In both instances a pilot was in command-bay pilot here and suez pilot there.
Missed the channel, clearly. Whether it was a human or mechanical issue under investigation.
Lot of windage on those ships with containers that high.

Good report here-https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/container-ship-aground-outside-patapsco-river/

Great link, Greg. Bay Pilot onboard.

https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/container-ship-aground-outside-patapsco-river/

Lehmann tells us the vessel is outside the navigable channel. The Bay pilot aboard had control of the ship at the time it ran aground. Investigators are still looking at whether it was a mechanical issue or operator error that caused it to leave the channel.

Based on Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, Benhoff says it appears the ship failed to turn into the designated channel, whether by mechanical or operator error.

AIS track everything.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0qyiGx7ygPY" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Thanks again.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3T-wFfPm37U" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

OK, I know nothing but the very basics of container ships, so I have a question.

I do know a local pilot is almost always "driving" the ship in port or on the river like this time. Does that pilot just say whoopsie, sorry about that, see ya later? Is that pilot responsible for the grounding and does he have some massive insurance like malpractice?

Yes and yes.

Very weird. I've been thru there a bunch in pleasure craft. Very well marked, giant buoys that are clearly visible on radar and sight. The channel does go from channel depth (60 ft??) to 25 ft outside at low water fairly abruptly, but that's normal. If it wasn't mechanical, it was avoidable. It was fairly windy Sunday earlier, but it looks like winds had dropped at time of grounding. Winds were a factor in the Suez incident, all those containers stacked act like a sail.

To make things worse, NOAA issued a warning of low water levels throughout the bay yesterday, which didn't help things.

yes, thats what i was saying. may not have used the correct term but thought it was a harbor pilot.
either way, i dont think evergreen was driving.

just had a thought, i wonder if they refused the HP.

The master has the ultimate responsibility even when the pilot is calling out steering commands.
Will be interesting to find out why they didn't turn.

They should of told the Harbor Pilot to stay onshore.

He had one job to do....

The only good excuse is that the steering gear broke before the turn. Other than that someone didn't do their job.

<iframe width="1189" height="669" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DyrXIakdQm4" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I am sure merchant ships do not, but during sea and anchor events like leaving port, the "after steering: compartment is manned.

The space is at the bottom rear of the ship next to the rudder steering gear (at least on the ship I was on) and the rudder could be manually manipulated from there.

Creepy space I only had to go to once during my qual period.

Back in the 1980s oil boom one of my buddies was broke, and all his credit cards were maxed out. He joined an Gulf of Mexico off shore rig crew. On the first trip out on an old ship full of equipment, they told him to get some sleep in a room right at the front of the ship. He had been up for 20 hours and fell asleep right away. He said he was awakened by the loudest noise he ever heard, the anchor chain rushing down as they dropped the anchor. He said all the rest of the crew was he hawing and laughing and it was pretty much an initiation to be on the crew as the FNG. He said he was suspicious as there was just two bunks, and he was the only person sleeping in there.

After just a year of working the rig, he had paid off his house, and every debt, and he bought a new car for his wife, and a new pickup for himself and started a business. He said that little cabin is what sticks out in his mind when he thinks back on the job.

help is coming.....

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/evergreen-hires-firm-saved-day-031543688.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

I left my comment of wisdom at the end of the article.

tomorrows the day....
https://www.yahoo.com/news/attempt-free-grounded-ever-forward-203438004.html

Wind on the Chesapeake has been brutal the last few days. I hope they get her underway.

What is the tide like on the Chesapeake? How many feet between MHW and dead low?

Get some barges, offload some of the containers.. pump the bilge dry... at MHW if the screw can turn try to wash out under the ship...

Not much tide difference in most of the bay - less than 3 feet. Seahawk is right, the wind has been pretty brutal here lately. Just on simple observation off my property it's usually wind and offshore storms that have a much bigger impact on water levels than actual tides.

I was under the impression that Bay Pilots stand on the bridge and provide instruction but don't physically control the ship. So "under control of the bay pilot" may not mean literal control, but I'm not sure.

A couple of years ago I bought a 15 foot sailboat from a bay pilot that lived in Annapolis. He had some interesting stories and observations about his job. Two things that I specially remember him saying: communications, specifically language barriers, can be a problem on these foreign owned ships. He said the ships from eastern Russia and parts of China were the most difficult in terms of trying to communicate instructions for navigation. This ship is owned by Taiwan (IIRC), so maybe that wasn't an issue.

The other thing he said is that these cargo ships now are totally maxed out in terms of cargo and really pushing the limits of what a navigation lane can safely handle. He used the example that these large ships have to wait for a specific tide/water level to get under the Bay Bridge, and even then they have only a few feet of clearance under the bridge and only about 4 feet under their keel in the channel in some spots. That's not a lot of room for error.

They're trying! Some good pics on this article. (esp #6)

https://news.yahoo.com/starts-free-ever-forward-stranded-191142832.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

Still stuck.

Still stuck (and Francisco Fernando still dead).

Apparently Evergreen has now declared "General Average," a term I wasn't familiar with, but according to Wiki:

The law of general average is a principle of maritime law whereby all stakeholders in a sea venture proportionately share any losses resulting from a voluntary sacrifice of part of the ship or cargo to save the whole in an emergency.

So they're kind of telling the cargo owners "hey, if this goes any further south you could be screwed, too," is that it?

I read somewheres that if todays efforts don't work...they are going to start unloading containers onto barges.