An Indian Frigate Flipped Over In The Dock

Cowabunga!

So, a workman was standing by the rail when he saw a beautiful woman begin to undress.

He yelled, "hey fellas, come over here and look at this".

And the rest is, as they say, history.

And the new seaman who suffers from dyslexia was working in the bowels of the ship came across a hatch near the keel with a sign that says.... . DO _NOT OPEN

Ship launchings are not always a graceful event....

I've seen videos where it took out bleachers where the spectators were sitting on.

It looked as though they were 'flush'.

Rediff says the vessel was "...indigenously designed and built..."

http://www.rediff.com/news/report/ins-betwa-tips-over-during-undocking-in-mumbai/20161205.htm

The ship yard, prior to when I worked there designed and built a large patrol craft.

When it was launched, the bow sat high in the water, while the fantail, sat low in the water.... really low.

We had a similar problem with one of our navel support ships. It was supposed to have a helicopter landing deck but for some reason (budget cuts I think) we had it supplied without, needless to say the loss of weight seriously effected the final design.

The solution was to fill the hull with concrete to get it to sit right in the water. Lots and lots of concrete.

That's what ballast is for... to compensate mistakes

Disregard, 911 covered it.

Not exactly a speed demon?

No, but better that than it rolling over in the harbour when a wave hits it the wrong way.

Was it built with FPS bricks?

I would guess that it was being dry docked for repairs, and wasn't yet secure when too much water was removed from the dock.

that sounds pretty good... this doesn't 'just' happen, especially in dry dock.

Well, it might, if the supports were built from FPS bricks.

Looks to be at about the right angle for sailing at Australian latitudes.

Much more important than mere weight, or even moment of inertia, is how the center of buoyancy moves as the vessel lists/rolls.

Righting moment (or overturning moment) is not the same as moment of inertia.

Someone miscalculated, of course. Once in operation, this function is the responsibility of the first mate, but this incident may have happened beforehand.

I would guess that an amateur took charge and screwed it up right royally.....that happens a lot in India, then they come to CR4 to find out how to do "it!"

Isn't it better to be informed and responsible rather than be arrogant and bull headed and waste the money of tax paying citizens. This why there is a saying " it is better to be a fool for a day than tomorrow " If you aren't willing to learn and be humble you will keep making huge errors which might lead to someone's death. I believe this site can help resolve mistakes and help engineers become better. No Offense to anybody.. :)

There is a limit (or grey area if you will) where we have to say "no, you shouldn't do this it isn't safe, pay a professional to do this for you".

Where that grey area is is not as clear cut on an Engineering forum and varies a little from person to person based on their experience and personal views.

I am sure if this were a medical forum and an anonomus poster was claiming to be a paid doctor working in a hospital how to perform a certain operation on a patient that could mean the life or death of said patient it would be viewed differently, but it shouldn't be.

This example could result in the death of one person, where some of the engineering design questions we get asked could result in the death of far more if a pressure vessel ruptures, a hazardous area plant explodes or a building catches fire or falls down.

If you had a backbone, you would not have posted as a troll!!!

Your post is simple cowardice!! Your choice!!

I stand by what I said, too often in India, the "relative" gets the job, instead of the best trained!!

We see it here time after time, sometimes several times a month, as well as on other websites.

Till that practice changes of promoting a relative, there will constantly be loss of life and other serious mistakes, totally unnecessary in India!! A country full of top quality workers at all levels.

Its called Nepotism. See here:-

Nepotism

I never cared much for the cast system of employment.

Apologies if you assumed i was insulting you or something. As far as my Backbone is concerned i believe its still intact :) . Nevertheless the reason i did post it was because your post contained something inappropriate stating that people come to CR4 because they don't know how to do it. As far as Nepotism in the Indian Navy is rare but generally speaking it always happens not only in India but also in every country whether you like it or not. I had my potential job taken because the guy next to me was related to the management of the company. They do that with the assumption that the candidate is trustworthy " Maybe"

The fact is the person who was supposed to help with the maintenance of this frigate miscalculated and caused this from what we can gather, the main cause is always people not asking the right questions like " What if i am calculating it wrong let me see or ask someone if they can advise me if I am wrong. The first picture is showing that the frigate was properly designed probably . So the chances are that the maintenance crew probably did something wrong...

See here http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.in/2016/12/indian-navy-frigate-flips-over-while.html

Such calculations are not typically under purview of the maintenance crew.

You demonstrate a singular lack of knowledge about ships and dockyards. I was in the RN many years ago, the Indian Navy has strong connections with the RN over a great many years, till that is they left the British commonwealth....This meant that THEN, they followed RN policies in everything....today, apparently not.....

But do remember this:-

THE SHIPS CREW HAS LITTLE OR NOTHING TO DO WITH SUCH DOCKING OPERATIONS!

THAT'S A DOCKYARD (CIVVY) OFFICER'S JOB ONLY!

"Heads will also have to roll for the accident on Monday. Naval dock-masters are responsible for the complex and delicate operation of a warship's docking and undocking in the dry dock," said a senior officer.

The crew might ASSIST in bringing the ship into/out of the drydock, but all the rest is under the guidance of a Dockie and his mates.....

As I said before, Nepotism is often the problem, its a double edged sword.

Such people are not only often incapable of doing the job (but think that they can!), but the people they "command", will not risk their jobs by adding helpful words or warnings either.....so such accidents are a serious problem in the Indian sub continent.

A careful look at all the pictures of this accident, appear to show no shoring lying around, none! You would think that a few pieces would be seen floating around!! But NONE?????

So someone went and tidied it all away before the pictures were made? I think not!!

The way they will probably right the ship, is to drain the dock, seal up the ship after pumping out any water its taken on, then flood the dock and she will right herself, heavily damaged of course. Then a qualified Dock engineer will pump out the dock and "Shore up" the ship properly and repairs will start.

My guess is not only was shoring completely removed far too soon, but the ship was probably misaligned on the blocks as well....."slipped from her dock blocks" according to news reports....but that can only happen once the shoring is removed, and the ship is not fully floating at least and inch or two above the blocks, e.g. no weight at all on them, that is the point in time when shoring will fall into the water, or be helped, not before.

The major error was possibly made in April 2016 and never corrected....you can see that the ship had been partially stripped, no anchors are shipped for example, so the ship was most likely 100% still in dockyard hands....

It may be that the ship is on a floating dock, one that has an open side, where she should then be on double (or even triple) blocks. Then shoring may not be a requirement. There appears to be a second ship either in the dock, or close to the open side. Its difficult to decipher!

Maybe the balance of the dock was lost as they pumped its tanks out? Only speculation....

In the RN, our few floating docks that I saw, were double sided for reasons of safety.

But still posting anonymously, is still the way a cowardly Troll posts......who is totally unsure of what he is posting, which you should be as you simply don't have a clue!! So stay anonymous!!! Its probably better for you!!!

I don't know about military, but when docking that Captain turns over the control of the ship to the Dock Master. I'm sure its the something similar.

I would guess its the same all over.

I have been on ships that were drydocked many times over the years, the "Dockies" ALWAYS ran the whole thing.

Great care was taken with the measurements from bow and stern to shore, to make sure that the ship sits exactly on the blocks, BEFORE it is sat!!!! Inches were important....

As soon as the blocks take weight, for and aft, and the measurements are correct, the shoring, with wedges, was placed in position all round the ship, to prevent the "tipping" that the Indian ship had....!

Once the water was all removed, then further shoring would be cut and fitted with wedges to keep the ship absolutely in place, mainly on very heavy ships.....

When flooding, the ship would be allowed to fully float, with all the shoring in position, before any that had not fallen the water already, would be removed.....

I am assuming that the ship in question did not have a massive unnoticed leak that unbalanced her....in the RN, the ships company would be distributed below decks to make sure that no compartments leaked while flooding the dock....there is always a small (lazy because nothing to do!) ships company available, not necessarily living on board, but doing safety shifts...!!

hence the reason for my original, somewhat snarky, comment. I don't see any evidence of shoring or tie offs in the dock.

Granted the rust bucket next to it seems to also be sitting flat, but it could be tied off on the starboard side.

That is true for the US Navy as well. Went through about 8-10 dockings/undockings during my tenure in the Navy. Once the bow of the ship passes the sill of the dock, it is the docking officers responsibility as long as the ship is in dock. I've been out of the Navy for 20 years but I doubt that has changed.

Funny you should mention the RN. That ship does bear more than a passing resemblance to world war two British warships, especially the bridge and superstructure.

Actually I had a similar thought, but more from the 50s and 60s, ships on which I actually sailed on!!

For example HMS Puma, built in the early 50s:-

That was a VERY modern design at the time!!!

The gun turret aft was mine for over a year!! Really great fun!!

When asked about the shoring, the new yard master replied, what shoring? It's already on shore you fool!

So that's why you have to do the weight and moment calculations!

Before a ship I was on was given Coast Guard approval after winches were added on deck, it had to pass a 'roll test'. Afloat, weights were added and removed to the sides and roll times and recovery times were recorded. Something like that. I was installing the hydraulics, and spent a lot of time on board.

Maybe the Indian ship was undergoing such tests, and failed......

According to the news reports, it was still on the blocks and slipped off....unforgivable.

Just ... "A ship off the old blocks."

LOL!!!

AND TRUE!!!