A Canadian investigation into how the former liner became a ghost ship has just been released.
The Lyubov Orlova went from luxury Russian cruise ship (built in the Soviet era), to sad derelict at a Canadian port, to lost on the sea,
After defaulting on bills, the ship was abandoned and became derelict in St John’s Newfoundland where it sat mired in legal disputes for some two years. Finally sold at auction, it was to be towed to the Dominican Republic to be cut up for scrap.
However, once it left the harbour into the open sea, the inadequate cable broke. The towing tug tried to re-connect, but then had to return to port with mechanical problems leaving the Orlova adrift.
When the Orlova began drifting towards offshore oil platforms, Transport Canada hired another tug to pull the 90 metre ship away from the area and later release it in the open ocean.
Now a Canadian Transportation Safety Board investigation report has just been issued that finds a number of errors in the original effort to remove the ship from Canada.
The report said those responsible for the towing had never done such a tow before and were inexperienced for such a job. They also pointed out the cable was too short to absorb shocks and the US-flagged tug was itself in dangerously poor shape stating: “The Charlene Hunt was approaching the end of its normal life cycle and had been out of service for the majority of the two years prior to this voyage.”
The report says the tug wasn’t physically able to stow the minimum length of cable need, lacked certain certification, and had “ a lack of structural and watertight integrity” along with broken and missing lifesaving equipment
The report also noted that in 2012 the tug was inspected in Bolivia following an application to re-flag but was declared unseaworthy. The report indicates the owner decided not to pursue Bolivian registry.
As for the Orlova, once she no long posed a threat to oil platforms off Canada, she was left adrift to become a floating mystery/ghost ship with rumours of thousands of cannibal rats on board.
Last spotted on February 4 of 2013 about 250 nm east of St. John’s, it was later located by satellite in late February 1300 nm off the Irish coast.
The ship has no locator beacon, but the lifeboats are equipped with emergency signals (EPIRB) that are set off automatically on contact with water. On Feb 23 and March 12 signals were recd from the beacons and since the ship has not been spotted since, its believed the sad tale of the Orlova has ended at the bottom of the sea, presumably along with the alleged cannibal rats.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.