The Ship Structure Committee (SSC) is pleased to unveil three historical films recently re-discovered in the archives at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC. Two of the films document a series of merchant vessels that suffered catastrophic structural failures in the 1940s. Structural failures like these laid the ground work for the formation of the SSC in 1943. The other film depicts a collision between the cargo vessel SERGEY YESENIN and the passenger ship QUEEN OF VICTORIA in April 1970. The films have been converted from 16mm to a digital format and uploaded onto the SSC website, under SSC Historical Videos.
The SSC’s mission is to enhance the safety of life at sea, promote technology and education advancements in marine transportation, and to protect the marine environment. These activities are to be accomplished through advocating, participating in, and supporting cooperative research and development in structural design, life cycle risk management of marine structures, and production technologies.
While the SSC is preparing to announce the kick off of a number of exciting research projects, we also recognize the need to look to the past since it shapes the lens through which we view the future. These historical films provide an important part of the SSC’s foundation and remind us of the need for enhanced structural safety.
For any questions, or if you have any additional information about these historical films, please contact the Ship Structure Committee Executive Director, LCDR Braden Rostad, at (202) 372-1398 or [email protected].
