Spirit of Norfolk Lost; Spar Lyra Not Under Command; Victory Rover, Z-ONE & others to the Rescue!

[@FlyingDoctor60]

I’ll bet the pilot on Spar Lyra needed a couple of adult beverages after that series of events. I sure would have…wow! Great job by everyone involved.

[@veramae4098]

I emailed my U.S. Senator, cited your channel, asked her to look into some recognition for everyone's efforts.

[@steveholton4130]

Sal, I absolutely concur with your shout out all responders - Hell of a Job People! While I'm at it, I want to shout out to Thomas Gordon Davis if he is still at the Harbor Captain's Office⚓

[@williamlloyd3769]

Now that we’ve had a serious cruise boat incident, wonder if USCG will be looking at all similar vessels and going over safety practices with other crews nationwide. Being lucky is not a strategy no matter how positive this incident outcome. PS - The MV Conception sinking occurred on September 2, 2019, when the 75-foot dive boat caught fire and sank off the coast of Santa Cruz Island, California. It seems that only now is some regulatory action being taken. Lessons Learned are only Lessons Observed if no action is taken.

[@billmoran3812]

Wow! That got pretty intense very fast! Excellent seamanship by everyone involved! Thanks for bringing this story to us.

[@longcaster]

Man, that's a lot going on, fast. Everyone did way better than they needed too.

[@bluespruce786]

Truly historic video, thanks for taking the time to preserve it and give it some context. Sadly this video will see serious compression as time passes on youtube, it might be worth storing a copy somewhere else. Thanks again for taking the time to put this up!

[@tinacatharinaeden2711]

Great video! So many people worked on avoiding an awful accident! Well done everyone!

[@robertf3479]

A thoroughly professional job by the watermen, dealing with the fire and evacuation and then having the Spar Lyra break down at the worst possible moment. They made it look easy even though I know it wasn't. At the end of the day everyone was able to go home safely, that is the most important thing. Sorry to see this happen to Spirit of Norfolk, she's been a fixture here in Hampton Roads for as long as I can remember.

[@ADHJkvsNgsMBbTQe]

Lessons learned is how we continue to make things more safe and secure. Keep up the great work professor.

[@wgowshipping]

Thank you, I will

[@mattc.310]

That was quite an incident. It unfolded very quickly. It's a shame they wouldn't save the Spirit of Norfolk. Thanks for the update.

[@johnbrossack3791]

Seems like everyone knew what needed to be done and did it. I've been out of pocket for a couple of weeks and haven't seen any of your recent videos. I was happy to see a video with a good outcome by folks who knew what needed to be done. Thanks.

[@turbofanlover]

Amazing footage. Great vid, Sal. Thanks.

[@MarieMcDonald-ty5tb]

Simply team work. Avoiding disaster.

[@mostlyvoid.partiallystars]

Those tug captains and crews are freaking amazing.

[@RTmadnesstoo]

Watching your first video I questioned 108 kids and parents herded orderly and efficiently by 2 crew. Great video!

[@garrettivey160]

Deckhand on the tug challenger here! The whole situation was pure chaos, only thing that kept it cool was everyone’s stellar seamanship. I’m trying to find if there’s any NTSB reports or anything new come out recently now that some time has passed. Thank you for creating such a thorough video!

[@wgowshipping]

Garrett...Outstanding job! The NTSB will be at least a year before the report is released.

[@meljor90]

Nice to see when people say Norfolk correctly haha Glad to see all the boats/tugs that came to the rescue of multiple near major catastrophes. 🤙🏾 Bravo Been on the spirit of Norfolk a couple times throughout the years. It will definitely be missed buy the city, was definitely an icon.

[@mikeray1544]

Tugs at wide open throttle...Master Operators at the Helm Sir-

[@n4837z]

Sal, Thanks very much for this update and important details. Don't think I heard this, "rest of the story" on the MM? It would make an exciting mini-documentary movie. Appreciate what you are doing!!

[@ginog5037]

Wow...job well done to all involved. Great follow up Sal.

[@peterbailey5237]

Spar Lyra loss of propulsion was possibly due to bad fuel. There was a second ship with a loss of power in the channel that day, possibly also due to bad fuel provided by the same vendor.

[@wgowshipping]

Peter...thanks for the info.

[@Bayrunner87]

I doubt it was bad fuel. When a large, laden ship making headway goes from ahead to astern it can sometimes stall the ship’s engine. I’ve seen it happen several times before. The ship’s engine has to overcome a lot of momentum.

[@billr1129]

Well done by all

[@mikecowan1471]

Thanks for the update

[@wgowshipping]

Any time!

[@robertferrand4906]

GREAT EDITING!!!!!

[@wesryman]

Thank ya Sal, said in my best old man voice

[@cherokee43v6]

Interesting to see this incident juxtaposed against the Bonhomme Richard incident.

[@timothywalker4563]

“Well done” to all involved passengers safe and fire out! Does make me wonder why couldn’t some type of dedicated fire boat be Bought, that would be a floating insurance policy for the port🤔

[@TeamChums]

I hope they release transcripts of the radio traffic.

[@cherokee43v6]

Yeah! I'd particularly like to hear what was said when Spar Lyra lost propulsion... Those tugs moved like the F-18's in Tom Cruise's latest movie. ;)

[@littlepaddy7444]

Thanks for the update. Is it just me or are modern marine diesels more prone to losing power or shutting down than older engines? They seem as bad as late model truck engines. How about a what is going on with engines video?

[@captiannemo1587]

In fairness old big dumb engines can be more difficult to get going… even if they are harder to kill.

[@phillipbartowsky2979]

Amazing what competent people ready to act can do. Sad that port authorities and naval bases can’t employ their own boats and people to stand ready to do just that with the latest purpose built tools

[@turnbank3492]

Dang busy day at the office

[@thefallenlettuce2797]

My citys flag ship has been destroyed. Very sad for us.

[@MrTimbeatty]

Not sure why Fed Fire wouldn't use this as a training exercise. Free boat to use. "Too Dangerous" isn't going to be an acceptable reason not to save a military vessel even if everyone has been removed safely. Seems that at the very minimum they could use it to implement their plan and see if it works.

[@tedmoss]

I know of a least one military vessel that burned to the waterline.

[@johnandrews23]

I have a feeling the Chief Engineer of the Spar Lyra might have trouble finding work in the future...

[@papadonttakenomess1764]

Ripping yarns of high seas action.

[@youreckonso]

Sounds like everything is being run decently and in order....

[@neemtreebark]

I have to catch up on your channel😁 I got more people problems..Fun, fun fun.

[@rcl3514]

How much warning did Spar Lyra have that there was an emergency in the channel before they came to it?

[@ferdberfil8224]

What caused the fire? I have to say that your video on the unfolding drama is excellent!

[@wgowshipping]

It started in the engine room, but the cause is unknown.

[@sunsetlights100]

Back in early 1900s might of been different result

[@mattguey-lee4845]

All in all it was a crisis well managed. It could have easily ended up being like MV Sewol or Costa Concordia.

[@madpete6438]

No medals - just "lots of thanks" seems a bit lightweight given the personal risk for the seamen/women.... Typical - call them hero's, give thanks, quickly forget... It is good that you are highlighting their efforts - I just hope that there are some civil servants with enough nouse to see that these people need public recognition - this is required when people risk their lives for others in extremis. Carry on Sal !

[@ArtVanAuggie]

Responsibility is to the passengers, then the crew, then the vessel; THEN to the passengers, crew, and vessel in distress. Nothing more and nothing less is expected. There is no thanks, just duty. Every life or vessel saved is thanks enough, and everyone feels the same.

[@wgowshipping]

Absolutely

[@madpete6438]

@@ArtVanAuggie I think that a shake of the hand and public acknowledgement is a civilised thing to do when there is so much carnage avoided. I understand duty but even soldiers get recognition....

[@ArtVanAuggie]

@@madpete6438 Only recognition needed is eye contact and maybe a nod from another sailor. Old saying, "you have to go out, you don't have to come back."

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

Sal, my question is 100+ passengers and only 2 crew. The children were a combination of preschool and 5th graders. Did the boat have lifejackets for preschool children. I also didn't see any rafts. There are a number of excursion/harbor tour craft in the US. I don't recall seeing a crew passenger ratio like that. Especially with pre-school aged children. I agree this was an absolute, there is a god, miracle..

[@robg9236]

Doesn't the USCG specify the number of OSs and ABs carried? I don't know what kind of paperwork the hotel workers carry, but I don't think they are trained in handling passengers in an emergency.

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

@@robg9236 Hotel staff don't have maritime training unless they do. I am looking for actual footage of the evacuation onto the second boat. The added passengers had to exceed their coi. I know an emergency supercedes that. Adding 100+ to that boat wasn't idea either. We had miracle on the Hudson. Now we have miracle on the Chesapeake.

[@Bayrunner87]

There were more than 2 marine crew. 2 captains, a senior deckhand, and 3 deckhands. More than are normally carried in fact.

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

@@Bayrunner87 that isn't what was reported. It was a captain and a first mate..the first mate was apparently the relief captain. Why wouldn't they report that as part of the story. Also shouldn't there have been firefighting ppe and scba on the boat? Can you cite your information.

[@tedmoss]

@@thereissomecoolstuff Cited by Sal in story.

[@georgesmith8113]

👍👍👍👊

[@wgowshipping]

This video features the VHF CH 16 call from Spirit of Norfolk to US Coast Guard asking for assistance. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5rHoWauhb1reas

[@tissuepaper9962]

As President Biden would say: "Thank you, Sal!"

[@madpete6438]

Yeah what was that about - i missed the reason he said that...

[@wgowshipping]

The guy who introduced him was named Sal. I could not resist it.

[@morthomer5804]

How does a power plant "go down" just because they reduced throttle? . Wait. You are supposed to end each video with Crazy Uncle Joe saying: THANKS SAL

[@wgowshipping]

Mort...I may have to do that.

[@tissuepaper9962]

If you yank the throttle back to idle too quickly in any engine it can cause a stall AFAIK. I know you're very specifically trained in aviation to always be smooth with the throttle, especially in an emergency, I think it has something to do with trying to not create a sudden lean condition in the engine. Your car does this smoothing automatically, both for emissions reasons and for driveability. Another thing is that not all engines are infinitely throttleable, some engines need to be at a minimum of as much as 10-20% throttle to run at all, but I don't know if that applies to the gigantic diesels in these vessels. It could be that they flubbed the throttle and pulled it so far back as to kill the engine. To be clear, I've never set foot on the bridge of any vessel (not even a museum ship), this is just general knowledge about ICEs and their limitations.