Posted on 03/27/2019 7:21:18 PM PDT by Rebelbase
A maritime official says the engines of a cruise ship failed off Norway's coast during a storm because they didn't have enough lubricating oil.
Lars Alvestad, the head of Norway's Maritime Authority, said Wednesday that low oil levels were the "direct cause" of the engine failure that stranded the Viking Sky on Saturday.
Alvestad says safety systems detected the problem and automatically stopped the engines to prevent a breakdown.
Viking Sky's crew sent a mayday call and anchored in heavy seas to keep the ship from being dashed on rocks in an area known for shipwrecks. Five helicopters lifted 479 passengers off with winches.
(Excerpt) Read more at wfaa.com ...
A few barrels of lube guard.
Who forgot to take the boat to Jiffy Lube?
Could be a failed sensor or two.
The thrashing they were taking probably caused the “low oil” sensors to shut the engines down.
Having been in fleet maintenance management most of my life, you can bet this was a corporate penny pinching action that came from the bean counters. “Purchase denied, oil is expensive, we can get one more trip out of it before we add any because it’s due for service when it gets back anyhow”.
Corporate bean counters are the usual suspects when these things happen. They do not understand the concept of “preventative maintenance” at all. They will penny pinch a fleet to death. Been there, it’s a constant battle. And they always blame the drivers and mechanics for their own bad decisions.
Oil sensors and shut down systems were actually designed to protect those engines from corporate bean counters... lol
Corporate “one more trip” bean counters denying purchases. Number one cause of fleet failures. Been there.
Agreed.
Didn’t have enough lubricating oil onboard? Or did something fail that kept the lube oil from getting to the engines?
“It has multiple engines”
I’ve heard that, and I’ve heard that cruise ships are able to operate normally while one of the engines is offline for maintenance or repair.
That’s why they should always have a couple of extra quarts stored in the engine room.........
Maybe I’ll open a jiffy lube in the azores.
In my experience after 50 years of sailing, the engine only quits when you need it the most.
It's a real sound economic decision. Not so much for people on the ship.
My past few cruises, I've noticed not just cutting corners on entertainment, food, free stuff to do. Turn around times of just a few hours in home port seem to have cut into basic maintenance and doing a deep cleaning between cruises. On the cruise after ours on the Pride, they lost most engine and limped through an altered cruise of full duration. I got that because it was Thanksgiving week, and alternate plans might've been near impossible. They gave people a credit for another cruise. The week after that, they did the cruise, which people could either take financial benefits or cancel for free! That would go with your philosophy.
I bring this up because it supports your statement. They lose the most money if they don't sail, so they suck up the risk.
But when does the risk/reward equation change? At what point do people still willing to put up with the mounting imperfects not fill all of those mega-ships vying for a consumer base?
Aka ..Occasio-Cortez syndrome.
I’ve seen engine lube failures when vessels are rolling massively.
45* rolls (90* side to side) over a period of time can wreak havoc on a ship where you least expect it.
Bingo.
Yes, like when approaching the Panama Canal on the Pacific side at night in force 8. Not a good time to be in the engine room, with contacts in all directions.
yes..... you have provided the answer.
Saw a wooden private yacht on the reef just outside the harbor of Colon on the Atlantic side of Panama. She missed the opening to the harbor by just a smidgen...
She was on the reef just off the breakwater in Fort Sherman. It was about 1986.
When I was looking at her, scavengers (or salvagers, depending on your viewpoint) were stripping her of everything valuable.
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