Argentine Navy And Air Force Get Into Argument - Ship Sinks

[dennisr]

Wonder if the Argentine Navy has ever heard of electrolysis or taken any measure to prevent corrosion of the hull through electrolysis. My money is on hull corrosion. Older ships use sacrificial zinc anodes attached to the hull to prevent corrosion. See nothing in the pics. Father time will take its toll quickly on a ships hull if there is no protection in place. Who knows?

 

[PhilinBSAS]

Wonder if the Argentine Navy has ever heard of electrolysis or taken any measure to prevent corrosion of the hull through electrolysis. My money is on hull corrosion. Older ships use sacrificial zinc anodes attached to the hull to prevent corrosion. See nothing in the pics. Father time will take its toll quickly on a ships hull if there is no protection in place. Who knows?

Not "older ships"

Virtually all boats with metal components exposed to sea water use sacrificial anodes being usually an alloy of zinc since this is most cost effective although aluminium is now becoming competitive - mine is a GRP hull with steel keel I replace four anodes on the hull and drive shaft plus in the sea water cooled engine every year and it this is a condition of my insurance. Even wooden hulled boats need this protection but those hull comprising ferrous metals are the most vulnerable. There are electronic systems on the market to limit ionisation but use on a ship at this scale is limited and they use a lot of power.

Any boat connected to the shore and which includes electric power cables which are earthed has a much greater ionisation risk - yachts in marinas have this problem. If not properly supervised then crew and or workmen think they can just run a cable to power up and over the dock to power up this bit of kit or another. Also for on board power for lighting heating air conditioning etc it is expensive to run the diesel electric generators so again a temptation to have loads of power lines which someone qualified should but likely as not hasnt been supervising. That is a potential explanation but it is a very technical subject.

Article in print version of Clarin today suggests that a lack of regular hull painting is to blame as the most likely cause - steel hulls will not be protected just by anodes and require dry docking and blasting even when highest quality epoxy paint is used. The life expectancy of drill rigs etc in the North Sea is conditioned by exactly the same issue.

To be sure the actual cause of the sinking will be known by now but also it will be regarded as a state secret and a political decision to be made on to how to attribute blame is working its way through.

In UK HM Vessels which are mothballed are not "under command" appointments but the responsibility of the Dock Supervisor who in turn is responsible to e.g the Queen's Harbour Master in Portsmouth who is not a civilian - he carries senior flag rank..

I wouldnt question the seamanship or technical competence of the Argentine Navy but what is the chain of responsibility for ARA vessels that are docked long term? The next question is how much more humiliation can the Navy take before breaking loyalty? And how much influence does that have these days?

 

[dennisr]

Newer ships use Cathodic Protection

 

[Ries]

Newer ships use Cathodic Protection

Isnt that also called the "Rhythm Method"?

 

[PhilinBSAS]

So it was the fault of the ARMY!!

"Sabotage is the cause" ..... forgetting to shut the (presumably) water tight doors


http://www.argentinaindependent.com/currentaffairs/puricelli-confirms-sabotage-as-cause-for-warship-sinking/


What do they teach now in Army Basic Training?

And the cause of the water ingress in the first place?

?No importa? We have someone to blame!! La Presidenta will accept that

Has anyone seen Timmerman? She can blame him for this as well

http://en.mercopress.com/2013/01/22/major-blunder-of-timerman-and-cristina-fernandez-in-vietnam

How much longer before he is on his beam's end?