- A ship develops a leak 12 km from the shore. Despite the leak, the ship
is able to move towards the shore at a speed of 8 km/hr. However, the ship
can stay afloat only for 20 minutes. If a rescue vessel were to leave from
the shore towards the ship, and it takes 4 minutes to evacuate the crew and
passengers of the ship, what should be the minimum speed of the rescue
vessel in order to be able to successfully rescue the people aboard the
ship?
(1) 53 km/hr (2) 37 km/hr (3) 28 km/hr (4) 44 km/hr
Solution:
The distance between the rescue vessel and the ship, which is 12 km has to be
covered in 16 minutes. (The ship can stay afloat only 20 minutes and it takes 4
minutes to evacuate the people aboard the ship). Therefore, the two vessels
should move towards each other at a speed of
km/hr =
= 45 km/hr.
The ship is moving at a speed of 8 km/hr. Therefore, the rescue vessel should
move at a speed of 45 - 8 = 37 km/hr.
