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Nestor Perez / EPA
A rescue vessel (bottom L) is seen next to the overturned lifeboat (bottom R) of the 'Thomson Majesty' cruise ship (behind) at the pier where 'Thomson Majesty' cruise ship is docked at Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands, Spain on Feb. 10.
MADRID — Five crew members died in an emergency drill on a cruise ship in the Canary Islands on Sunday, police said.
Cables snapped on a lifeboat and it plunged 65 feet to the ocean and fell upside down, killing the five and injuring three others aboard, during the mock rescue exercise on the Thomson Majesty, operated by British travel group TUI Travel. It was in the port of La Palma.
TUI, Europe's largest tour operator, did not respond immediately to telephone calls or email requests for comment.
Three of the dead were Indonesians. The other dead were a Filipino and a Ghanaian.
The Thomson Majesty, with five restaurants and two swimming pools, cruises to the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, according to Thomson's website.
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
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The ironies of life.
Yes, but I find it curious that the crew was from such economically distressed countries. I suspect the crew members were hired because they would work for extremely low wages. This make me wonder if the cruise line was cutting corners to the max on other things, like lifeboat and other safety inspections.
"cutting corners" looks like they were cutting the SAFETY LINES TOO ! as if fell overboard upside down!
Dave, you've probably never been on a cruise, but you're right. Most cruise lines' ships are staffed with people from poorer countries. When you have a couple thousand workers on a big ship, keeping labor costs down is critical to keeping cruise fares attractive to customers. And it's why most ships are registered in places like Liberia or Panama, because the labor laws are much more relaxed. The ship crew working things like housekeeping and sanitation and food service are required to work long shifts, typically for 7 days a week.
I hope we don't find out later that none of these people had never been in a life raft/boat, and where operating this to go down when the cables snapped. Having sailed many times myself I know the cables on these things are large enough to withstand the weight and can only possibly snap if jerked suddenly or the cables themselves where bad...Which I highly doubt.
I might also say that for those of you that jump to the these people where being paid lower wages...Think again. They are paid very well for working on these ships...Much more than if they where working in their own country..Some make as much as 10x (or more)what they would have made at home.
TAXES are why most ships are registered in places like....
People need to think of the positive side of this tragedy. It was crew mwmbers that died and not the customers. The cruise company has saved themselves a lot of money in not defending and paying out for lawsuits.
May they rest in peace. Their sacrifice is not in vane. This is why safety exercises are so important. Those life boats hold lots and lots of people. If it was going to go wrong a training exercise is the time. Hopefully other cruise lines will learn from this and correct any possible defects with their safety boat rigging.
Employees on cruise ships may be from poor countries but the ones that I have talked to on cruises say that make good wages. They also really liked their jobs and if they want they can change jobs and even ships to better themselves. Everyone I ever met was extremely courteous, polite, and pleasant. The waitservice and bartenders were great and had a happy outlook. Many were attempting to get friends and families from home employed with their cruise line.
To "the thinker"
What a piggish thing to say, it's ironic that your name is "the thinker". Please use your unsympathetic, ignorant snobbery elsewhere. Human beings died regardless of whether they were the customers or not, and who says that their families can't file a lawsuit just because they were part of the crew?
Most cruises I have been on staff is from these countries or similar
.
It appears that the employees killed were just workers on the ship, not sailors who are supposed to be the ones to inspect and lower the life boats properly. Coming from Corfu it is likely the crew and officers are Greek. The ship's crew, sailors and officers should have been trained on how to properly operate and lower the life boats.
Who ever YOU ARE, That made such a !@#$%^&* mistake too take life from another. And u say a safty what??
Working in the oil Industry offshore. Most every Offshore structure have some type of life raft have never seen a cable break. It would be my guess that this has been miss reported and we will find out later that the emergency handle was pulled causing it to drop. One cable lowers them to the water and then automatic release once they make it to the water. The emergency handle is a back up incause you are in trouble and it will allow you to drop the capsule from any hieght. Sorry to hear of there loss, I work with a lot of people of other countries and they are hard workers jsut trying to make a living.
If the cable did break, it could be cheap chinnese steal cables. The chinnese have been known to cut cornors.
Nice spelling skills, there...
AnaBanana, the correct expression is "not in vain," not "not in vane."
On a positive note, at least the ship didn't run aground!
Logic says that if one cable snaps. It will put a strain on all the other cables, causing them to snap too.
Death by Life Boat ... crazy.
"Their sacrifice is not in vane."
Anabanana - I would NOT call this "sacrifice." Sacrifice is when a soldier stays behind to delay the enemy so his buddies can escape, or when a parent drowns in the process of saving his child. This is more likely a stupid accident caused by cutting corners by the ship's owners, or by an error on the part of the crew members.
it was tragic...hopefully they will keep all these ships at dock til their safety system are proved sea worthy...or a politician get's more money in his back pocket...i ain't going on no cruise ship problem solved...
Why anybody would vacation on one of those death traps is beyond me. It has to be safer to work on a crab boat in the Bering Sea than to go on a cruise. At least you know that the people around you know what you are doing.
@#1.15
What makes you think it was Chinese cables? The ship was built in Finland and the cables were likely of European origin.
Your bigotry and hatred of Chinese is quite apparent.
Well trust me, The cable snapped. I just saw a picture on BBC sent to them from a passenger that shows the frayed cable.
Also yes cables do snap and they do so for many reasons. Sometimes they are spec.ed wrong, sometimes they are not replaced when they should be(they have life span due to corrosion/oxidation) and sometimes they are manf. wrong-this happens when people cut corners and use a none approved cable from a non approved supplier/maker
I am not trying to be a smartazz here, but shouldn't these companies be required to CHECK their equiptment prior to using it and before embarking on each cruise? It is horrible that these people lost their lives needlessly; but I shudder to think what could have happened had this been a REAL emergency??
Discogolf: Most cruise ship workers are paid less than minimum wage and depend wholely on their tips at the end of each cruise. I used to date a crew member, who was a barman, on one of the large cruise lines, and this is what he told me. They get their meals, their board, their laundry, etc. at no charge. They also get their tickets to and from their homes provided to them. But, in the end, for most of them; i.e., bar waiters, managers, wait staff, matre di' (sp), etc., they all depend on the end-of-cruise tips that cruisers leave them. This is why it's so terrible when cruisers give these people empty envelopes and then run to get off the ship. These people put in many long hours of work each week, and they get relatively little or no time off. When you depart the ship, they're working to get it set up for the next group to arrive.....if they're lucky, they may get a couple of hours off when the ship docks....at least enough time to get to the bank to deposit monies or send monies home to their families. I know that I went on board each time the ship docked, and I took care of banking duties for several of the crew members because they couldn't get to their banks. I was able to make their deposits, send money orders to their families, pick up items they needed from the local drug store, etc. So, if you EVER go on a cruise, PLEASE don't forget that these gentlemen and women depend on you for most of their salary. The cruise lines don't pay them a large sum of money unless they are musicians, dancers, show people, etc. Why do you think most of these ships are licensed in Panama or other countries?
As for low-income people being hired as crew members....most of the crew members are HAPPY to be hired as they actually live a very good life on board....much better than home. And, if all goes well, they make a lot of money from their tips, which usually goes to help their families back home. It's a win-win situation for them.
Steve: They do NOT get paid well by the cruise lines.....do your research. They get paid less than minimum wage. As I said above, they depend mainly on tips from cruisers.
Didi is dead on here folks - ya'll saying how cushy of a job it is, the reason why they're so nice, courteous, and eager to please, is they are literally dependent upon your tips for the livelihood of their families. Keep in mind many of the countries they come from are at the bottom of the financial spectrum. This work has the potential to provide for their families, but only if the guests from the first world countries remember to tip often and tip well.
Tragedy for all involved in this scenario - to the armchair conspiracy theorists looking for someone to blame, the Marine Grade Stainless Steel cables used at these applications are still susceptible to corrosion - remember, there is no more rough environment for steel than on the open ocean. It could have been due to improper production process while being made, or simply a chink in the cable which created a weak point for corrosion to enter.
The fact that the lifeboat landed upside down directly implies that one cable snapped first, and then the others snapped when put under the sudden load from the drop. I could go ahead and calculate the force here - but honestly guys, a bit of simple engineering experience and construction experience near the coast should be enough to make what happened here immediately obvious.
Tragedy - I would definitely make sure to do pressure tests of all cables from the same batch to make sure the manufacturer's defect was isolated or batch-wide.
They've pushed this "do it cheap" thing about as far as they can go. Steel cables supposed to be able to carry the boat full of passengers but can't handle a crew drill of only 8 people ? Italian Captain foolin around puts a billion dollar ship on the rocks and kills a bunch of passengers. Right now a Carnival ship is floating in the Gulf of Mexico, third engine fire in 5 years on the same ship. Nobody thought to improve BU generators, crew training, or fix faulty design after the first two fires. All ship lines have had trouble with desease outbreats on board. And a few times a year somebody falls overboard and sometimes the cruise captain radios a location to Coast Guard and continues enroute - don't want the paying customers missing their connections at the other end. Want a cheap vacay ? Cruisin's the way. Those service staff people from the third world countries gettin paid nothing is how it happens. IF they get sick or hurt the cruise line puts 'em off at the next stop and many times makes no provision for health care or a way home. They just abandon them.
Eh you're blonde you're forgiven. This was a check - they were doing a drill. It obviously went bad.
Its not only the ability to avoid US Minimum wage laws, but also basic seaworthiness and safety rules which causes ships to avoid being flagged in the US.
Although the majority of people taking cruises each year are overwhelmingly from the United States, because the International Laws of the Sea state that where the ships are "flagged" or have their official registry, most shipping companies avoid the United States.
This type of "accidental death" makes you wonder why anyone would want to get on board any ship that is not registered in the United States. Kind of like going to Mexico without your own private armed brigade.
OOpsie!! Cause for cable inspections, maybe?
RIP sail crew members.
It sounds like there were possibly only 8 or 9 people in the life boat. How many does it hold or what is the max weight allowed? If these cables broke on this life boat what about the rest? Are they still going to be allowed to sail? I once worked in Tampa Florida in the Dry Dock area of the Port of Tampa. There was an oil tanker that had blown up in Texas that was being made ready to sail to Jacksonville to be repaired. In order to do any welding or cutting all the oil had to be removed and because it was so damaged in Texas (lightning strike) it had to be cleaned out by hand and degreased with fire hoses used to spray the insides clean. During the process we used 55g drums lowered to the bottom of the ship by 3/8in cable and winches. While pulling one 55g (half full) of crude oil to the top it broke loose and fell 80 feet and hit the Forman on the head and well the rest of is body too. Before OSHA was called the drums, cable and wenches where taken off the ship. All of us where sent home and told not to talk to anyone without some one from the company in our presence. The thing is everyone knew the drums where unsafe for the fact we where told not to fill them all the way because the C-clamps holding the drum to the cable would rip out of the 55g drum and that's exactly what happened only the drum was half full. I was on that crew and that was my last day. I heard the next day everyone was issued a hard hat before they went to work. The point of this story is someone knew the cable was not strong enough but they did nothing to correct it, just as this accident! Replacing the cable would have possibly meant replacing the wench to a bigger size which might have meant replacing the boom to a bigger size and so on. Money was the issue and now because these companies like to hire low wage employees there may be no one to collect any insurance money on their behalf. Corporate Greed?
This would never have happened on the SS Minnow...
Of course it wouldn't have happened on the SS Minnow. The Mate was a mighty sailin' man, the Skipper brave and sure.
For that line, Tom, you win the entire internet!... :-)
They were possibly doing crew training without passengers on
board.
and if there wouldn't have been lifeboats, the five people would be alive today..........
Are you suggesting Obama should look into banning lifeboats on cruise ships?
Makes sense to me!!
"WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?" (hillary, 2013)
2008cheaters, your comment makes sense based on this incident...............
Geez! Who is operating that boat, the LAPD?
You racist cop hater???
How is that racist? wth?
Where is the racism?
Where is the hatred?
The Keystone Kops of LAPD shooting before confirming their suspicions doesn't make them racist - just idiotic. Because one points out the stupidity of the cops does not indicate a hatred toward the cops.
What has the LAPD have to do with this story?
No, I am not racist.
Everybody is Racist to a degree. Except those that LIE and claim they aren't.
I'm not racist, I own a color TV
He's referring to "Street Justice" and cover-ups ...lol
none of these cruise ships has enough lifeboats for half the passengers even if the cables hold. floating disasters in the waiting
@jeff sutter - You obviously have no clue what you are talking about. There are very strict regulations regarding the types and numbers of lifeboats and liferafts ships must carry. This is governed in large part by something called the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). I can assure you that every passenger ship out there has more than enough lifeboats and liferafts to hold all the passengers and crew members on the ship. The ship would not be allowed to operate if it did not.
JS is right. You've been watching too much Titanic, jeff.
JS is correct.
jeff you are obviously misinformed regarding cruise ships. better to shut your keyboard and let ppl think your an idiot and to type and remove all doubt.
All cruise ships have enough lifeboat and life raft space for every passenger and crew member. If a lifeboat lift wire failed the vessels wire and maintenance records may show some light on the failure. The breaking load for each wire should be 6 times the maximum working load.
looks like the cable snapped then 5 times as many necks snapped !now someone at the top of corporate needs to get the axe
Why is it that everyone immediately assumes that it must be someone in the corporate office that dictated lower standards? More often than not a middle management, poorly trained guy who is trying to save money on his budget and not realizing he is endangering people, uses the less expensive option. People are not nearly as deliberately greedy as these message boards imply. I have been in all three areas (by many years of working my way up.) Although no longer part of "corporate" America (thanks to a lay off) I find it amazing how mistaken people are. While I am sure there are some ruthless, greedy corporate types out there the majority are simply trying to turn a profit for their investors. They trust their executive and middle managers to run the day to day operations. It most often remains in the hands of the middle managers to decide what is important and back that up to their bosses. I have seen (and been one of) those managers stand up and insist on particular equipment needed for safety. If you have your facts to back it up I have never seen an executive deny equipment needed for safety reasons. I have been denied new uniforms, computers, etc but once the word employee or customer safety was brought up there was no doubt. However, I have seen managers try to save money and use material and supplies that were not as good because they either did not know better or take the time to research carefully enough. Perhaps rather than immediately jumping to the conclusion that it is evil corporate greed we should consider that it may simply be either human laziness or an error.
I doubt very seriously that both cables snapped at the same time (bow and stern are separate cables). I know the article says that cables snapped but more than likely the releasing gear was deployed prematurely or failed. Human error is more likely in these sorts of accidents. These cables are tested every two years at many time more than their designed load.
Probably one cable snapped first, then the other cable, unable to hold the entire weight by itself (coupled with the sudden jerk), snapped also. Which would also seem to explain why the lifeboat landed upside-down in the water.
What most likely occured is the cable release was pulled. This is designed to release the life boats once they are in the water, an auto release would not fail as they have redundant catches to prevent this. A manual release is needed as a safety because the ship may be partially submerged and the distance down to the water surface can vary. A crew member was most likely instructing new crew members the correct procedure, when someone released it prematurely. This is a human error, I have never seen these cables break or fray. The equipment is used worldwide and meets standards before being installed, is inspected annually and can hold much more passanger weight than was in actually the boat.
May I repeat: It's only a drill.
OOPs...
Time to abandon ship.
I'm following the captain. He's jumping.
I would be willing to bet every contract of those deceased has a "no litigation" clause, unknown to them but soon to be known to their families.
Was the captain of the Costa Concordia in charge??
This is a sad and unnecessary incident. I hope that it spurs the owners to increase inspections of their equipment. Sure wouldn't want to experience such failures during an actual emergency.
Jeff, your wrong, but don't let the truth get in the way of a good story right? Cruise ships, are the safest way to travel anywhere. How many millions of people would otherwise drive to their vacation destinations and how many would be killed getting there?
I can't think off anyone who could drive across an ocean. Then again I can't think off a cruise line that can get me from Yellowstone, Wyoming to Nashville, Tennessee either.
I know I'm being an azz, lighten up......
Having seen several episodes of The Love Boat, some of them all the way through, I can tell you that cruise ship crews are highly skilled white people with very friendly non-threatening black people, all of whom have a lot of time to interact with the guests and each other. The crazy antics these folks get up to on the high seas are just as entertaining as the scamps that man our submarine fleet. I was considering going on a cruise, but I usually go to bed by ten o'clock and from what I've read the chocolate bar opens up at midnight. I guess I'll just join the navy instead. I hear that they have the best chow.
My Dad told me to join the Navy.
You get 3 meals a day and clean sheets.
In the Army you wake up and discover you are using a cow pie for a pillow.
Join the Air Force we make the officer go and fight and we stay
home unless you go into comm. That way I only spent 14 years living in tents
and caring a gun.
Take a cruise at your own risk, if you're lucky you'll only gain 10 lbs.
Goes to show you how long it's been since they did a safety drill.
The safety drill is part of every cruise. Legally, it has to take place within a time limit of setting sail on every cruise.
Drills are good when you know what you are doing! Maybe they should have used "Water Drums" for the weight of people, if they needed to do a Drill Safety Check... Also, I hope the families of these victims get a Healthy Settlement! This Cruise-line need to come up-to-date with new equipment, along with Legitimate Safety Inspection Checks!
There are enough lifeboats BUT if the ship is listing badly half of them can't be launched.+
tdoc needs to take a break
Where do I get one of those cars that drive on water?
I remember those, a kid in my town had one 30-40 years ago. He and his pals would don life jackets and sailors hats and cruise the "square" funny as hell. Two little props beneath the rear bumper. Worked too, not as good as 007's but kind of cool.
I hope this cruise line does the decent thing and sends the families of these poor crew members enough money to carry them through all the lost wages that would have been sent home to allow them to survive. I have worked on the cruise ships and the "crew" members are from very poor families that depend on the money sent home to eat each day. This would only be 1 or 2 hundred thousand for each of the 5 families.
They are supposed to lower it not drop it.
I have been in a dozen cruises and I realize there is always "Muster Drills" before leaving the ports. This in unexcusible for sich as this to happen. The Cruise Line is surely resopnsible. That's why the good ol USA is the only way to cruise. I have never cruised without a Muster Drill. They ar all important and if that Cruise Line didn't do em, they're out. It's a shame lives had to be lost to this ignorance. Why were the crews in the lifeboats to start with and why weren't the inspected regularily for safe operation? Sounds like the lowering ropes either broke or came loose and caused the boat to capsize and trap or crush the crew members........So sad.
Tirezan. The Captain is responsible. The crews are required to go through life boat drills in safety training on the ships. The Captain and his officers should have properly inspected and trained the sailors to know how to properly lower the life boats. I suspect there was a lack of training, inspections and maintenance on this ship.
Actually they all drowned. none of the crew members knew how to swim.
Took 1 cruise in my life and it was enough to last me a lifetime. 11 days from Los Angeles to Acapulco and back.
Alright check out the life boats. Theyre made to save lives not killed right? whyd they make mini cruise ships as life boats? i dont understand that. If our boat sinks we want you saved in luxury? My point is if they had the standard life boats they couldve been saved instead of drowned.
That's not luxury, that's how one survives on the open seas. The lifeboats you are thinking of haven't been used in years. Open boats expose the survivors to blistering sun, salt water spray and storms. Furthermore, those lifeboats have communication gear, so rescue boats can find them.
Dcyizzy, you win for the dumbest and most uninformed comment yet.
Congratulation.
Uh, one question Commander: aren't those cables supposed to support that boat?
It's a good thing this was only a drill and not an actual emergency.
How do you call that a safety drill?? Safe because they only caused the death of 5 employees??
Looks like no inspections have been done lately where are the maintenance records??
All maintenance records are posted on the enigeering deck. All inspections were done, but there is no inspection for stupidity. A person in the boat messed up and killed themselves and the other crew members training. No, the cruise ship did not post the records in this article. Look on the boat for them, dumbass.