LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Crew reductions herald disaster
Dear Sir, May I comment, as a former deck officer in car ferries, on the article in the April Te Naval Architect regarding the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster? Whilst the 30 factors quoted are all more or less relevant to the cause of the ship’s capsize, the two most important ones in my view are the fact that the bow doors were not closed, and the absence of any form of longitudinal bulkhead on the car deck. In my time on ferries on Irish Sea routes, which ended six months before the incident, it was the practice to carry three deck officers, one of whom was responsible for closing the ramp and bow doors on leaving port and
reporting to the bridge that this had been done, by VHF radio. It is my understanding that the third deck officer was dispensed with on the ferries of which Herald of Free Enterprise was one, some months prior to the disaster. This would have removed the positive reporting procedure, as the Bosun’s Mate who was given the responsibility did not have a radio. Te ferries on which I served had at least a partial longitudinal division of the car deck forming the access stairs to the accommoda- tion decks. Tis would have greatly reduced the free surface effect of loss of stabil- ity, caused by even moderate amounts of flooding of the car deck.
Falling foul of Hempel
Dear Sir, I have one comment to your article on page 66 (June 2009, The Naval Architect). It is completely wrong to write that “X3 uses the same hydrogel silicone technology intrinsic
to Nippon Paint’s LF Sea”. Tere is absolutely no relationship between the two technolo- gies’ brands, or companies. Tis is taken completely out of the blue by the author of the article.
Naval Architect_85x124_.2 1/7/09 10:42 Page 1
Torben Rasmussen Group Product Manager Fouling Control Group Marine Marketing Hempel A/S
I was interested in the under-estimate of car weights. In the 1980s we too used one tonne per car, which was probably about right up to then, but car weights have been increasing due to safety features and the arrival of 4x4’s, and it is probably nearer 1.5tonnes or even 1.75tonnes now. Of course, nothing excuses ‘sloppy seaman- ship’, but this is greatly contributed to by reducing the number of deck officers and the consequent fatigue problems which inevita- bly ensue. Commercial pressure to keep a ferry’s schedule is an ever-present fact of life.
Yours sincerely, Desmond Fforde
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