# Official non-launch..!



## rushie (Jul 5, 2005)

A ship that doesn't water...?!!

_Official confirm hot weather botches ship launch 


Officials Sunday said that hot weather caused the 10,500 ton Sun Island ship to get hung up during its launch at the Bach Dang shipyard in northern Hai Phong city. 
The freighter, which is 110m long and 18.8m wide, was designed by Japanese Wada Bussan Company and built under a contract inked with Japanese NOMA Marine Transport Company.

Chu The Hung, General Director of the shipyard, explained that temps of 40-41ºC had melted the paraffin wax on the supporting prop, which was to propel the ship into the water.

Without the wax in place to lubricate the propulsion, the ship was unable to make it all the way into the water and became lodged on the rails.

After unsuccessful attempts to tug the ship, it remained suspended, with only its prow touching the water, and the rest of the vessel hung out in mid-air.

Hung said that they would have to wait for the high tide in about 10 days.

During the incident, part of the bilge system had been damaged, and there is the potential for more structural damage if the situation isn’t rectified soon._

Rushie (EEK)


----------



## benjidog (Oct 27, 2005)

Rushie,

Clearly a case of the "wrong type of wax".

They should contact British Rail for advice as they know all about these sort of incidents including "wrong type of snow" and "leaves on the line" stopping the services. (LOL) 

Brian


----------



## fred henderson (Jun 13, 2005)

*Non-Launch*

Rushie,

I have been trying to make sense of this report but it seems to have suffered in translation from the Chinese.

If it was a conventional launch we always used a messy two-part grease from Esso. First application was the Basecoat topped off a few hours before launch with Slidecoat. In the UK freezing was the greatest danger.

Ships were always launched stern first, as the after part of a ship has the fullest form and greatest buoyancy. This will take the weight off the launchways faster. The stern also contained a lot of expensive external propusion gear, rudders and the builder wants them safely in the water at an early stage in the launch. Once the ship is on the move it will usually continue even if the supporting poppet breaks up. It would be very odd to have only the prow in the water.

Fred


----------



## Santos (Mar 16, 2005)

*Official Non Launch*

I wonder if Chu will get HUNG out to dry if the ship is badly damaged (Smoke)

Chris


----------



## Piero43 (Jun 17, 2005)

According with my experiende, a high temperature, keeping the wax more fluid, cause a faster launch: the launching speed recorded in Riva Trigoso yard was everytime higher in summer.
I suppose that the problem has been a wrong extimate of the launching wheights and a wrong slope of the slipway.
Beside Fred remarks about the "bow launching", what kind of damage can be occurred to the structure, if the ship hardly moved? And what is the "bilge system"? Bilge keels, stabiliser fins? Both are quite high respect to the rails (and fins during the launch shouòd be in folded position), so it's not clear how they could be damaged.
All considered, this launch has been a nice mess...


----------



## non descript (Nov 18, 2005)

fred henderson said:


> Rushie,
> 
> I have been trying to make sense of this report but it seems to have suffered in translation from the Chinese.
> 
> ...



Fred, 

I believe you are right and a lot has been lost in the translation; the idea that _"it remained suspended, with only its prow touching the water, and the rest of the vessel hung out in mid-air." _ suggests the strange idea of a head first launch down the slipway! - As that is a non-starter, I think they meant "stern" rather than "prow", which is in any respects, is an odd word these days.

Mark


----------



## rushie (Jul 5, 2005)

*Update*

Press release from Thanhnien.com

_Vietnam’s beached ship finally sets sail 


Officials at the Bach Dang shipyard in northern Hai Phong city said Sunday that the newly built freighter that got hung up on its own launch rails has now been towed into the water without further damage. 
The Sun Island freighter was resurrected by high tide, after which it was easily towed to the water with the support of a cable network.

On May 17, steamy day time temperatures of some 40ºC melted paraffin wax on the support prop used to propel the ship into the water during the launch. 

The lack of propulsion caused the vessel to get stuck on its own launch rails, suspended in the air with only its prow touching the water.

Truong Hoang Cao, Deputy Director of the shipyard said the incident caused no delays in the planned August handover to the ship owner.

The freighter, which is 110m long and 18.8m wide, was designed by Japanese Wada Bussan Company and built under a contract inked with Japanese NOMA Marine Transport Company. _


----------

