Serious Blockage

[Scott Douglas]

The amount of momentum it had to bury the bow into the side of the canal is impressive.
That is one big ship for sure. Probably makes these look small in comparison.

[porsche4life]

Why not use the ship behind it to pull? I know the tug boats don’t have the power, but I’d think another container ship should be able to give it a good yank?

[Scott Douglas]

They might have the power but I doubt they have the structural integrity to tie a tow line to it.

[Joe Bob]

Don't think UHaul has a big enough trailer hitch.

[masraum]

I'm sure if they took a couple of good ol' boys from Texas down there with a couple of pick-em-up trucks and straps....

[javadog]

https://libertyunyielding.com/2021/03/26/interesting-situation-with-m-v-ever-given-container-ship-stuck-in-suez-canal/

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by masraum

They couldn't have thrown another 8' on the damn thing to make it an even 1/4 mile? What is this world coming to?

That's what happens when you use the metric system!



(Quickie calculations show that 1312' is about 400 m, so maybe that really is the reason.)

[stevej37]

I know it's a canal....but is there any current in that thing?

[javadog]

Yep.

[stevej37]

^^^ Well that truly compounds the trouble.

[javadog]

One hopes that this is simply a case of bad pilotage but it’s possible that it is not.

[70SATMan]

I went through the Suez on the Enterprise back in '86. Threading the needle is no exaggeration and with the momentum of a ship that big, the tiniest mistake is tough to overcome.

Slow cruise by the anti aircraft batteries interspersed among Egyptian ruins was amazing if not a little nerve racking considering our mission at the time. We had at least one Cruiser and Destroyer that made the "detour" behind us as I recall. Fun afternoon on the flight deck..

[Seahawk]

From an earlier article:

The 220,000-ton, 400-metre-long Ever Given – a so-called megaship operated by the Taiwan-based firm Evergreen – became stuck near the southern end of the canal on Tuesday. The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said it had lost the ability to steer amid high winds and a dust storm.

Ok, while I qualified a an Officer of the Deck Underway and had my own bridge watch team, I am not exactly Joe ship handler....it takes years.

I am sure there was a Suez Canal Pilot onboard...every time the ships I sailed on entered a port, a canal or severely restricted waterway, a local, highly experienced pilot is on the bridge. They know the water better than any transient ships company. I bet it is the same for commercial vessels for insurance purposes.

The local pilots make serious coinage.

The most embarrassing moment in my Navy career was having to give up the Deck of the ship to the XO of the ship while we were pulling into Manama, Bahrain.

It was a very windy day, receding tide, unfamiliar spot on the pier...I was in over my ship handling head. Big ship, btw, with a very large cross section that, like a container ship, acts like a sail.

The local pilot, a Bahraini, looks at me, looks at the XO (a SWO and a great ship handler) and asks me to relieve the ship to the XO.

Thank god. I am sure the CO and XO were seconds away from the same decision, but I could not have been happier to say out loud, "Attention in the Pilot House. the XO has the Con".

Harder than it looks, trust me.

[pmax]

Wait till you have to retrieve a hair ball from a clogged pipe.

[stevej37]

There we go ^^^ flood the canal with drano!

[island911]

Originally Posted by URY914

This may take awhile.....

Cool pict.

I expect that they have more than one of these on the job.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

From an earlier article:

The 220,000-ton, 400-metre-long Ever Given – a so-called megaship operated by the Taiwan-based firm Evergreen – became stuck near the southern end of the canal on Tuesday. The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said it had lost the ability to steer amid high winds and a dust storm.

Ok, while I qualified a an Officer of the Deck Underway and had my own bridge watch team, I am not exactly Joe ship handler....it takes years.

I am sure there was a Suez Canal Pilot onboard...every time the ships I sailed on entered a port, a canal or severely restricted waterway, a local, highly experienced pilot is on the bridge. They know the water better than any transient ships company. I bet it is the same for commercial vessels for insurance purposes.

The local pilots make serious coinage.

The most embarrassing moment in my Navy career was having to give up the Deck of the ship to the XO of the ship while we were pulling into Manama, Bahrain.

It was a very windy day, receding tide, unfamiliar spot on the pier...I was in over my ship handling head. Big ship, btw, with a very large cross section that, like a container ship, acts like a sail.

The local pilot, a Bahraini, looks at me, looks at the XO (a SWO and a great ship handler) and asks me to relieve the ship to the XO.

Thank god. I am sure the CO and XO were seconds away from the same decision, but I could not have been happier to say out loud, "Attention in the Pilot House. the XO has the Con".

Harder than it looks, trust me.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

I am sure there was a Suez Canal Pilot onboard...every time the ships I sailed on entered a port, a canal or severely restricted waterway, a local, highly experienced pilot is on the bridge. They know the water better than any transient ships company. I bet it is the same for commercial vessels for insurance purposes.

The local pilots make serious coinage.

That reminds me of a fella I knew long ago who was a harbor pilot down Philly way. He did indeed make good coin.

[pmax]

Originally Posted by stevej37

There we go ^^^ flood the canal with drano!

Dremel
Dynamite
Drill

I would simply chop off the bow.

Unless it's the Titanic, should still stay afloat.

[pmax]

Fix the pesky length problem too.