More updates as "breaking news" is flashed on the TV!

Save It Email It Print It
(CBS4 News) FT. LAUDERDALE The largest cruise ship in the world will have to wait a day to make a trip around South America to San Francisco, after discovering engine problems shortly after beginning that trip from Port Everglades.

The Queen Mary II left Port Everglades shortly after 1 PM Tuesday, bound for South America, and was just a few miles offshore and a spokesman for Cunard, owner of the ship, said the captain noticed a problem with one of the ship’s engines.

Cunard says the ship stopped offshore and performed engine checks for a few hours, but engineers decided the ship could not continue, so the decision was made to return the Queen Mary II to it’s berth at Port Everglades.

The cruise line says the ship will be in port at least overnight, and passengers will simply spend the night aboard ship.

A Cunard spokesperson says there were no other problems aboard the ship, and no apparent damage beyond the problem with the propulsion system.

Cunard is owned by Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines.

In April 2004, she arrived late to Southampton when a hatch covering a bow thrusted would not close, which forced her to sail back to port a low speed, due to the 'drag' effect. I think it was an hydrolic problem.

Queen Mary II Forced To Return To Port

POSTED: 6:49 pm EST January 17, 2006
UPDATED: 7:07 pm EST January 17, 2006

PORT EVERGLADES, Fla. -- The Queen Mary II returned to Port Everglades just hours after it departed Tuesday.

Ship officials said that a warning light came on indicating a problem with four propulsion motors, which could potentially affect the speed of the vessel. The captain made the decision to return to port.

The ship returned to Port Everglades under its own power.

Divers are expected to inspect the hull and the propulsion system Wednesday.

Officials told Local 10 that the passengers might have tours of Fort Lauderdale arranged for them Tuesday night since the ship's departure will be delayed.

Queen Mary II stopped in Fort Lauderdale to pick up a group of passengers for a 38-day cruise around South America.

Blinking thing came up twice. Can one of you delete this please? Ta.

[ 01-17-2006: Message edited by: Patsy ]

******

quote:

---

Originally posted by Patsy:
Is QM2 going to be this year's Aurora?

---

Let`s hope she is not becoming this year`s Millenium. (...now it`s really getting a bit dull - sorry)

[ 01-17-2006: Message edited by: Ernst ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by bulbousbow:
Rolls Royce and Alstom will be having a sleepless night.

******

Cheers

---

quote:

---

Ernst wrote:
I don`t think so. They are used to this - and it might not be fixed in one night.

---

Regardless, it’s not good publicity for their pods. Someone in their organizations will have bad dreams.

******

But I guess you are right: It might be unfair, but this incident is bad for them...

...as QM2 gets a lot of media attention - which was good to sell her might now come back in a negative way.

quote:

---

Rego007 wrote:
Also, why have I never heard about the Voyager-class having issues with them?

---

Because they are from different manufacturers. One is Rolls Royce and the other ABB.

******

quote:

---

Ernst wrote:
...don`t take it too seriouse. But I guess you are right: It might be unfair, but this incident is bad for them...

---

Of course it is bad for them. That's the whole point.

******

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rego007:
Assuming it may be the pods, what exactly is the deal with them and why are they so tempermental? Also, why have I never heard about the Voyager-class having issues with them? I would think that the ones on those ships would be more strained, having fewer of them on a similar-sized ship.

I'm sure someone out there knows much more about them than I do and can explain.

---

ABB pods have also problems.

To my understanding a lot of reliability problems with pods are caused by the fact that the motor is confined in a very small housing (dew, temperature etc.) and problems with bearings/seal.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Fairsky:
Time has shown how wise Princess' leadership was. Of course, since merging with CCL Princess now has operational responsibility for Cunard's fleet--including QM2's four pods.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:
Hmm..she had to have a gas turbine replaced last year.

---

I believe both gas turbines were "switched out" in Norway, something which is standard scheduled maintenance with this type of engine, based on hours of usage. (It's done all the time with aircraft engines). At the time there was no indication that this was done on an emergency basis, other than the fact that the switchout wasn't done in Southampton before the cruise. OTOH, the engines were shipped to the port QM2 was scheduled to be in on that particular day and the replacement only delayed the ship's departure by a few hours. I would not be the least bit surpised to see this type of switchout being done at other ports in the future. Perhaps Gerry can shed some light on this.

As for the pods, they were supposed to be overhauled during QM2's scheduled November refit, so I wouldn't assume that the problem lies with them. To date QM2's 4 Mermaid pods have operated far more reliably than the 2 smaller, less powerful Mermaid pods on the Celebrityships.

Don't take the news reports as gospel insofar as the cause of the problem is concerned. These people have no idea about the details of the ship's propulsion system. What they call an engine could be a diesel engine, a gas turbine engine or an electric motor. The electricity distribution system and its controls are also part of the propulsion system. Maybe they hit something and some blades need replacing.

So where does the problem lie and how serious is it? We'll just have to wait and see.

Brian

[ 01-18-2006: Message edited by: Brian_O ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Fairsky:
Back in 2000 I spoke with an officer aboard Dawn Princess (long before they merged with CCL) about why Princess was not using pods on their new ships. He said very confidently that pods were an untested technology, and P&O Princess would only build ships with the most reliable systems and proven quality.

Time has shown how wise Princess' leadership was. Of course, since merging with CCL Princess now has operational responsibility for Cunard's fleet--including QM2's four pods.

---

I heard the same about Carnival - some years new Destiny class ships were supposed to be delivered with pods (like Grand class) but the could avoid it in the last moment.
I have also been told that the pod manufacturers have rather unusual contracts not allowing involved companies to speak about the performance.

[ 01-18-2006: Message edited by: Ernst ]