South Korea ship sinking - 450 on board, April 2014

[trigger]

Bad weather, murky water and strong currents are hampering the search for survivors of the South Korean ferry disaster.

South Korea's president visited the wreck and urged rescuers to "hurry".

Park Geun-hye said that time was running out and that every minute and every second was critical.

http://m.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27056653

 

[cuffem]

My first thought after reading about the tilting was a shifting of people or cargo.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/world/asia/south-korean-ferry-accident.html?hp&_r=0

An investigator, who said he could not speak for attribution before the government had reached its final conclusions, said it was possible that the ferry’s cargo — which included 180 trucks and cars and more than 1,100 tons of cargo in shipping containers — had not been tied down properly. “That might have loosened them and caused them to slide to one side when the ship made its turn, and helped cause the ship to tilt out of control,” the investigator said.

The crew never had a evacuation drill,they only studied the manual for a fire drill and did not have time to look at the manual during emergency.
They were not prepared or trained properly for an emergency. Possible they were overloaded and cargo not secured,on top of fog and venturing off course.This was a deadly combination of failures.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Rescuers Pumping Oxygen into Sunken Ferry

http://nypost.com/2014/04/17/only-1-lifeboat-deployed-from-sinking-ferry-287-still-missing/

 

[Elphaba]

I'm tired of these captains saving themselves first. Remember the Costa Concordia cruise ship? They should be more like Captain Sullenberger. He was the last one off the plane in the Hudson River, and he searched the plane to be sure before he left.

Sulley was who I instantly thought of when I heard that the captain of this ferry had played the coward card and abandoned his passengers. Plane, ferry, ship, when you captain ANY vessel, saving your a$$ first and walking off and leaving souls to perish is NOT an option.

Those poor families… those poor kids… every breath that that captain is taking, he stole from those that died on his watch. Coward...

 

[nightwatch]

snipped
Those poor families… those poor kids… every breath that that captain is taking, he stole from those that died on his watch. Coward...

Well said.

What happened? Why did that ferry sink so fast? Who was in the life raft with the captain? I agree he is a coward. Moo

ciao

 

[Nore]

I've been looking for live coverage and not having much luck but in googling, is it just me or does there seem to be an awful lot of South Korean ship-sinking stories ... ?

-------
Hi, its not just you. What do they teach Captain and crew? I'm beginning to wonder. China isn't a whole lot better.

 

[CHERIE.T]

Well said.

What happened? Why did that ferry sink so fast? Who was in the life raft with the captain? I agree he is a coward. Moo

ciao

Earlier tonight I heard a reporter say the captain was the FIRST off the boat!
Can you imagine? He has a hand in everyone's death on the ferry.
Incredibly sad.

 

[mck16]

This is the most sickening of all the tragedies I have seen on WS or in the world. The MH390 is a tragedy, but this is far worse. To have people there on the scene and no aid rendered is incomprehensible to me. You have children dying before their very eyes. I just can't imagine. I am sorry for the loss of life of the airline, but this is unbelievable to me. jmo

 

[mck16]

They are showing the ship right now on CNN and it is completely sunk. This just breaks my heart. Those poor kids and family. I am sick. jmo

 

[margarita25]

Rescuers Pumping Oxygen into Sunken Ferry

http://nypost.com/2014/04/17/only-1-lifeboat-deployed-from-sinking-ferry-287-still-missing/

From this link:

"But Burke, who is also executive director of the college’s Global Maritime Center, also pumping oxygen into the vessel would not appreciably increase chances of survival.
“It might help but only a little. When you die of asphyxia, you don’t die from a lack of oxygen, you die from an excess of carbon dioxide,” he said, explaining that the carbon dioxide would have to somehow be vented from the hold."

 

[margarita25]

Danwon High School students hold up messages such as “come back,” “miss you,” “love you,” and “don’t lose your hope,” for their missing friends.
Photo: AP

 

[margarita25]

Rescue team members try to save passengers of a ferry sinking off South Korea's southern coast.
Photo: AP Photo/Yonha

http://nypost.com/2014/04/17/only-1-lifeboat-deployed-from-sinking-ferry-287-still-missing/

 

[CHERIE.T]

Danwon High School students hold up messages such as “come back,” “miss you,” “love you,” and “don’t lose your hope,” for their missing friends.
Photo: AP

:,,,,,,(

Prayers to the families.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

As anger grows, prosecutor says captain not at helm when South Korea ferry sank

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/17/world/asia/south-korea-ship-sinking/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

 

[nightwatch]

From this link:

"But Burke, who is also executive director of the college’s Global Maritime Center, also pumping oxygen into the vessel would not appreciably increase chances of survival.
“It might help but only a little. When you die of asphyxia, you don’t die from a lack of oxygen, you die from an excess of carbon dioxide,” he said, explaining that the carbon dioxide would have to somehow be vented from the hold."

Very interesting, being in a pocket wouldn't help for very long. Many years ago we went on a whitewater raft excursion, I fell out of the raft. The water was so cold it took my breath away literally. First thing they yelled to me was don't panic. It was very hard not to panic when I couldn't breathe

I can't imagine the fear and panic the passengers experienced. Jmo

ciao

 

[cuffem]

Sometimes it is better to disregard what the authorities are telling you,the 911 operators told people to stay put in the first tower.

 

[margarita25]

Power was cut off as ship was sinking so many may be trapped inside. 324 students and 14 staff members from Danwon High School on ferry.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140416001525

The cause of the accident was not yet determined by 6 p.m., but the passengers suggested that the ferry hit a reef just before 9 a.m. when the vessel jolted with a loud noise.

Rescued passengers also speculated that thick fog may have contributed to the accident, but the meteorological office said the area was clear with visibility of about 20 kilometers.

It is also speculated that the ferry may have altered course in order to make up for time lost due to its departure being delayed by weather conditions.

So awful!

 

[Snoods]

Very interesting, being in a pocket wouldn't help for very long. Many years ago we went on a whitewater raft excursion, I fell out of the raft. The water was so cold it took my breath away literally. First thing they yelled to me was don't panic. It was very hard not to panic when I couldn't breathe

I can't imagine the fear and panic the passengers experienced. Jmo

ciao

How frightening! That is how someone was saying you can drown, the shock of hitting the cold water makes you accidentally inhale water and then..you drown.

Ha! Don't panic, easy for someone else to say.

 

[Snoods]

This is the most sickening of all the tragedies I have seen on WS or in the world. The MH390 is a tragedy, but this is far worse. To have people there on the scene and no aid rendered is incomprehensible to me. You have children dying before their very eyes. I just can't imagine. I am sorry for the loss of life of the airline, but this is unbelievable to me. jmo

I agree with you. This is just beyond the pale horrifying to me. I would be absolutely homicidal if I were one of those parents, I can't even imagine.

The captain and crew told those kids to stay put and then ran to save their own skins. I just keep imagining the horrible scenarios involving their last futile attempts to keep their heads above water, knowing they were going to drown....

One mom was talking about how she convinced her daughter to go, saying it would be a wonderful experience for her. Then she broke down and couldn't continue talking.

 

[Snoods]

28 now confirmed dead, 268 missing. For the first time divers have been able to enter the ferry but they had to leave because there were too many items floating around per CNN.

The divers succeeded in entering the hull for the first time Friday morning. Survivors have not been found yet. Air started to be pumped into the hull to offer air to possible survivors.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/855406.shtml#.U1DqQ_k3WrM