South Korea Ferry Disaster

[emmie]

i have been following this awful story, seems that the captain was not at the helm,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-27075632

[mikey4444]

He is undoubtedly guilty of leaving his ship, just like that arrogant Italian captain of the Costa Concordia, but I was just pointing out that the Captain is unlikely to be "at the helm"

I heard an expert on RORO ships being interviewed on the Today program yesterday and he maintains that it is all too easy for ferries of this type to fall over. He also said that it was probably caused by hitting some obstruction under water.

I remember the debate that went on after the Costa Concordia sunk two years ago. I was amazed that there doesn't appear to any kind of sonar that would sound an alarm if the boat approaches an underwater obstruction. If that is true than there is a serious design fault in these kind of ferries, that, by nature, are normally running quite close to the shore. ie, they are not transatlantic liners.

[New Judge]

The ship you are thinking about, Peter, is the Lakonia (with a ‘k’). It caught fire and sunk in the Atlantic around the Canaries in Christmas 1963 with the loss of more than 100 lives. The fire started in the hairdressing salon and the loss of life was mainly attributable to faulty lifeboats. (Some had no “bung” in the bilges, others could not be launched due to rusty chains and davits). I remember it well because my dad’s boss, his wife and a couple of their friends were on board. My dad’s boss and the other woman survived; the boss’s wife and the other man were lost. Although he escaped unscathed my dad’s boss never really got over the tragedy and he died within about 18 months. I don't know what part the captain had in attempts to save his ship and passengers but I seem to recall he was accused of negligence but do not remember the outcome.

RMS Laconia (with a ‘c’) was being used as a troopship and was torpedoed by a German U-Boat in 1942.

[mikey4444]

Looks like the Captain is going to be arrested ::::

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-27077694

[emmie]

i just heard that the Vice Principal of the school has been found dead,
he wasn't on the ferry, so looks like he committed suicide over the death of all his pupils, what a terrible thing.

[emmie]

i didn't realise he had been rescued,

BBC
The vice principal of Danwon High School, who was rescued from the ferry, was found dead on nearby Jindo island on Friday.

[chrissa1]

I asked my daughter, who used to work for P&O, what would have happened in similar circumstances and she sent me this:

"Well... I dont know the full story to be honest but...

a) No, if there was ever the slightest problem the crew alert sounded and we had to go straight to our crew alert stations and await further instructions... if anything was seriously wrong we would go straight to the general emergency signal and so all passengers and crew would go to their muster stations..

b) If you were in passenger areas the only areas you can get outside the ship is Prom deck... you cant open the windows but there are numerours doors on either side for you to get out on deck... failing that you would go up to the top deck where the pools are...

I know that most of those people will probably have never swam in their life so that'll be a major factor in the number of deaths i reckon... :/"

[emmie]

i think it went down quite fast, many are still trapped inside

[chrissa1]

They had Two hours to get everybody off, emmie. They shouldn't have been I trapped inside.

[chrissa1]

The question to my daughter was that if the ship she was on started tilting, was it physically possible for the passengers to find their way out if they had to.

Her unequivocal answer was, yes.

Why were they told to stay in their cabins?

[emmie]

sky news

"The captain was not in command when the accident took place."

Investigators are also looking at whether the third officer ordered the vessel to make an abrupt turn, which caused it to tilt severely and take on water, according to prosecutor Park Jae-Eok.

It has also been revealed the 68-year-old delayed evacuation for half an hour after the distress signal was sent, suggesting more lives could have been saved had he acted sooner.

[emmie]

By the time the order was given, it was impossible for crew members to move to passengers' rooms to help them because the ship was tilted at an impossibly acute angle, he said.
cont -

It has been suggested the evacuation delay also prevented lifeboats from being deployed in time.

The confirmed death toll from the sinking of the Sewol is 25, but that number is expected to rise sharply with about 270 people still missing. Officials have so far confirmed only 179 survivors.

[emmie]

even if it was two hours, the ferry was at an angle, it must have been very difficult to try and get off, and for the rescuers to find the passenger.
hundreds from the same school.

[emmie]

lets get one thing straight, if the vessel is in distress which it clearly was, why wasn't he back in charge, if he did leave the vessel as it was sinking, what does that make him

[emmie]

there isn't clear info as yet as to who was at the helm, but the suggestion was a junior officer.

[emmie]

poor decisions, poor leadership, has led to this awful tragedy