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Povestea impactului navei Queen Elizabeth 2 cu o stâncă subacvatică în 1992 lângă Martha's Vineyard dezvăluie cum hărțile de navigație învechite, bazate pe măsurători din 1939, pot pune în pericol chiar și navele mari. Incidentul a fost cauzat de erori de comunicare și de informații de profunzime inexacte, o lecție importantă pentru siguranța maritimă.
Conținut original (extras automat)
In the Scuttlebutt series of grounding stories, there was mention of how the 963-foot Queen Elizabeth 2 went aground in 1992 which prompted the naming of Queen’s Bottom Rock near Martha's Vineyard, MA. Wes Bray was a passenger during the accident and tells the story:
It was easy to tell which of the passengers lingering over their desserts in the large dining room of the QE2 were boaters and which were not. When the long, jarring shudder ran through the room at 9:58 pm on August 7, 1992, the non-boaters said things like “what’s that funny sound?” and “Gee, the waves must be rough”.
The boaters on the other hand, all looked at each other around the room and said, “Uh oh. What did we just hit?!”
The story of the QE2’s meeting with a rocky shoal two miles southwest of Cuttyhunk is well known. Per the NTSB Report, the ship was behind schedule due to late shore excursions on Martha’s Vineyard, and due in New York later that night. Communication and navigation errors on the bridge between the Captain, the helmsman, and the pilot led the ship almost a mile off her course.
The Captain later denied they had any concern about this course variance, as the charts showed 39 feet of depth (the QE2 drew 32 feet), stating he had no reservations about taking his ship into waters that were only 6 or 7 feet under his keel¹.
However, the charts were based on soundings last taken in 1939, and apparently missed a section of jagged rocks at a depth of 32 feet. Cunard subsequently lost their suit against the federal government claiming the poor quality of the charts was to blame for the accident².
My wife Sharon and I were traveling aboard the QE2 with our two-year old son, Will. It was a short five-day cruise up to Nova Scotia and back, one of the Queen’s “interim trips” between her transatlantic crossings, and this was the last night of the cruise. It turned out to be a longer cruise than anyone expected.
Immediately after the collision, several of us ran to the windows to see if what we’d hit was visible. Nothing was to be seen but a calm sea lit by moonlight. Then we heard the engines shut down, so that the ship appeared to be just coasting along.
Some reports had the ship backing off the reef but that was not our perception (and the collision would have been much more damaging if she’d actually come to a sudden halt, since we were traveling at 24 knots). Instead, we seemed to have “run over” something in the water.
Back at our table, our waiter drolly confirmed what the boaters in the room knew. “Oh, we definitely hit something big! Have you ever been evacuated before? Might as well start partying now!” - Read on
It was easy to tell which of the passengers lingering over their desserts in the large dining room of the QE2 were boaters and which were not. When the long, jarring shudder ran through the room at 9:58 pm on August 7, 1992, the non-boaters said things like “what’s that funny sound?” and “Gee, the waves must be rough”.
The boaters on the other hand, all looked at each other around the room and said, “Uh oh. What did we just hit?!”
The story of the QE2’s meeting with a rocky shoal two miles southwest of Cuttyhunk is well known. Per the NTSB Report, the ship was behind schedule due to late shore excursions on Martha’s Vineyard, and due in New York later that night. Communication and navigation errors on the bridge between the Captain, the helmsman, and the pilot led the ship almost a mile off her course.
The Captain later denied they had any concern about this course variance, as the charts showed 39 feet of depth (the QE2 drew 32 feet), stating he had no reservations about taking his ship into waters that were only 6 or 7 feet under his keel¹.
However, the charts were based on soundings last taken in 1939, and apparently missed a section of jagged rocks at a depth of 32 feet. Cunard subsequently lost their suit against the federal government claiming the poor quality of the charts was to blame for the accident².
My wife Sharon and I were traveling aboard the QE2 with our two-year old son, Will. It was a short five-day cruise up to Nova Scotia and back, one of the Queen’s “interim trips” between her transatlantic crossings, and this was the last night of the cruise. It turned out to be a longer cruise than anyone expected.
Immediately after the collision, several of us ran to the windows to see if what we’d hit was visible. Nothing was to be seen but a calm sea lit by moonlight. Then we heard the engines shut down, so that the ship appeared to be just coasting along.
Some reports had the ship backing off the reef but that was not our perception (and the collision would have been much more damaging if she’d actually come to a sudden halt, since we were traveling at 24 knots). Instead, we seemed to have “run over” something in the water.
Back at our table, our waiter drolly confirmed what the boaters in the room knew. “Oh, we definitely hit something big! Have you ever been evacuated before? Might as well start partying now!” - Read on
Scuttlebutt Sailing
Publicat 10 septembrie 2026, 21:37