Cruise Talk: Norway Boiler Explosion

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»	Cruise Talk » Technically Speaking » Norway Boiler Explosion

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Topic: Norway Boiler Explosion

LeBarryboat
First Class Passenger
Member # 5308

posted 06-01-2006 03:17 PM

Does anyone know the actual reason why Norway's Boiler #23 exploded? What caused the Explosion?

Posts: 1955 | From: Minnesota | Registered: Jan 2005 | IP: Logged

lasuvidaboy
First Class Passenger
Member # 4527

posted 06-01-2006 03:24 PM

There is a complete NTSB report online. I read a portion of it and apparently the damage was quite extensive even causing decks to buckle above the blast point. I forget where it was posted, but it is online.

Posts: 7654 | From: Hollywood Hills/L.A. | Registered: Mar 2004 | IP: Logged

Brian_O
First Class Passenger
Member # 3910

posted 06-01-2006 07:11 PM

Try the NTSB web site at http://www.ntsb.gov

Brian

Posts: 2698 | From: Pointe-Claire, QC Canada | Registered: Jun 2003 | IP: Logged

PamM
First Class Passenger
Member # 2127

posted 06-01-2006 07:15 PM

It's strange.. I can't find the report on the NTSB site, nor could I not so long ago when it was mentioned in another thread and Joe posted a link to a press release saying the report would be made available on x date. ... but I do recall reading it at some point, and remember the same as Lasuvidaboy, about the decks all being mangled to about 3 floors up... quite a mess.

Pam

Posts: 12176 | From: Cambridge, UK | Registered: Jun 2001 | IP: Logged

Ernst
First Class Passenger
Member # 5369

posted 06-01-2006 07:19 PM

To be more concrete:

NTSB press release 2005 (concerning the report)

NTSB Press release 2003

Posts: 9746 | From: Eindhoven | Registered: Jan 2005 | IP: Logged

Malcolm @ cruisepage
Cruise Director
Member # 301

posted 06-01-2006 07:45 PM

It must of been like a bomb exploding.

Even if NCL had repaired all of the damage, I doubt if the general public would ever have had confidence in the ship again.

Posts: 19210 | From: Essex (Just Outside London) | Registered: A Long Time Ago! | IP: Logged

Ernst
First Class Passenger
Member # 5369

posted 06-01-2006 07:49 PM

A boiler contains a lot of energy - nothing to mess around. Note that it has been mentioned that dust has been spread to several areas on the ship - very high probability that it contained asbestos - which if released migrates then trough the whole ship over the time.

Posts: 9746 | From: Eindhoven | Registered: Jan 2005 | IP: Logged

Linerrich
First Class Passenger
Member # 4864

posted 06-01-2006 08:39 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Ernst:
A boiler contains a lot of energy - nothing to mess around. Note that it has been mentioned that dust has been spread to several areas on the ship - very high probability that it contained asbestos - which if released migrates then trough the whole ship over the time.

Don't know if any of you saw the video of the explosion (it played constantly here in Miami on local news) but smoke and dust blew out the wings of the stack as well as the shell doors which were blown open. It created quite a loud noise which could be heard all around the harbor area.

Rich

Posts: 4210 | From: Miami, FL | Registered: Jul 2004 | IP: Logged

lasuvidaboy
First Class Passenger
Member # 4527

posted 06-01-2006 08:58 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:
It must of been like a bomb exploding.
Even if NCL had repaired all of the damage, I doubt if the general public would ever have had confidence in the ship again.

She was having some other problems towards the end of her NCL career. I remember her missing a cruise because of a problem w/the fire sprinklers. The photos I saw of her docked in Miami showed the aft sheltered deck (where the lines are kept) and it looked quite rusty and unkept.

Posts: 7654 | From: Hollywood Hills/L.A. | Registered: Mar 2004 | IP: Logged

LeBarryboat
First Class Passenger
Member # 5308

posted 06-02-2006 10:20 AM

I guess there were faulty welds that corroded, because the blast was a clean break right at the welds, where there was repair work done in 1999. I have a photo of the blown boiler and the inside of the boiler tube somewhere.

Posts: 1955 | From: Minnesota | Registered: Jan 2005 | IP: Logged

Ernst
First Class Passenger
Member # 5369

posted 06-02-2006 01:01 PM

quote:
Originally posted by LeBarryboat:
I guess there were faulty welds that corroded, because the blast was a clean break right at the welds, where there was repair work done in 1999. I have a photo of the blown boiler and the inside of the boiler tube somewhere.

How to you come to the conclusion that it was corrosion? Was it the weld which failed or the material close to the weld - usually the weld is the stronger part.
What do you mean with boiler tube - there are many tubes in a boiler.

Posts: 9746 | From: Eindhoven | Registered: Jan 2005 | IP: Logged

timb
First Class Passenger
Member # 5901

posted 06-02-2006 05:16 PM

...and yes please do post said pic.

Posts: 437 | From: S FL | Registered: Sep 2005 | IP: Logged

TBirdFrank
First Class Passenger
Member # 2280

posted 06-02-2006 08:30 PM

OK - its needed saying for a long time so here goes.

Well maintained boilers do not explode

Can anyone tell me when, in a first world country anywhere in the world, we have had a boiler explosion in recent years??

Oh yes - the good ol' US of A with a traction engine boiler going bang in Illinois a few years ago and a former CPR 4-6-0 imploding its firebox also only a few years ago, both due to appalling levels of maintenance and certification.

So who certified the Norway's boilers and who maintained them to who's satisfaction. A Bahamaian inspector or a Miami NTSB inspector and to whomis a Miami based management responsible?

I gather that NCL, due to some clever international employment procedures, have managed to walk away from the more serious consequences of the explosion and its fatalities.

They also broke EEC environmental law sneaking her out of Bremerhaven with the lie about re-use.

Its not the Norway that the public should have no confidence in is it?

Posts: 158 | From: Manchester, England | Registered: Aug 2001 | IP: Logged

Ernst
First Class Passenger
Member # 5369

posted 06-02-2006 08:38 PM

quote:
Originally posted by TBirdFrank:
[...]
Well maintained boilers do not explode
[...]

But isn't that the problem - isn't it getting more and more difficult to mantain a steam plant on a ship?

Posts: 9746 | From: Eindhoven | Registered: Jan 2005 | IP: Logged

TBirdFrank
First Class Passenger
Member # 2280

posted 06-02-2006 08:40 PM

No - it merely takes the right procedures and money.

Posts: 158 | From: Manchester, England | Registered: Aug 2001 | IP: Logged

Ernst
First Class Passenger
Member # 5369

posted 06-02-2006 08:56 PM

But this IS the problem - isn't it? Steam plant are just less common - so it is more difficult to get well trained personel for operation and mantainance - e.g. there is NO workshop in the U.S. beside the one for naval vessels capable of building structures like large heat exchangers - and without the knowledge how to operate and mantain such a plant a fatal failure is just a question of time.

Posts: 9746 | From: Eindhoven | Registered: Jan 2005 | IP: Logged

TBirdFrank
First Class Passenger
Member # 2280

posted 06-02-2006 09:17 PM

There is still much that requires pressure vessel experience, not least in the power generation business.

It is true that steam experience is a narrow field now, but it is not a dead field, and the knowledge is out there if a company is prepared to seek it out.

Of course marine units are different from land based units, but basic engineering and physics remain constant to both.

There is still some steam on the inland waters of the USA but none on blue water - probably explains why I will be most unlikely to sail in US waters again. But there is still steam experience around the world. Ocean going crews are most certaiinly not sourced from just one country or continent so NCL must have appointed suitably?

I am sure anyone must agree that it was NCL's responsibility to ensure that the Norway, or any ship is staffed by holders of the appropriate tickets and that those staff do their jobs and are given the resources to do that

So yes - resourcing is not what it was, but letting a ship deteriorate mechanically until it kills people is not a ship failure but a management failure.

That responsibility is solely NCL's.

Posts: 158 | From: Manchester, England | Registered: Aug 2001 | IP: Logged

Ernst
First Class Passenger
Member # 5369

posted 06-02-2006 09:31 PM

My point is actually that it is getting more and more difficult to mantain such plants - especially on a cruise ship. As far as I know it has not yet been clarified what the cause for the accident was - but it certainly was the responsibility of NCL to provide the necessary resources - no dicsussion about that. This is also why I understand that passenger ships with steam propulsion - altough I love them - have to be phased out.

Posts: 9746 | From: Eindhoven | Registered: Jan 2005 | IP: Logged

feargus
First Class Passenger
Member # 3982

posted 06-30-2006 12:03 AM

can anyone tell me the type of boilers fitted to the Norway? just interested to know as this would give me a better guess as to the cause of the problem.
having spent most of my time at sea working on steam powered passenger ships i have some ideas but without knowing the type it would pure speculation to say anything.

Posts: 249 | From: Halifax,Canada / Abu Dhabi, UAE | Registered: Jul 2003 | IP: Logged

Ernst
First Class Passenger
Member # 5369

posted 06-30-2006 12:36 AM

Right now (I do not have all my literature at hand) I can only tell you that she orignally had eight water tube boilers built by Penhoet (four were scrapped when she has been converted to the Norway) Each boiler had a capacity of 90 t of steam per hour at 63 bar / 500 deg. Celsius. The boiler were equipped with a desuperheater for the steam supply of auxiliary machinery - there were two fans for each boiler.

I guess you can get more facts here:

ntsb

In this older report they mention some specifications:

ntsb 2003

[ 06-30-2006: Message edited by: Ernst ]

Posts: 9746 | From: Eindhoven | Registered: Jan 2005 | IP: Logged

feargus
First Class Passenger
Member # 3982

posted 06-30-2006 07:30 PM

so, really non the wiser but i will take a big guess.

as i remember the Norway had diesel generators and only the main propulsion was steam powered, the explosion happened in the early morning shortly after arrival. if this is the case the boilers would most likley would have been on low fire just to keep the pressure up. it would not make any sense to shut down the boilers completely for one day alongside. in this they would have most likely had one fire each boiler and kept the fuel pressure low.
now for the comeplete guess, the fire in one boiler could have gone out, burning heavy fuel you need a decent fuel pressure to keep it going. once the fire goes out unburnt atomised fuel oil is still supplied to the furnace. this happens quite often. the normal procedure is to shut the fuel off and purge the furnace by runing the forced draft fans for 5 minutes or so to remove the unburnt fuel vapours. my guess is that the fire going out wasn't noticed straight away and when it was the fire was quickly relit and then bang.
in the past when firing a boilers in a hurry i have had small explosions, just a bit of a bang and the boiler shudders. this seems to be the most likely chain of events to me but i could of course be dead wrong.

Posts: 249 | From: Halifax,Canada / Abu Dhabi, UAE | Registered: Jul 2003 | IP: Logged

moodus2
First Class Passenger
Member # 2414

posted 06-30-2006 09:07 PM

my guess- since the ss norway
is reducing speed coming into
the port of miami,she would need to reduce the volume and
pressure of steam. i believe
that through miscommunication
that the steam drum was low on
water from the feed pumps,the
water tubes over heated and
either or both the steam drum
and water tubes exploded due
to high pressure.

Posts: 473 | From: moodus,ct. | Registered: Sep 2001 | IP: Logged

DAMBROSI
First Class Passenger
Member # 100

posted 06-30-2006 09:50 PM

quote:
Even if NCL had repaired all of the damage, I doubt if the general public would ever have had confidence in the ship again.

I would.....

Posts: 2554 | From: Florida, USA, Where the Legend SS NORWAY sailed from. Moving back to FL next yr. | Registered: May 99 | IP: Logged

feargus
First Class Passenger
Member # 3982

posted 06-30-2006 11:43 PM

i am not going to say you are wrong modus2 but normally if if the boiler water level falls below the norm the fuel is automatically shut off to prevent damge to the boiler. in the case of of Oceanic a few years ago the low level trip on all boilers was by-passed and this resultsed in the destruction of the superheater banks. perhaps a strange way to put it but steam passing through the superheater tubes cools them enough to stop damage.
in the case of an over pressure in a boiler the safety valves should lift. these boilers would have been fitted with four valves, two on the steam drum and two on the superheat outlet. of course failure of all four valves is possible but unlikely. the superheat safety valves are set to lift first so as to maintain steam flow through the superheater tubes.
with all of this we could speculate that the condition of the boiler fittings was so bad that all four safety valves had been screwed down to stop them lifting and the low level cut out had been by-passed. i have sailed on vesssels were we have adjusted or screwed down a safety valve because it was leaking. i have also sailed on vessels were the low level cut out was not working. in this case a constant human watch was in place to monitor the steam drum water level.
the main thing that strikes me is the fact it was an explosion, if a boiler is fired without water it will simply melt, the first tube to fail will release the pressure quickly enough to prevent an explosion big enough to destroy the surrounding area.
yet agian more speculation but interesting non the less.

Posts: 249 | From: Halifax,Canada / Abu Dhabi, UAE | Registered: Jul 2003 | IP: Logged

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