Carnival Dream, perhaps, well not really a pleasant one

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The Dieselduck
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Carnival Dream, perhaps, well not really a pleasant one

Post by The Dieselduck »

Perhaps if they spent more time and energy on the engineering dept instead of the PR and Accounting Dept, perhaps they would actually save money, and be able to continue to take over the whole world...

There must be a reason for some many engineering related failures... ships are complex, yes, and tend to break down, but really, this many issues would suggest some serious fundamental issues in the office.

New Cruise Debacle For Carnival As Ship Stuck In Port

(Reuters) - A Carnival Cruise Lines ship with 5,600 passengers and crew was stuck at a Caribbean port with equipment trouble on Thursday, a month after another Carnival vessel was disabled by a fire that trapped thousands of passengers at sea for days.

The incident is the latest black eye for an industry battered by problems ranging from norovirus outbreaks to the Costa Concordia accident in Italy in 2012 that killed 32 people.

Carnival Corp said the cruise ship Carnival Dream was stuck in port in St. Maarten after its emergency diesel generator malfunctioned during testing on Wednesday. The liner, among the company's largest, was on a weeklong cruise and had been due back in Port Canaveral, Florida on Saturday.

The problem caused temporary disruptions to elevator and toilet services but the ship never lost power, the company said, adding that only one public toilet had overflowed.

Carnival Corp said it was arranging to fly the passengers, via charter flights and regularly scheduled flights from the Caribbean island, to Orlando or their final destination. Passengers will get a refund equal to three days' worth of travel and half off a future cruise.

The Carnival Dream is being held at dock while company engineers work on the problem. The company said passengers were free either to leave the ship and go into port or to remain onboard until their flights.

The cruise industry has proven resilient in the face of a series of disasters. The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) projects that the number of people taking cruises this year will rise 3.3 percent. Carnival Corp and its smaller rival, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, have said bookings are recovering from a slump following the Costa Concordia accident.

But a slew of headlines about mechanical problems and passengers stranded at sea without functioning toilets - coming at the busiest time of the year for bookings - could take a toll, especially if it deters potential first-time passengers.

"It's first-time cruisers that will have issues. This is definitely a PR (public relations) concern," said Morningstar analyst Jaime Katz. "This is some inflection point."

Carnival canceled the Carnival Dream's next voyage, which had been scheduled to start on Saturday.

ON HEELS OF REVIEW LAUNCH

Kris Anderson, a reporter for Memphis TV station WREG and a passenger on the Dream, told CNN his friends had chided him for booking a Carnival cruise.

"I said, 'What are the odds of it happening to two ships in such a short period of time?'" he told CNN. "Look what happened now."

The latest incident comes two days after Carnival said it had launched a comprehensive review of its entire fleet following a fire that crippled its Carnival Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico last month.

An engine-room fire knocked out power and plumbing throughout most of the Triumph, which was carrying more than 4,200 people. Passengers described an overpowering stench in parts of the ship and complained that toilets and drainpipes had overflowed.

The Triumph eventually was towed into port in Mobile, Alabama, by tugboats.

The company has assembled teams of fire safety experts, naval architects, electrical and mechanical engineers and engine manufacturers to conduct its own investigation, Carnival Cruise Lines President and Chief Executive Gerry Cahill said on Tuesday.

The CLIA's website said a typical cruise ship has more than 60 safety, environmental and health inspections annually. The U.S. Coast Guard inspects all cruise ships in the United States to certify compliance with federal and international regulations.

Over the weekend, another Carnival ship, the Carnival Elation, had to get a tugboat escort down the Mississippi River after a mechanical problem.

Carnival Corp shares were down 0.2 percent at $35.63 in midday trading in New York on Thursday.

(C) Reuters 2013. - By Colleen Jenkins and Phil Wahba
800px-Carnival_Dream.jpg
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al2207
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Re: Carnival Dream, perhaps, well not really a pleasant one

Post by al2207 »

another one
first hire competent marine electrical engineer
second do some maintenance
third have spokesman tell something plausible , the kind of problem they are mentioning are not compatible with facts
4 hire some real technician in automation aboard ship
5 change the name of company to Liar, liar liars
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Re: Carnival Dream, perhaps, well not really a pleasant one

Post by Big Pete »

You sound angry Al,
Were you onnboard as a passenger?
I agree the statement appears to be economical with the truth. A fault on the emergency generator would not cause any loss of power, because it only runs if power is not available from the Main Switchboard, and power is clearly available for the rest of the ship. However, if there was any known fault on the Emergency Generator / switchboard the ship could not legally sail (SOLAS).
The loss of power must be due to a problem in the Emergency switchboard, which on a ship that size will be bigger and more complicated than the main switchboard on most ships.
Another passenger ship had a failure of an Emergency switchboard breaker due to testing them too frequently!

BP
It is always better to ask a stupid question than to do a stupid thing.
al2207
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Re: Carnival Dream, perhaps, well not really a pleasant one

Post by al2207 »

I had seen something like that on our frigate: the breaker for the shore power were falling apart due to the number of operations ( mechanical life was very low like 2500 or 5000 ops ) . It was not possible to change for another manufacturer because there was not enough space available . They are talking also of some current loss and toilet problem but this can happen only on normal power .
No i was not there but it make me furious to see owner fortune up by 1 billion and maintenance/ repairs nonexistent ; they are only playing Russian roulette with passenger life
jimmys
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Re: Carnival Dream, perhaps, well not really a pleasant one

Post by jimmys »

If during a test of the emergency generator the interconnector is tripped at the main board, the emergency board blacks out. The interconnector at the emergency board trips on auto. The emergency generator runs up and closes itself to the emergency board. It only powers the emergency board not the interconnector. Subsequently if the emergency generator develops a fault the emergency board blacks out and takes out everything on the emergency power circuits.
At this juncture it is not advised to power up the interconnector, leave the breakers out and check the interconnector, check the emergency board, trip out the circuit breakers on the emergency board. The main board is isolated from the problem and we do not want to close it onto a problem. Power up the interconnector and then the circuits one at a time.
In the British Administration Instructions to Surveyors this is how a load test on an emergency generator is carried out.

regards
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