Bulker aground in Patricia aftermath

[Hannes van Rijn]

A bulker is at risk of becoming severely damaged after running aground on Mexico's Pacific coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Patricia, according to local reports.

The 1993-built, 71,665dwt Los Llanitos, operated by Mexico City-based Naviera Para Mineral, had attempted to wait out the storm while at anchor off the coast, according to reports, but was dragged to shore on 24 October some 43 km (27 miles) north of the Port of Manzanillo by the force of the storm, one of the fiercest ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere.

The Mexican Navy rescued 19 of 27 crew members by helicopter, with the remaining crew left to monitor damage.

One report noted that the ship showed cracks near the engine room, and that there was a risk of further damage in other areas of the vessel. There were no initial reports of a major spill as result of the hull damage.

The Port of Manzanillo, Mexico's largest container port, which shut down as the massive storm approach, reopened on 25 October without significant damage, according to port officials.

Source IHS

[Dеnis]

http://www.shipwrecklog.com/log/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Los-Llanitos-8.jpg
http://www.shipwrecklog.com/log/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Los-Llanitos-4.jpg

[Captain Ted]

Like it or not,,that ship is history :-(((

[davidships]

Only on here under previous names
http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/search.php?search_imo=9045912

[seaway7228]

Looks to me as if both anchors are home so the suggestion it dragged in the article seems unlikely... anyway same final result anchors or no anchors in use.

[davidships]

Once anchors had outlived their effectiveness and dragged, I would have thought best to weigh them if possible - valuable kit, and no point in losing them when grounding.

[Allan RO]

the thing is that when weather gets heavy in southern England, ships at anchor at the Nab all clear off and steam slowly around.   They are therefore always under command and control and can not drag anchor and ground.   Can't see why this bulker could not have done the same.

Allan

[davidships]

@Allan: It turns out on further reading that that is exactly what was intended.  She was advised to sail from Manzanillo towards Lazaro Cardenas to ride out the hurricane at sea, and did so the day before Patricia hit, albeit later than some other ships.  Looks as if seaway7228 could be right in surmising that she had not anchored, as the recent reports do not suggest that, but rather that she was blown ashore by the intensity of the hurricane's record 165mph winds (a bit more than "heavy weather"!).  But then it seems that rather than sailing south towards Lazaro Cardenas, away from the Patricia, she went ashore north of Manzanillo, near Barra de Navidad, perhaps here:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@19.1782334,-104.6980806,8111m/data=!3m1!1e3

No mention of cargo, so perhaps a large highsided wind target, but the investigations are under way and no doubt more will be known later. A hurricane of this force is unknown in the English Channel and I wonder how shipping would cope.