Are Modern Container Ships Not Fitted With Bow Thrusters?

[mawnansmiff]

The ongoing efforts to correct the gigantic container vessel the Ever Given made me wonder how it ended up blocking the Suez Canal in the first place.

We are told high winds forced the massive vessel into an almost 90 degree turn blocking passage through the canal in both directions leaving many vessels stacked up in a giant queue.

This has had huge implications to global trade including raising the international price of oil and of course when oil increases everything else follows.

My simple question is this, are these super sized ships not fitted with bow thrusters? If they are then was the captain perhaps having a nap as the use of thrusters would almost surely have prevented this minor crisis.

Suez Canal: Owner of cargo ship blocking waterway apologises - BBC News

Regards,

Jay.

 

[DanWil84]

Working in shipping can confirm this giants have bow thrusters else they will not be able to go along side a quay. But this only works on very very very low speeds, it's not like the go full throttle and steer with the bow thruster.

 

[verporchting]

Seems like high winds and some degree of negligence are to blame. Quite a predicament.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"But this only works on very very very low speeds, it's not like the go full throttle and steer with the bow thruster."

I appreciate what you say Danwil84 but if the thrusters had been applied in a timely manner I would have thought the worst outcome would be the vessel hitting the canal side in a broadside manner and not askew as has happened.

Regards,

Jay.

 

[dmcmtk]

From the pictures and video, she looks aground by the bow with the wind across the stern.

 

[stevecourtright]

My simple question is this, are these super sized ships not fitted with bow thrusters? If they are then was the captain perhaps having a nap as the use of thrusters would almost surely have prevented this minor crisis.

All this will explained in excruciating and dramatic detail in the inevitable upcoming Netflix series.

 

[canucklehead]

I think there is more to it than that, as they have been dredging out tons of mud and sand from around the bow of the ship. The canal shouldn't be that shallow there, maybe canal maintenance was lacking?

 

[mawnansmiff]

"The canal shouldn't be that shallow there, maybe canal maintenance was lacking?"

My thinking is that the bow of the vessel hit the bank with such force as to dislodge the loose material of the bankside hence the need for dredging gear.

Looking at the Plimsol line of the vessel also suggests it hit the bank quite hard.

Regards,

Jay.

 

[bullet08]

I actually had a dream about this. Per my dream, the pilot was trying to draw dick picture on GPS tracker and got stuck.

 

[canucklehead]

"The canal shouldn't be that shallow there, maybe canal maintenance was lacking?"

My thinking is that the bow of the vessel hit the bank with such force as to dislodge the loose material of the bankside hence the need for dredging gear.

Looking at the Plimsol line of the vessel also suggests it hit the bank quite hard.

Regards,

Jay.

Could be. I wonder what the speed limits are in there?

 

[captainsousie]

Almost 13 knots ain't a slow speed there. It's enough to do some major damage even after they get the ship off the sides. This is a major issue but no use fretting about it as it's already happened. As they say in boating, if you can see it straight ahead, you're likely going to hit it.

 

[tbradsim1]

Takes a mile and a half to stop. Not knowing info Captain should gave dethrottled, and maybe threw anchor in storm.

 

[boatme99]

Yes, they have thrusters. As mentioned, they're for idle speed, docking and maneuvering in basins. Not underway at any kind of speed.
Most ship accidents are a result of a number of small incidents leading up to the major catastrophe. The investigation will look at what every person on the bridge was doing by the second in the time leading up to the grounding, the natural conditions, wind, current. Possibility of mechanical failure. The pilots experience and condition at the time of the accident.
The investigation could take up to a year or more.

 

[DanWil84]

I have worked for a German steel company which had shipments of iron ore common from Brazil to the port of Rotterdam with then the largest bulk carrier build, Berge Stahl. If that ship passed the Canal between France and England it should allready slow in order to reach a acceptable speed for the helicopter to land for the pilot. It didn't slow down by just lower the throttle it actually had to sail in circles against the stream to slow down enough. This ship also tried to do that apperantly! Fun fact, the company I work for now discharges and loads the containers from this vessel in Rotterdam, it is truly a behemoth to look at from my office window, magnificent that thing can sail the oceans.

 

[mso489]

It will be interesting to hear how this incident is reviewed and who, if anyone, pays. One defensive point would be that what hit was a "sandstorm," over a canal, which is a set of circumstances not typical of maritime navigation. I visualize that there are extreme shifts in wind direction and unpredictable timing, so this would not resemble most or any situations at sea or maneuvering in and out of port. Now for a sandstorm of insurance companies, international politics, and admiralty law (which is the classiest of law practice I've heard). My wife's smart phone just texted a news headline about how the container ship had charted an "X rated course," whatever that means. This story has just begun. By the way, thirteen knots was near the top speed of my minesweeper of yore, literally the slow boat to China.

 

[mawnansmiff]

I now read it's stuck at both ends! This might take an age to sort out. Lots of head scratching and hand wringing going on methinks.

Regards,

Jay.

 

[SoddenJack]

The company that owns the ship is blaming “strong winds”. I hope it’s not the same “strong winds” that knocked over Joe Biden.

 

[troutface]

At my age I wish I had a bow thruster.

Apparently an "elite salvage squad" is on the way.

 

[renfield]

“I don’t know, it was like this when we got here.”

 

[mawnansmiff]

"Takes a mile and a half to stop"

That is a bit arbitrary especially without knowing speed of the vessel, the weight, the prevailing winds etc etc.

Regards,

Jay.?.