I'd heard tales about the Jennie being wrecked off the north end of Eigg and Mary and I went looking for the cave where we were told her remains had ended up.  We could only get to it at low tide and what we found was the bow section of the ship wedged firmly into a sea cave.  The story was that she stranded on the rocks off-shore and broke up.  Some time later a heavy storm washed the bow section into the cave.  This was in 1988 and I should think some of her still survives.

There's something very sad about the remains of this ship.  Hope you like it.....

I was looking at the new container ship Emma Maersk which is due in Felixstowe today with 45,000 tons of goods for the christmas shopping spree, frm China of course.  Apart from the size of the ship, and the fact that it has a 14 cylinder version of the engine which we pictured in this topic (engine produces 108,000shp, weighs 2,300 tons and crankshaft alone is 300 tons on to a 130 ton propellor) this was what grabbed me in an article in the Guardian: 'The Emma Maersk, the first of a fleet of seven equally large container ships, will soon be on its way back to China. But instead of carrying toys and electronic gorillas, catfood and computers, it will be taking back the detritus of a throwaway Christmas.

In what has been described as both a virtuous and a vicious circle, one of Britain's biggest exports to China is now waste plastic - which is turned back into the soft toys and decorations that the Emma Maersk brings to Britain.'

What a commentary on global economics, we take in goods and export waste.  A sobering thought for a historian.

I was watching Coast last night and they mentioned the death of the foghorn.  Here are some pics of the lighthouse on the end of the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, the most westerly point in mainland Britain.  The pink granite was quarried on Arran and is as crisp as the day it was built.  The foghorn was powered by diesel driven compressors in the lighthouse buildings and the structure below it has been converted into a whale watching station.  Hard to get to but well worth it if you are interested.

Here's a funny for you.  I watched the programme last night on BBC1 of the capsize of the herald of Free Enterprise at Zeebrugge.  At the end of the prog the voice-over said that free water on the car deck was still a problem.  Here are some letters triggered by the sinking of the Estonia in the Baltic:

The Chief Engineer
Stena Sealink Line
Stena Sealink House
Holyhead. LL65 1DO


3 October 1994 1140\sq.700




Dear Sir,

My mind has been much exercised over the last few days by the recent tragic loss of the ro-ro ferry in the Baltic. I recently travelled on one of the Norfolk Line boats from Felixstowe to Scheveningen with a heavy load and can well appreciate the problem of potential instability which could be caused by a relatively small amount of water swilling around unrestricted in the cargo deck.

I can also see the disadvantages of having to sub-divide the deck by longitudinal bulkheads. I spend most of my life dealing with engineering problems but usually those connected with steam engines: I earn my living by refurbishing them and running them. As usual, the back half of my brain has subconsciously taken your problem on and has come up with a simple solution which will entirely stop surge and will not impede the loading space in any way.

My first reaction when this thought popped into my conscious brain was that it is so obvious that someone else must have thought of it and there must be a good reason why it hasn't been done. The second thought was that it was worth hanging the idea out in front of somebody just to have it shot down. A quick look in yellow pages has come up with your company's fax number so here goes.

I start from the basic assumption that we are dealing with relatively small amounts of water in relation to the gross tonnage of the ship. It seems to me that the problem is that as the ship heels, the water naturally falls to the low side where it has the greatest leverage and tends to encourage the list to the point where the angle of heel brings the centre of gravity of the ship past a critical point beyond which there is no recovery. From there on shifting of cargo, fuel and rendering the hull liable to water entering through areas not normally required to be watertight completes the disastrous process and we have a tragedy.

The problem therefore is to stop the water piling up on the low side where it has the mechanical advantage.

Consider, if the cargo deck was covered with x feet of water frozen solid there would be no surge and no danger. I don't know what the value of x is but suspect you could have ten feet of ice on the cargo deck in the worst weather and have no problem. Certainly far more water than you would expect even with the outer bow door ripped off and a space a metre deep across the top of the inner door letting water in. Therefore the trick will be to restrain the water. We can't freeze it fast enough so we'll have to come up with something more practical than that.

I don't know what you have below the plate deck of the cargo hold, nor am I certain what spare headroom you have but consider the following. If the deck of the cargo hold was a false floor made of slats over the cargo deck proper as many longitudinal walls as was necessary could be incorporated in the tank so formed. Any water coming in would fall straight into these longitudinal tanks and be entirely restrained from latitudinal motion. The walls of these compartments shouldn't be entirely watertight but be pierced by sufficient holes to allow the water to level out so that all the tanks could come to the same level but under restraint. Each end of these tanks would be open to pumps which, triggered by rising water would automatically drain them. If it was thought to be necessary, latitudinal baffles could be inserted in the tanks to restrain the water from fore and aft motion if the ship was pitching badly but I don't think this would be seen as too great a problem. Some swill in the tanks would be a good thing as they would then tend to be self-cleaning.

I have seen it reported that six inches of water over the whole floor of the cargo hold is dangerous. If you have six inches spare in the height of the hold it would be relatively simple and cheap to install a six inch deep false floor in the hold without loosing any of the advantages of the open space and at very small weight or cost penalty. At the very least it could be very easily demonstrated to your customers that the problem of surge had been cured.

At this point you are either falling about laughing at my solution or you might think I have the germ of a good idea. Whichever it is, please let me know. I am out at work all day but there is an ansaphone on duty at the number below and I am in all evening. I would love to hear your reaction.

Yours faithfully,

SLMAR/9-05/94/09

7 October 1994

StenaSealink

Mr. Stanley Graham
10 East Hill Street
Barnoldswick
Colne
Lanes. BB8 6AN


Dear Mr. Graham

Your letter dated 3 October has been passed to this department for reply. We are responsible for all aspects of safety onboard the ships of the Stena Sealink fleet.

Our current safety philosophy concentrates on the prevention of entry of water onto the car decks. However there are also bilge wells, scuppers and down-flooding arrangements to drain off water. Designs for new ships to be built in the future may include certain novel features many of which have been suggested recently in the aftermath of the sinking in the Baltic of the ferry "Estonia".

I am sorry I cannot reply in detail to your letter, we have received many such suggestions, all will be given some consideration in due course.

You may be interested to know that Bow Doors and Visors were introduced into the Sealink fleet with the entry into service of the "Antrim Princess" in 1967. Since then there have been no Bow Visor failures attributable to heavy weather. The Stena Sealink operational procedures call for the ship's speed to be reduced on all occasions when heavy seas are encountered and as part of the Company's safety management and quality system every ship's log sheet is checked by the head office Marine Department to ensure that speed is reduced in heavy weather and fog . In addition to this every Stena Sealink ship has video surveillance of the Bow Visor securing arrangements and a continuous safety and security patrol on the vehicle decks. The patrolling crewman has strict instructions to report any unusual occurrence immediately. He also reports to the officer on the bridge at regular intervals.

The strict procedures for the safe opening and closing of doors introduced in 1967 have been further enhanced in accordance with Department of Transport regulations so that before the ship sails the watertight loading doors are shut and reported shut to the Captain who will then confirm this report by observing the indicator lights for the door and by further checking the video monitor. Only after all these checks have been made will the order to let go the mooring lines be given and for the ship to leave the berth. Once clear of the linkspan which joins the ship to the shore the Bow Visor is lowered and only when it is secured and reported in the same way as the doors will the ship proceed to sea

Thank you for your letter and your interest in this matter



Yours sincerely

Captain B. G. Mavity
Marine Manager


Stena Sealink Limited Ship and Port Management Department Charter House Park Street Ashford Kent TN24 8EX
EN 29002/ISO 9002/BS 5750
APPROVED BY BV01

FOUNDED 1860 INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER 1910 AND 1960

THE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF NAVAL ARCHITECTS
10 UPPER BELGRAVE STREET LONDON SW1X M

Tel: 071-235 4622 Fax: 071-245 6959

Secretary JOHN ROSEWARN


Stanley Graham
10 East Street Hill
Barnoldswick
Lanes
BB8 6AN

11th November, 1994

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your letter on safety standards of ferries and the suggestions made. You will not be surprised that such suggestions are not altogether new. Amelioration of the effects of car deck flooding by some form of subdivision, even as small as perforations is certainly feasible. A grid deck does have some disadvantages : inadequate drainage of split petrol; inability to cope with rapid flooding in quantity; inconvenience of dropped personal belongings. A very promising design based on 'down-flooding' of this type was developed by some students at Glasgow University some years ago but awaits adoption by a ferry company

There is probably no single solution suitable for all ships but there is no shortage of technical solutions. They have all been well publicized and are available to any ferry company with the will to adopt them. Some of the very new ferries can actually accept flooding of the car deck without immediate danger but older ferries continue to cause anxiety. We shall continue to campaign for improvement

Yours Faithfully,

JOHN ROSEWARN
SECRETARY


My idea was to use logitudinal beams under the false floor to restrain the water.  In other words, turn the floor construction upside down, no extra weight and perfect control.  Never heard anything more about it.......