Messages

76

Shipping News and information / Re: "Salaam 98" dissapears from radar with 1300 passengers onboard

« on: February 03, 2006, 11:24:33 PM »

If the photos are accurate, my first impression was that this is a very dangerous ship.  The modifications seem to be all too clearly an attempt to extract extra revenue from an aging hull by enabling many more passengers than the original design.  Modern cruise ships have similar profiles but are designed from the keel up to be so, taking advantage of ultralight materials, machinery placement, etc.  This ship just looks unstable for any service, and even more dangerous as a ferry.

77

Shipping News and information / Re: Collision on Kiel-Canal

« on: February 03, 2006, 11:15:04 PM »

I know this is an extremely busy area, but it seems that there have been an unusually high number of collisions in the Kiel Canal and vicinity in recent years.  I have seen reports of several within the space of a few weeks, both ship-ship and ship-lock incidents severe enough to cause significant damage, sometimes closing the canal to shipping for a while.  

This is my impression from reading many reports, but I confess I do not have first hand knowledge of the region.  Am I perhaps wrong in my impression, or does the Kiel canal have a higher incidence of collisions than other shipping "choke points"?

Charles

78

Shipping News and information / Re: Queen Elizabeth 2 what will happen?

« on: December 02, 2005, 02:04:34 AM »

This is only my speculation, absolutely no knowledge of Carnival/Cunard's plans, but I expect a sale to a "qualified" buyer.  By qualified, I mean an operator meeting certain financial strength criteria.  Given the respect for QE II in Britain and around the world, I doubt she would be simply sold to the highest bidder without some conditions regarding her future use.  Another possibility would be service as a permanent floating hotel somewhere...  It's a good question. I still recall my first live sight of her, steaming up the Hudson River in the mid 1970's.  A beautiful ship.