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Adonia's sliding fire screen doors don't work under transitional power, USCG says

Fathom's Adonia has a deficiency with its sliding fire screen doors under transitional power, the backup battery that would be needed in the event of a power loss and emergency generator failure, Cmdr. Bradley Clare, chief of prevention for Coast Guard Sector Miami, told Seatrade Cruise News.

Anne Kalosh, Editor, Seatrade Cruise News & Senior Associate Editor, Seatrade Cruise Review

April 12, 2016

2 Min Read
Credit: Seatrade Cruise News

'I don't think there's any initial exam that doesn't uncover some minor deficiencies. This deficiency, the sliding fire screen doors, is a very significant deficiency,' Clare said.

The company is working to fix the issue, the only one of a number of deficiencies that remains following the US Coast Guard's first inspection of Adonia last week for its certificate of compliance.

The deficiencies that were corrected included areas of training, with crew not familiar with duties, mostly in terms of running lifeboat engines; lifesaving, with some expired life jacket lights; stowage of some provisions in lifeboats; and marking, Clare said.

Although Adonia visited the US several months ago, at the time the ship was in transit, not embarking passengers, so it underwent just a port state inspection. Now that Adonia will be embarking passengers from the US, it requires a certificate of compliance. That entails a thorough inspection and testing of systems.

Clare said Fathom had been working to resolve the deficiencies since the April 6 initial exam and all were corrected prior to the canceled April 10 inaugural voyage, apart from the sliding fire doors under tertiary backup (battery) power. Clare estimated there are 17 or 18 of those doors throughout the ship.

Carnival Corp. & plc has stated the April 17 cruise would go ahead.

USCG is in close contact with Fathom and Adonia's classification society, Lloyd's Register, to facilitate getting the vessel to certification, but Clare could not say when that would happen.

He said Fathom was still troubleshooting the issue.

Adonia's technical management is handled by P&O Cruises. The ship had undergone a short drydock at Grand Bahama Shipyard before its planned entry to service for Fathom. All the April departures are for the Dominican Republic. The first Cuba cruise is set for May 1.

 

About the Author

Anne Kalosh

Editor, Seatrade Cruise News & Senior Associate Editor, Seatrade Cruise Review

Anne Kalosh covers global stories, reporting both breaking and in-depth news on cruising's significant people, places, ships and trends. A sought-after expert on cruising, she has moderated conferences around the world, including the high-profile State of the Industry panel at Seatrade Cruise Global. She created and led the acclaimed itinerary-planning case study for Seatrade's cruise master classes held at Cambridge and Oxford universities. She has been the cruise columnist for AFAR.com, and her freelance stories have appeared in a wide range of publications, from The New York Times to The Miami Herald.

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