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Ed: do you remember the Easthope engine (for smaller boats than
fastcats, of course)? The Easthopes were BC-designed, BC-built,
and revered for their unshakable thump-thump-thump go-
anywhere, go-anytime capabilities in BC's storm-tossed waters.

Mechanical wizards of my acquaintance admired the Easthope
engines (in its specific usage on fishboats) above all others ... and
this has given me the impression that there is no ship's engine
which cannot be revised, re-designed, or in some way modified
until it either achieves the desired result or is tossed aside.

Never had I heard of the vessel itself being tossed aside because
of its brand new engines.

In fact, one of my favourite BC Ferries -- Queen of Cumberland --
had constant engine problems, I think her 4 engines (used for
steering as well as propulsion) required many visits from the
Japanese manufacturers (Mitsubishi, I think) which, at one point,
replaced all 4 engines free of charge. It seems to be part of the
normal run-in ... except with the FastCats.

   

Well, your technically correct, but your missing the point. Most modern passenger ships do not have room to carry actual rigid life 'boats' for everyone. They carry inflatable life rafts for this.

"The Queen of the North has four marine evacuation stations on the boat deck, two each side, fore and aft, where valise-type life rafts are stored.

The four stations combined have an evacuation capacity of 750 people. We use a Jacobs Ladder evacuation system. (The life boats also provide evacuation capacity)."
src: BC Ferries website.

The primary evacuation system consists of hexagonal inflatable life rafts, these are what are in the large white barrel-shaped cannisters, stacked on launcher systems. This is familiar to anyone who travels on ferries.

In an emergency, 4 chutes are deployed, and the cannisters are launched. On hitting the water, the cannisters open and deploy a large inflatable life raft with a weathercovering, essentially a tent sewn to a round inflatable backyard pool would be a good analogy. These are positioned under the evac chutes by the rescue boat, already deployed. The passengers slide down the chute and land in the raft.

During the sinking, the boat began listing, so the liferaft on that side could not be deployed because it was hitting the hull. This is a common problem and indeed happened when the titantic was sinking.

Given that all passengers and crew except 2 (unconfirmed) made it off safely, one can only assume that the evac procedures worked pretty much flawlessly. I think the coast guard commented, though, that if it had not been for the heroic people of the nearby village, who immediately (at 1 in the morning no less) jumped into every available boat and raced out to assist, the loss of life would have been far greater.

   

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