The SS Norway, nee SS France, one of the very last great steam-powered liners, suffered some type of explosive steam release in its engine spaces this week... some killed and others injured.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/28/national/28SHIP.html

SS Norway in NY Times
eledbetter@rypn.org

Eyewitness report from Cruise Critic.com

We were there and awakened at 6:30 am when the explosion occurred. We saw a huge plum of black smoke from the smoke stack (the second stack from the front) There was a lot of soot tossed about the ship and harbor. Immediately we heard the call for fire and rescue teams from the ship, we knew from past cruises that when the lights, water and Air conditioning go off, something is terribly wrong.

The Miami harbor was sealed off... fire, ambulance, and police all over the place. Coast Guard helicopter hovered above along with several news agency copters.

Passengers were asked to report to their muster stations where we were told there had been a explosion in the #23 boiler with injuries. The crew was very professional and tried to keep everyone calm and informed as best aas they could. Finally we were told to return to our cabins, gather our belongings and leave the ship as quickly as possible. We were taken to a terminal where we waited and waited for customs and all to clear us so we could leave. NCL again treated the passengers with as much care as they could, providing water to all of us and reassurance. Finally we were allowed to leave, minus luggage, but we were all safe.

My husband and I would like to sent our sympathy to all the NCL family and our thanks for the professionalism shown by all on the staff during the tragic events of yesterday

SS Norway Postings

> Eyewitness report from Cruise Critic.com

> We were there and awakened at 6:30 am when
> the explosion occurred. We saw a huge plum
> of black smoke from the smoke stack (the
> second stack from the front) There was a lot
> of soot tossed about the ship and harbor.
> Immediately we heard the call for fire and
> rescue teams from the ship, we knew from
> past cruises that when the lights, water and
> Air conditioning go off, something is
> terribly wrong.

> The Miami harbor was sealed off... fire,
> ambulance, and police all over the place.
> Coast Guard helicopter hovered above along
> with several news agency copters.

> Passengers were asked to report to their
> muster stations where we were told there had
> been a explosion in the #23 boiler with
> injuries. The crew was very professional and
> tried to keep everyone calm and informed as
> best aas they could. Finally we were told to
> return to our cabins, gather our belongings
> and leave the ship as quickly as possible.
> We were taken to a terminal where we waited
> and waited for customs and all to clear us
> so we could leave. NCL again treated the
> passengers with as much care as they could,
> providing water to all of us and
> reassurance. Finally we were allowed to
> leave, minus luggage, but we were all safe.

> My husband and I would like to sent our
> sympathy to all the NCL family and our
> thanks for the professionalism shown by all
> on the staff during the tragic events of
> yesterday
Any steam expolison,,is not good,,,nobody will know what happen,,,unil full investion is done,,,but wouldI would like to know,,,what was the grew in the engine room doing,,,who watching what ...I bet we will sure find out....any updates

cprh1b@attbi.com

> Any steam expolison,,is not good,,,nobody
> will know what happen,,,unil full investion
> is done,,,but wouldI would like to
> know,,,what was the grew in the engine room
> doing,,,who watching what ...I bet we will
> sure find out....any updates

One source on the AP wire was already calling it a boiler explosion (yet all but admitted he had no evidence to base that call on - its steam, therefore MUST be the boiler, right?). I'm rather hoping that it was a fuel explosion, or a piping failure.

It will be very interesting to eventually find out just what the situation was. Possibly a learning experience, and something many readers of steam railroad boards might be able to adapt to steam boilers in a safety related frame of mind.
Here's hoping that if anyone finds out more on the cause that it will be posted here.
Mark D.

> One source on the AP wire was already
> calling it a boiler explosion (yet all but
> admitted he had no evidence to base that
> call on - its steam, therefore MUST be the
> boiler, right?). I'm rather hoping that it
> was a fuel explosion, or a piping failure.

From the Miami Herald:

"As an explosion aboard the SS Norway claimed a sixth life Wednesday, investigators descended into the soot and heat of the engine room and found that the blast ripped through the boiler's steel casing, engulfing the crew in a rush of scalding steam.

"The rupture suggests a failure so rapid that it overwhelmed safety systems and relief valves designed to literally let off steam. Experts said such a catastrophe could have been caused by a number of things, from a sudden burst of water pipes inside the boiler, unseen corrosion, maintenance problems, human error or metal fatigue in aging equipment."



Miami Herald Article

Thanks for posting this, as we now have the first real facts on this incident. The earlier coverage has been anything but imformative, as the story was so garbled that you couldn't even begin to say what had happened. Some had fire, others didn't. Some said boiler explosion, some said burst steam pipe, etc. None said the temperature below was so high no one could enter to explore, which would have at least explained the lack of useful info.

rdgooldfede@aol.com

From May 30 Miami Herald:

''We still don't know what happened, and we haven't had the first look inside the boiler we thought we'd get on Thursday,'' said Capt. Robert Ford, who is leading the on-site investigation of the accident for the National Transportation Safety Board.

''There are safety issues for the crew. We're still trying to clean up debris and the room,'' he said.

While little new information was recovered, Ford said he had a better idea in which direction the explosion occurred.

''It blew out the back and starboard side of the steel casing,'' he said. ``It also blew out portions underneath the casing, but we haven't been able to get a good look at that.''

Because of the force and location of the explosion, experts say one possible cause could have been a ''flash'' of steam inside the boiler caused by a bursting water pipe.

STEAM EXPLOSION

Under that scenario, super-hot water hits the furnace gas, causing an explosion of expanding steam.

Tony Rossitto, a ship surveyor with Patton Marine Surveyors in Miami, said the back starboard (right) side of the boiler holds what is called the super-heater -- the section where the steam is the hottest and at the highest pressure before it's piped into the ship's electrical turbines, which power the vessel."

What I'd really like to know is, were all of those casualties in the boiler room, or did the damage extend to other areas of the ship? Seems strange to me that there would be that many people in the boiler room on a ship with automated oil-fired boilers, unless they knew something was wrong and were attempting to fix it when it blew.

Hard to say what kind of effect, if any, this is going to have on steam railroad operations, but between this and the Medina steam tractor explosion, that's two well-publicized deadly steam explosions in recent years. In addition to being a tragedy (obviously) for those involved, incidents like this could easily strike a fear of steam into the general public, and become yet another excuse for the insurance companies to jack their rates up even more.

rjenkins@railfan.net

One thing this incident does point out is that when working with steam boilers, it doesn't take a small, volunteer, usually broke, operation to have an "incident."
Reminder to everyone, I think, that it's impossible to be too careful, or too fussy about boiler condition. Even when all things seem to be perfect, something can still happen.
It's so true, that most people have no idea just how dangerous steam can be.
Mark D.

> What I'd really like to know is, were all of
> those casualties in the boiler room, or did
> the damage extend to other areas of the
> ship? Seems strange to me that there would
> be that many people in the boiler room on a
> ship with automated oil-fired boilers,
> unless they knew something was wrong and
> were attempting to fix it when it blew.

> Hard to say what kind of effect, if any,
> this is going to have on steam railroad
> operations, but between this and the Medina
> steam tractor explosion, that's two
> well-publicized deadly steam explosions in
> recent years. In addition to being a tragedy
> (obviously) for those involved, incidents
> like this could easily strike a fear of
> steam into the general public, and become
> yet another excuse for the insurance
> companies to jack their rates up even more.

A link to an update on the NTSB inspection as reported in June 4 Miami Herald is posted below.

"In a 50-foot-by-90-foot engine room in the bowels of the SS Norway, investigators sift through a jigsaw puzzle of debris to solve the mystery of the boiler explosion that killed seven crew members -- the highest loss of life onboard a cruise ship operating from the United States in the past 10 years, federal officials say.

"The answers could come from a chunk of twisted metal the size of a car door or from the delicate innards of a valve the size of a bottle cap.

"It's the job of a little-known team of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board's marine safety arm to figure it out.

"They know an explosion ripped huge holes in the rear and starboard side of the steel casing that enclosed one of the boilers about an hour after the crew reduced power to the system, a normal procedure when in port. But they haven't determined precisely what happened on May 25 at the Port of Miami-Dade. They're expected to release a detailed preliminary report of the damage today.

"''It was a major explosion'' said Marjorie Murtagh, director of the Office of Marine Safety, during a phone interview from Washington D.C. ``A very rare type of explosion on a cruise ship. If it had happened at sea, the ship would have been dead in the water. They would have had to have been rescued.''

"The marine office has 13 members to cover about 5,000 commercial-shipping accidents a year. Only 50 accidents warrant investigation, but with such a small team, it still has to pick carefully.

"The Norway was a natural because of the danger to the crew of 900 and the 2,100 passengers, Murtagh said. The explosion occurred after the Norway returned from a cruise and docked at the Port of Miami-Dade.

"Thus far, the investigation has been slow-going. ''They don't have an easy job down there,'' Murtagh said.

"There were four, two-story boilers cramped into the engine room. Now there are three, and the remains of the one that exploded.

"The powerful blast sent chunks of debris flying across the starboard side of the engine room. There is scant lighting. The team spends only 90 minutes at a time in the room, where ventilation systems have been cut off to stop asbestos from blowing around."



Norway Article June 4