Carnival Splendor and Costa Concordia are Sisters

[Cooley Hurd]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Splendor

On November 8, 2010, at approximately 06:00 Pacific time, on the second day of a voyage from Long Beach to the Mexican Riviera, the ship experienced a fire in her engine room, cutting all electrical power. According to Carnival president, Gerry Cahill, a "crankcase split, and that's what caused the fire," adding it was isolated to the aft generator room.[13] The fire was extinguished by the afternoon, and no one was injured. Nearly 4,500 passengers and crew members were onboard at the time.[14]

The crew was unable to restore power to the engines, and the ship was towed by tugboat to San Diego.[15][16] Without power for air conditioning and refrigeration, passengers were fed rations delivered via U.S. Navy helicopters from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.[17]

Splendor was escorted by, and received aid and security assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau.[18] Carnival Splendor arrived in San Diego under tow around sunrise on November 11, and docked around noon.[19]

It was reported that Carnival has promised to give all passengers a full refund along with a voucher for a free cruise of equal value to their cruise on Splendor, along with reimbursement for their travel expenses.[20][21]

The ship has three engines in the aft engine room and three in a forward engine room. Each generator is connected to the two switchboards. The failure of a single engine or generator should not normally cause a total power loss.[22] Clark Dodge, former chief engineer for Washington State Ferries, said, "If things were designed properly, all the power shouldn't have gone out."[22][23] The reasons for the total power loss are presently unclear and are under investigation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Concordia

On Friday January 13 2012, the Costa Concordia ran aground on a reef at around 21:00 local time (UTC+1) off Isola del Giglio, having left Savona earlier that evening at the beginning of a seven-day cruise and intending to visit Civitavecchia, Palermo, Tunis, Cagliari, Palma, Barcelona, and Marseille.

It was reported that at about 20:00, passengers were in the dining hall when there was a sudden, loud bang, which a crew member (speaking over the intercom) ascribed to an "electrical failure". "We told the guests everything was okay and under control and we tried to stop them panicking," cabin steward Deodato Ordona recalled. It was about an hour before a general emergency was announced, he said. "The boat started shaking. The noise - there was panic, like in a film, dishes crashing to the floor, people running, people falling down the stairs," said survivor Fulvio Rocci. Those on board said the boat suddenly tilted to the port side.[14] Passengers were later advised to put on their life-jackets.[15] The ship later developed a list of approximately 20° to starboard, the change creating problems in launching the lifeboats, with some passengers jumping into the water to swim to shore. Six people reportedly drowned after jumping overboard, and another seven were critically injured.[1] According to the local coastguard, 3,206 passengers and 1,023 crew members were on board at the time.[16]

I wonder if there's an inherent flaw in the electrical systems of the class?

[FarCenter]

1. Speculation on the possible cause

Last night Malcolm Latarche, editor of the global shipping magazine IHS Fairplay Solutions, said the problem may have been caused by a phenomenon known as ‘harmonic interference’.

Mr Latarche said it was possible the cruise liner experienced the same problem that saw the Queen Mary 2 lose power in September 2010 as she was approaching Barcelona. On that occasion, the QM2 was able to carry on into open sea.
The expert said the harmonic interference – a type of power surge – could have caused a malfunction in the generators feeding the ship’s six diesel electric engines with which the back-up systems could not cope.

This would have caused the ship to lose navigational power and steering control and veer off course, he said.
Asked for his assessment of the incident, Mr Latarche said: ‘I would say power failure caused by harmonic interference and then it can’t propel straight or navigate and it hit rocks.’

He added that once a ship experienced problems with the electrical supply to its main propulsion motors, it could lead to a problem with steering. Mr Latarche said: ‘It seems that this may have happened quite close to land, in shallow water. When you can’t steer you are going to run aground and hit rocks at some point.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2086831/Costa-Concordia-accident-Pictures-cruise-ship-sinking-coast-Italy-Titanic-like-scene.html

[regnaD kciN]

2. Strictly speaking, not "sisters"...

Such a term is generally used for ships built from the same plan, most (in)famously the Olympic-class trio that included the Titanic. In this case, the Concordia was built first, then a smaller redesign from the same basic concept resulted in the Splendor two years later.

And, while it is not impossible that there may turn out to have been a connection between the two incidents, my initial guess about the Concordia is that evidence points most strongly to incompetence on the part of the captain.

[Cooley Hurd]

5. Splendor is a modified Concordia Class ship

Modified in the sense of decor, not so much engineering.

[rucky]

3. Why do Carnival ships have drag names?

[hang a left]

4. Drag?

As in racers? Or as in Queens?

[Cooley Hurd]

6. Because Carnival's first well-known spokesperson was a drag-queen:

[dems_rightnow]

9. I suppose I should know who that is...

but I guess I don't. Enlighten me?

[Cooley Hurd]

10. Kathie Lee Gifford

[malaise]

7. So why is M$M stiill saying three deaths?

BY the way they rescued a Japanese couple and an Italian crew member from inside the ship last night

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. You're not favouring a Wikipedia death figure over actual media, are you?

[malaise]

11. LOL

[Cooley Hurd]

12. "If it's on Wikipedia, it MUST be true!"