MV John 1 Loses Power and goes aground.

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JK
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MV John 1 Loses Power and goes aground.

Post by JK »

https://gcaptain.com/23-airlifted-from- ... foundland/
It was a bad day for the engineers on the John 1 yesterday.

It is a tough slog going through the Gulf of St Lawrence in a spring of heavy ice conditions if you don't know how to manage the engineroom in ice conditions or the SW system is not designed for recirculating to the seabay.

The Gulf is particularly bad because the ice carries a lot of snow or is slushy which makes for headaches when it gets in the seabay.
The vents get plugged if they aren't kept shovelled clear on deck, the seabay pumps slush out on deck with the air and it freezes eventually blocking the vent. The seabay slowly fills with air, then the SW pumps get airlocked and down goes the plant. Or, if the engineers allow the seabay temperatures to drop which is the kiss of death, you have to keep the seabay temperatures at 22-25*C to keep it clear of slush. Once they get plugged and the strainers are full the only way to clear it is to shut the valves, open up the strainer and shovel it out into the bilges. I have been told there was a lot of water in the ER so that is one possibility.
Until the TSB releases their report or other info comes out, it will not be known for sure what has happened.

But here is the ice chart for today and there is certainly a lot of ice out there:

20140317180000_WIS28CT_0007569456.gif
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JK
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Re: MV John 1 Loses Power and goes aground.

Post by JK »

It gets worse, when they dropped anchor, they managed to hook the undersea cable to Nfld. No Coronation Street for the island until that is repaired. :twisted:
Hope the ships insurance is up to date.
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Re: MV John 1 Loses Power and goes aground.

Post by The Dieselduck »

That's just too funny, its sad.
I guess Newfoundland was jealous of Nova Scotia, and needed its own "Miner"

I was looking at the pictures the other day, the ship is floating, upright, aground, but it looks like its not in any immediate danger of sinking, but the life rafts are deployed and the whole crew evacuated. Is the boat made out of chocolate or is the crew just happy to have a reason to jump ship.

Pretty sad state of affairs.
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JK
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Re: MV John 1 Loses Power and goes aground.

Post by JK »

She was afloat the next day.
There has been virtually no ice in the Gulf for about 15 years, so a lot of foreign engineers are having a surprise.
Looking at how light the ship looks in the photo, I expect the engineers would be having trouble keeping suction on the seabay. You would think that these ships would be required to keep a minimum draft for the ice passage. I noticed when I was working in the Gulf that a lot of the bulkers pump all of their ballast so it doesn't freeze and reduce the amount of cargo that could be taken onboard.
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Re: MV John 1 Loses Power and goes aground.

Post by JK »

http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-repor ... 4a0051.asp

I have been told the John I, Is still tied up in Argentia, under arrest.
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