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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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Safety drill wasn't so safe, huh.
Yes, they need to hire help from Third World Countries.
If they were staffed by US Union workers, only the
upper 1% folks could afford even the cheapest cruise.
note to self..........never take a cruise
Tragic
a
Now imagine being on one of the new, extremely large cruise ships when something major goes wrong. You won't have a chance. LIfe boats, drills, etc. are just a warm fuzzy provided to passengers. If one of these large cruise ships have a problem it will be everyone for him/herself. It will not have a pretty ending. I think I will pass.
And today, a Carnival cruise ship dead in the water off of Mexico. Fire in the engine room. But not to worry. They will get a free plane ride home upon returning to port and a refund. Oh AND a discount on a future cruise. No thanks.
Down to the Sea in Ships ! Not a bad way to live and die. Prayers go out to the families.
Not good to kill people on a safety drill.
How ridiculous? to deny yourself the awesome experience of cruising out of what misplaced fear deb?
This being a tragic accident yes. Most likely attributed to human error? sadly
Heart felt prayers go out to the families and friends of the victims, "bon voyage" crewmembers...
Cables made in china ? They better check all of them.
Kind of ironic don't you think? A safety drill conducted to test the safety of the ship and the ability to safely get passengers off the ship in the event of an emergency and what happens five people lost their lives and three others hurt.
This could have been even worse if there had been an actual emergency with the ship and it had involved passengers that were actually on a cruse.
Thank goodness no one white was killed. Low cruise prices = third world laborers
Think again, do you really believe that just because they were crew members that their lives were less precious; or that no one cared about them? Even a simple lost time injury on the job can cost a company up to $30,000; what do you think 5 deaths are going to cost them. There will be a full scale investigation just like there is when a plane goes down and if the company is found to be at fault it will cost them; probably more than most of us make in a year.
Those British steamship companies have been having lifeboat problems since at least 1912.
well one thing for sure someone was not doing their job because if they were this would not have happened to begin with
and when was the last time the safety equipment was serviced/maintained/checked?????Cables to the life boat snapped - not one but more than one - how many cables are there? Sounds like another example of greed/cutting corners to increase or at least maintain the bottom line and at what cost? Your own employees are dead (5) and injured. This could have happened in a real emergency when the ship was trying to evacuate its guests. Another reason why I will NEVER, EVER take a cruise. RIP to the crew members and to their families and friends, I wish you peace.
I really do not find the humor in that statement. very low and classless of you, to interject your appalling bigotry into a vine recognizing this tragedy politely and respectfully.... inmate 2749740
They didn't say where THIS lifeboat was as far as the order inwhich they were tested in the drill. Hopefully it was the LAST one.. cuz who's gonna volunteer to test the rest of em now?
I smell a lawsuit!
Methinks perhaps someone pressed the up button, winch strength beyond cable max., safety switch malfunction, ergo cable parts, load drops! Seems to be no question occurrence is onsite human error.
Cables are sometimes manufactured with cheap materials -- the profit motive you know -- and have to be very carefully tested before being put to use. Our own Brooklyn Bridge is said to contain such poorly made cabels within its own structure. The manufacturer of the cruise ship's lifeboat cables should be made to supply the authorities with information identifying their relevant output and all of that output should be inspected before this happens again.
Methinks someone pressed the up button, winch obviousily stronger than the cable, safety limit stop failed, ergo cable parts drops load! Seems to be little doubt human error coupled with a simple equipment malfunction is the root cause of this load drop!
Just like the Titanic the life boats are more for aesthetics. With the Titanic it was learned there was never enough boats to save carry all the passengers. I think the life boats give the passengers a feeling of safety thinking they will have a safe place to go to if the ship starts to sink. With as old as most of these cruise ships are today I highly doubt they every test the wenches to see if they even operate so if and when they need them in a clutch they'll find they can't be lowered. When I took my Mom on the QE 2 years ago I was surprised at how rusty and rotting a lot of the rivets were. Just as with this liner they held a drill and lowered one boat down and back up to assure the passengers they aren't just decorations and they actually do work. What they don't do is lower multiple boats to assure everyone ALL of them work. Most people pay no attention to the drills and see it as an inconvenience just as airline passengers do with safety instructions. Again in looking at the cables and wench systems I saw on the QE 2 alone the cables were covered in rust along the first 50 feet of the cable from all the salt water and salt air they get when at sea so it doesn't surprise me this life boat broke free. You can bet all the cruise liners are swapping out any rusty cables before they start setting up mandatory inspections in the weeks ahead..
Cables are sometimes manufactured with cheap materials -- the profit motive you know -- and have to be very carefully tested before being put to use. Our own Brooklyn Bridge is said to contain such poorly made cables within its own structure. The manufacturer of the cruise ship's lifeboat cables should be made to supply the authorities with information identifying their relevant output and all of that output should be inspected before this happens again.
[just correcting a typo].
Regardless of the circumstances of this incident, it is sadly disheartening...