r/UkrainianConflict • u/newsweek • 1d ago
Russia's arctic nuclear icebreaker fleet dealt a blow in Mediterranean
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-nuclear-icebreaker-delay-ursa-major-sinks-2006600166
u/teacherbooboo 1d ago
not an expert in engine rooms nor a sailor or anything,
but should engine rooms on Russian ships explode?
again … only an amateur … but that seems like it might be an issue?
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u/RottenPingu1 1d ago
No. Ship engine rooms are quite difficult to explode. However... disabling safety systems and controls as a work around to shoddy maintenance will get you there eventually.
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u/azflatlander 22h ago
Nuclear powered ships won’t have the amount of explosive fuels that normal ships have. Steam explosion, prolly. Steam pipe rusting through, postulating.
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u/Legitimate_Access289 18h ago
He's not talking about the icebreaker being built. He's talking about the cargo ship that sank. It's not nuclear powered.
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u/Left-Raspberry-4429 3h ago
No they are very easy to explode/fire. Heat and Fuel is not a good combination.
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u/Ok_Bad8531 1d ago
On Russian ships they should most definitely explode.
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u/iiztrollin 1d ago
On Russian ships yes, along with Chinese, Iriana and Indian. However other ships should not.
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u/navig8r212 1d ago
I’m not convinced there was an explosion. Normally when things go “bang” on ships there is a really big hole in the side and/or lots of flames and smoke. In this case we don’t really see those in the photos.
The other reason that ships sink is that they let the water inside, possibly because they hit something which punctured the hull (unlikely- it would have to be a really big something like an iceberg (in the Mediterranean 🤣).
Most likely cause in my opinion is a system failure (such as a stern gland/rudder gland) due to poor maintenance. If the pumps couldn’t keep up then eventually it would sink. Flooding normally takes longer than fire and they did have time to call for help and have a Russian Warship arrive on scene.
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u/Legitimate_Access289 18h ago
No there not usually a big hole in the side of the ship, unless it's a missile hit. Any damage from an engine room explosion would be below the water line.
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u/MountainGazelle6234 23h ago
but should engine rooms on Russian ships explode?
Yeah, that’s not very typical, I’d like to make that point.
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u/teacherbooboo 22h ago
is that an optional feature like leather seats and dolby sound?
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u/MountainGazelle6234 22h ago
Well there are a lot of these ships going around the world all the time, and very seldom does anything like this happen. I just don’t want people thinking that tankers aren’t safe.
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u/teacherbooboo 22h ago
it was not a tanker, it was a cargo ship
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u/Alwaysname 19h ago
One potential source of an explosion within an engine room is a crankcase explosion of the main engine. This could occur from lack of correct maintenance and monitoring allowing oil mist to build up within the crankcase from a hot spot on a failing bearing. Typically a monitoring system would automatically shutdown the engine down but if it were bypassed or out of order it could lead to catastrophic results and anyone in the vicinity would be in serious trouble.
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u/cinciTOSU 13h ago
Bunker oil is so thick my guess would be a malfunctioning fuel heater or fuel line heating jacket is somewhat possible but I think you would absolutely need to bypass safety temperature limits or have a massive malfunction.
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u/TheWaltsu 12h ago
I have been onboard three ships that had a crank case explosion. (Not when I was on the job) but the explosion is not that great to puncture engine room hull. I can’t really see any ways to our engine room machinery getting so big explosion that it would sink. Only thing that comes to my mind is that if this ship had glass fiber sea water pipes, then there is a possibility to explosion to make so much force to SW pipes that they burst open. Still the SW system should have remote operating valves that could shut down the system, but are they maintained properly is a nother thing.
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u/Alwaysname 7h ago
A primary explosion would only be enough to lift the relief doors but, again, if there were poor maintenance practices and these didn’t function as intended then there is a chance of a more violent secondary explosion. If that was the case here then the only other thing I can think of is their air bottles. Again poor maintenance practices around safety valves and cut out devices could lead to a sudden air release. A boiler could also be a factor here and again poor maintenance practices around this could lead to a failure.
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u/Legitimate-Place1927 22h ago
The money for the goods paid for a nice big yacht for an oligarch. Although now some how they needed said parts so let’s load a ship with garbage and sink it. “Oops sorry Mr.Putin those parts are now on bottom of ocean, but look at my new yacht.”
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u/ww2_nut37 17h ago
Not sure their other boats fronts are meant to fall off either, but here we are 🤷
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u/newsweek 1d ago
By Hugh Cameron — Live News Reporter |
The Russian vessel which sank off the coast of Spain was reportedly carrying equipment for Moscow's newest nuclear-powered icebreaker, promising further delays in construction.
The Ursa Major cargo ship sank on Monday, after an explosion in the engine room left the vessel stranded in international waters between Spain and Algeria. Fourteen of the 16 crew members were reportedly rescued and transported to a port in port in Cartagena, while two remain missing.
Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/russia-nuclear-icebreaker-delay-ursa-major-sinks-2006600
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u/Listelmacher 1d ago
According to a post here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/UkrainianConflict/comments/1hldoma/the_ursa_major_was_heading_to_vladivostok_and_not/
the Ursa Major had
"two 45-ton hatches for the construction of the new Project 10510"
nuclear powered icebreaker on board.
This video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N_eHRNpAPo
also shows hat the vessel was listing before it sank.
.
(This reminded me that there is the shanty
"What will we do with a drunken sailor?"
and that the lyrics in German is slightly different:
"Ho, our mate, he has loaded crooked!")
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u/Ok_Bad8531 1d ago
"The Rossiya has been described by First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov as the world's "most powerful icebreaker," and "the only one of its kind.""
For now it remains none of its kind.
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u/TroppoAlto 22h ago
When I was a machinist mate in the Navy, they explicitly told us to try and not blow up the engines.
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u/Late_Sherbet5124 1d ago
Russia can't seem to catch a break with their ships lately. (Or maybe they are catching breaks......)
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u/Breech_Loader 23h ago
What we want is Russia's fleet made as tiny and pathetic as possible in order to deal with every vestige of their smuggling
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u/AlwaysAttack 1d ago
They arrived to discover the ice in the Mediterranean has mysteriously vanished.
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u/Legitimate-Place1927 22h ago
So let’s be real, the ship was loaded with “45 ton hatches”. Which in reality meant it was loaded with 45 tons of garbage because the oligarch company that was suppose to make them spent the money on a new yacht. Now they had to deliver the goods so they loaded a ship up with garbage and blew it up.
Mr. Putin I’m sorry but we will need another 1 trillion rubles to make new hatches because the ones we already made are unsalvageable. Which by the way were said to be the most incredible hatches ever made. These hatches were perfect, no one can make hatches like we do. Although they are now on the bottom of the ocean. So yeah give me more rubles please, thanks great leader.
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u/justbrowse2018 21h ago
The US needs to create an entire strike group just for the artic and frozen areas of the sea. Maybe even two one for north and one for south.
Last I checked the US really doesn’t fuck with ice breakers or the like. At least not in a way you’d expect a trillion dollar military waste machine to.
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u/gregorydgraham 21h ago
stranded in international waters between Spain and Algeria
It’s amazing that it happened in international waters in one of the most hotly contested maritime regions in the world. I mean what are the odds that it happened there, rather than say 10 metres further on?
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u/Baslifico 21h ago
Oh look... More self-promotion by newsweek.
Go pay for advertising like everyone else and stop wasting our time.
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