Dead in the Atlantic: The $60 Million Emergency QE2 Survived

Editorial Summary

Maritime historian Chris Frame details a significant engineering emergency involving the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth 2 during a 2002 transatlantic crossing. The incident began when a senior watchkeeping engineer discovered a seawater leak in the aft engine room caused by a perforated 9.8 inch diameter seawater inlet pipe. Because the failure occurred between the outer shell and the isolating valve, the crew could not simply close the valve to stop the flooding. The crew initially attempted to use a rubber clamp and bilge pumping, but the water inflow necessitated the use of the emergency bilgeage injection system to pump water overboard. To solve the crisis, engineers improvised a solution using a flexible bladder from the ship's watertight door hydraulic system. By inserting the bladder into the pipe and inflating it with compressed air, they successfully stopped the leak. An investigation by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch concluded that the failure resulted from seawater corrosion that was difficult to detect due to the pipe's construction. The report praised the crew's professionalism and recommended improved inspection standards for safety critical seawater pipes to prevent similar incidents.

Written by TripBacon from this video's transcript.