How to Escape a Sinking Ship
Understand the mechanics behind a sinking ship., The stability of a ship depends, in part, on its center of gravity., Always check for the location of personal flotation devices once you have boarded any sea vessel., Think about your sense of...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Understand the mechanics behind a sinking ship.
While this is mainly for the sake of curiosity, understanding how a ship sinks can be useful and give you a sense of what occurs if you're ever stuck in the situation of being on a sinking ship.
Every type of ship will react to taking on water and sinking differently depending on the shape of the hull, center of gravity, and cause of the casualty.
No one set of rules works on all ship types.
Water often enters the lowest point of a ship first, the bilge area.The bilges are pits in the lowest part of the engineering section.
It's very normal for ships to have water leaking into the bilges.
It comes in through sea chests, shaft bearings, or valve seals.
Ships have bilge pumps to remove this water once it reaches a certain level.
They are in the bilges to attack any eventual flooding as early as possible at the lowest possible level.
However, this is not always a viable solution.
Ships can sink from hitting another ship, an object such as an iceberg, a ruptured sea chest, or an attack.
In the case of the Greek cruise liner MTS Oceanos the water entered through a ruptured overboard sewage discharge valve far from the bilges and erupted into the ship through commodes, sinks, and showers.
There was no way the pumps could have helped.
The Titanic had seams popped and split starting about 50 feet (15.2 m) from the starboard bow and flooded 6 compartments.
The rest is history.
There was just too much water for the pumps to discharge.
The Lusitania was torpedoed and exploded twice.
Both the MS Sea Diamond and the MS Costa Concordia ran aground and sank after hitting well marked reefs while sailing in good weather.
There are many other famous examples.
Small boats will react differently than bigger ships.
They are normally built, as much as possible, of buoyant materials.
Reasons for why a boat might sink include a low transom, missing drain plugs, cooling system leaks, or openings either incorrectly closed or broken doors (such as on a car ferry).The broken doors is what sank the car ferry Estonia. -
Step 2: The stability of a ship depends
In the case of the Estonia the car ferry took on water through a broken door.
In that event, the rocking slowed down, which is a bad sign because a ferry that isn't rocking cannot stabilize itself.With Trans-Oceanic ships the configuration is different.
According to researcher Steve Zalek of the University of Michigan Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department, Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory, studies done demonstrate that if the center of gravity is low the ship will rock quickly.
Passengers will become seasick, cargo can break loose, and containers can be pitched into the sea, but if the center of gravity is higher the ship will rock more slowly.
Passengers will be more comfortable, cargo won't break loose, and containers aren't pitched overboard.
Rocking too much could cause a ship to keel over in heavy seas.
The ideal is that the ship would heel over to no more than 10° either way in order when the wheel is thrown hard over to maintain stability., Whether you're going on a short trip across the harbor, a day trip, or a cruise, knowing the location of the personal flotation device in advance may save your life.
When going on a cruise, part of the standard safety drill at the beginning will include asking you to check that your PFD is in the cabin space.
Be sure to check for infant or child PFDs if also needed and alert crew immediately if these are not in place.
In addition, look for the lifeboats nearest to your cabin, along with any obvious markers that might lead you to the boats if visibility becomes bad; as with aircraft, there will often be lights designating where safety exits are.
Read the instructions for putting on the personal flotation device and using it.
If you have any questions, ask the ship's crew.
If you're traveling on a ship where the crew speaks a different language from your own, find people who can advise you directly on what to do in the event of an emergency.
It is prudent to seek this information even before you board the ship. , Although philosophical and theoretical in nature, the question is:
What will you do if push came to shove? Would you expect to see women and children off first, then men? Or is it everyone for themselves? This actually depends upon the laws of what national waters the ship is in first, and the flag registry or nation of ownership second.
Women and children boarded lifeboats from the Titanic because she was in international waters, and flagged in England, whose laws demanded such action- and they had time to board lifeboats.
However, Lusitania sank in 18 minutes, giving no one time to board life boats. -
Step 3: in part
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Step 4: on its center of gravity.
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Step 5: Always check for the location of personal flotation devices once you have boarded any sea vessel.
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Step 6: Think about your sense of etiquette.
Detailed Guide
While this is mainly for the sake of curiosity, understanding how a ship sinks can be useful and give you a sense of what occurs if you're ever stuck in the situation of being on a sinking ship.
Every type of ship will react to taking on water and sinking differently depending on the shape of the hull, center of gravity, and cause of the casualty.
No one set of rules works on all ship types.
Water often enters the lowest point of a ship first, the bilge area.The bilges are pits in the lowest part of the engineering section.
It's very normal for ships to have water leaking into the bilges.
It comes in through sea chests, shaft bearings, or valve seals.
Ships have bilge pumps to remove this water once it reaches a certain level.
They are in the bilges to attack any eventual flooding as early as possible at the lowest possible level.
However, this is not always a viable solution.
Ships can sink from hitting another ship, an object such as an iceberg, a ruptured sea chest, or an attack.
In the case of the Greek cruise liner MTS Oceanos the water entered through a ruptured overboard sewage discharge valve far from the bilges and erupted into the ship through commodes, sinks, and showers.
There was no way the pumps could have helped.
The Titanic had seams popped and split starting about 50 feet (15.2 m) from the starboard bow and flooded 6 compartments.
The rest is history.
There was just too much water for the pumps to discharge.
The Lusitania was torpedoed and exploded twice.
Both the MS Sea Diamond and the MS Costa Concordia ran aground and sank after hitting well marked reefs while sailing in good weather.
There are many other famous examples.
Small boats will react differently than bigger ships.
They are normally built, as much as possible, of buoyant materials.
Reasons for why a boat might sink include a low transom, missing drain plugs, cooling system leaks, or openings either incorrectly closed or broken doors (such as on a car ferry).The broken doors is what sank the car ferry Estonia.
In the case of the Estonia the car ferry took on water through a broken door.
In that event, the rocking slowed down, which is a bad sign because a ferry that isn't rocking cannot stabilize itself.With Trans-Oceanic ships the configuration is different.
According to researcher Steve Zalek of the University of Michigan Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department, Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory, studies done demonstrate that if the center of gravity is low the ship will rock quickly.
Passengers will become seasick, cargo can break loose, and containers can be pitched into the sea, but if the center of gravity is higher the ship will rock more slowly.
Passengers will be more comfortable, cargo won't break loose, and containers aren't pitched overboard.
Rocking too much could cause a ship to keel over in heavy seas.
The ideal is that the ship would heel over to no more than 10° either way in order when the wheel is thrown hard over to maintain stability., Whether you're going on a short trip across the harbor, a day trip, or a cruise, knowing the location of the personal flotation device in advance may save your life.
When going on a cruise, part of the standard safety drill at the beginning will include asking you to check that your PFD is in the cabin space.
Be sure to check for infant or child PFDs if also needed and alert crew immediately if these are not in place.
In addition, look for the lifeboats nearest to your cabin, along with any obvious markers that might lead you to the boats if visibility becomes bad; as with aircraft, there will often be lights designating where safety exits are.
Read the instructions for putting on the personal flotation device and using it.
If you have any questions, ask the ship's crew.
If you're traveling on a ship where the crew speaks a different language from your own, find people who can advise you directly on what to do in the event of an emergency.
It is prudent to seek this information even before you board the ship. , Although philosophical and theoretical in nature, the question is:
What will you do if push came to shove? Would you expect to see women and children off first, then men? Or is it everyone for themselves? This actually depends upon the laws of what national waters the ship is in first, and the flag registry or nation of ownership second.
Women and children boarded lifeboats from the Titanic because she was in international waters, and flagged in England, whose laws demanded such action- and they had time to board lifeboats.
However, Lusitania sank in 18 minutes, giving no one time to board life boats.
About the Author
Patricia Gibson
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow crafts tutorials.
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