Kevin McCready 83 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Is anyone following this? A China forum I'm on posits the ship wasn't designed for the windy conditions. Too high and narrow. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin McCready 83 Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 Both the captain and the chief engineer of the Oriental Star, who also survived, were taken into police custody and said during questioning that the ship capsized when it was hit by a tornado, according to reports in the state-run media.Tornadoes are not as common in China as in the United States, but the China Meteorological Administration said Tuesday that a tornado had been reported in the area around the time that the ship capsized. Wind speeds reached 12 on the Beaufort Scale, which translates to 74 miles per hour, or hurricane strength, for 15 to 20 minutes, the administration said in an emailed response to questions. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Yep, it looked like a typical large river cruiser to me. High, low freeboard, stable only in flat conditions. Not designed for the conditions it found itself in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mothership 6 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 So who's culpable if a ship is taken places it's not designed to go? is it the captain, or the company who planned the journey? Being China, who gets nailed for it (and someone most likely will) is often incidental to who's at fault. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin McCready 83 Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 The captain, among the few---seven according to the report—who were able to swim to shore, arrested for questioning.He said ship was hit by a tornado, according to reports in the state-run media. Tornadoes are not as common in China as in the United States, but the China Meteorological Administration said Tuesday that a tornado had been reported in the area around the time that the ship capsized. Wind speeds reached 12 on the Beaufort Scale, which translates to 74 miles per hour, or hurricane strength, for 15 to 20 minutes, the administration said in an emailed response to questions. “Even with the windows closed the water seeped in.” .. another cruise ship had sailed from Nanjing at the same time as the Oriental Star and had pulled into a port to avoid the bad weather... ship was built in February 1994 and was capable of carrying 534 people, Xinhua reported. It belongs to the Chongqing Oriental Ferry Company, which is state-owned and deeply in debt. ... no plans for the company, which has about half a dozen ships, to halt tours on its other vessels. ... It blew so hard it destroyed some homes in my village.” “The wind swirled in a twisted shape,” he added. .. dimensions (acc to the NYT) are 251' long and 36' wide, which is not a very broad base for a boat with five floors. It also seems to float pretty high in the water. Of course the boat has been in operation for 20 years, so it is not disastrously badly designed, but it does indeed seem like it has too high a center of gravity, unable to withstand the very strong winds that it encountered this time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 and a tiny draft for the shallow river Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rigger 47 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 The Marine Dept overseeing the part of the Pearl River we did the sea trials of a new tug on were paranoid about vessels on sea trials due to the tug capsize on the Yangtze in Jan - 22dead. We left the berth a little earlier than planned - we got ordered to standby off the berth... for three hours until they could check everything out. In the past you got the permits and that was it. I wonder if they will now manage standards and safety more actively with other vessels? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin McCready 83 Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 Wow. Tug capsize is a different kettle of fish. How did that happen? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rigger 47 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 During sea trials, http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/21-confirmed-dead-one-missing-after-tugboat-capsized-chinas-yangtze-river- The boat sank in the midst of a full circle swinging due to improper handling, the JMSD told Xinhua. On some vessels there are rudder limits that limit rudder angle in relation to speed, but a tug should not have an issue there. Have been on sea trials on a vessel with twin high lift becker rudders, hard over at max speed caused the main deck to be swept clean, water coming over crash rails over 2m high above deck. If the tug that sank had hatches / water tight doors open that could have resulted in down flooding during the test Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin McCready 83 Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 Thanks Rigger, great info. I'm in the China field so am very interested when it combines my interest in boats. Was that Jan2015 when the tug capsized? The Straits Times link has been taken down (no surprises there) and the Wayback Machine doesn't have it either. Have you got an archive of the story? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Farrari 4 Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Kevin, try this link. It works for me. http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/21-confirmed-dead-one-missing-after-tugboat-capsized-chinas-yangtze-river- Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin McCready 83 Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 Thanks Steve Turns out the first link was missing a hypen at the very end Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rigger 47 Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 another link http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/tugboat-capsizes-china-test-run-killing-22-article-1.2082273 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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