ezdays Wrote:Now I'm not a nautical design engineer, but I wondered from day one why they didn't have enough auxiliary power generators to provide basic necessities such as running toilets, refrigeration and other kitchen things to keep food fresh and serve hot. :o I also wonder why they didn't drop a bunch of gas-powered generators down on deck to give them some additional power. 
Let's see, take a cruise around the Mediterranean and wind up fighting pirates or running aground. Take a trip in the Caribbean or the Gulf and wind up dead in the water. This isn't the first time this has happened there.
Would I take a cruise anywhere? 
I think I'd feel safer on Pete's canoe. At least I'd know what facilities were available before we started and wouldn't have to count on 1,000 cruise ship staff to be sure my needs are met as advertised in the brochure. I'm sure Pete could whip up a mean onion sandwich. 
Well let me try to answer some of that, I used to work as an electrical engineer on board cruiseships until a few years ago (at Holland America Line), done that for nearly 19 years.
Cruiseship powerplants are set up nowadays as a power station. they have an x number of (diesel) generators that supply the electricity, and with that they do everything else. The propellers are driven by big electric motors, the thrusters, the AC the lighting, refridgiration etc etc etc all is powered (via transformers etc) from these main diesel generators. In addition there is an emergency generator on board, but this is only big enough to power your emergency items, such as your lifeboat stations and nearby floodlights, some basic navigation and communication equipment, emergency lighting, some hospital supplies (yes there are is a small hospital (infirmary) on board), one or two cooling water pumps, usually also 1 or 2 sewage pumps a reefer compressor and a few elevators. That generator has enough fuel supply to last several days, and as long as it can power it's fuel supply pump they can pump fuel from their tanks below and keep it running for a week or more.
Obviously all the other limited gear being supplied is designed such that everything can cope with an interruption of a few hours, or long enough to go through an abandon ship procedure et. The few left over sewage pumps would not have been big enough to cope with the entire ship's sewage system, and I'd imagine that after several hours to a day, these pumps simply couldn't keep up the 'vacuum' on their own (usually vacuum toilet systems) and the pipes start blocking up.
While I cannot speculate on the layout of this particular ship, I think that the fire they had has caused damage to their main distribution board, or cables in the area, so that the rest of the ship could no longer be supplied with electricity. It probably also only had 1 such switchboard.
Newer designs have a 'split' distribution system, divided over separate rooms, which is normally connected together, but in the event of a problem, can be isolated and half the generators feed that system. This is usually sufficient to leave all systems running normally, but will only supply half power to the propellers etc.
The Triumph may not have had that layout, as it is something that has only started to be incorporated in cruise ship designs of the past 6 years or so.
Triumph is based on a series of ships of which the first one is older than that, and probably based on that basic design.
Hope that answers some of your questions. :-)
Koos
