BorderReiver
Moderator
Had to be Naarfuk.No wonder the busses are always late.
Had to be Naarfuk.No wonder the busses are always late.
Should have gone to Specsavers.
Fully laden like it was, possibly with the current, the chances to stop a ship like that on anchor are virtually nil unless you can run a very long chain. The reason I believe she was going with the current is that as long as a ship goes faster than the water she sails, she remains manoeuvrable and even with loss of propulsion could have stirred away from the pillar.Tragic for anyone who was on that bridge.
That ship looks to be completely out of control. Think they would drop anchor.
It's certainly what I'd do on the yachts I sailed, but the largest was a 50 footer. And unless there are rocks at the bottom, the anchor would still act as a plough; the size of anchors are nowhere big enough (or the chain strong enough to hold a ship on their own: what does the job is the length (and therefore weight) of chain that you run, that acts as a weight without pulling on the anchor until all the chain has been lifted from the seabed that stops the ship.Emergency anchor drops when you are close to infrastructure like that are standard practice though. Obviously it doesn't always make a difference.
The Dali was 111,000 dwt...
Hey, it stopped didn't it?An illustration of the box ticking exercise that is "dropping the anchor" when close to an obstacle
An illustration of the box ticking exercise that is "dropping the anchor" when close to an obstacle
They had more time (not a lot) but they were going faster, and there was a current that did not exist in the Indian example above. I read about the port anchor too.They had a lot more time on the Dali. In any case there are always teams closed up on the forecastle to drop anchors in case of an emergency in close quarters to hazards - entering and exiting ports etc. You can see on the AIS track that they were trying to scrub speed and every little helps. I have read that they did drop the port anchor.
They had more time (not a lot) but they were going faster, and there was a current that did not exist in the Indian example above. I read about the port anchor too.
I am not sure I can interpret the AIS with any certainty. It appears it lost power completely for a while, then the lights come back and then there is a big puff of black smoke, as if the engines had restarted. Presumably that is where they could steer again but those don't exactly spin on atuppencedime. They may have put the engine in reverse too, we'll know more soon. At least they sent the Mayday call...
Saw this advert last night from the tories. Totally surreal. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised? The decline in British politics over the last 10 years would be unbelievable if I hadn't watched it happen.