Repubblica di Genova capsized

[frederik]

This morning, around 6.30h local time, the Repubblica di Genova (IMO: 8521206) ran into trouble in the port of Antwerp. The Grimaldi Lines-vessel capsized. The reason is at this moment unknown. There are no victims, the crew could abandon the ship in time. A few containers felt into the water. The ship was berthed at the Verrebroekdok (Waaslandhaven, Linkeroever). More details will follow.

greetz,

frederik

[Holger Jaschob]

Hello to all!

Found this link about the accident with some photos.

http://www.hln.be/hlns/cache//det/art_399379.html

Regards,
Holger

[Caille Pierre-Alfred]

More pictures of these ship here
http://www.ships.be/pictures/index.php?action=showgal&cat=695

More news here and pics of ship capsized here
in Dutch
http://www.gva.be/Antwerpen/2000/artikel.asp?art={7220A5B9-566A-4CF5-9299-06126AC1DC9D}
http://www.vrtnieuws.net/nieuwsnet_master/versie2/nieuws/details/070308kapseizenschip/index.shtml

in french
http://www.lalibre.be/breaking_news_detail.phtml?news_id=72122&source=belga

[roostes]

´Hi,

  :-? misballasting, that's for sure. R.di Genova, although one of the oldest in fleet, is equipped with functional and foolproof ballast handling system with good quidelines. It has utmost importance to monitor continuously filling/emptying sidetanks/bottom etc. Antwerp is a hub for Grimaldi ships, considering that most of the cargo is being disch/loaded, very dangerous moments stabilitywise can occur.

[Caille Pierre-Alfred]

Some aerial pictures here
http://www.gva.be/Antwerpen/2000/artikel.asp?art={7220A5B9-566A-4CF5-9299-06126AC1DC9D}

with video
http://www.rtl.be/page/rtlinfo/articles/societearticle/227.aspx?articleid=70810


Pierre-Alfred Caille
www.ships.be

[Caille Pierre-Alfred]

More pictures here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/imcbrokers/sets/72157594576884608/

[frederik]

Hi,

I posted some pictures here I took this afternoon.
http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=369876
http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=369873
http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=369872
http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=369870
I hope you can open them.

greetz,

frederik

[CaptMoto]

Re: Repubblica di Genova capsized
´Hi,

 misballasting, that's for sure. R.di Genova, although one of the oldest in fleet, is equipped with functional and foolproof ballast handling system with good quidelines. It has utmost importance to monitor continuously filling/emptying sidetanks/bottom etc. Antwerp is a hub for Grimaldi ships, considering that most of the cargo is being disch/loaded, very dangerous moments stabilitywise can occur.

In reply to roostes I would like to point out that I work for Grimaldi while I am not in a position at the moment to give you the reason for the vessel capsizing, I can tell you there is an investigation in progress to officially clarify the cause for this incident. All I know is that the vessel began to list in the late evening of yesterday and all possible corrections to the listing were carried out according to the standard procedures, however for yet unknown reasons the result of the correction were invain and the ship could not be corrected anymore, which suggest a malfunction in the self healing mechanism, however I repeat this is only a speculation and the real cause will be detected in due course as soon as the ship will be righted. Rest assured the ship will be salvaged and repaired and will sail again as soon as possible.

Now... please, I understand you guys are ship spotters and fanatic about vessels of all kinds but you shouldn't shoot judgements on matters you are not full aware of.

Thank you

[Sy-]

by CaptMoto on 2007/3/8 15:33:32

Quote:
Re: Repubblica di Genova capsized
´Hi,

misballasting, that's for sure. R.di Genova, although one of the oldest in fleet, is equipped with functional and foolproof ballast handling system with good quidelines. It has utmost importance to monitor continuously filling/emptying sidetanks/bottom etc. Antwerp is a hub for Grimaldi ships, considering that most of the cargo is being disch/loaded, very dangerous moments stabilitywise can occur. They probably went to have one decent italian dinner, unfortunately cargo was still moving to/from, ballasting scheme was not properly executed/completed.



In reply to roostes I would like to point out that I work for Grimaldi and reading these "small talk" comments regarding the crew "going out for a decent italian meal" is both offensive and slanderous, while I am not in a position at the moment to give you the reason for the vessel capsizing, I can tell you there is an investigation in progress to officially clarify the cause for this incident. All I know is that the vessel began to list in the late evening of yesterday and all possible corrections to the listing were carried out according to the standard procedures, however for yet unknown reasons the result of the correction were invain and the ship could not be corrected anymore, which suggest a malfunction in the self healing mechanism, however I repeat this is only a speculation and the real cause will be detected in due course as soon as the ship will be righted. Rest assured the ship will be salvaged and repaired and will sail again as soon as possible.

Now... please, I understand you guys are ship spotters and fanatic about vessels of all kinds but you shouldn't shoot judgements on matters you are not full aware of.

Thank you

I know many people who work for Grimaldi, they told me pretty much the same as you, this wasn't human error on the part of the crew.

'one decent italian dinner' is a careless and immature comment, given how dangerous the situation was. I work for a rival line and must say that I always find Grimaldi employees professional and diligent, far from the above statement made by roostes.

[Mats]

The responses above are reasonable, but please remember roostes cannot possibly have meant any harm. We are all pleasant people here that just want to discuss ships and shipping.

Let us get back to what is important:
- No lives were lost in the casualty and we must be very thankful for that
- The reasons for the casualty have not been determined, but will hopefully be made clear in due time
- The industry must take note of the reason for the casualty when these are made known, and must make sure it does not happen again. The next time, lives could be lost...


Best regards
Mats
Oslo

[FerryMate]

You absolutely right.

[apachio]

Hi,
u can see photos here!

Fishki

brgds :-(

[roostes]

this is to captmoto and sy - my comment was not to question the skills and qualification of Grimaldi seafarers, sorry if somebody feels that way.
To be honest, i was waiting from shipspotters a facts or presumptions abt happening, some serious dicussion to put some light on it, not some bitter replies of how stupid one writer can be - let's just forget it(i will).
CaptMoto seams to have best reach to sources of information - when the ship strted to list and when it capsized?

rgds

roostes

[Tore Lundgren]

Good to have a lawyer onboard. Let´s all be reasonable and mark the Shiplawyers words. Technology can fool us all, and that was probably the case here. The comment on " a decent italian meal" was unappropiate. If that is/ was the reason for capsizing it´s a tragic comedy. I trust that there are reliable and skilled crew onboard, serving great italian cuisine.
Tore

[rgr004]

Let’s close the debate about Italian cuisine and get back to the cause of the accident.

There is no doubt that something went very wrong onboard the vessel, she was safely moored alongside, she (to be confirmed) did not suffer from ingress of water, but still ended up capsizing. I suspect ballasting failure, combined with free surface effect, may be among the causes for the disaster.

In the event that the automatic anti-heeling system went wrong, or/and if some valves started leaking or  malfunctioning, how can one explain that it proved impossible to recover the situation in manual mode?

I repeat, she was safely moored, not drifting in mountainous seas, but still capsized. Theoretically, one could not expect better conditions for solving the problem, isn’t it?

Roland