Oh dear...this is not good (part deux)!

very curious how the two halves of the MOL Comfort have managed to stay afloat like they have? Like two completely separate ships

[B]MOL Comfort Suffers Broken Back Off Yemen [/B][UPDATE]
By gCaptain Staff On June 17, 2013

UPDATE: The MRCC in Mumbai has just tweeted saying that the sections are still afloat and are being monitored.


Stern section. MRCC Mumbai


Bow section. MRCC Mumbai

EARLIER


This photo of the MOL Comfort shows considerable hogging. Image credit: IANS

26 crewmembers of an MOL containership were forced to abandon ship Monday off Yemen after the ship suffered from catastrophic hull failure and reportedly sank.

The MV MOL Comfort, an 8,000 TEU-type containership cracked in half about 200 miles from the Yemeni coast at about 12’30″N 60′E 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.

According to a report by IANS News, the Indian Coast Guard in Mumbai diverted three vessels in the area to assist. The MV Yantian Express was first to arrive on scene and rescued the survivors. The 2008-built MOL Comfort sank a short time later, the report said.

Weather at the time was strong winds and seas up to six meters.

The ship’s operator, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, says that an Emergency Control Headquarters has been established for the incident and MOL is taking company-wide measures to settle the matter. The MOL statement said that damage was “extensive” and that details of the incident were still being confirmed.

A Catastrophic Structural Failure

From a naval architecture standpoint, this is a puzzling situation. Ships are designed to handle long period and large waves that crest on the bow and stern and have a trough amidships. This creates a sagging situation that puts extreme tension on the keel and compression at deck level. The opposite, “hogging” situation occurs when the crest of the wave moves to the center of the ship and the trough of the waves are at bow and stern.

The repeat flexing of the ship in these perfectly timed waves is likely what caused the loss of this vessel. In the photo above, a perfect example of hogging is shown, where the bow and the stern are both lying in the troughs of two waves.

It should not have happened however. Ships are built to handle this situation and engineering rules are followed to ensure the transverse “section modulus” of the vessel is sufficient to handle these extreme stresses imposed by nature. There are other possibilities however…

The loading of the containers on board may have exacerbated the situation. Although the loading of the containers appears even in the photo, the weight distribution of the containers may not have been even. Had heavier containers been loaded on the bow and stern and lighter ones in the center of the ship, the vessel may have been placed in a hogging situation before she even set sail. It’s speculation of course to say one way or another, but assuming that she met class requirements, it’s one possible explanation for what happened.

  • Mike Schuler and Rob Almeida

Better get MAACO!

[QUOTE=c.captain;112743]very curious how the two halves have managed to stay afloat like they have? Like two completely separate ships[/QUOTE]

Well, those transverse bulkheads are supposed to be watertight…

Get that crew back on the stern half, fire up the main, get a line on the bow section and get those halves in to port. . . .

Looks like it was built by Boston Whaler.

Definitely cut down the size of the turning circle.

[QUOTE=cmakin;112747]Get that crew back on the stern half, fire up the main, get a line on the bow section and get those halves in to port. . . .[/QUOTE]

That sounds like the sequel to Captain Phillips!! (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535109/)

The lookout just reported that the house is missing!!

Drive the stern over to the bow throw a couple lines up and put her in reverse back to port!

http://m.youtube.com/#/results?q=the%20front%20fell%20off%20clarke%20and%20dawe&oq=the%20front%20fell&gs_l=youtube-reduced.1.1.0l4.1199.8328.0.10929.14.10.0.4.4.0.183.1171.0j10.10.0...0.0...1ac.1.5.youtube-reduced.VNWEJyDtJ7A

How’s the Comfort’s captain like my exwife? Excess hogging made him the world’s biggest ass.

so the Naval architects and the builder have almost got it right, I guess it failed on the last lap and not after the flag…so to speak
Didnt quite make the 5 year and scrapping

I didn’t think they made ATB’s that big!!

I bet if the steel said made in Pittsburg this wouldn’t have happened. Every single knucklehead with a fresh MBA, zero experience, and a head full of ideas should read this article.

[QUOTE=“rshrew;112761”]Drive the stern over to the bow throw a couple lines up and put her in reverse back to port![/QUOTE]

It would probably work better if they ran the stern into the notch, made up face wires, and pushed it to port.

[QUOTE=Capt. Phoenix;112841]It would probably work better if they ran the stern into the notch, made up face wires, and pushed it to port.[/QUOTE]

Best way I can think of to collapse the bulkhead that is keeping it afloat. At least when it sank it might take an ATB with it and that’s not such a bad thing.

[QUOTE=exsubguy;112828]I bet if the steel said made in Pittsburg this wouldn’t have happened. Every single knucklehead with a fresh MBA, zero experience, and a head full of ideas should read this article.[/QUOTE]
not quite its years of experience and computer aided design with sophisticated FEA programs to work out how thin they could make it and get it past the warranty period

I’m confused, did the front fall off? Or did the back fall off? Definitely looks like a Tromedy… Looks like that high strength, crack resistant, steel wasn’t…

Pages 8 to 11… Quote from NK. “Of special concern is the fact that when brittle cracks occur in the welds of very thick steel plates, they propagate in ways that are contrary to conventional wisdom. Recent testing shows that brittle cracks in very thick steel plates propagate in straight lines, without swerving or deviation. Moreover, such cracks may not stop and may continue propa- gating even after penetrating the parent material. This suggests that if a brittle crack does in fact occur in a hull structure using very thick steel plates, there is a risk that such a crack could propagate at high speed and cause a major or catastrophic accident, including failure or collapse of the hull structure. Thus, the proper study of the brittle crack propaga- tion and behavior in very thick steel plates and the establish- ment of suitable technical standards to prevent the occur- rence of brittle fracture accidents should be considered a critical matter of concern.”

what are the odds that one heavy container was at the bow and one at the stern and they hit waves…damn that was unlucky
8000 containers and 2 had wrong weights

We may find out… http://marinelog.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4253:mol-and-mhi-start-inspections-of-mol-comfort-sisters&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=195

Or not… MOL Comfort Sinks