Sunday, June 05, 2016

So how long have you been piloting ships?

This happened the other day in Ketchikan.

The accident caused between 2 to 3 million in damages to the dock, and as you can see quite a lot of damage to the cruise ship as well.

Apparently the winds were gusting up to 45 miles per hour, but these ship captains harbor pilots are pros so that is not a very good excuse for an accident of this magnitude.

P.S. Oops I stand corrected. Apparently there are harbor pilots who bring these ships into port. (Learn something new everyday.)

That would remove the fault from the ship's captain and place it on the folks running the harbor.

Now I am really surprised something like this happened.

24 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:40 AM

    They shoulda dropped anchor:

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjmHhAoVEAAIGHF.jpg:large

    Too early in the day? ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:06 AM

      BernieBots got to Bot. Take it somewhere else.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:09 AM

      Well I trust her far more than I trust that scheming Bernie and Jane.

      Delete
  2. I don't know how it works in Alaska but with ports on the mainland the captain is never the one who brings the ship into port. There is a local harbor pilot for each port that goes out to the ship as it approaches the harbor, takes charge and brings the ship into the dock. They also are responsible for piloting the ship away from the dock and out of the harbor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_pilot

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    Replies
    1. Yes, a pilot always brings the ships in at Alaska ports. It will be interesting to see who it was...one of my former shipmates, I'll wager.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:14 AM

      I know it works the same way in New York City and I imagine most ports also have the same system.

      There are so many quirks in wind and tide direction, as well as obstacles that may or may not be visible and busy traffic patterns, that the ship's captain cannot possibly know. It's much safer for all involved to turn the ship over to someone who only has to learn the intricacies of that specific port.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:29 AM

      Same in Phila.
      Pilot boat captains are very well paid and often the jobs are passed down in families if the kids want them.

      Interesting the people on the dock knew the ship was coming in hot. I hope the pilot wasn't texting or something stupid.

      Delete
    4. Info I got from a Ketchikan friend: "Ed Devine and Dale Collins were the pilots onboard. Collins usually brings the ship in so he doesn't need to come back to take it back out. It was southbound. --- has a theory. The stern was swinging in toward the bow of the ship docked behind it so it went forward to miss hitting it. The stern thrusters were ineffective when trying to stop the swing because of the forward motion. Three other ships docked earlier when the wind was lighter. The infinity arrived around 14:00 with big gusts on the stbd side and was trying to slide into berth 3 between ships docked at birth 2 and birth 4. I'll send more info when it comes out. Only one gash through the hull forward. They welded it up and left in the middle of the night for Vancouver BC."

      Delete
  3. Anonymous5:05 AM

    Gryph, you sure it was the captains fault? Probably two tug boats on the starboard side, could have been their crew mishandling lines caused this. If so the captain of the cruise ship woukdnt have had many options.

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    1. Anonymous6:47 PM

      They don't use tugboats. These ships have state of the art controls.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous5:45 AM

    Somebody's got some 'splaining to do.....

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  5. They actually hit the docks pretty hard all the time when it's windy. It only makes the news when there's damage. When I used to live in Ketchikan we'd head to the docks on windy days just to watch the action.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:11 AM

      OT... Love your photography!

      Delete
  6. Anonymous6:50 AM

    Forgive me in advance, but I have to say it.
    They will have to rename that ship and call it "The Girdle" because it takes a lot of tugs to get it into it's slip!

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  7. Hedgewytch7:20 AM

    There are pilots that come in to help large ships navigate close waters such as coming into a busy port. (They basically tell the Capt. where and how to go within that area.) HOWEVER, it is always the Capt. that is in charge of commanding the ship's movements. That said, when you have a shitty wind, a potentially inexperienced Capt./Crew and the momentum of a huge ship, and shit happens.

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    1. Anonymous7:56 AM

      This^ The wind forces on something so massive are very considerable. A strong gusty wind thrown into the mix makes it especially difficult. I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:59 AM

      You mean ship happens... :-)

      Delete
  8. Harbor pilots don't actually steer the ship. They guide the captain, looking out for obstacles and problems.

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  9. Anonymous7:37 AM

    Just one more reason not to entrust your safety to the cruise lines. if it isn't puking viruses, it's piss poor driving.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:32 AM

      Yea My shore neighbors son and his new wife were on their honeymoon when the Costa ship captain came too close to an island (doing a drive by for friends) and grounded the ship. They were both injured and honeymoon ruined.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:33 AM

      http://abcnews.go.com/International/costa-concordia-captain-francesco-schettino-found-guilty-fatal/story?id=28894507

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    3. There were local Alaska pilots onboard. Like somebody else said, "Ship happens," even to the most experienced.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous8:58 AM

    At first, I thought you were talking about the laughable seamanship of the Brown boys on "Alaska Bush People." They are going to kill someone one of these days.

    ReplyDelete

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