Carnival Cruise ship lost power in Gulf, passenger reactions overboard?

PracticalMac · Feb 14, 2013

It has become a 24 hour news event, the stranded cruise ship.

Anyone think the news coverage has gone to a ludicrous level?
Yes, it is very hard for passengers and on worried shore families, but it is not like New Orleans after Katrina, and the ship is not sinking.

I do consider the decision to go back to US was correct.

Carnival officials had initially planned to tow the ship to a Mexican port, but after Gulf currents pushed it further north before tugboats could take control, and considering that 900 of the passengers do not have passports, the company decided to take the Triumph to Mobile, instead.

So, is the media is making a mountain out of mole hill?

Peace · Feb 14, 2013

Not at all. It's probably a lot worse.

From CNN :

Larry Poret confirmed reports of dire conditions aboard the ship, saying urine and feces streamed in the halls and down walls after toilet facilities failed, soaking the mattress of a friend of his who was sleeping in a hallway.
Emergency power failures caused section doors to slam shut, panicking some passengers who had no idea what was happening.

A cruise ship DIW with 4200 people on board ?

WestonHarvey1 · Feb 14, 2013

Why didn't they use the ocean as a toilet instead of the beds and hallways?

Peace · Feb 14, 2013

WestonHarvey1 said:
Why didn't they use the ocean as a toilet instead of the beds and hallways?

Did you not read what I posted ? urine and feces was dripping down the bulkheads onto people trying to sleep on mattresses.

People were trying to use the bathrooms that weren't working properly and overflowing into the halls and down walls onto people on decks below.

When was the last time you tried to take a dump over the side of a ship when you were 150 feet from the water ?

WestonHarvey1 · Feb 14, 2013

Peace said:
Did you not read what I posted ? urine and feces was dripping down the bulkheads onto people trying to sleep on mattresses.

People were trying to use the bathrooms that weren't working properly and overflowing into the halls and down walls onto people on decks below.

I'm asking why they did that, when there was a huge oceanic toilet all around them. Was it about modesty? Could they not have found buckets or something, and emptied them overboard?

How long did it take to figure out the toilets were broken? Why didn't they stop using them?

eawmp1 · Feb 14, 2013

From reports I've read, it seems like voyage of the damned.

I'm amazed there have not been significant outbreaks of some communicable disease on this ship.

Peace · Feb 14, 2013

WestonHarvey1 said:
I'm asking why they did that, when there was a huge oceanic toilet all around them. Was it about modesty? Could they not have found buckets or something, and emptied them overboard?

I think you should read more about the situation.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/14/travel/cruise-ship-fire/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

WestonHarvey1 · Feb 14, 2013

Peace said:
I think you should read more about the situation.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/14/travel/cruise-ship-fire/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

It sounds like once the problem was noticed, passengers just kept right on using the toilets.

SidewaysTakumi · Feb 14, 2013

I've got a student on the ship...I'll let you know what she says after I ask her about "conditions" aboard the ship...She's due back in a few days.

MacNut · Feb 14, 2013

I thought these ships are supposed to have emergency backup systems. It sounds like the whole ships life support system went down.

Peace · Feb 14, 2013

MacNut said:
I thought these ships are supposed to have emergency backup systems. It sounds like the whole ships life support system went down.

Well there was a fire in the engine room. Probably the same space that houses emergency backup generators. Some of them might be working but it appears that not all of them are working placing an extraordinary stress on a ship that has 4200 people on board. Also pipes burst.

From what I have read there isn't much power going to the galleys making it hard to cook any food or keep very large refrigerators running.

It also looks like the waste systems are not working properly. It's against the law to discharge waste,grey water and trash overboard into the ocean inside the 12 mile limit.

These ships have recycling systems that don't appear to be working properly.

MacNut · Feb 14, 2013

Peace said:
Well there was a fire in the engine room. Probably the same space that houses emergency backup generators. Some of them might be working but it appears that not all of them are working placing an extraordinary stress on a ship that has 4200 people on board. Also pipes burst.

From what I have read there isn't much power going to the galleys making it hard to cook any food or keep very large refrigerators running.

It also looks like the waste systems are not working properly. It's against the law to discharge waste,grey water and trash overboard into the ocean inside the 12 mile limit.

These ships have recycling systems that don't appear to be working properly.

They might need to redesign the electrical systems, having the emergency power right next the the main engine when it catches fire seems counterproductive.

Tomorrow · Feb 14, 2013

MacNut said:
They might need to redesign the electrical systems, having the emergency power right next the the main engine when it catches fire seems counterproductive.

As I understand it, the backup electrical system is functioning properly - but that doesn't help the toilets. Emergency electrical power is typically life safety only.

Also I don't know how much you understand about generators, but they typically get their source power from...an engine.

MacNut · Feb 14, 2013

Tomorrow said:
As I understand it, the backup electrical system is functioning properly - but that doesn't help the toilets. Emergency electrical power is typically life safety only.

Toilets seem to be life safety to me. Maybe more so than emergency lighting.

I understand that you need an engine to run the generator, but the generator should be it's own separate engine. Not relying on the main engine.

Peace · Feb 14, 2013

The emergency generators would be in a different space away from the main turbine engines. Probably 12 or 24 cylinder diesel engines that send power to critical systems for the ship. But producing a lot less power than the generators in the engine room.

Of course this is coming from a navy guy that was on a ship in 1970 not 2013. Hell we didn't even have turbine engines back then. It was mostly all steam generated power.

MacNut · Feb 14, 2013

Why have a ship that can house over 4500 people and not have back up systems to support it. This sounds like a new age Titanic.

yg17 · Feb 14, 2013

WestonHarvey1 said:
Why didn't they use the ocean as a toilet instead of the beds and hallways?

Because if you're pissing off the balcony of a cruise ship, there's a good chance the wind might blow that stream of piss back onto somebody on a balcony below you.

Aspasia · Feb 14, 2013

PracticalMac said:
It has become a 24 hour news event, the stranded cruise ship.

Anyone think the news coverage has gone to a ludicrous level?
Yes, it is very hard for passengers and on worried shore families, but it is not like New Orleans after Katrina, and the ship is not sinking.

I do consider the decision to go back to US was correct.

So, is the media is making a mountain out of mole hill?

Only the passengers on that ship are qualified to say whether the media is "making a mountain out of a mole hill."

I imagine once they're off the ship, we'll be seeing some interesting video.

MacNut · Feb 14, 2013

Aspasia said:
Only the passengers on that ship are qualified to say whether the media is "making a mountain out of a mole hill."

I imagine once they're off the ship, we'll be seeing some interesting video.

The video is already coming in.

yg17 · Feb 14, 2013

The fact that passengers are getting $500 in cash compensation is a complete joke.

If an airline bumps you from a flight resulting in a 3 hour delay, you could get close to $500 cash. $500 for a ruined vacation, wading around in raw sewage, getting hardly any food and being delayed days to your destination is a complete joke.

Oh, and Carnival is throwing in a free cruise for them. Because I'm sure these people can't wait to get right back on another Carnival cruise.

Tomorrow · Feb 14, 2013

MacNut said:
Toilets seem to be life safety to me. Maybe more so than emergency lighting.

This statement is laughable.

Life safety includes emergency lights, fire alarm, fire suppression, security, and smoke evacuation/containment. Not plumbing. Not comfort HVAC. Not refrigeration.

Just as an aside, what kind of toilet do you have? I've never seen one that was electric (and I'm not talking about flush valves).

ucfgrad93 · Feb 14, 2013

yg17 said:
The fact that passengers are getting $500 in cash compensation is a complete joke.

If an airline bumps you from a flight resulting in a 3 hour delay, you could get close to $500 cash. $500 for a ruined vacation, wading around in raw sewage, getting hardly any food and being delayed days to your destination is a complete joke.

Oh, and Carnival is throwing in a free cruise for them. Because I'm sure these people can't wait to get right back on another Carnival cruise.

What would be fair compensation then?

Peace · Feb 14, 2013

ucfgrad93 said:
What would be fair compensation then?

If I were on that ship I'd have a lawyer get a class action suit going.

MacNut · Feb 14, 2013

Tomorrow said:
This statement is laughable.

Life safety includes emergency lights, fire alarm, fire suppression, security, and smoke evacuation/containment. Not plumbing. Not comfort HVAC. Not refrigeration.

Just as an aside, what kind of toilet do you have? I've never seen one that was electric (and I'm not talking about flush valves).

I would imagine gravity won't help water on a ship. Most likely they need pumps. Why else would the toilets not flush?

Peace · Feb 14, 2013

MacNut said:
I would imagine gravity won't help water on a ship. Most likely they need pumps. Why else would the toilets not flush?

Waste does not get dumped in the ocean. It goes to holding tanks where it is cleaned and stored until a port of call.

Like I said before it is very illegal to dump waste at sea within the 12 mile mariners limit.

If the ship doesn't have full power those tanks could be overflowing before being cleaned before storage.

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