China escalates effort to recover missing from capsized ship

I'm surprised China hasn't covered it up in a mountain of dirt yet. (in reference to their fiasco with their high speed train incident some years ago)

It seems that the more government is controlling media about the capsized ship and the more people can't trust their government. That is communist regime that doesn't want any fault because this ferry business belongs to the government.

It seems, at this stage, the rescue personnel and authorities are being professional.

CCTV said rescuers were deciding whether to cut into the overturned hull — an option that would imply hopes still lingered for finding survivors trapped in air pockets — or to bring two salvage ships to the stern and bow to act as a vise keeping the craft in place while a crane pulls it upright.

Stabilize it first. I'd think about trying pump air in and water out from below beforehand (rather than just cutting away at the hull), but it seems access to remaining passengers/crew is blocked? (Otherwise, you'd think they'd be rescued already).

http://2511ox21fzt21wi8m3xjj0n1.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Chinas-cruise-ship-Eastern-Star-e1433241714738.png

As the article states, she does indeed appear to have a shallow draft, unsurprising for river craft. And with so much infrastructure topsides, even with adjustments to retain stability, being broadside to strong wind is going to tilt her. Even so, it must have been quite a lot to capsize her. Perhaps there was more weight on the leeward side (opposite side from the wind), possibly the people aboard and/or shifting cargo)

Maybe I am being simplistic, but does cutting holes in the bottom now not make it sink faster?

WilliB: Maybe I am being simplistic, but does cutting holes in the bottom now not make it sink faster?

I remember reading an account of a sinking sportfishing boat. The wives were looking out the wheelhouse windows at their husbands while it was sinking. The windows broke on their own or because someone got desperate, probably the husbands if I remember, and the boat sank a lot faster from there, and they lost the wives.

If the ship is staying afloat (or even aligned) by holding a big bubble of air under whatever part of the ship is still above the surface, releasing that bubble sounds like a bad idea.

I don't know why they don't seal some kind of diver's bell or airlock up against the bottom of the ship hull, and cut open a door to the hull through there. It could be too complicated, or dangerous, or take too long considering how long the passengers have been down there already. And maybe never practiced. We've seen this twice in the past few years, but how often other than that?

@Willi

The ship's upside-down, so the "bottom" (hull) is on top.

Lubricasi:

" The ship's upside-down, so the "bottom" (hull) is on top. "

I am aware of that. So lets rephrase the question: Does cutting holes in the TOP of the boat not make it sink faster (considering that the remaining air escapes)? I mean, I thought it is the air that keeps ships afloat, and not the steel....

@Willi

I can't see how the air would "escape". It's not under pressure.

I can't see how the air would "escape". It's not under pressure.

Yes it is. It's got the weight of the ship pressing down on it, and water pressure pressing up. Giving the air bubble an outlet would allow sea water to rush in and displace it.

@cleo

Hate to disagree with you (as always), but the hull is above the water-line. Cuttting a hole should make zero difference.

lucabrasi - Try an experiment. Put a bung in a flower pot, then put the pot in water bungside up so that air is trapped inside. Then remove the plug and watch the pot sink as the air escapes and the pot fills with water.

lucabrasi: @cleo Hate to disagree with you (as always), but the hull is above the water-line. Cuttting a hole should make zero difference.

When the ship is right-side-up, the hull is holding the water out of the ship, from the bottom. If you turn the ship upside down, the water has access to the ship through windows, hatches, and other holes (and possibly from burst decks, etc., not designed to hold back water when flipped under an entire ship).

If the top of the ship was as successful at holding out water as the hull was, the ship would be riding as high when upside down as it was when it was right-side-up.

The ship may have drifted aground, though. It might not sink of the bubble was let out, in that case.

Also, there are multiple compartments in a ship, and lots of them should be sealed off. Including buoyancy chambers.

@cleo, turbotsat

Okay, I guess you're right. I still don't quite get it, though. Physics was never my strong point.... : (