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View Full Version : Super Puma rescue in Greek waters


alicopter
18th Feb 2012, 15:34
Hi all, just 2 minutes about a sinking super yacht (m/y Yogi under french flag) crew being recued by a Super Puma (Hellenic Coast guards) Enjoy...

The Crew Report | Superyacht Crew News | Yogi sinks off the coast of Skyros (http://www.thecrewreport.com/superyacht_crew_news.asp?id=17846)
Cheers. Al

http://vimeo.com/36961557

grumpytroll
19th Feb 2012, 00:45
With the little information available, I find this shocking. How does a ship of this size have a situation that causes it to sink! I have no nautical knowledge to speak of so am operating from a position of ignorance. It seems strange that a modern (at least it appears to be very modern) vessel like this can have such a catastrophic failure that it cannot be saved. I look forward to learning more about this. Excellent job by the aircrew. Cheers

truthinbeer
19th Feb 2012, 03:05
How does a ship of this size have a situation that causes it to sink! From a professional view it looks to me as though it was a stability problem. That is the vessel was ballasted in such a way that it was inherently unstable. The seas were not what I would regard as excessively rough. Incorrectly ballasted the vessel when healed over to only a small degree adopts a condition known as the 'angle of loll' in which it has a negative righting force and a situation from which it cannot recover. It consequently capsizes. Poor seamanship loading the vessels' tanks (fuel, potable water, ballast etc) incorrectly.

malabo
19th Feb 2012, 03:38
The shipyard work done just before it sailed was repaint under warranty. 50 million to build, finished last March in Turkey. Captain referred to a problem with the engine exhaust, someone else thought a stabilizer had torn off.

Looking at the video, I thought the flying by the Puma pilot was somewhat on the rough side. I know you SAR guys get conned by the rear crew and don't fly the "hook" like we're used to, but seemed like some wilder oscillations than I expected in those conditions.

Any SAR guys comment? Crab?

John Eacott
19th Feb 2012, 04:34
Looking at the video, I thought the flying by the Puma pilot was somewhat on the rough side. I know you SAR guys get conned by the rear crew and don't fly the "hook" like we're used to, but seemed like some wilder oscillations than I expected in those conditions.

Any SAR guys comment? Crab?

If you allow for the ship's movement (it was rolling quite a lot) the pilot did a sterling job!

The trials and tribulations of assessing someone else's flying via a video grab on the internet ;)

mtoroshanga
19th Feb 2012, 07:24
Try it before you comment.Suspect that he was operating without autohover or any other aid.

OvertHawk
19th Feb 2012, 08:04
I'm with John on this one - the movement does seem large if you consider it purely in relation to the vessel - however, if you consider that the vessel is rolling a fair bit then the movement is put into much better context.

Felt sorry for the winch-man. He finally makes it onto the vessel and appears to be dropped straight into a stairwell :ooh:

Suspect someone is having an uncomfortable conversation with the loss-adjuster this morning!

TipCap
19th Feb 2012, 15:03
Mtoro

I am not sure you would use auto hover over a rolling ship. Too many things for the doppler (or whatever it is these days) to lock on to.

Case for a hi-line methinks but at the end of the day if they all were got off then job done:ok:

Aesir
19th Feb 2012, 15:05
Actually it is very possible that the helicopter itself is perfectly stable and not moving!

The ship is floating on rough seas and rolling, heaving and moving back and forth. The trick in sea hoist is to try to move with the ship which sometimes is not so easy depending on waves and sea state.

Colibri49
19th Feb 2012, 15:54
After looking at the video and having winched a number of seamen off a cargo vessel which broke in two 100 NM off South Africa's Wild Coast, in a Puma 330 with basic autopilot (no auto-hover etc), I can assure you that the Greeks were doing an excellent job.

Our task was made more difficult by not having anyone to go down on the winch, so the strop on the cable was difficult to control. In those days (early 1970s) we only carried the winch operator in the back and innovations like hi-line hadn't been considered.

To add to our heroism, the sea was much rougher than in this video, the aircraft had no flotation, no liferafts and we only wore lifejackets to keep us afloat as fresh meat for longer to feed the sharks.

For your further amazement, one of my former colleagues ditched at night in an S58T off Durban and close enough to see the city lights a few miles away. The concentration of sharks including Great Whites in that area is impressive; probably they are drawn to the harbour and stuff which ships throw overboard.

Fortunately he is an experienced spear fisherman and both he and the other pilot were in immersion suits and lifejackets. Most importantly they weren't bleeding. He knew that sharks are attracted by muscle movements, so they had to resist the temptation to swim towards the lights.

Sharks have rough skins, to the extent that historically shark skin has been used as sandpaper. They were brushed by sharks as they stayed motionless, while the sharks attempted to cause bleeding from whatever they rubbed against.

Around first light they were picked up by a fast rescue boat, before we could launch our Pumas to search for them. Happy days!

JulieAndrews
19th Feb 2012, 18:46
in sank because shipyard/owner (delete a/r) needed the insurance? - it's Greece for heaven sake!!

ecureilx
20th Feb 2012, 03:01
and to add to truthinbeer:

Even the biggest ship needs no reason to go down ..

IT can go down, if it just wants to. .. after all, Uncle Davy Jones Locker is waiting to snatch anything that floats !!

Seriously, having worked with a company doing salvage, I believe truthinbeer's reply is more accurate .. add to it an engine failure .. there is only one way the boat can go - DOWN !

merch
24th Feb 2012, 14:22
truthinbeer

You say that the vessel cannot recover from an angle of lol.

As a general statement I think this is incorrect.

The corrective actions would be to lower the centre of gravity of the vessel by lowering weights with in the vessel, such as pumping liquids into lower tanks, completely filling partially filled tanks to reduce the free surface effect. This would, hopefully, be enough to get a positive GM.

Perhaps in this case the vessel cannot take sufficient action due to the increase in surface effect while filling tanks or the negative GM is just too large to correct.

I'll wait to be corrected.

truthinbeer
25th Feb 2012, 05:48
merch you are correct in that my statement was not fully explained. We are dealing with a bunch of pilots so need to keep it simple. :) In the angle of loll the vessel is inherently unstable, GZ is greater than GM there being no righting moment. A situation in those weather conditions the vessel was not able to recover from. But that is only my opinion of the situation. Having got into that situation in the first place and given the weather conditions I would imagine the crew did not have the knowledge to extricate themselves from the delicate situation they were in. It sounds like you know that what you describe requires a certain level skill for if not done correctly the results are a capsize.
Nice to see someone with an understanding of these things.

Savoia
25th Feb 2012, 06:19
And .. for those who thought superyachts were invulnerable to sinking ..

The Superyacht Antalis narrowly escaped disaster in the Bay of Aegiali in Greece. The vessel was anchored close to Levrossos beach, when she took on water through her stern doors, causing the yacht to list heavily to port. Quick action by her crew and the help of the people of Aegiali prevented serious damage.

Local fisherman came to the rescue, and towed the vessel to the port of Aegiali. There, approx. 10 tons of water were pumped out of her hull, and the vessel could continue her summer cruise. During the incident, no oil or fuel was spilled.

http://www.amorgos-island-magazine.com/wp-content/gallery/yacht-incidence-2/p1010583_0.jpg
The Antalis listing having inadvertently taken on 10 tonnes of sea water

http://www.amorgos-island-magazine.com/wp-content/gallery/yacht-incidence-2/p1010639.jpg
She took on water through her rear doors

http://www.amorgos-island-magazine.com/wp-content/gallery/yacht-incidence-2/p1010594_0.jpg
The USD 45m vessel was at the mercy of a local fishing boat which towed her to rescue

Geoffersincornwall
25th Feb 2012, 06:21
It's been a long time since my naval training but probably the first time that the subject has come up since I learnt all about ship stability at BRNC. Good article here for those who want to know more -

Metacentric height - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacentric_height)

G. :ok:

bast0n
25th Feb 2012, 16:46
Truthinbeer

We are dealing with a bunch of pilots so need to keep it simple.

AHH - Geoffers - Metacentric height - I used not to be able to spell heliocopteleter pilot but I become one - and undersatnd motorcintric flight.........so there, TIB!!

D

Geoffersincornwall
25th Feb 2012, 18:48
....... could always be trusted to be on top of the technical guff when it comes to floaty things. I think they are under the impression the an aircraft carrier is just a means of moving the bar from one anchorage to another....... and 'stability' has a completely different connotation in that context.

:E :cool:

sycamore
25th Feb 2012, 23:06
Don`t worry ,the RAF will soon be driving your ships/boats/pedalos.....

Milo C
26th Feb 2012, 06:00
I don't find it so surprising. The whole Europe is sinking in Greece. ;)

rotorfan
26th Feb 2012, 07:00
Posted by truthinbeer

Incorrectly ballasted the vessel when healed over to only a small degree adopts a condition known as the 'angle of loll' in which it has a negative righting force and a situation from which it cannot recover. A liquid form of dynamic rollover, eh? (Also similar is what happens when rotorfan stays at the pub too long and the SAS goes offline. :})