The Monarch of the Seas Disaster
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- čas přidán 2. 07. 2024
- In the early hours of December 15th, 1998, luxury cruise ship Monarch of the Seas took a massive hit on a coral reef and began to take on water.
The captain and crew were in a race against time to evacuate everyone before the ship sank completely or capsized.
Oceanliner Designs explores the design, construction, engineering and operation of history’s greatest vessels- from Titanic to Queen Mary and from the Empress of Ireland to the Lusitania. Join maritime researcher and illustrator Michael Brady as he tells the stories behind some of history's most famous ocean liners and machines!
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#ships #sinking #disaster #titanic #wrecks #exploration #history #adventure #design #engineering #mairitime #safety #vessels #sailing #documentary #story #oceanlinerdesigns #monarchoftheseas - Zábava
I suspect that the reason it's forgotten is because the cruise industry really, really wants it to be forgotten. It's probably better for the cruise industry if people think "Titanic, over a century ago" when they think "passenger ship disaster."
Agreed
Really I think of costa Concordia or Andrea Dorea
@@gate7clampbut majority of people think of titanic. I mean the ship is 100% the most famous ship in history
@@zoomedcheese Costa Concordia left rather deep memories here in Europe. People on their first cruise often quote it as the main reason they hesitate to board.
@@Frenchiesonthego yea but titanic is definitely more known
Our friend Mike Brady, coming in clutch for lunch break.
What do you have for lunch
What does clutch mean?
Tacos!!!
@@DustinKillyact will you share?
@@backonpro5679mixed nuts, dates, roast beef and pepper jack cheese (and water)
One of the things I like about being an oceanliner nerd is that, if you close your eyes, and ignore a little techno jargon, the story Mike is telling could be 1998 or 1898. The sea is always the sea, and ships and crews are always the creatures trying to tame it.
Any true sailor can tell you that you'll never tame the sea. All you can do is try to work with her as best you can and hope that she is merciful.
So true!
We got all these new fancy ships but the sea doesn't care for our toys
A sailor here: Nobody beats the sea; the best you can do is survive it, if you're very attentive and reasonably lucky. No matter how close to port you are, there is always some sequence of events that can put you in a bad way. Hence one sailor's aphorism: "The time to do something is when you first think about it." Because when you really need to, you may not be able to.
Excellent observation
This could easily have gone the way of the Costa Concordia, but this captain cared more about the safety of the passengers.
Right! I was just thinking about how this is how the Costa Concordia *should* have gone
@@PinkPoodlePupOfficial If I remember well, the Costa Concordia experimented a total loss of power rather early after the initial fault. So beaching it was impossible. it was a lucky event that the current brought her back along the shore and not at large where she would have sunk entirely.
I was thinking the same thing. What a difference with a captain that cared about the passengers. Unlike the Captain Coward of the Costa Concordia.
@@Frenchiesonthego You remember correctly. Concordia lost power and it was sheer luck the wind pushed the ship into it's final resting place. Had the ship been pushed out to sea instead it would have sunk in deep waters and hundreds of people probably would have died.
Always nice to hear about a successful failure where crew preformed admirably despite the initial error.
the sad thing is that stories like this are almost always 100x more common than the disasters, but for a variety of reasons people generally dont care when something goes right, only when it goes poorly
@@Rootiga As the Song Dirty laundry said. "It's interesting when people die give us dirty laundry."
Everybody screws up. An awful lot rests on how you deal with the aftermath.
It’s unfortunate that the reason it should be remembered is likely actually the reason it isn’t remembered so much. Humans love disaster, destruction, and death, so the ship servicing by quick thinking and great decisions, made after the incident, saving many lives and the ship, resulted in little of those things so many forget about it. Great video.
Sad but true. Same reason good news barely gets a blurb from news outlets, but the slightest hint of bad news get hyped up and focused on to the point that it seems like civilization is on the brink of ending. Gotta get those ratings and clicks dontcha know?
Amen.❤.
I had a classmate who was onboard when this happened.
He came back to school the next week all exited telling us how the entire ordeal played out.
The ship was repaired and returned to service. Then transferred to a Spanish company Pullmantur Cruises. Renamed Pullmantur Monarch and cruised mainly in the Caribbean until sold for scrap in 2020.
You know it’s a good day when our friend, mike releases on a documentary on a disaster!
Yes Costa Concordia could be another ship to talk about.
"It's a good day for a disaster!"- Firey
@@grondhero You are no longer safe.
Our friend Mike Brady did that standing on his head.
Fun fact. I worked with Harbor Pilots for 15 years. I brought this ship in its home port, Port Canaveral, more than 100 times. Monarch and the Sovereign of the Seas were both home ported in Canaveral for many years. Now we have the big boys. 150k+ GRT ships. Worlds second largest cruise ship port. We inky take in Oasis class RC ships now. Lol.
Jk. They do like port canaveral, though. It's a very convenient port to enter and exit. Along with cheap pilot rates, compared to Lauderdale and Miami. That being said, the rates were just increased by 400%. Still cheaoer than the rest of Florida.
You cant say that enough! Complacency kills. Not just on the high seas, but in every aspect. Id always have mates that woukd walk away from the bridge while on auto pilot saying, "were in the middle of the ocean, not a vessel in sight. What can happen"?. Well, most of the time, he wouod be right. It would be a very rare accident to take place, but you would be surprised how quickly vessles can come out of nowhere. Even if youve scanned the radar, seen theres nothing sround for 12nm, walk away eneough times and yiull eventually hear the 5 short horn blasts you never want to hear when in the middle of the ocean.
I graduated the maritime academy in 2003. Ive been in the water my entire working life. I know that feeling because ive done it. Not once, but sveral times. Then i finally woke up. Im now a very cautious captain. My "cowboy" days are over. All the things my elder colleagues told me come to fruition.
We have that on land as well with corporate crime and negligence: 'It's never happened before when we ignored it' says man in hard hat surrounded by rubble. We put it down to Karma being a real unseen entity watching and waiting for complacency, and I can absolutely understand why sailors believe in Poseidon because sometimes it gets really weird how the first time someone fails to do a tiny thing right in 10 years everything goes tits up.
@@SewingandCaring yeah. I 🤔
@@SewingandCaring I'm jk. For sure. Complacency involves ALL aspects of life. Why do a vast majority of vehicle accidents happen within a mile of the residents? Complacency.
Amen.❤.
@@yeeebayeeba4268 The most likely explanation is that by definition within a mile of home is where the vehicle is driven most frequently, unless it is only driven to and from a single destination at all times. Having said that, "familiarity breeds contempt" certainly is a thing.
Cheers
With not knowing any thing about boats/ships and never being on a cruise, these stories fascinate me. I love this channel🥰
Time to get on one!!! :)
Thank you!
Well, it's not about the Titanic but you can't have everything.
It's great to have a channel like this to open up a whole new world.
As an avid cruiser, this class of cruise ship (Sovereign class) is my absolute favorite. They're big enough to have multiple bars, clubs, theaters, and dining rooms - but small enough where you could still get to know the fellow passengers and crew (which really adds to the experience).
The new ships are just too massive and crazy. It doesn't feel exiting but luxurious.
Not just massive, but butt-ugly. Modern cruise vessels are designed for maximum interior space with no regard for grace, proportion or symmetry. They look like floating hotels because that's essentially what they are.
Back in 98 or 99 I was on the majesty of the seas, only one I've been on, but they are some nice ships, best time I had in my life.
We were on every Sovereign class ship and Sovereign itself many times. As a matter of fact, I ruptured my right Achilles tendon on the Sovereign's basketball court in June of '91. They were great ships! I remember this incident from the news but like a lot of incidents like this, they weren't as widely know in detail because of the lack of internet coverage that exists today.
The big ships feel like shopping malls.
Oh, we are at sea, nice, but it still feels like a giant shopping mall.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, AS a (mature) criminology student studying corporate crime I love this channel. There is no sensationalism of tragedy for clicks (please no one recommend me other channels, I know all the other channels, yes even that one) and I'm just as likely to come across a video where no one got hurt as I am a video about lessons learned to prevent future hurt. My take from this video is that everyone involved seems to have cooperated with the investigation team, and I really hope leniency was shown because of that. We need to eradicate the toxic corporate culture of hiding the truth about safety because coming forward makes you a snitch, like it's still 1975 or something.
Yeah, I was about to comment I hope the crew wasn't reprimanded too harshly. There had to be a huge confluence of errors for this to happen, and most of them were mistakes reasonable and well trained people could occasionally make. No one is perfect. Thankfully no deaths were on the crew's conscience
@@SewingandCaring Amen.
@@conehed1138
It's scary to know that most safety procedures put in place to avoid a tragedy actually came about because one actually happened & lessons were ( hopefully) learned to avoid it in the future. In a perfect world I guess we would realize the potential dangers & risks before someone had to be killed or seriously injured to bring it to the forefront.
Yeah, were talking about you Boeing
@@SewingandCaring Amen.
It's nice to hear about the crew and equipment being dialed in for a quick evacuation. Mike has told us so many stories about older ships and the disastrous, days-long evacs that ended up being worse than the initial accident.
Oddly, it seems it could have been "Britannic" in 1916. Excellent work as always, Mike!
Because it took on water??
@@WhatALoadOfTosca Because if they hadn't succeeded in beaching it, it would have sank, killing people.
@@WhatALoadOfToscabecause of the scenario she was in. Britannic could’ve been beached the same way Monarch of The Seas did if Britannic had the chance.
Britannic hit a mine and sank
@@BDK86 i’m talking about the attempted beaching.
This was the ship my parents went on their honeymoon on. Not the same voyage as the disaster of course.
Sailed this ship in 2002. We had no idea this had happened. We loved the ship and the cruise to Mexico..
Fascinating story. Sounds like, at the time, the bridge crews needed the same type of resource management training that airline crews now get as a result of past accidents.
That was my thought too when the second in command didn't question the risky course.
I've never heard of this incident until now! It's amazing how forgotten it is even though it's been several decades which is not too long ago!
Mike Brady is so classy and always well-dressed for his CZcams videos that even his ships want to swap their anchors for cufflinks
A blatant insurance fraud is not guaranteed
We rarely have such a good example of mistakes leading to an incident, yet still with a life preserving outcome.
And now Royal Caribbean boasts ships that can carry 3 times that amount. It makes you wonder how well the next incident like this will go...
I’d actually think very well. My wife and I took our first cruise last year on Quantum. We all had to learn our muster points and life boats, and I found the ship very accessible. I feel like as long as the passengers follow directions, an evacuation could be done relatively efficiently.
I actually went on a cruise on that very ship in 2006. Had no idea it was involved in such a high profile incident
they hid the damage under the water line :)
Same!! I went in Dec 2001, had to look up the photos to verify ... crazyyyyyy!
I took a cruise on this ship in summer 2001. I vaguely remember hearing about this accident, but had forgotten.
A bit more info on the repairs and follow up events of both the ship and the officers would be appreciated. The story was only half told.
MentourPilot talks about crew resource management (CRM) quite a bit. Particularly empowering subordinates to question and openly discuss actions by superiors that go outside normal procedures, or anything they feel uncomfortable with. Applies just as much with ships as it does commercial airliners.
Perfect video for my lunch break. Thanks for all the work you put in your channel.
The warning about complacency is also very, very true for aviation!
There's a good bit of incidents that been been caused by that very reason.
Living in Orlando i sailed on Monarch over 10 times. I never heard this story before. Amazing. Thanks!
*“Its your friend mike Brady from ocean liner designs”* makes a bad day into a legendary time
The mention of the Costa Concordia makes me ask if you have plans to do an episode about the ship. Hopefully you do 😉
Never been early. Glad to see my friend, mike brady in the morning.
Even on vacation Mike comes through with a classic
That intro though..
Remember in the 90s and early 00s when we had cable and these kind of shows were on tv and you kind of were at the mercy of the tv schedule and release dates.
It’s crazy that we have that quality of editing and content just available anytime on CZcams. I love this channel. I feel like the quality is on or beyond par with those big budget discovery channel shows of yesterday
I work onboard Monarch when was part of the Pullmantur Fleet, I love that vessel, the atmosphere was astonishing inside, I work for 6 consecutive contracts in the medical department. Thank you, you bring me back some memories.
At that time the GPS system wasn't that accurate as it is today because US military hasn't released the exact coordination due to miltary security so ship navigation in the 90s have to rely on radar navigation and sight navigation, and that's why someone noticed the Boi was in the wrong place. GPS was only useful in open sea back then.
Not necessarily. Before the US military allowed the GPS system to broadcast at full accuracy, many marine authorities in various countries set up shore based radio stations broadcasting a continuous local correction signal. This was one of the reasons why the US military decided to allow full accuracy - they only been inconveniencing themselves. Small GPS receivers that consumers could buy were too small and too low in cost to use the correction signals but professional grade equipment on ships could use it.
Fantastic Video, as always, Mike, Good Work
Monarch of the Seas is one of my favorite ships!
I remember going to school as a kid and seeing the Monarch of the Seas stranded on the sand bank in front of the Great Bay resort, I can still picture it today. Thanks for the technical explanation to this event, I remember the Monarch being stuck on the bank for weeks as a crew of underwater welders patched her temporarily so she could be floated and fixed in a shipyard.
The effect on the reef should not be underestimaed, the reef never fully recovered, and sadly due to bleeching of the corals I dont think they ever will.
Recalls the loss of USCGC Mesquite. It drifted while lifting a buoy, and when they got underway again they weren't where they thought they were and went on to a reef.
I sailed on the Monarch in 2010 Beautiful ship! Always thought the Sovereign class had great lines. The stern design reminds me of the SS Normandie’s.
even if cruise ships are built for less harsh conditions compared to ocean liners, i feel a double hull like that of olympic after her refit would be valuable to counter these types of issues
The bottom of the ship only having a single hull is misleading. The bottom-most part of the hull is the tank deck - full of fuel, water, and sewage. So simply running aground should only open the tanks to the ocean, not the occupied deck spaces. This can still be a massive problem and potentially sink the ship (as water is much heavier than fuel, and all tanks are rarely full), but there is a double bottom of sorts.
@@PsRohrbaugh Water is NOT much heavier than fuel. The specific gravity of sea water is 1.025. The specific gravity of fuel oil used in ships is 0.95. So only about 7.5% difference. Not enough to matter.
Especially for ships that port in areas with reefs and sandbars and such, right? But I don’t know anything about ships other than what our friend Mike Brady has taught me 😂 so who knows
@@keithammleter3824 7.5% can matter significantly since it's on top of other losses of buoyancy. However, since fuel oil floats on water, generally not too much leaks out of a breach in the bottom of the ship. In fact, some ships (I think it was battleships) when had fuel tanks with partially open bottoms to the sea? Vague memory I have from watching about New Jersey. Anyway. My main point is that when running aground you're generally damaging sealed, watertight spaces - not open areas.
@@PsRohrbaugh Submarines have been made with tanks open to the sea at the bottom. Submarine range is limited by how much fuel they can carry, and is never really enough. By venting some fuel tank space to sea, the fuel can be blown out by compressed air, which is nice to have if you have been depth charged and nothing works properly and you are otherwise going to sink to the bottom and die. Having valves instead of just holes is not good as they might seize. Or you can just push out some fuel, pushout some floatable junk via the torpedo tubes, and sneak off, hoping the enemy thinks he has holed you hull and you are finished.
Note that submarines have always run on regular diesel fuel, which has a specific gravity of 0.875, less than big ship bunker fuel with SG 0.95. So the chance of mixing due to rough weather is a lot less.
I don't think surface ships had fuel tanks open to sea.
You may be thinking of the World War 2 construction of British warships, particularly aircraft carriers. These were built with a "third skin" outside the armoured hull. The third skin was open to the sea via vent holes at the bottom. The idea is that enemy torpedoes would be detonated on striking the third shin, and relatively harmlessly blow the water out between the third skin and the hull. The space was never used for fuel.
It’s our friend, Mike Brady, from Oceanliner Designs, again!
I've led a few teams and used the phrase "Don't build a team that'll follow you off a cliff, build one that'll stop you going over in the first place" many times. Would've helped here too I think.
Hey, it's my friend Mike Brady. From Ocean liner designs!!!
Well… at least the crew were better at managing an evacuation than navigating a cruise ship 😂
This man was made for this job. Much love to ocean-liner designs from Canada
My friend Mike Brady putting a video out early enough so I can watch it on my lunch break…best Wednesday ever.
Wow that looks so close to the cruise I went on with Royal Caribbean. I was on Enchantment of the Seas two years ago.
Interesting one. Reading the report got me thinking. I think the video answered my question on crew resource management coming in after this. It's a major thing in aviation but I didn't know if it was introduced in the maritime world. Trusting your superiors even when you think something is wrong like in this case is what for me wondering.
No updated port charts, night time hours, sloppy navigation party procedures, failure to follow checklists, plotting error, Captain stomach illness. Recipe to a disaster. Luckily weather gods weren’t against them and ship had time to ground itself on a soft bottom.
the Pullmantur version of this ship is my favorite cruise ship ever. shame it was scrapped, had lots of life in her
I sailed on my first cruise on this ship. The trip went perfectly and the crew and staff were FANTASTIC !
That was really interesting. I’ve been on the monarch many times with my family. It used to do the three day Ensenada run after it retired from the Caribbean.
I’ve been on Monarch of the seas she was a great ship for the time
Before accident: Sloppy work by Bridge Crew.
After accident: Excellent work by Bridge Crew.
That was a New story. Never heard abt that. Thank you for a good resume of that accident. 😀
CRM is perhaps the single most common cause of accidents in ships and aircraft today. Nearly any emergency can be dealt with, given the proper procedures are followed- nevermind prevention of accidents in the first place.
The terrible is that modern vessels (and airliners) are so complex that it's very difficult to manage all the relevant systems in a timely manner. Back to Crew Resource Management; this is the only hope we have of staying ahead of situations in such complex machines. Teamwork is key.
Remember when the QE2 scraped the bottom. A film about that would be interesting.
Accident aside, errors aside, it's truly beautiful to see a well oiled machine in operation: the actions to mitigate damage and the evacuation of the ship. It really is a sight to behold, when everyone does his part.
Yes, yes. I know, it shouldn't happen. I'm not talking about it, but the actions after the disaster, and how to deal with it.
Watching this, in my head I kept hearing Mentour Pilot saying “crew resource management” and “increase in workload”
Great video!
Mike is so friendly and polite. His voice makes me feel at ease.
It's our friend Mike Brady from Ocean Liner Designs
facts
P3n15 popped up when the video did!
I was on her sister ship, the Majesty, during a summer trip in my high school years. She's the only surviving ship of the class, now, though she's been sold, and who knows what will become of her.
She's the only cruise ship I've ever been on. I hope whatever fate awaits her is merciful and she isn't scrapped like her sisters.
I was a casino worker on various cruise ships for five years, every video brings me back to my worse case thoughts before going to bed. I was lucky to make it home.
I’m going on a cruise soon, it’s hard to imagine a modern ship can have issues. But they certainly can.
It's nice to hear things go relatively well with the crew being competent and not putting the passengers at risk.
While human errors led to the ship hitting the reef, can we all just appreciate, how well the emergency was handled, once it happened? Thats certainly not, how these stories usually go!
Hi friend Mike Brady...
I got to tell you, I'm not really all that interested in ships. They're cool, (especially the gigantic ones) but they just aren't my thing.
HOWEVER... I love watching your videos. You're very educational, but most importantly, you have a passion and it comes across so well. Because you love it so much it comes across to me. You don't sound like you're reading a script. I'm sure there is scripts, because you can't retain everything you want to say, but it doesn't sound like you're reading line-by-line, and it sounds like you're speaking directly to me.
Love your work.
It always makes my day when Mike and his team posts a new video.
Don't remember ever hearing of this almost disaster. A series of bad decisions, failure to delegate and not questioning the captain could have led to a much worse incident.
thanks for the lesson! clear and concise as always. had a good cruise on Monarch many years after this incident
I remember seeing the Concordia in Genoa when her dismantling had just began.
She was clearly visible on entry and departure of the port and to me at least served as a warning to every ships Captain and Deck Officer regarding navigation and seamanship.
It was also very emotional seeing such a beautiful ship broken and out of the water like that.
Came across Drachinifel for warships, now I subbed to Oceanliner Designs for civilian vessels. I think my maritime phase is coming back.
Its interesting the response between this and the Costa Concordia, both disasters caused by mistakes but with wildly different endings. The Monarch's crew seemed very professional, told the truth of what was happening to the passengers, apparently got in fast contact with the shore for help, and had a well ordered evacuation. The captain stayed at the bridge directing the effort. Compare that to the Costa Concordia where the crew seemed like amateurs at best, lied to passengers about what was going on, lied to the shore authority, and had a disorderly evacuation. The captain most certainly didn't stay with the ship but saved his own skin leaving passengers behind. The Monarch crew still messed up to the point of getting them in the mess just as the Costa crew did but their response to their own failings couldn't be more different, one had zero loss of lives and the other had dozens.
That's the difference between Royal Caribbean and Carnival (who owned and operated Costa Concordia). Royal Caribbean has one of the best safety records, while Carnival has one of the worst.
No company is perfect, but if you look at major cruise ship incidents, the majority are Carnival or tiny companies.
Royal Caribbean also owns Celebrity and Azimara, for reference.
Amen.❤.
The CZcams ad algorithm is on point.... I got an ad for a cruise right before this video!!!
'Disaster' is a bit of an overstatement. Everyone reaches a point of fatigue working long and late shifts but it's clear that a little adrenaline got them back on course.
I gotta say as far as maritime disasters are concerned, this is probably the best possible outcome. Despite the human errors that led to the disaster, the crew and captain immediately made plans to make this as safe as possible and succeeded.
I have been on this ship may times growing up in the 90’s I was on it a couple months before this happened it’s safe to say Monarch had been through quite a few ordeals in her royal Caribbean career but she was a beautiful ship and it’s good to share the stories of accidents that have a good outcome with no loss of life that lessons were learnt from. I must say you done a great video here going into fine detail on the events that took place as I have vast knowledge on the history of sovereign class and done a few videos on these ships myself and you got the details so on point. Thank you 😁
I so miss old Ocenliners. Sleek, fast, Beautiful... Modern ships are just giant floating blocks wallowing in the water in comparison.
A ton of information presented in an easily understandable way. These are also life lessons about never becoming complacent and being willing to ask questions when something does not appear to be correct.
The ships who survive, their stories disappear. Its the Titanics and Lusitanias that people remember.
Thank you for being my friend, Mike Brady.
I like the Herbert Hoover collar!
Excellent video. Please keep making more videos like this about stories the general public (me) hasn’t heard about.
Love hearing about lesser known incidents. Thanks, Mike!
I was a passenger on the Monarch in 2003. She was a very nice ship.
Ive cruised on the Monarch. Best cruise ever! I hate the new cruise ships too many people.
Really fun you posted this video, as I had just gained an interest in this incident when you spoke about it in your 5 more ship design flaws video
I worked at the shipyard that got the contract to fix that disaster. When they pulled up on the blocks and dry docked, the amazing amount of sea life that that gash in the hull had sucked up was amazing. By the way, the cruise line was fined PER METER for the damage to the reef. It was in the millions. Excellent video!
In the Southern US, those gastrointestinal issues would be colloquially known as the “Tennessee Trots” or the “Virginia Quick Step”. 😂
Green apple quick step.
Never underestimate the possible consequences of having the runs!
@@CZcamsCensor Ah. Truer words have never been spoken.
Any disaster is bad, but it's nice to have one not end in tragedy.
Video came in a clutch for my lunch break, on the ferry.
Mike Brady is well loved here. The work you do, the stories you tell, the quality writing and video skills of you and your team are appreciated... Do you even have a team?
Navy Navigator here. There is absolutely not one single reason for this. Per COLREGS, the Captain is expected to be on the bridge until clear of navigational hazards.
I’ve been waiting n praying for to cover this incident ❤. Thank you Mike Brady !!!! 😊😊😊😊
Friends,Romans, Countryman! Say hello to our friend Mike Brady. Yet again bringing us a video par excellence!📽️🙏🤗👑 Thank you Mike. FOMBS🏆
You are right! It has been forgotten. I don't remember hearing of this. Thanks for covering it in such detail!
Accidents are always going to happen, and though that doesn't excuse the negligence in what caused it, it is impressive the crew was able to keep everyone calm and ground the boat safely so evacuations could go smoothly without fear of the ship sinking, and for being so open in communicating with the passengers
Monarch was my first cruise in july, 2009! It was soo much fun
Babe wake up new Mike Brady post
Glad to see you doing a video on this topic. I was reading about this a few months ago.
Mike, extremely well done report. I'm not a sailor, seaman, or even a cruise geek, but your videos are really well done. Cheers from the States!