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I qualified as an Officer of the Deck Underway (OOD) during my Airboss tour on a Gator.
I had my own Watch Section:
"Attention in the pilot house, LT Seahawk has the deck, belay all reports."
The Dali is easily 15 times the weight and mass of what I drove, with a huge "sail area" (container ships are really susceptible to winds, just like the Gator I was on). It is going to carry mass, regardless of speed, that will stop only after it gets tired or it meets a like mass.
Like driving an old 911, everything happens fast, slowly, when coming into or out of port. There are always Harbor Pilots onboard, even on the Navy ship I was on. Local course rules.
I have no idea how the merchant fleet does their job, but I am sure they rehearse just like we did: Sea and Anchor Detail was real and hard.
All that said, like aviation accidents, this tragedy investigation will hopefully play out with facts not supposition.
BTW, setting an anchor is not easy and a last ditch effort.
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1996 FJ80.
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