Extreme weather: ship carrying 458 people capsizes in Yangtze River

[AndrewJin]

@AndrewJin - That looks quite a ways inland. You get strong hurricanes that far inland? That's a pretty big boat. It must have taken something pretty serious to capsize it.

It is called waterspout, a tornado over the water, impossible to be predicted. Actually it is very rare.

 

[Aepsilons]

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【家属哭喊：爸妈我不该让你们去玩的】上海协和旅行社的办公室大门紧闭，十几名家属已赶到现场，一名年轻男子蹲在门口哭喊：“爸妈我错了，我不该让你们去玩的”。

 

[AndrewJin]

Rivers are sometimes more terrible for vessels than seas, take the ferries that capsize all over South east Asia I wonder why? less salt content? @Penguin @Capt.Popeye

This region, in Hubei Province, which is called a province of 1000 lakes. The capital, Wuhan(my city) is called a city of 100 lakes. The geological condition is very complicated. This region is also where 1998 flood happened, causing a mortality of 5000 people.

 

[Echo_419]

Yesterday at night, it was raining crazily in Wuhan(capital of Hubei Province), I couldn't even hear the sound of TV. In the morning, live news in metro television broadcasted a tragedy on Yangtze River caused by waterspout.
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Dongfangzhixing (Eastern Star)
Yangtze River Cruise
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WUHAN, June 2 (Xinhua) -- A passenger ship carrying 458 people sank Monday night in the Hubei section of China's Yangtze River.

The ship, named Dongfangzhixing (Eastern Star), sank at around 9:28 p.m. in the Jianli (Hubei Province) section of the Yangtze River, according to the Yangtze River navigation administration.

The captain and the chief engineer, who have been rescued, both claimed the ship sank quickly after being caught in a cyclone.

It was heading from Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, to southwest China's Chongqing city.

There were 405 Chinese passengers, five travel agency workers and 47 crew members aboard, according to the administration.

Eight people have been rescued.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered a work team of the State Council to rush to the site to guide search and rescue work, and ordered Hubei, Chongqing and relevant parties to carry out all-out search and rescue efforts and properly handle the aftermath.

He also ordered beefing up public safety measures and ensuring the safety of people's lives.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has instructed a work team of the State Council to rush to the site to guide search and rescue work and ordered the Ministry of Transport and other relevant parties to moblize all resources available to speed up the search and rescue work and the treatment of the rescued victims.

On behalf of Xi, Li Keqiang has left for the site of the accident to direct rescue and emergency handling affairs.

Rescue work is hampered by strong wind and heavy rain.

nearby Jianli County
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RIP
I hope they find all those missing people ASAP

 

[AndrewJin]

RIP
I hope they find all those missing people ASAP

It all happened in 1-2 minutes, most tourists had no time for life jacket and most passengers are 60-80 year old. It was not a slow sinking, but a sudden capsize, a real tragedy.

 

[ito]

RIP..

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Rivers are sometimes more terrible for vessels than seas, take the ferries that capsize all over South east Asia I wonder why? less salt content? @Penguin @Capt.Popeye

The more proximate reason is usually things like more negligent operations, even overloading..... all probably caused by being lulled in to a sense of complacency; because of the location or area of operations. Maritime casualties (in terms of human life) are greater in inland and coastal locations compared to deep-seas.

Density differences between SW and FW is already a given; and is factored into the design parameters of the watercraft (in case of non-traditional boats/ships). So that cannot be quoted as a reason for the occurrences.

It all happened in 1-2 minutes, most tourists had no time for life jacket and most passengers are 60-80 year old. It was not a slow sinking, but a sudden capsize, a real tragedy.

If it sank suddenly in a capsize; then undoubtedly Stability was an issue.

It is called waterspout, a tornado over the water, impossible to be predicted. Actually it is very rare.
View attachment 226704

Waterspouts are very localised meteorological phenomenon, which cannot be predicted; but can be seen.

 

[AndrewJin]

The more proximate reason is usually things like more negligent operations, even overloading..... all probably caused by being lulled in to a sense of complacency; because of the location or area of operations. Maritime casualties (in terms of human life) are greater in inland and coastal locations compared to deep-seas.

Density differences between SW and FW is already a given; and is factored into the design parameters of the watercraft (in case of non-traditional boats/ships). So that cannot be quoted as a reason for the occurrences.



If it sank suddenly in a capsize; then undoubtedly Stability was an issue.



Waterspouts are very localised meteorological phenomenon, which cannot be predicted; but can be seen.

There was a sudden change of direction of this vessel. I think it has something to do with the capsize.

 

[Armstrong]

It is still raining heavily outside in Wuhan. The rescue is in trouble.
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What people are still alive ?

I hope they're rescued quickly and I hope Pakistan extends whatever help we can in this matter.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

There was a sudden change of direction of this vessel. I think it has something to do with the capsize.
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It is still an issue of Stability. Any vessel (ie ship) has to have residual stability under all conditions. With two components; Statical Stability and Dynamical Stability. The second comes into play when forces are induced either by the vessel's own movement/manuevers or external forces such as wind, waves etc. If that margin of stability is too small or vanishes due to changing conditions; residual stability is lost. Then disaster is likely.

 

[AndrewJin]

It is still an issue of Stability. Any vessel (ie ship) has to have residual stability under all conditions. With two components; Statical Stability and Dynamical Stability. The second comes into play when forces are induced either by the vessel's own movement/manuevers or external forces such as wind, waves etc. If that margin of stability is too small or vanishes due to changing conditions; residual stability is lost. Then disaster is likely.

Experts here think one likely reason is this sudden change of direction, and the vessel was directly hit by wind and waterspouts from one side. During extreme weather on the river or sea, the most appropriate is to keep the direction of a vessel as the direction of wind.

What people are still alive ?

I hope they're rescued quickly and I hope Pakistan extends whatever help we can in this matter.

The recent update is that rescuers have heard voices from the bottom of the vessel.
But the weather is very bad.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

Experts here think one likely reason is this change of direction, and the vessel was directly hit by wind and waterspouts from one side. During extreme weather on the river or sea, the most appropriate is to keep the direction of a vessel as the direction of wind.


The recent update is that rescuers have heard voices from the bottom of the vessel.
But the weather is very bad,

Prudent Seamanship dictates that weather and sea in adverse conditions should be taken on either Bow. Never on the Beam.Even taking it on the Stern or Quarters is to be done cautiously.
However, the Ship's stability should be maintained such that the Righting Moment (force) is always greater than a Capsizing Moment. That is where Stability matters.

 

[AndrewJin]

Prudent Seamanship dictates that weather and sea in adverse conditions should be taken on either Bow. Never on the Beam.
However, the Ship's stability should be maintained such that the Righting Moment (force) is always greater than a Capsizing Moment. That is where Stability matters.

We have to wait for the final investigation, the captain was already rescued.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

We have to wait for the final investigation, the captain was already rescued.

Stability and Seamanship will go under the microscope.

 

[TaiShang]