Ship sunk in the red sea

Tim M · 03 February 2006, 11:52

Just heard on the news that a ship carrying 1300 people and 92 crew "disapeared" in the red sea. When it was late coming into port a helicopter was dispatched, to find a large number of boddies floating in the sea about 40 miles out. The Navy is now on the way to the scene. The latest reports say that no distress message was sent by the ship; it seems to just have "sunk".

No-one on the news has speculated on what it could have been but it sounds like terriorrists to me. Ships don't just sink with no warning. If if has hit something then they would have had time to get into life-boats and send a mayday surly. Very weird.........

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/4676916.stm

stedj · 03 February 2006, 13:08

we have just returned from hear i hope there are many surviers when we were there we go a good idea of the ill feelings between egypt and israel

codprawn · 03 February 2006, 13:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim M

Just heard on the news that a ship carrying 1300 people and 92 crew "disapeared" in the red sea. When it was late coming into port a helicopter was dispatched, to find a large number of boddies floating in the sea about 40 miles out. The Navy is now on the way to the scene. The latest reports say that no distress message was sent by the ship; it seems to just have "sunk".

No-one on the news has speculated on what it could have been but it sounds like terriorrists to me. Ships don't just sink with no warning. If if has hit something then they would have had time to get into life-boats and send a mayday surly. Very weird.........

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/4676916.stm

Ships can and do sink without trace - they can also go down VERY quickly - like the Herald did.

IF it was terrorists I doubt it would have been Arabs as they were all Muslims going to Saudi - could have been Israeli extremists I suppose???

Tim M · 03 February 2006, 14:38

Quote:

Ships can and do sink without trace

Why?

Bern Hanreck · 03 February 2006, 15:33

300 year waves ( rogue waves ) and colossal releases of gases from seabed ( eg methane ) so vessels no longer displace their own weight of seawater therefore sink......

codprawn · 03 February 2006, 16:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bern Hanreck

300 year waves ( rogue waves ) and colossal releases of gases from seabed ( eg methane ) so vessels no longer displace their own weight of seawater therefore sink......

Even simpler causes - like sudden shifting of cargo or bow doors not being shut properly can cause capsize.

Quote from sinking of the Herald of Free Enterpise:

"The ship had capsized so quickly the crew were unable to send out an SOS. Given that the design and buoyancy of most modern ships is such that, in the event of an imminent capsize or other emergency, there should be sufficient time to deploy lifesaving equipment and fully evacuate, the accident had serious implications."

codprawn · 03 February 2006, 21:15

Just seen that ship on the news - no wonder she toppled over - never a good idea to build a block of flats on top of a ship!!!

Hugh Jardon · 03 February 2006, 21:18

one thing that i find very strange is the amount of boat actually out of the water and how on earth they remain stable. some look so high and top heavy, hope there are going to be lots of folks saved..

tragic

codprawn · 03 February 2006, 21:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh Jardon

one thing that i find very strange is the amount of boat actually out of the water and how on earth they remain stable. some look so high and top heavy, hope there are going to be lots of folks saved..

tragic

If you see photos of the ship as she was originally built she looked quite different - they just bunged another 2 stories on top!!! Now in the Red Sea you can usually get away with it - wouldn't have lasted a week in British waters - but this time the weather caught up with them.