III. After reading the texts and exchanging the information about the accident, describe the disaster according to the plan of your own using the facts from the texts.

 

Text 3. Afterword

The Soviet government formed a commission of inquiry to investigate the disaster. It was determined that both Captain Markov of the Admiral Nakhimov and Captain Tkachenko of the Pyotr Vasev had violated navigational safety rules. Despite repeated orders to let the Admiral Nakhimov pass, Tkachenko refused to slow his ship and only reported the accident 40 minutes after it occurred. Captain Markov was absent from the bridge. Captain Tkachenko was found guilty of criminal negligence and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The event was not reported in the news for five days. The survivors were only allowed to send telegrams saying "Alive and well in Novorossiysk". All mention of the wreck was censored until the September 5 when the newspaper Pravda published a condolence for the victims.

The wreck of the Admiral Nakhimov lies on its starboard side in 150 feet (45 m) of water in Tsemes Bay off Novorossiysk.

 

Text 4 (A). 1987: Hundreds trapped as car ferry capsizes

I. Read the text.

Make sure you understand the words below:

to smash	to break
to clamber	to climb
to tip over	to capsize
to unfold	to develop

Forty-nine people have been confirmed dead – and dozens are missing – after a car ferry capsized just outside the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.

The tragedy happened just before 1900 GMT as the ferry left Zeebrugge bound for Dover with 650 passengers on board.

It is not clear how the disaster happened. Survivors say the boat went over in seconds and began filling rapidly with water. There was no time to send an SOS.

The only way out for many was to smash windows and clamber onto the side of the ship and wait to be lifted off.

Rescue helicopters, including two RAF Sea Kings, were at the scene within minutes. Dutch and Belgian boats in the area were also diverted to help in the rescue operation.

A woman told how her husband had made himself into a human bridge so she and her daughter could climb across to safety – but when she called to him to follow he said there were others who needed help getting out. He has not been seen since.

Rescuers say more than 400 people have been brought out of the ship alive. Many have been taken to hospitals in Bruges and Blankenburg suffering from cuts and bruises, hypothermia and shock.

Divers are still searching the upturned hull of the Herald of Free Enterprise for air pockets in which passengers may have survived. But hope is fading of finding anyone alive.

Questions are already being asked about how the ferry tipped over so fast.

The final death toll was 193. The disaster had unfolded in just 90 seconds, in calm conditions and shallow water, only 100 yards (91 m) from the shore.

Vocabulary

to fade

постепенно исчезать

II. Give your versions of the causes of the disaster relating to the ship design, stability and safety measures.

III. Read the continuation of the text and make sure if your suppositions were true.

 

Text 4 (B). It appears the water may have got in through
the bow doors

It appears the water may have got in through the bow doors.

The turnaround time for loading and unloading at Zeebrugge was longer than at most other ports because there was only room for access to a single ramp onto the car deck. Water had to be pumped into the ballast tanks to lower the level of the ferry.

It appears the ferry then left port with her bow doors open and the extra ballast still in her tanks. Water began flowing onto the car deck and the vessel quickly became unstable.

A formal investigation blamed company management for failing to give clear instructions about safety procedures.

It was not until the end of April 1987 that the ferry was refloated. The disaster brought the highest death toll of any British vessel in peacetime since the sinking of the luxury liner Titanic 75 years earlier.

***

New safety measures were finally brought into effect in 1999 following
a second ferry disaster. The Estonia sank in 1994 with the loss of 850 lives.

Passenger details now have to be recorded before a ship sails so the harbour authorities know who is on board.

Cameras have also been fitted to the front of ships so the crew can see from the bridge whether or not the doors have been closed before sailing.

Vocabulary

turnaround	оборот (судна) с учетом времени на погрузку и выгрузку
ramp	аппарель
death toll	потери; жертвы

IV. After reading the texts and exchanging the information about the accident, describe the disaster according to the plan of your own using the facts from the texts. Express your opinion about the measures taken to improve safety.

 

Text 5. A contemporary disaster – The Estonia

I. Read the text.

Make sure you understand the words below:

to bear (bore)	to carry
prior to	before
to purchase	to buy
bang	bump, thump
to pour into	to flood
to heel over	to list
contemporary	present-day

During the 14 years it sailed the seas, the Swedish car-ferry Estonia bore four different names, was owned by even more different shipping companies, and suffered numerous mishaps prior to the disaster on September 28, 1994 that claimed 852 lives.

Launched in 1980 as the Finnish ship Viking Sally, the vessel grounded at Turku in 1982, was nearly run ashore because of propeller damage at the island of Yxla in Stockholm archipelago in 1983, went on the rocks at Hjulgrund in 1984, suffered propeller damage in 1985, and collided with a fishing boat in fog near Mariehamn in 1989.

Under new owners, the ship was named the Silja Star in 1990, then was renamed Wasa King, operating under the Wasa Line, the following year.

She became the Estonia in 1992, after being purchased by the Estonian Shipping Company of Stockholm. The ship was still operating under that flag when it capsized and sank in the Baltic Sea, taking 852 souls to the bottom with it. Only 137 people were rescued.

The Estonia was sailing from the Estonian capital of Tallinn with
989 people onboard, bound for Stockholm the following day.

There was a severe storm that day out of the southwest, and the ship was taking waves measuring from six to eight meters as it made its way into the raging seas.

Shortly before midnight, loud noises from the bow door to the car deck were reported to the bridge. A seaman was sent to the deck to investigate, but he reported nothing out of the ordinary.

About 12:10 a.m., two loud bangs were heard and the ship soon began taking on a list. Water was found pouring into the car deck. The ship sent
a distress call which was picked up by nearby vessels and the Turku sea rescue center. After that, the Estonia went silent. The ship heeled over and sank so quickly that many passengers were trapped aboard ship. Those that escaped didn't have time to get dressed. Because of the storm and the severe list, the crew was unable to launch lifeboats and many people failed to find life jackets, or get them properly on before they were thrown into the water.

Because of the storm, few assisting ships successfully took people aboard from the violent seas. Most of the people saved were picked up by helicopters from the Turku rescue center and flown directly to nearby hospitals for treatment of hyperthermia.

The sinking of the Estonia thus became one of the worst contemporary ship disasters on record.

Vocabulary

to claim

уносить жизни (о стихийном бедствии, аварии)