Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Full Scale Ships => Topic started by: NickelBelter on July 12, 2020, 01:45:42 am
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl5Fp0sbezo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl5Fp0sbezo)
A developing story so far, and it's difficult to tell much due to the video starting just as the collision happens, but my money is on mechanical failure on the Florence Spirit. It happened just north of the locks by the town of Welland, which the canal now bypasses.
Oddly, a very similar thing happened a few days ago at the Soo, when another Canadian freighter struck a pier on the entrance to the locks... that was confirmed to be the result of a loss of steering.
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The second video shows the Florence moving from the right side to the left side of the canal as if is she was on the wrong side, were they supposed to pass port side to port side or starboard to starboard?
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The second video shows the Florence moving from the right side to the left side of the canal as if is she was on the wrong side, were they supposed to pass port side to port side or starboard to starboard?
"If two lights you see ahead, starboard wheel and show your red", was the usual 'rule of the road'. So presuming that is still the case then they should pass port to port.
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According to "The Collision Regulations and the United States Inland Rules" the situation is covered by
RULE 14 Head-on Situation
(a) When two power-driven vessels are meeting on reciprocal or nearly reciprocal courses so as to involve risk of collision each shall alter her course to starboard so that each shall pass on the port side of the other.
(b) Such a situation shall be deemed to exist when a vessel sees the other ahead or nearly ahead and by night she could see the masthead lights of the other in a line or nearly in a line and/or both sidelights and by day she observes the corresponding aspect of the other vessel."
It looks like the Florence was at fault leaving it too late to cross over.
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Forgive my ignorance but I always thought that port was the left side (port wine being red and all that) so why was Florence crossing over?
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Yes, it's usual for ships on the canal to pass port(left) to port, and if the Florence Spirit had stayed on a straight course, it would've done so. That's why I'm thinking there was a loss of power, or a problem in the steering hydraulics which caused it to veer into the other vessel.
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I do not know if this rule applies on the Welland , I have done a lot of cruising on the waterways of Belgium and Germany and France and there is a a thing called Blue Boarding , vessels restricted in there ability to manoeuvre such as loaded meeting empty when the water is low or on a bend the vessel that can not alter course shows a blue board at the side he/she want the approaching vessel to pass ,both barges show a blue board and pass blue to blue. The boards are about 600mm square and fold flat to the side of the supper structure. thy were manually operated I do not know what happened at night we as a pleasure motor cruiser were not allowed to travel after dark. So red to red go ahead is not all ways the case on inland water ways.
It is a very thick book with the rules for boating on the inland waterways of Europe
David
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Forgive my ignorance but I always thought that port was the left side (port wine being red and all that) so why was Florence crossing over?
I perhaps phrased that badly. The Florence shouldn't have crossed over but when she did she left it late to do so successfully..
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Whereby any of these rule one of two vessels is to keep out of the way, the other shall maintain her course and speed. When, from any cause the latter vessel finds herself so close that collision cannot be avoided by action of the give way vessel alone, she also shall take such action as will best aid to avoid collision.
From memory.
Jerry.
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I don't know if it just wasn't captured by the video, but i hear no horn blasting, no yelling, no revving of engines...... complacency..... bravado?!
(https://www.modelboatmayhemimages.co.uk/images/2020/07/13/EcrZhsjWkAQGQxg.jpg) (https://www.modelboatmayhemimages.co.uk/image/ZoTNB)
(https://www.modelboatmayhemimages.co.uk/images/2020/07/13/EcrZhsjXYAE1PEn.jpg) (https://www.modelboatmayhemimages.co.uk/image/ZowQh)
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Two great comments on Utube:
'These boats didn't get the memo on social distancing! 🤣'
'Someone is silently sweating..sitting there just knowing how badly the messed up'
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IT looks like they both have bow thrusters, so why she didn't put full reverse and push into the opposite bank, i.e. once reverse had got her to a speed where the thruster would have worked.
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I think both were probably skippered while distracted. :((
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xCpInLU-cI
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Another scenario not mentioned is ship interaction, either with each other or with a shallow bank on the edge of the canal. Which would make a vessel behave suddenly with no effect by rudder or engines to stop it, plus bow thrusters only have real effect when the vessel is nearly stopped from my experience.