News MOL Comfort’s Stern Sinks in 4,000 Meters of Water

[N_Molson]

The MV MOL Comfort, a 2008-built 8,000 TEU containership, broke in half about 200 miles from the Yemeni coast on June 17, 2013 while enroute from Singapore to Jeddah with a load of 7,041 TEUs. All 26 crew – made up 11 Russians, 1 Ukrainian and 14 Filipinos – escaped the sinking ship on two life rafts and a lifeboat.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has just reported that the aft section of the MOL Comfort has sunk near 14’26”N 66’26”E at 16:48 JST (11:48 Dubai time) on June 27. With a water depth of 4,000 meters, no further salvage of the ship will be possible due to the extreme ocean depth.

http://gcaptain.com/comfort-images/

The fore part is being stably towed as depicted in the following images sent to us this morning. Images were taken by Captain Svend Degn, master of the MV Torm Thyra.

 

[Urwumpe]

Looks like stormy weather, but then, nothing that a modern ship should not survive... this looks pretty much like either freak wave (highly possible in that region) or bad construction.

 

[N_Molson]

this looks pretty much like either freak wave (highly possible in that region) or bad construction

Both, probably.

Earlier Report this morning, prior to sinking:

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) reports that the aft part of the vessel has yet to be taken under tow and is “rolling heavily in adverse weather,” and that an unknown number of containers have been lost and water ingress into the cargo hold is progressing.

MOL notes that structural reinforcements will be added to the six other sister ships of the MOL Comfort at the earliest possible opportunity.

“These vessels sufficiently fill the safety standard required by ClassNK in compliance to IACS, but we will conduct upgrade works to further strengthen the hull structure at the earliest timing. This will enhance the strength of the hull twice as much as the safety standard.”

Weather

SW Monsoon forces 5-7 with 3-5 meter waves prevailing.

 

[Urwumpe]

SW Monsoon forces 5-7 with 3-5 meter waves prevailing.

Yes, nothing too extreme if you compare it to other oceans. 3-5 meter waves are pretty normal for the North Atlantic.

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

TEUs eh?

Better call in a fleet of Vanguards to save the day.

 

[N_Molson]

Yes, nothing too extreme if you compare it to other oceans. 3-5 meter waves are pretty normal for the North Atlantic.

As you said, this is a nasty corner of ocean. Waves cross themselves and can multiply their strenght in a completely random and unpredictable way. Atlantic weather is much more predictable. :yes:

 

[Urwumpe]

As you said, this is a nasty corner of ocean. Waves cross themselves and can multiply their strenght in a completely random and unpredictable way. Atlantic weather is much more predictable. :yes:

No, not at all. It depends on WHERE in any ocean you are. The Gibraltar Strait for example is a pretty nasty place in stormy weather.

Also, waves can also travel at different speeds, something that happens more often in places with strong surface currents.

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

No, not at all. It depends on WHERE in any ocean you are. The Gibraltar Strait for example is a pretty nasty place in stormy weather.

Also, waves can also travel at different speeds, something that happens more often in places with strong surface currents.

Sounds an awful lot like constructive wave interference in a bottleneck?

If that's the case I would figure the areas of high waves might be graphable on a map sort of like a web?

 

[Urwumpe]

Sounds an awful lot like constructive wave interference in a bottleneck?

If that's the case I would figure the areas of high waves might be graphable on a map sort of like a web?

Well, it is a bit more than that... for example the currents are causing different waves. Salinity is also very important, since it changes water density.

 

[N_Molson]

The Gibraltar Strait for example is a pretty nasty place in stormy weather.

Yes, and so is the Bay of Biscay, litterally a 90° corner between France and Spain, feared by french sailors on the atlantic side. The father of a friend, which is reservist in the Navy, sailed there with other very experienced sailors. They got caught in a storm, lost the mast, and had to cut the steel stays with hand pliers to avoid it ramming the hull, you see the mess...

Gibraltar is probably worse, because of the tidal currents (Mediterranea level stays quite even, while there are huge tides on the Atlantic (the mass of water to be influenced by the Moon gravity is much more important).

By "Atlantic" I was meaning open ocean. I've already heard cases of "freak waves" in the Indian Ocean, but not in the North Atlantic.

 

[Urwumpe]

The first scientifically proven existence of freak waves was in the North Atlantic... the Draupner wave.