Thomson Majesty Lifeboat Incident

[CharlieDelta]

Some sad news: five dead and three injured.

Officials said first responders were called to the ship, the Thomson Majesty, at 1205 GMT on Sunday after "a lifeboat with occupants had fallen overboard from a cruise ship docked at the pier of Santa Cruz port in La Palma".The incident reportedly took place during a safety drill, when one of the winches lowering the lifeboat to the water is believed to have broken. The boat plummeted more than 60 feet to the water.

The nationality and sex of those who died was not known, a government statement said. Spanish media reported that three of the victims were from Indonesia, one was from the Phillippines, and one was from Greece. All were believed to be crew.

The injured were all men, two aged 30 and another, a Greek national, aged 32.

"We are working closely with the ship owners and managers, Louis Cruises, to determine exactly what has happened and provide assistance to those affected by the incident," Thomson Cruises said in a statement.

Television images showed a small, white two-hulled lifeboat capsized beside the ship.

Spanish daily El Pais said that some 2,000 passengers were travelling on the ship, but that none had been involved in the incident. Many of the passengers had reportedly been on the shore touring the local Carnival celebrations when the incident occurred.

Five crew have been killed and three others injured after a lifeboat they were in fell from a cruise ship docked in the port of Santa Cruz de la Palma in the Canary Islands during a routine safety drill.Those killed include three Indonesians, a Filipino and a Ghanaian.
The ship, believed to be the MS Thomson Majesty, is operated by UK-based Thomson Cruises.
The BBC's Tom Burridge says Spanish media reports suggest that a winch lowering the boat broke or became loose, causing it to plummet.

Video: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21403536

[tommysevenfold]

Tragic news. It seems a mystery as to why things like this still happen, surely the amount of training we are now getting in college should be enough to stop this! My thoughts go out to the family and friends of the victims.

[tlloyd1983]

Probably a combination of an on-load release system and improper use of FPDs maybe? Too early to speculate. Wait for the investigation report.

Cancel that, looks like a cable snapped. Reasons for that could be many.

[chris]

Another report for the maib

causes - lack of maintenance , wrong type of cable, safety checks not made

those would be my guesses as a non decky

[tommysevenfold]

Another report for the maib

it would seem so, either way knowing the maib there will be someone to blame somewhere down the line. Heard similar lifeboat drill stories at college a number of times so lets hope the report shines some light on the matter and helps to prevent it happening again...

[GuinnessMan]

Another report for the maib

causes - lack of maintenance , wrong type of cable, safety checks not made

those would be my guesses as a non decky

*cough* Malta flagged and in Spain *cough*

Not to be rude, but lack of maintenance? Unlikely. Wrong type of cable? Highly unlikely. Safety checks not being made? Possible, but still unlikely. Lets leave the speculation for now and wait for Malta to issue their report (provided it isnt done internally by TUI).

Also, just to add to it, the MAIB do not assign blame and their reports cannot be used in any court of law. They are there to improve safety, that's all and Ive never seen a report where they've piled all the blame on to someone.

[tlloyd1983]

As I said, shouldn't speculate at this point. Could be so many reasons why the cable snapped. Wait for the report, then judge. 5 seaman are dead, think about that.

[GuinnessMan]

As I said, shouldn't speculate at this point. Could be so many reasons why the cable snapped. Wait for the report, then judge. 5 seaman are dead, think about that.

Totally Agree.

[chris]

I stupidly thought Thomson was British flagged hence the MAIB investigating remark. They did a review of lifeboat incidents some time back which makes for interesting reading.

http://www.maib.gov.uk/publications/safety_studies/review_of_lifeboats_and_launching_systems_accidents.cfm

Malta is considered a flag of convenience but they do appear to have their own version of the MAIB called the Marine Safety Investigation Unit.

http://www.transport.gov.mt/organisation/maritime-projects/maritime-safety

[Clanky]

Absolutely tragic, my girlfriend worked on there last season and I spent 2 weeks onboard as cargo and my impression was of a well found, well managed ship.

As has been said above there is absolutely no point in speculating as to the cause of the accident, Transport Malta will investigate and publish their results in due course.

My thoughts are with all onboard and with the families of those involved.

[Ducki52]

Tragic news. It seems a mystery as to why things like this still happen, surely the amount of training we are now getting in college should be enough to stop this! My thoughts go out to the family and friends of the victims.

You can train all you want, but you can't really plan for a winch structural failure.

Plus, not all crews, officers, cadets and colleges train in lifeboat drills as much as others, and then you've got the same old factors of complacency, safety blindness, 'it's always been done that way' -ness.

[size4riggerboots]

There's also the possibility that the boat was over weight due to water absorption in the buoyant material. <- speculative pontificating.

There are a multitude of possibilities and contributing factors which lead to this tragedy, I doubt there was a single cause. While we await the results of the investigation, let's mourn the loss of our fellow seafarers and make sure that our own vessels and lifeboats are well maintained and thoroughly checked and inspected.

[GuinnessMan]

There's also the possibility that the boat was over weight due to water absorption in the buoyant material. <- speculative pontificating.

There are a multitude of possibilities and contributing factors which lead to this tragedy, I doubt there was a single cause. While we await the results of the investigation, let's mourn the loss of our fellow seafarers and make sure that our own vessels and lifeboats are well maintained and thoroughly checked and inspected.

That's happened before, Rescue vessel I think?

Again, totally agree with the rest...

[tommysevenfold]

the MAIB do not assign blame and their reports cannot be used in any court of law. They are there to improve safety, that's all and Ive never seen a report where they've piled all the blame on to someone.

Thanks for informing me GM, can honestly say i must have misheard that at some point. Think I might have a closer look at some reports to get the gist of the layout.
All the above is true i suppose, its not our priority to speculate, it's ours to ensure it doesn't happen again through proper work so i look forward to reading the report and how it can be prevented.
In the meantime, My thoughts go out to the crew involved and families of the crew who died. Rest In Peace

[CharlieDelta]

Fully agree with size4. The full facts will have to wait, but in the meantime five seafarers have been lost doing something that we do regularly, often weekly. It's a grim lesson to us all that safety cannot be taken too seriously and that lifeboat accidents continue with alarming frequency.