Posted on 07/19/2006 7:49:50 PM PDT by MindBender26
There is a strong but previously undisclosed undercurrent running through the Coast Guards investigation of yesterdays cruise ship accident that left 92 passengers seriously injured, two of them critically. The questions are being whispered, but there is no denying them; Was this a terrorist attempt to sink the ship?
This much is known. The 3000 passenger 22-knot floating hotel "Crown Princess" was 11 miles south of Port Canaveral, heading out on a Western Caribbean cruise when suddenly, everything turned topsy-turvy. According to passengers, the ship listed somewhere between 20 and 40 degrees as the vessel made a violent and unnecessary turn to the left.
Ill leave the passengers descriptions of down becoming up, merchandise sliding earthquake-like off shelves and people flying everywhere with a force that was so strong the water cascaded out of the ships four swimming pools to other accounts.
Here is the understory.
So far there is absolutely no explanation of why the ship executed the vicious turn to port and everything not tied down slipped to starboard. It had been to sea before, recently docking in Florida on a trip down from New York. The weather was fine, the sea calm and clear and no other vessels in the area. They can find no mechanical problem . and ships weighting 226,000,000 pounds dont just turn like that by accident.
The current question then is; was it attempted sabotage?
Two factors are on everyone in the federal law enforcement and news media fields minds tonight. These ultra modern cruise ships (the ship was launched in 2003) are nothing more than top heavy, barely seaworthy floating Miami Beach-like art deco hotels. Many experienced seamen think they are an accident waiting to happen with their huge sail-like sides ready to catch a freak wind or wave and little natural stability. More than one marine architect thinks its just a matter of time until one capsizes.
Add to that the composition of the crews. Cruise lines rent their ships crews. The dining room staff, from waiters and busboys to the overly gracious matre-d are supplied from one agency, the cabin stewards from another, while another company supplies the deck department, (the traditional sailors.)
On one ship I was on last year, the only direct employees of the cruise line were the Master, the Chief Engineer, the Purser (who is really a nautical hotel manager) and the Social Director with the bad toupee. Everyone else, from head pastry chef to hull painter to helmsman were all rented from a Ships Chandler (supplier) service.
Remember that word; helmsman. Hes the one who steers the ship. Too fast a turn and perhaps a huge ship turns over and becomes huge permanent underwater monument to wretched excess.
Many of these rented crews, especially the sailors are from Indonesia. Indonesia has a huge and increasingly violent and fundamentalist Moslem population.
The questions being asked tonight, as I said, quietly, here in Florida are, was there a radical Moslem at the wheel and did he try to capsize the Crown Princess and thereby take 3000 infidels to the bottom with her?
Think about the Moslem mind. 3000 scantily clad, alcohol drinking, pork eating Christians and Jews drowned in a flash. What a great way to guarantee a madly hyper-focused helmsman his 76 virgins! No need to get a shoe bomb on a Trans-Atlantic airplane. Just take a hard left and theyre all dead, in time and in range of the cameras for the evening news.
(We all hope) It will probably turn out to not be the case, but in the Islams war on America, stranger tales have turned out to be true.
Come now. Are you stating that you may not believe the f.b.i. and their report of that airplane downing?
I just can't beleive someone may not trust that revered institution.
Just because they knowingly let an innocent go to jail for murder for 20 years to protect the real shooter(a snitch). Just because they murdered Randy Weavers Wife in cold blood. Just because of the lies of waco?
I can go on for a few pages but man I just can't believe you don't like a sheep believe what the f.b.i. line is.
No thanks, I can thing of fabulous vacations on land.
The death cult, instead of putting their energy into fixing up their horrible failed societies, put all their energy into murdering others.
The S.S. Eastland was a ship that was top heavy, as it was leaving port most of the passengers went to the port side to wave to people on shore, which doomed the vessel because of it's instability and too many passengers aboard, killing 844 people. It is a fascinating maritime story involving bribes and corruption.
The 1915 Eastland Disaster
It was close to seven o'clock in the morning of Saturday, July 24, 1915, and the S. S. Eastland was getting ready to cast off from her dock between LaSalle and Clark streets on the south bank of the Chicago River. A lake passenger steamer, the S. S. Eastland had been chartered by Chicago's Western Electric Company to transport the company's employees (and their families), to their annual picnic in Michigan City, Indiana. Built by the Jenks Ship Building Co., and recently purchased by the Indiana Transportation Co., the S. S. Eastland had been in trouble from the time it had entered regular service in 1903. In an attempt to correct the steamship's troublesome listing tendencies, its licensed capacity had been reduced several times: from 3,300 passengers down to 2,800... then 2400... and finally (a still unofficial) 1,125. Then, a mere three weeks before the Western Electric Company's picnic, inspector Robert Reid granted the S. S. Eastland an amended certificate, allowing her to carry 2,500 passengers once again. At 7:28 a.m., still moored to her Chicago River dock and with 2,572 people on board, the S. S. Eastland began to list. The steamship managed to briefly right herself before slowly rolling on her side. 844 people died that day in what would turn out to be Chicago's worst disaster ever.
ROTFLOL!!!
Heck, the Indonesians are probably crewing cause 1) it pays well and 2) they don't have to put up with crazy Muslim fundamentalists...
The current question then is; was it attempted sabotage?
I think it is...for many of the reasons you cite...
Third world crew, economic devastation, large death toll, easy civilian target.
>> No offense to you personally, but of all the options available to a terrorist crew-member bent on destruction, a sharp turn is pretty low on the list. <<
Are you serious? For all I know the poster is a raving lunatic (No offense, MB... I'm not saying you are). But if he's right that these ships may be able to be capsized just from a steering maneuver, it's the perfect attack.
That's hardly a contradiction that a terrorist would take advantage of a natural weakness.
I think I need a flowchart to keep these terrorists straight.
>> Because it was a clear day, little wind and no commanded turn in any direction. <<
Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the nature of freak waves. Check out this BBC article. Unfortunately, it repeats an untrue assertion about the number of ships inexplicably going missing.
LOL!!
>> and you can see, that with a draft of only 26 feet, she is VERY top-heavy. <<
Baaah! That sucker would have to tip nearly 45 degrees.
I heard it wass the Captain's first run without the training wheels.
>> There goes my theory of Hamas whales. <<
I read about this whale... Some Jew was goin' round preaching to the proto-Muzzies, and the whale ate him. Three days later it spat him out when the locals told him what Jews were made out of.
>> So why don't they hire Americans...<<
'Cause there are just some ships Americans won't cruise.
>> or Hispanics? <<
Oh, good point. Maybe because they already tilt to the left?
>Silly, superstitious nonsense.
I certainly hope so.
"They work against waves, but obviously weren't enough in this case... or maybe they were... and prevented a disaster."
The Crown Princess introduces a number of new design innovations to the Princess fleet, including a dramatic new piazza-style atrium that features casual dining venues in a street cafe environment. Many of the hallmark features that define the Princess experience can be found onboard, including the dramatic Movies Under the Stars poolside movie screen and the famed Personal Choice Dining. Passengers can also enjoy dining in a new Steak and Seafood restaurant with a theater-style kitchen where chefs will custom-prepare steamed shellfish and cooked-to-order steaks and chops. Re-energize in the two-story Lotus Spa with fitness center or relax and enjoy the view from any of the 900 staterooms with private balconies.
Ship Statistics
Name: Crown Princess Registry: Bermuda
Builder: Fincantieri's Country Built In: Italy
Ship Completed Date: 1/1/2005 Capacity: 3110
Number of Crew, Nationality: 1200, Internation Gross Tonnage: 116,000
Stabilized: Yes Average Speed: 22 knots
Maximum Speed: 22 knots Length: 951 feet
Beam: 118 feet Space Ratio: 42:01:00
Number of Passenger Decks: 14 Number of Inside Rooms: 452
Number of Outside Rooms: 1105 Number of Restaurants: 9
Number of Pools: 4 Number of Elevators: 14
Voltage: 110/220 AC Non-Smoking Dining: Yes
Non-Smoking Ship: No
stats on the Crown Princess
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