In 1991, the South African cruise ship Oceanos
suffered a sea chest failure with 600 passengers and
crew aboard. A relatively small problem with respect
to the 492 foot long vessel, but would prove to be
the beginning of a progressive flooding sequence
that eventually overcame the ship and lead to the
vessel’s sinking.
The client requested “schematic-style” computer
animation sequences for their National Geographic
Channel documentary production Oceanos: Cruise
Ship Rescue. The animations developed consisted
of a series of sequences that described the ships
arrangement and equipment layout, ventilation and
sewage system configuration and other concepts
contributing to the ship’s sinking. The client asked
that the animations have an “engineering” or
“schematic” look to them in order to distinguish
them visually from the realistic animations that
where developed by a third party.
