Suez canal

[Handy Don 10,554]

Unstuck and on the move!

Now to fix the damage to the canal and, possibly, to the ship.

And send the bill to the ship owner!

[Mickwhitt 4,134]

Oops I wonder how much it will cost? Bang goes their no claims bonus.

 

[Stormin 9,975]

I believe they'd recently upped the size of ship allowed through the canal. Wonder if they reduce it again?

 

[Mickwhitt 4,134]

The centre of the channel is the only bit that's navigable for the big boys, looks like greed is a big motivator to take ever bigger ships and the increased charges.

If they are comfortable with the risk of taking these leviathan machines so be it. But surely this has to be more controlled than by a third world corrupt government when the impact on the global economy is so great. Imagine if the Egyptians had just closed it down, there would have been troops on the ground in days, just like 1956.

 

 

[Handy Don 10,554]

National pride (and major foreign currency revenue) are at stake here. I don't expect either a prompt or thorough airing of causes. The liability lawsuits against the ship and its owners, however, will arise quickly. A recent article about the Suez pilots makes it clear they are well protected against blame or responsibility.

[Pullstart 59,551]

On 3/30/2021 at 10:11 AM, Handy Don said:

National pride (and major foreign currency revenue) are at stake here. I don't expect either a prompt or thorough airing of causes. The liability lawsuits against the ship and its owners, however, will arise quickly. A recent article about the Suez pilots makes it clear they are well protected against blame or responsibility.

Because it’s easier to blame “a sand storm”...  

[oliver2-44 8,835]

On 3/30/2021 at 9:11 AM, Handy Don said:

. A recent article about the Suez pilots makes it clear they are well protected against blame or responsibility.

I'm not very verses in Ocean ship processes, but a close friend has a Brother in Law who works as a pilot for the Port of Houston and it's ship Channel.  He worked as an ocean going pilot for several years getting experience. One he had enough experience he got on as a Port Pilot. They helicopter or motor launch him out to ships and he pilots them into and out of the Houston Ship Channel.  So I wonder if the Suez Cannel has it's own Pilots.  In other words it may not be the ship owners pilot that was as fault.  Adds an additional spin to the law suits. 

[Tractorhead 8,574]

Whatever the reason for that fail was, we may never get the exact details and nobody if free of mishaps.

 

The problem was mainly that it was a massive blockage of the international freight,

added just some troubles on top of covid delay’s, that enlarged for some Companies just their Delivery problems in this Time.

 

Important is more who is responsible for the Problems, what can cause I.m.h.o.

[Handy Don 10,554]

3 hours ago, oliver2-44 said:

I'm not very verses in Ocean ship processes, but a close friend has a Brother in Law who works as a pilot for the Port of Houston and it's ship Channel.  He worked as an ocean going pilot for several years getting experience. One he had enough experience he got on as a Port Pilot. They helicopter or motor launch him out to ships and he pilots them into and out of the Houston Ship Channel.  So I wonder if the Suez Cannel has it's own Pilots.  In other words it may not be the ship owners pilot that was as fault.  Adds an additional spin to the law suits. 

I have a step-BIL who is a senior Chesapeake pilot. And the deal is pretty much the same for pilots at all ports and canals. Pilots are typically required by whatever authority governs the waterway with an eye to improving navigational safety and compliance with local regulations. They board the ship where it enters the restricted waters--by launch or helicopter if it is at sea or from the pier if it is just getting underway. They are there to advise and convey local knowledge of the waterway to the ships master, and to help communication with local authorities, but they do not assume control at any point. All ship movement remains under the direction of the master. Hence, the Ever Given's master remains on the hook. 

 

In the Chesapeake, it is usually a single person but transit times are normally only a few hours. Apparently in the Suez, it is a team of four or five but transit times can be up to 12 hours, depending on traffic.

 

Importantly, all modern ships (and this one is less than three years old) record and save all navigation and control inputs and communications exchanges, as well as external and ship condition data (temperature, sea movement, water depth, speed, direction, etc.) just like an airplane flight data recorder.

 

In the end, if the master undertook proper navigational steps, he'll be exonerated but always remembered as the guy who got the Ever Given stuck. If not, his days at sea at the helm of anything bigger than a harbor tug ended when the Ever Given anchored in Great Bitter Lake.

[bc.gold 3,399]

JUST IN - Maritime Bulletin April 06/2021  Two Aframax tankers ran aground in Suez Canal.

Edited April 6, 2021 by bcgold

[Wheel Horse 3D 3,620]

Yikes!

[8ntruck 6,358]

I ran across an article written by a marine engineer about the grounding of the Ever Given. 

 

He was ponting out that the hydrodynamics of a large ship moving through a canal are very different than when the ship moving through open sea.  He put forth the theory that the Ever Given was actually 'crabbing' slightly to compensate for the wind as it travelled through the canal.  If the ship drifted off of the centerline of the canal, it is possible that the bow (front) of the ship to get close enough to the side of the canal to cause the water squeezing around the bow to increase in speed relative to the water on the canal centerline side of the ship.  The difference in the speed of the water causes a lower pressure on the side with the higher speed - kind of works like an airplane wing.  This difference in pressure might have sucked the bow of the boat into the bank of the canal.  The canal has a more or less flat bottom in about the center third.  The bottom ramps up on either side of the flat bottom.  The shallower water near the bank would tend to amplify suction effect I tried to describe above.  In other words, the closer the bow got to the edge of the canal, the harder it got pushed towards the bank.  At some point, steering corrections with the rudder would not be effective.

 

Studies are being conducted in towing tanks with model canals and ships to learn more about this effect.

 

As is the case in most accidents, the true cause will probably turn out to be a combination of several things.  Definitely, the size of the ship (bigger than normal for the Suez), the height of the ship, the weather, and the actions (reactions?) of the pilot, and the geometry of the canal, were all contributors to the accident. 

[Handy Don 10,554]

10 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

As is the case in most accidents, the true cause will probably turn out to be a combination of several things.  Definitely, the size of the ship (bigger than normal for the Suez), the height of the ship, the weather, and the actions (reactions?) of the pilot, and the geometry of the canal, were all contributors to the accident

 

I believe it might have been the same article that mentioned that the ship tracking record showed the ship moving at faster-than-normal speed and weaving, as well. Something confirmed by observers. 

Those ships are optimized for hauling a lot of stuff with the least cost. One propeller and rudder, no thrusters, restricted visibility, tons and tons of windage, low-cost crew from developing countries with few or no employee protections. The cost of incidents is also carefully managed via insurance and selection of country of registration. 

Harbor Freight and Amazon (and even eBay in a knock-on fashion) could not exist without ships like that.

[Mickwhitt 4,134]

Saw a piece in the news where the only Egyptian femal sea captain has been blamed fir it on social media, despite being miles away on a different ship. 

[bc.gold 3,399]

9 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

Saw a piece in the news where the only Egyptian femal sea captain has been blamed fir it on social media, despite being miles away on a different ship. 

 

Egypt’s first female shipmaster 'blamed' for Suez Canal blockage

 

Edited April 8, 2021 by bc.gold

[Handy Don 10,554]

6 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

Saw a piece in the news where the only Egyptian femal sea captain has been blamed fir it on social media, despite being miles away on a different ship. 

Just sad. But with little or no penalty for starting and maintaining lies, it's become all too common.

[rjg854 10,708]

If you say it often enough and loud enough people will start to believe it

[bc.gold 3,399]

Hope the crew members a re being paid overtime for the delay.

 

Crew Of 'Ever Given' Could Be Stuck On The Big Boat For Years

[bc.gold 3,399]

Huge list, Abandonment of Seafarers database

Crew members not permitted to leave the vessel.

 

One example from the data base,

 

Agat[disputed]

IMO8324646

 

Abandonment ID:	00166
Ship name:	Agat[disputed]
Flag:	Antigua & Barbuda
7-digit IMO no.:	8324646
Port of abandonment:	Tenes, Algeria
Abandonment date:	17 March 2011
Notification date:	11 May 2011
Reporting Member Govt. or Org.:	ITF
No. of Seafarers:	7
Nationalities:	Estonia; Russian Federation; Ukraine
Circumstances:	Company has abandoned 8 ships in different ports without food, drinking water, fuel supply and cut off ships¿ mobiles.
Actions taken:	11 May 2011: Other Trying to involve the Mortgage Bank. In contact with the crew.
Repatriation status:	11 May 2011: Repatriation pending Outstanding, crew does not want to leave the ship without being paid.
Payment status:	11 May 2011: Payment Pending Euro 45 000,00 (December-May)
Comments and Observations:	ITF (11 May 2011) Vessel under the Mortgage, but the Bank does not want to step in at the moment. In permanent contact with Estonian Union. Trade Winds will highlight the situation. The worst situation, as we do not have any strong reps in Algeria. ITF (25 November 2016) The case is closed but the seafarers have not received all outstanding wages.

 

Edited April 22, 2021 by bc.gold

[bc.gold 3,399]

Removed.

 

 

Edited April 22, 2021 by bc.gold

[lynnmor 6,762]