On Friday, March 22,, 2024, an explosion within the engine room of Holland America Line’s (HAL) cruise ship resulted within the launch of steam which led to the demise of two crew members. The catastrophic explosion, mixed with a sequence of errors in responding to the accident, precipitated the deaths of HAL staff Joseph Terrado and Wawan Gusnawan.
The accident happened round 9:00 a.m. on Friday whereas the HAL cruise ship was anchored (or was maneuvering on dynamic positioning) on the cruise line’s non-public Bahamian vacation spot of Half Moon Cay (there isn’t a dock). Mr. Terrado, employed as a 3rd engineer, and Mr. Gusnawan, employed as a wiper, have been reportedly putting in filters when a steam compensator, unrelated to their duties, exploded. The half which failed known as a “steam bellow.” The official identify of the faulty gear is a “thermal growth joint” (photograph instantly beneath).
The explosion launched steam into the engine room. The bridge reportedly ordered an alarm, closed the water tight doorways, and shut down the air flow to the area earlier than it was evacuated. The 2 crew members, who weren’t outfitted with Emergency Escape Respiratory Gadgets (EEBD), have been unable to manually open the closed, heavy hydraulic doorways. They have been trapped within the area. They apparently suffocated as a result of lack of oxygen and sizzling steam (180 levels Celsius) which overwhelmed them. Their our bodies have been positioned close to the closed water tight doorways.
A HAL fan web page contained a picture of steam being vented from the engine room of the HAL cruise ship
This preliminary data, the photograph of the steam bellow (above), and of the placement of the accident (beneath) have been offered by cruise staff who needs to stay nameless. (We are going to put up a video of the engine room the place the accident occurred shortly).
Aside from issuing a press assertion which provided “ideas and prayers” and providing counseling to crew members affected by the tragedy, HAL didn’t launch any particulars or present the names of the 2 crew members or their job positions. Nor did HAL provide any clarification into how the accident occurred. As a substitute, the cruise line referred to the lethal engine room accident as merely an “incident in an engineering space.” HAL says that it notified “the suitable authorities” and is presently investigating the incident. HAL didn’t determine the investigating company nor state whether or not it’s going to launch extra data. (HAL later acknowledged that the Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) was main the investigation).
Cruise strains which carry out investigations following accidents of this kind preserve their discovering and conclusions secret. HAL will subsequently declare that its investigation is privileged and shielded from disclosure to the general public. HAL won’t ever volunteer any details about what occurred two days in the past ensuing within the deaths of Mr. Terrado and Mr. Gusnawan.
As a result of these crew members are residents of the Philippines (see replace beneath), HAL will declare that their surviving members of the family are topic to the provisions of the Philippines Abroad Employment Settlement (POEA) which applies to all Filipino seafarers and their households. The POEA supplies very restricted damages of solely $60,000, and solely $7,500 per youngster, when Filipino seafarers die whereas employed on cruise ships. Cruise strains like HAL have inserted arbitration clauses of their crew members’ employment contracts which prohibit ship staff and their households from submitting lawsuits within the U.S. earlier than a decide and jury. HAL will finally provide to pay a pittance to the households of those two harmless, arduous working crew members, even supposing they died as a result of apparent defective situation of the HAL cruise ship, the dearth of security gear, and the negligence of bridge officers. In the meantime, HAL will proceed to maintain the circumstances of the accident secret and its substantial wrongdoing away from public scrutiny.
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March 24, 2024 Replace:
We have now discovered that Mr. Gusnawan is from Indonesia. Due to this fact, his household isn’t topic to the POEA and Filipino legislation. His household remains to be required to adjust to the arbitration clause in his employment contract prohibiting them from submitting go well with within the U.S.
There reportedly have been 5 crew members within the engine room earlier than the explosion. Three left the room and closed the water tight door behind them. The fireplace workforce, which assembled after the explosion, couldn’t open the doorways for purpose not presently identified (maybe the hydraulic oil turned too sizzling and the hydraulic pump couldn’t construct up ample strain). The emergency guide hand pump reportedly didn’t work.
ABC World Information Tonight aired this program on Sunday night, March 24,2024:
Picture Credit score: Engine room and failed steam bellow- nameless; Nieuw Ansterdam – Jonathan Palombo CC BY 2.0 commons / wikimedia.
