacuation when it was being moved to the dock.
The 2 crew that stayed on was the 2 captains assigned for that day
There were 4 crew members on board. That is the minimum they run with. The captain, mate and two deckhands.
The risk management rules that has been adopted and inhibits firefighters from risking their lives by boarding and protecting property damage was also noted and contributed to the hull loss of the USS Bonhomme Richard. Refer to to published report on the incident.
I also note how the ferry evacuation was calm and quiet. Cabin Crew on aircraft are trained to shout and repeat instructions until all passengers are off the aircraft. This is designed to prevent people panicking and thinking outside the instructions.
You made no mention of McAllister which at one point you called a moran vessel. There were 2 and also one ( white & yellow ) Inter coastal marine tug. We hauled the spirit of norfolk a few times. I can say it was very old and poorly kept. The engine room was very nasty and as you go down the steps to get to it thats where the galley is which was disgusting. Given there line of work i would say between both them spaces with fire systems in place it seems they failed. Also having been on a few vessels that caught fire it spreads so incredibly fast... with everyone safe and great Mariners its an awesome ending.
Exactly correct.
Grew up about 5 miles from pier 4 nob