That was an awesome salvage operation, successfully executed; but we must not forget that 50 people died on that night of 09 January 1979 when a substandard vessel split in two and caught fire as she was alongside an isolated marine island terminal where safety and fire-fighting measures had been dangerously downgraded by the terminal operator, Gulf Oil. Bantry will always remember that day, commemorated especially on 09 January 2019. One of my friends lost his father on that day; many other families also grieved.
How Was the tanker substandard? Was it poor maintenance? I've read it was at the end of its service life but it was only 11 years old. Most tankers seem to last 15 to 20 years even up to 25 years.
@@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24 Yes, badly corroded ballast tanks ... investigative report said the interiors were rotted & covered with rust. Ship owner could have used protective coating to stop the rust, but they didn't (to save money).
@@philippal8666 The after part of the ship was indeed where some of the crew died, while others died in the water after jumping overboard. The interior of any vessel which has been underwater for a considerable time is always horrible, muddy, everything disturbed by the action of the sea, and a feeling of where a tragedy has occurred. Thank you for your comment, Philippa
@@jackosullivan3913 Some also died while sheltering in place on the off shore jetty, one of them was my Uncle, if only the shore staff could have kept a better lookout, instead of playing cards maybe some of those men would have been saved.
Geweldig om te zien, mijn opa was kapitein van de Barracuda. Mijn vader was tevens werkzaam bij Smit als Supervising Engineer. Een stukje Hollandse glorie.
40 years later, someone would complain that the narrator used the word "men" for the people involved in the salvage operations, and that the team was too white and women were underrepresented ;)
I remember the bang which woke the whole family up even though we were 10 miles away. I remember seeing various stages of the salvage as a child. Great to see what really went on a Whiddy,
I love these early videos of SMIT TAK salvaging ships it's so fascinating to watch the specialist work that goes into ship salvage and SMIT TAK are the best in the world and I'm so glad they choose to film there work .
I love this channel, My grandfather used to work for Smit Salvage. When i was younger he used to show me video's of salvages, my favorite one was the autocarrier Herrald of Free Enterprise in Zeebrugge
Yes, they are an outstanding world renowned company!!! you should see their offices in Houston, Texas and their location on the water in Baytown Texas! It’s huge!! negative. Scratch that.!!! it’s actually, LEVIATHAN-SIZE!!
I started watching these, because, my man is a underwater weilder, and works salvage operation. As a loved one you hold them in prayer, the whole time they are gone. Love them hard when they are home. Because when they leave for work, you don't know if they will come home. It's always in the back of your mind. 😢😢. But you put them in God's hands. His will be done.
When you look at the stern you realise the term 'explosion' doesn't do it justice. The documentary itself was remarkable, and fair play to the camera team who went on board to take the internal shots......
Pim, I have waited many years to see good,clear versions of this film and the "Herald Of Free Enterprise" in English... I have rough copies of both.... For a man that loves Smit and marine salvage in general, these films are true Legends!!!!, Fantastic films telling of herculean feats!! Thank you so much for sharing these true classics of the Dutch Salvage industry. Awsome!!, TimT.
As a native of Cork (the county where this took place) this is a fascinating video! I was only 3 at the time but I have vague memories of the disaster. I'm amazed at the complexity and sheer scale of the operation. Thanks for sharing!
Do you still live in GORK? I mean Pork? Shit. I mean CORK!!!! do you still live in Nork?? Jesus H Christ!!!!!!! Cork!!! CORK! Dammit!! CORK!!! do you still live in Cork????? you don’t know how much I wish my spellcheck worked!!!!!!!!!
Amazing, those guys tackled this like they were having a walk in the park. Looks like very dangerous work indeed. Great film that's well shot. I never knew this went on the year after. I remember the morning after that happened in January '79, there was a big black smoke cloud over the town I lived in, and that was a long way from Bantry.
I remember in the early 2000s there was a documentary on one of the discovery channels about the salvage of fishing boat that was wrecked on a beach, I think in Alaska. I must've watched that more than 5 times.
Wat hebben jullie mannen een knap staaltje werk geleverd een wereld primeur, Nederland stond weer op de kaart, maar ook Smit Tak topwerk !!!👍😁 Bedankt voor deze documentaire 🤩 5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.
Besides the missing mention of those who passed away from this event, of those 500+ days for this job, how many were down time due to bad weather? The majority of the hands-on work in salvage operations cannot be done in bad weather.
Ya just know its 1979 when the workers have no hard hats or harnesses or that the guy spray painting and has no Mask and a cigarette in his hand. Those were the days!
Watched that a while back. Was hooked on salvage vids at the time. Some others on streaming channels, too. Hulu, NF, etc. Huge salvage going on in St. Simon Sound, GA. The MV Golden Ray, a RORO (roll on / roll off) car carrier headed to the Middle East with a load of ~4,200 cars, mostly Hyundai and Kia.
I went to bantry 6 years ago especially for this place, unfortunately the little museum was closed that week but it was very impressive to see where it happened, crazy times back then.
Reminds me of my childhood. My Dad was a painter and he always had a smoke in his mouth while painting a car.....COPD and Heart Disease was the end result.
Yep, and hordes died on the job or of cancer at far earlier years than today, and they all deaf and blind by long before. Good riddance to bad work practice
I haven’t realized until I red your channel description you’re Dutch or Dutch is your second language. I would have never guessed your English is very good like the one that has English as first language.
Excellent documentary. Amazing feat of engineering. Perhaps could have done without the triumphant music, 50 men had perished on that ship, plus a diver during the salvage operation.
Excellent documentary film, produced to a high professional standard. Just one comment. It makes no mention of the diver who was killed in the operation. Sure, any industrial process involves risk, but one loss of life is too many.
@@brentbarnhart5827 The death of the diver is widely reported, but without detail. The guy was actually a 'diving supervisor'. If you find out what happened then let me know.
@@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24I can imagine it must have been a sorry sight, when they were getting the bodies off that ferry that capsized outside Zeebrugge harbor. I am pretty sure that the name of the vessel was Herald of Free Enterprise. 😢
I was expecting to hear something about the diver who died during the salvage operation. Strange that they did not mention it at all. Otherwise a very interesting documentary
I remember the explosion well I heard it live 18km away two people I knew died in the disaster, many of the Smittech people in the film stayed in the hotel I worked at too. Very sad times
Interesting record of the recovery. There is a reference on Wikipedia titled The Whiddy Island Disaster, which has some info on the aftermath of the incident.
Let's raise a tall cool beer 🍻 or two to SMIT TAK, best Marine salvage company in the world. Those fellas handled the MT Betelgeuse ,Herald of Free Enterprise,Costa Concordia, and I would have to figure many other wrecked vessels.
Would recovery divers been sent down into the ship's accommodation block to recover the body's of the lost men or was it far to dangerous to attempt because of the state of the ship. I'm guessing they perhaps had to wait for the lifting of the rear section with the accommodation block if that's where most of the crew was .
What's going on here!?! Where's the edgy and dramatic music constantly playing the background? Where is the sudden unexpected crisis? Where is the close up personal dramas of the men on the ground? Where are the crazy camera angles and rapid fire editing? Why is there no hysterical over the top narration? What the hell is going on here!?!?!?!
@Reg. Oper. Team do you understand irony? = "the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect." pre-youtube/Greta world
Absolutely, very good to remind me that it's not me growing old after all but the mediocre quality of news on tv nowadays. That's why I stopped watching tv altogether and only watch youtube videos on my smart tv
@@raymomull2258well let's face it, the motor tanker Betelgeuse had gotten to be kind of a rust bucket back then, also she did not possess a loadicator, not to mention an inert gas system to purge the explosive vapors from the tanks.... Hell's bells I'm surprised that she even safely left Ras Tanura to begin with!
In a way, I feel the polystyrene floating was Mythbusters ping pong salvage proven well before they were a thing. I get now that we realize the potential environmental impacts of it but at the same time they used what they had available and did a dang good job of it too.
Very little talk of the huge job the divers will have done on this, and often the case with many salvage videos ... they need much more credit. I do like the scant use of PPE !! maybe one hard hat ?
The people working were not wearing hard hats, floatation devices, these were available, why were they not being used by the Salvage company employees?
Operating lathes with no safety glasses? Spray painting with no mask? 😂 You’d get a warning in our yard for that back in the 70s! But I guess it was just for the cameras?
That was an awesome salvage operation, successfully executed; but we must not forget that 50 people died on that night of 09 January 1979 when a substandard vessel split in two and caught fire as she was alongside an isolated marine island terminal where safety and fire-fighting measures had been dangerously downgraded by the terminal operator, Gulf Oil. Bantry will always remember that day, commemorated especially on 09 January 2019. One of my friends lost his father on that day; many other families also grieved.
How Was the tanker substandard? Was it poor maintenance? I've read it was at the end of its service life but it was only 11 years old. Most tankers seem to last 15 to 20 years even up to 25 years.
@@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24 Yes, badly corroded ballast tanks ... investigative report said the interiors were rotted & covered with rust. Ship owner could have used protective coating to stop the rust, but they didn't (to save money).
The aft was creeepy. I know that’s where the fire and death was, but still…
@@philippal8666 The after part of the ship was indeed where some of the crew died, while others died in the water after jumping overboard. The interior of any vessel which has been underwater for a considerable time is always horrible, muddy, everything disturbed by the action of the sea, and a feeling of where a tragedy has occurred. Thank you for your comment, Philippa
@@jackosullivan3913 Some also died while sheltering in place on the off shore jetty, one of them was my Uncle, if only the shore staff could have kept a better lookout, instead of playing cards maybe some of those men would have been saved.
Geweldig om te zien, mijn opa was kapitein van de Barracuda. Mijn vader was tevens werkzaam bij Smit als Supervising Engineer. Een stukje Hollandse glorie.
40 years later..still amazing. glad for the documentary.
40 years later, someone would complain that the narrator used the word "men" for the people involved in the salvage operations, and that the team was too white and women were underrepresented ;)
I remember the bang which woke the whole family up even though we were 10 miles away. I remember seeing various stages of the salvage as a child. Great to see what really went on a Whiddy,
I love these early videos of SMIT TAK salvaging ships it's so fascinating to watch the specialist work that goes into ship salvage and SMIT TAK are the best in the world and I'm so glad they choose to film there work .
RIP to the 50 people who died when the tanker exploded and diver who died in the salvage operation
How did that happen ?
@ a tanker called the Betelgeuse exploded while discharging 114,000 tons of crude oil.
They believe it was caused by a structural failure of the ship.
I love this channel, My grandfather used to work for Smit Salvage. When i was younger he used to show me video's of salvages, my favorite one was the autocarrier Herrald of Free Enterprise in Zeebrugge
Smit Tak is a wonderful company with a world renowned reputation, earned by the skill of its employees.👏
Yes, they are an outstanding world renowned company!!! you should see their offices in Houston, Texas and their location on the water in Baytown Texas! It’s huge!! negative. Scratch that.!!! it’s actually, LEVIATHAN-SIZE!!
A tragedy that will never be forgotten between the old and young the story will always be told.
I started watching these, because, my man is a underwater weilder, and works salvage operation. As a loved one you hold them in prayer, the whole time they are gone. Love them hard when they are home. Because when they leave for work, you don't know if they will come home. It's always in the back of your mind. 😢😢. But you put them in God's hands. His will be done.
When you look at the stern you realise the term 'explosion' doesn't do it justice. The documentary itself was remarkable, and fair play to the
camera team who went on board to take the internal shots......
@** they removed it before they raised it, but it was almost completely flattened, you can see photos of it before it sank online.
Pim, I have waited many years to see good,clear versions of this film and the "Herald Of Free Enterprise" in English... I have rough copies of both.... For a man that loves Smit and marine salvage in general, these films are true Legends!!!!, Fantastic films telling of herculean feats!! Thank you so much for sharing these true classics of the Dutch Salvage industry. Awsome!!, TimT.
Karen Jaap Pols was his name , ik remember the tug Barracude from Maassluis the Netherlands never forget Jaap Pols a hero .
Incredible job! Nice film of Pim Korver.
Thanks for this one. I remember being in Ireland and seeing the stern section on the barge when I was on holiday. A fantastic achievement by you all.
As a native of Cork (the county where this took place) this is a fascinating video! I was only 3 at the time but I have vague memories of the disaster. I'm amazed at the complexity and sheer scale of the operation. Thanks for sharing!
Do you still live in GORK? I mean Pork? Shit. I mean CORK!!!! do you still live in Nork?? Jesus H Christ!!!!!!! Cork!!!
CORK! Dammit!! CORK!!! do you still live in Cork????? you don’t know how much I wish my spellcheck worked!!!!!!!!!
@@garlandremingtoniii1338 grow up dickead, only a clown replys to a 10 year old comment
Amazing, those guys tackled this like they were having a walk in the park. Looks like very dangerous work indeed. Great film that's well shot. I never knew this went on the year after. I remember the morning after that happened in January '79, there was a big black smoke cloud over the town I lived in, and that was a long way from Bantry.
Simply fantastic. Deepest respect and condolences to all involved.
Those guys know what they're doing, that's for sure. Great job, and good documentary.
Man those guys really know what they are doing. What a dangerous job.
Now that's what I call "MANS WORK". Great video. :-))
Impressive, cool 70’s music and narration.
Excellent work by Smit salvage
Is Smit Tak the same as Smit Salvage? did Smit Salvage buy out Smit-Tak?
I remember in the early 2000s there was a documentary on one of the discovery channels about the salvage of fishing boat that was wrecked on a beach, I think in Alaska. I must've watched that more than 5 times.
I'm blown away at the scale of this operation, the organization, skill, and know how, all evidenced in this doco. Well done all involved.
Wat hebben jullie mannen een knap staaltje werk geleverd een wereld primeur, Nederland stond weer op de kaart, maar ook Smit Tak topwerk !!!👍😁 Bedankt voor deze documentaire 🤩
5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.
Absolutely amazing a pleasure to watch ☺👍👍👍
Besides the missing mention of those who passed away from this event, of those 500+ days for this job, how many were down time due to bad weather? The majority of the hands-on work in salvage operations cannot be done in bad weather.
Dat brengt hele mooie herinneringen naar boven, bedankt Pim!
Ya just know its 1979 when the workers have no hard hats or harnesses or that the guy spray painting and has no Mask and a cigarette in his hand. Those were the days!
Watched that a while back. Was hooked on salvage vids at the time. Some others on streaming channels, too. Hulu, NF, etc. Huge salvage going on in St. Simon Sound, GA. The MV Golden Ray, a RORO (roll on / roll off) car carrier headed to the Middle East with a load of ~4,200 cars, mostly Hyundai and Kia.
Sad loss of life and amazing salvage operation.
Wow, impressive salvage operation!
I went to bantry 6 years ago especially for this place, unfortunately the little museum was closed that week but it was very impressive to see where it happened, crazy times back then.
Amazing work my all involved
27:11 spraying the block, no mask and a ciggy in his hand .. how times have changed ay
Also how they used polystyrene. There would be many people these days that would consider the use of the polystyrene worse then the leaked oil..
Reminds me of my childhood. My Dad was a painter and he always had a smoke in his mouth while painting a car.....COPD and Heart Disease was the end result.
reminded me of the military aircraft i worked. It is a sadistic laugh to remember.
Now just need some alcohol for a balanced diet.
and no live jacket insight.
The guy with the fishing pole must have got some good Intel from those divers🤣
I know mate. I tickled me when I saw him glide by with his rod. I expected to see him having a bollocking. 👍.
@davetileguy note that this was in 1979; different times, different rules....
PKFVchannel Ya. that is one of the most notable things about this video.
Yep, and hordes died on the job or of cancer at far earlier years than today, and they all deaf and blind by long before. Good riddance to bad work practice
I haven’t realized until I red your channel description you’re Dutch or Dutch is your second language. I would have never guessed your English is very good like the one that has English as first language.
That must’ve been some horrific explosion to cause the damage that was apparent. Awesome skill to perform thar feat of engineering.
Excellent documentary. Amazing feat of engineering. Perhaps could have done without the triumphant music, 50 men had perished on that ship, plus a diver during the salvage operation.
Wow, I am not surprised a diver died. Seriously hazardous diving work.
I knew Willem in person great person RIP
Keep up the good work SMITTAK
Excellent documentary film, produced to a high professional standard. Just one comment. It makes no mention of the diver who was killed in the operation. Sure, any industrial process involves risk, but one loss of life is too many.
How was he killed?
@@brentbarnhart5827 The death of the diver is widely reported, but without detail. The guy was actually a 'diving supervisor'. If you find out what happened then let me know.
Or the 50 people who died in the explosion
200 tons of polystyrene balls! I thought emptying a bean bag was a chore! 😂
No way is he carrying a fishing rod at 30:58 🤣 break time lads, who’s for a fish dinner tonight?
I wondered if he was actually carrying a fishing pole! Pre-oiled fish for dinner.
Fish and chips please Send me some I'm over in Connecticut USA
Great day for fish'n ain' it?
screw this shit im going fishing
@@russwentz3957
white fish or oily fish chaps ?
Be interesting to know what the cost of the operation was.
Awesome salvage operation ❤
The poor bastards that were Killed on this , what horrible deaths. These Men have Balls I cant imagine, especially the Divers working on it.
Oddly enough, you don't see feminists demanding these high paying jobs!
Did they find anything? Large explosions can make people completely disappear.
@@PieAndChips imagine however unpleasant that job would be. Diving into a wreck to collect bodies.
@@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24I can imagine it must have been a sorry sight, when they were getting the bodies off that ferry that capsized outside Zeebrugge harbor. I am pretty sure that the name of the vessel was Herald of Free Enterprise. 😢
very impressive work!
I was expecting to hear something about the diver who died during the salvage operation. Strange that they did not mention it at all. Otherwise a very interesting documentary
No mention of the dutch diver who died during the salvage operation.
sorry to hear he died how did it happen
the crew and some dock workers were also killed
ernie w aaaaaa.----------
Really? And no mention? That sucks. Lawyer negotiated non disclosure agreements/payment perhaps.
50 people also died when the tanker exploded
Very nice work!!
I remember the explosion well I heard it live 18km away two people I knew died in the disaster, many of the Smittech people in the film stayed in the hotel I worked at too. Very sad times
I have never heard of this ship accident. Amazing documentary how and where I can find more informations about this shipwreck?
It's amazing to see how the company developed between this salvage and later ones... the anchor chain saw blade! lol
Yes, having come here from the MSC Napoli salvage...I agree.
Now they use diamond chain from the marbel industy into cut wrecks even though engineblock, ms tricolor.
i was looking for the chain saw,just to realize it was the plain chain,just that.
Verry nice documentaire......
Great documentary. Must be a good job to have👍👍🇬🇧. I’m
Great video. Mighty men to undertake the salvage. A terrible tragedy as a result of H&S failings
Polystyrene just wouldn't do now. Bet any that got into the sea is still there now in various sea creatures, and us..................by now.
RIP to the sailors, and oil workers who lost their lives
Excellent video!
Interesting record of the recovery. There is a reference on Wikipedia titled The Whiddy Island Disaster, which has some info on the aftermath of the incident.
Geweldig dat deze op TH-cam staat :D
30:58 - Yeah, just doing a spot of fishing....nothing to see here mate.................
LOL I saw that......
Let's raise a tall cool beer 🍻 or two to SMIT TAK, best Marine salvage company in the world. Those fellas handled the MT Betelgeuse ,Herald of Free Enterprise,Costa Concordia, and I would have to figure many other wrecked vessels.
Would recovery divers been sent down into the ship's accommodation block to recover the body's of the lost men or was it far to dangerous to attempt because of the state of the ship.
I'm guessing they perhaps had to wait for the lifting of the rear section with the accommodation block if that's where most of the crew was .
At 27:10 , fella painting with no respirator, cigarette in the other hand haha
Too bad that the Control Room operator was absent, which was later covered up and the terminal fire engine failed to start....
What's going on here!?! Where's the edgy and dramatic music constantly playing the background? Where is the sudden unexpected crisis? Where is the close up personal dramas of the men on the ground? Where are the crazy camera angles and rapid fire editing? Why is there no hysterical over the top narration? What the hell is going on here!?!?!?!
@Reg. Oper. Team do you understand irony? = "the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect."
pre-youtube/Greta world
Reg. Oper. Team r
@Mr.M - Quit yelling at everyone. Caps lock OFF please. Also, learn to recognize sarcasm.
Absolutely, very good to remind me that it's not me growing old after all but the mediocre quality of news on tv nowadays.
That's why I stopped watching tv altogether and only watch youtube videos on my smart tv
What a dick
Loving these salvage vids. 😉 classic 📺
Here from Watch Wes Work. Great video. Back before OSHA really got involved lol
Interesting watch.👍
Amazing what man can do.
Man was responsible for the disaster & over 50 deaths.
@@raymomull2258well let's face it, the motor tanker Betelgeuse had gotten to be kind of a rust bucket back then, also she did not possess a loadicator, not to mention an inert gas system to purge the explosive vapors from the tanks.... Hell's bells I'm surprised that she even safely left Ras Tanura to begin with!
Brave men
I sure hope that polystyrene bubbles are no longer in the tool kit. It may be worse than the oil.
Basically that's what they used back then.
Aparently the ship was really worn out and at the end of its service life after just 11 years.
So apparently the motor tanker Betelgeuse was a real rust bucket by that point.
Which dredgers where used to dredge around the aft section?
The size and scope of this operation is mind boggling. I wonder what the total cost was in USD.
Back in 1979 the cost was $50 mil. The liability cost was $120 mil.
I wonder how this compares with the Costa Concordia? Still, very impressive and in very cold water.
41 years ago today.....geez.
In a way, I feel the polystyrene floating was Mythbusters ping pong salvage proven well before they were a thing. I get now that we realize the potential environmental impacts of it but at the same time they used what they had available and did a dang good job of it too.
Very little talk of the huge job the divers will have done on this, and often the case with many salvage videos ... they need much more credit.
I do like the scant use of PPE !! maybe one hard hat ?
Seems to be a Dutch specialty even today no? Just from programs I’ve watched, I have no firsthand knowledge
Good doco.
Ok, be honest when answering.... Who pronounced the name of this ship properly the 1st thru the 5th time you tried it?
what was the cost of the the salvage?
i love that music at the end :)
i wish i knew what ... well even to call it like what genre is that
1970's didn't you see Charlie's Angels start at the end?
The people working were not wearing hard hats, floatation devices, these were available, why were they not being used by the Salvage company employees?
This was before health and safety went mad as hatters!
Wow that's deep at the pier, 130 feet ! you can see just the very tops of the Smoke Stacks peeping out.
21:38 that sound effect is suspiciously feeble, like somebody just played a stream of air from an inner tube over their hand near a microphone.
oil and polysystrene
Operating lathes with no safety glasses? Spray painting with no mask? 😂 You’d get a warning in our yard for that back in the 70s! But I guess it was just for the cameras?
What happens if you say the name of this ship...three times ??
Man man wat een knap staaltje werk
She was like The Edmond Fitzgerald. Old,worn out ,and overloaded
Bullshit, She was only 2 ears old when this happened..
@@MrBugsier5 The M.T Betelgeuse was a good ten years old by 1978
@@PieAndChips still not that old though most have 15 to 25 year service life. Was the maintenance poor? Was she built substandard?
@@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24 From what I have read, the ship was very poorly maintained.
Edmund Fitzgerald was only 17 years old and had been recently refitted three years before she sank.
The force of the blast that ripped through the ship is evident from the twisted handrails in the engine room. Anyone there would have died instantly.
How did the diver get killed?
They didn't mention diver who died during the operation, no safety helmets can you imagine that today.
What of the crew? Dead?
Yes, no survivors. 50 dead, plus one man dead during this salvage operation.
Deeply impressive; no wonder Smit Tak have their reputation. Practice for the Kursk later? Gea