Go Back  PPRuNe Forums > Aircrew Forums > Rotorheads
Reload this Page >

Super Puma rescue in Greek waters

Wikiposts
Search

Notices
Rotorheads A haven for helicopter professionals to discuss the things that affect them

Super Puma rescue in Greek waters

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 18th February 2012 | 15:34
  #1 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
10 Anniversary
 
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 74
Likes: 2
From: uk
Super Puma rescue in Greek waters

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
Cheers. Al

alicopter is offline  
Reply
Old 19th February 2012 | 00:45
  #2 (permalink)  
 
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 181
Likes: 0
From: In the desert southwest
shocking

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
grumpytroll is offline  
Reply
Old 19th February 2012 | 03:05
  #3 (permalink)  
 
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 243
Likes: 0
From: Next door to the wrong neighbours
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.

Last edited by truthinbeer; 19th February 2012 at 03:26.
truthinbeer is offline  
Reply
Old 19th February 2012 | 03:38
  #4 (permalink)  
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 768
Likes: 45
From: Montreal
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?
malabo is offline  
Reply
Old 19th February 2012 | 04:34
  #5 (permalink)  
 
Joined: Aug 1999
Aviation Qualifications: ATP+Mil
Posts: 4,411
Likes: 83
From: Gold Coast, Australia
Originally Posted by malabo
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
John Eacott is offline  
Reply
Old 19th February 2012 | 07:24
  #6 (permalink)  
15 Anniversary
 
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 241
Likes: 0
From: mobile
Try it before you comment.Suspect that he was operating without autohover or any other aid.
mtoroshanga is offline  
Reply
Old 19th February 2012 | 08:04
  #7 (permalink)  
15 Anniversary
 
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,185
Likes: 542
From: Lost again...
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

Suspect someone is having an uncomfortable conversation with the loss-adjuster this morning!
OvertHawk is offline  
Reply
Old 19th February 2012 | 15:03
  #8 (permalink)  
 
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 320
Likes: 0
From: Cornwall
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
TipCap is offline  
Reply
Old 19th February 2012 | 15:05
  #9 (permalink)  
 
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 814
Likes: 1
From: Iceland
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.
Aesir is offline  
Reply
Old 19th February 2012 | 15:54
  #10 (permalink)  
 
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 275
Likes: 1
From: Behind the curve
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!

Last edited by Colibri49; 19th February 2012 at 21:50.
Colibri49 is offline  
Reply
Old 19th February 2012 | 18:46
  #11 (permalink)  
15 Anniversary
 
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 292
Likes: 11
From: uk
in sank because shipyard/owner (delete a/r) needed the insurance? - it's Greece for heaven sake!!
JulieAndrews is offline  
Reply
Old 20th February 2012 | 03:01
  #12 (permalink)  
 
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 294
Likes: 0
From: 1°21'10.20"N - 103°56'36.21"E
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 !
ecureilx is offline  
Reply
Old 24th February 2012 | 14:22
  #13 (permalink)  
 
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
From: Bexhill-on-Sea
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.
merch is offline  
Reply
Old 25th February 2012 | 05:48
  #14 (permalink)  
 
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 243
Likes: 0
From: Next door to the wrong neighbours
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.
truthinbeer is offline  
Reply
Old 25th February 2012 | 06:19
  #15 (permalink)  
 
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,422
Likes: 3
From: Milano, Italia
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.


The Antalis listing having inadvertently taken on 10 tonnes of sea water


She took on water through her rear doors


The USD 45m vessel was at the mercy of a local fishing boat which towed her to rescue
Savoia is offline  
Reply
Old 25th February 2012 | 06:21
  #16 (permalink)  
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,308
Likes: 0
From: Cornwall
Wiki to the rescue.....

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

G.
Geoffersincornwall is offline  
Reply
Old 25th February 2012 | 16:46
  #17 (permalink)  
 
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 635
Likes: 0
From: Somerset
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
bast0n is offline  
Reply
Old 25th February 2012 | 18:48
  #18 (permalink)  
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,308
Likes: 0
From: Cornwall
Junglies ?$*£@

....... 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.

Geoffersincornwall is offline  
Reply
Old 25th February 2012 | 23:06
  #19 (permalink)  
50 Countries Visited
20 Anniversary
Veteran: Air Force
 
Joined: Jun 2002
Aviation Qualifications: PPL
Posts: 5,101
Likes: 321
From: east ESSEX
Don`t worry ,the RAF will soon be driving your ships/boats/pedalos.....
sycamore is online now  
Reply
Old 26th February 2012 | 06:00
  #20 (permalink)  
 
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 73
Likes: 0
From: Europe
I don't find it so surprising. The whole Europe is sinking in Greece.
Milo C is offline  
Reply


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.