Great lake boats, a good video

[MossRoad]

Boats run aground in Duluth Harbor seems like one per summer. How the ^%!!@ could that happen when these crews could have been in and out of there, 100's of times. I once asked by buddy who works on da boat why this happens and he said something like "the helmsman and captain, can have miscommunications". Here is the Paul Tregurtha who ran aground right in front Bayfront Festival Park during a performance! Ops!

Push harder little tug boats.

 

[5030]

Worthless factoid about tugs. They are built with whats called a negative draft hull design so the harder they push, the deeper they get into the water so as to push harder yet. Not built for speed.

I suspect the ALP was pulling, not pushing. In fact, all the video's I've seen of it, it's never pushing, always pulling, I do not believe it even has bumpers on the bow. It's prime duty is heavy anchor recovery and moving off shore oil rigs. Why the afterdeck is flat and just above the waterline and has rollers on the back to bring in anchors. They have a nice website you can visit that list the entire fleet, the power plants, winch capacities and bollard pull. One picture shows it pulling a supertanker at sea and it's cooking pretty good too.

They don't look like Lakes tugs at all. and they use rotating propeller pods that rotate 360 degrees so they never reverse the engines, just reverse the direction the prop faces. They can even motor sideways. If I remember correctly it has a compliment of 24 crewmen. The name of the pods escapes me right now.

 

[5030]

So the AWS log can tell what the steering gear of he ship is doing? Or just WHERE the ship went. Could it not have been a turn, but wind? For a ship that size, with only a rudder on the back for direction control, that is a HUGE surface area for wind.

Not exactly, the Ever Given has 2 bow thrusters as well that are reversible. It wasn't it's first rodeo (traversing the Suez) anyway.

Those steering wheels on the modern ships are WAY too small. Like in an Austin Mini. They need to go back to the BIG wheels with the spokes and handles, and maybe this kind of stuff will stop.

No, but the AWS transponder accurately tracks the course and speed. What happened is 100% conjecture on your part and mine but the board of inquiry will find out.

Far as ships wheels go. The size of the wheel don't matter at all because all the wheel does is connect to electro-mechanical controls that connect to the steerage mechanism.

Modern tugs like the ALP tugs don't even have a wheel at all. They steer with joy sticks.

All I said was the AWS plot clearly shows the right turn into the bank. What caused it is the 50 dollar question, or 50 million dollar question depending on what side of the equation you are on.

I read somewhere (lots of stuff floating around), that she was making just over 12 knots when she grounded.

I would think that loaded with containers like she was and the height and position of the pilot deck in relationship to the boat and it's placement made it pretty hard to see where you were going without being out on the bridge wings and if the Suez Canal pilots were out there or not is conjecture at this time as well.

Be interesting to read how it all washes out but no point in armchair postulating anyway. I only know what I read and you can read the same things I do.

 

[MossRoad]

Azipod - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[MossRoad]

I don't think it has the pods, though, because it has rudders.

ALP Future Class Anchor Handling Tugs - Ship Technology

www.ship-technology.com

 

[MossRoad]

Darn impressive machine. It can run at full power for 45 days without refueling. Yikes!

 

[Industrial Toys]

Just speculation, but I doubt the Bow thrusters are available for service at a whim. Probably have to start another Yanmar first.

For once, it's nice when there is a fairly quick resolution of such a crisis. Too often, it just goes from bad to worse it seems.

 

[5030]

Like I said at the outset, Smit-Tak knows what they are doing. I got a kick out of Biden offering assistance. The United States don't have the knowledge or the equipment to handle the stuff Smit Tak and Mommet can.

 

[5030]

Darn impressive machine. It can run at full power for 45 days without refueling. Yikes!

I believe they used the ALP defender which is a different class of anchor retrieval tug. I'm still trying to remember the name of the rotating pods and Hitzer or Hizzer keeps floating up in my feeble old mind.

 

[5030]

Here you go Mossy....

Boskalis | Creating new horizons

Royal Boskalis is a leading global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. The company provides creative and innovative all-round solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime, coastal and delta regions of the world.

www.alpmaritime.com

They even have pictures of it pulling on the Given on the site already.

The rotating pods I'm thinking of are Becker and it has 305 metric tons of Bollard pull.

Don't get seasick looking at the bow of the boat now...