Cruise ship corrosion woes spread

By REBECCA WALSH

More serious corrosion has been discovered on the cruise ship Pacific Sky, and the Maritime Safety Authority says it is not ruling out the possibility of finding more over the next two days.

The authority doubts the 46,000-tonne ship will leave as scheduled on Sunday, but P&O believes the repairs can be completed before then.

The 19-year-old ship returned to Auckland with 1470 passengers and 600 crew on Saturday, three days after leaving for Tonga, after about 165 tonnes of water poured into its hull.

It will remain in Maritime Safety Authority detention at the Devonport naval dockyard until it is repaired to the satisfaction of the authority and ship certifier Lloyds.

Yesterday, authority director Russell Kilvington said serious corrosion associated with sections of the ducting system had been found in two areas of the ship's hull. The affected areas were next to the galley and the ship's bakery.

"A possible explanation for corrosion in this particular area of the ship is the proximity to high temperature combined with exposure to salt water," Mr Kilvington said.

The ducting system is an emergency precaution for use if the ship is involved in a collision. It takes water from the ship's decks to tanks underneath to help stabilise it.

An authority spokeswoman said the first cracking was found on the starboard side of the vessel. Repairs last week had been unsuccessful, as the extent of the corrosion under the hull was not known until the duct was cut away.

"You can see a crack, you can see daylight in the hull," the spokeswoman said.

"When you take that duct off or cut a hole in it you can see through the hull to the outside. We are talking centimetres, it's not a six-foot hole."

Corrosion had now been found on the port side of the ship. A "thickness" test revealed corrosion midship at about the waterline.

Yesterday inspectors were removing the duct to enable them to look at the hull.

"There aren't any visible cracks on the port side, but you could say it's a matter of time."

The spokeswoman said most of the ducts had been inspected and no more problems had been found.

Inspections would continue today and tomorrow.

P&O Cruises managing director Gavin Smith said the company believed the repairs could be completed before the next cruise on Sunday.

If the ship did not sail passengers who had booked and paid their fares would get a full refund.

Asked if the company was checking its remaining ships, Mr Smith said Pacific Sky was the only one of its type and design, and the problem was unlikely to be found in the rest of its fleet.

Routine structural tests had not found any irregularities in Pacific Sky's hull.

"Our investigations into the cause of the problem are continuing and conjecture at this stage won't help that process.

"However, she has been operating for more than 19 years successfully."

The steam turbine ship was built in 1984 for the Sitmar cruise line, and was christened Fairsky.

When P&O acquired Sitmar in 1988, Fairsky was renamed Sky Princess.

Three years later, P&O changed the ship's name again, to Pacific Sky, adding the distinctive blue stripe by which she is now easily recognised.

Further reading: nzherald.co.nz/marine