[srini1785]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

When the propulsion failure (of whatever kind) occurred and the ship lost its own ability to move it falls victim to currents of water and to a lesser extent wind that would have caused it to turn around and get jammed on the side banks.

What is the standard procedure during such an emergency?. Does one drop anchor?.

[VKumar]

As @Androdev said "Suez Canal got Bangalored"!

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Yes. As the sides of the canal are sloping and the deep channel is in the centre the ship's ends fore and aft would have run aground on the canal's side slopes which are under water.

In case the hull is stuck in the sloping banks, will it be a simple pull out for the tugboats? Looking at the pic, it can't be pulled to front or back, only remedy seems to be pulling the front and rear in opposite directions - sideways.

But for a 2,20,000 ton ship, do the tugs have enough thrust to pull it out without some excavation work required to first free the stuck ends of the ship?

Originally Posted by Jeroen

In a narrow channel, if you are unable to keep a straight course, things can go wrong fast.

What's the rescue SOP in such a case?

Additionally, as already asked above, if the hull is banked, then does it require a lot of excavation too? I read that Suez banks are not strong ones and and have to be dealt with quite carefully. So, is it an issue way bigger than what meets the eye?

Originally Posted by TrackDay

Apparently a wind blew the ship off course, or at least that is what is being said now.

Thanks for sharing man, I got my answer in "as excavators struggled to dig it out". Imagine the scene if they manage to somehow dig it out, and an even stronger wind blast hits the ship again!

[TrackDay]

Meanwhile the Captain right now at the canal.

Apparently a wind blew the ship off course, or at least that is what is being said now.

Shipping company GAC previously said that the vessel suffered a power outage.

The ship, the Ever Given, is now lodged sideways and impeding all traffic across the waterway as excavators struggled to dig it out.

"The container accidentally ran aground after a suspected gust of wind hit it," ship operator Evergreen Marine told AFP.

Source:https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena...ound-1.1190129

Have to appreciate this little fellow





Source:https://twitter.com/jsrailton/status...97391463120896

[NevGin]

The bow thrusters seem to have malfunctioned causing this. Looking at the gross tonnage of the vessel, I don't think even a bunch of tugs would manage in keeping it in check without bow thrusters without serious risk to life & limb.

A ships passage through the canal costs the ship owners money. It is a very important for the monetary source for the canal operator. Which is why it is dredged deep right till the edge.

[norhog]

The reason mentioned by "NevGin" could be true.
Bow thruster mis-operation can be a likely cause. Could also be a steering system failure or a black out.

Just for perspective these large vessels have unbelievable amount of inertia. To make a, say PORT (Left) side turn, you turn the rudder about say 10 degrees to port. Even before the ship begins to swing to port, you need to put in opposite lock, starboard 10 degrees. Only then the vessel will turn properly.
It is quite a skill to do it and the turning is done by the helms man (Sukhani as called on Indian vessels) or a junior officer.
The captain commands the heading in degrees, not how much you need to turn the wheel, generally. It is always like "make heading 290" and "steady her at 290".

Here is what has likely happened. Due to mis-operation of bow thruster or steering system failure failure or some wrong rudder inputs by the guy at the HELM (literally here) the bulbous bow got grounded first on the sands at the end of the channel and due to inertia of the vessel the rear part swung around, pivoting around the stuck bow and thus blocking the channel.

[aaggoswami]

In such cases of grounding, what is the damage to the hull ? Possibility of an oil leak that is hazardous to environment ? Ship needs to be scrapped ? Ship appears to be fully loaded, I mean it must be heavy and hull wont be designed to take this kind of load. And how will the sea worthiness of ship be checked ? Like say microscopic cracks or something ?

[jayendra]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

Suez Canal, the passage between Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea running through Egypt, has been blocked by a container ship that ran aground while trying to turn in the narrow canal. It has led to a huge pile up of ships throughout. The ship named Evergreen / Ever Given is registered in Panama and was on way to Rotterdam in Netherlands from China.

Attachment 2136330

Attachment 2136331

Link

Attachment 2136332
This image shows numerous tug boats attached to it.

So I wonder who stands responsible for this. The bridge crew or the tug boat captain??

[TrackDay]

Originally Posted by jayendra

So I wonder who stands responsible for this. The bridge crew or the tug boat captain??

There is no clarity on what caused this so far. Mostly blamed on bad weather with strong winds. Another unknown factor could be that usually while navigating the Suez canal, an Egyptian pilot boards the vessel to navigate/guide the stretch. Maybe the last thing that the guys at the Suez canal want, is for this to be an issue to stop the practice of their guys coming on board.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...anal-evergreen

https://www.usnews.com/news/business...0single%20lane.

https://www.arabiaweather.com/en/con...r-disrupted-it

The issue is already brewing up metaphors and cartoons. Here are two I found online

[Axe77]

This is quite fascinating purely from a trivia standpoint. I’m trying very hard to find my empathy bone but this is also darn hilarious (not so for those in the shipping business I’m sure). Will follow keenly how this progresses.

[shivshanker]

Originally Posted by JithinR

Looking at the title I thought the Iranians had played out on their threat. After reading the post I started to suspect that this was a ploy by China to increase fuel prices in India even more.

Seems I have become more paranoid since the pandemic began.

Though I still don't understand why a ship would have to execute a u turn after going through all the Locks of the canal.

Apologies for the repeat information, hope an admin deletes this post, if not sincere apologies to all readers, for content duplication.

Not a U Turn, as per CNN it was blown slightly off course because of strong winds, I guess it is past 24 hours since this "accident" has happened

[Jeroen]

Just a few comments on the bow thruster. As soon as a vessel starts moving forward the effectiveness of bow and stern thruster reduces greatly. For them to be effective you have to have very little forward speed.

Tugs easily outperform any bow thruster! These days harbour tugs are incredible powerful. These vessels have special strengthened section where the tug can push against. So it is not just towing they can assist by pushing the vessel sideways as well.

Jeroen

[SnS_12]

My cousin who works for Maersk said one of their ship which was just behind it almost got hit by another ship from behind.

This incident reminded me of "Yellow Fleet"

From Wikipedia, in 1967 to 1975, fifteen ships became trapped in the Suez Canal because of the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt. The trapped ships were called the Yellow Fleet because of the yellow desert sand that soon covered them.

During the war, the Egyptians blocked both ends of the canal to prevent its use. Ships, dredgers, other floating craft and even a bridge were sunk to block the canal. In addition to the vessels that were sunk, there were a number of sea mines that prevented navigation. With the war having left the Israelis in possession of the entire east bank of the canal, the Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser quickly resolved to keep the canal closed to all shipping indefinitely. The only alternative would have been allow the Israelis to use it, which was anathema to the Egyptian government. Even if the political issues surrounding the canal could have somehow been resolved, its maintenance would have been economically nonviable since very few (if any) shippers would have been willing to send their vessels and crews through what was effectively a no man's land in an active combat zone.

After eight years, the only ships that were able to return to their home port under their own power were the West German ships Münsterland and Nordwind.

[Marshall]

It took just one ship to choke the East - West supply chain. The Seafarers have been an ignored lot and left to their plight in this pandemic with several thousands stuck onboard for months together with no relief in sight. This incident though unfortunate, hopefully will help highlight the plights onboard.

God save us all from the arm chair navigators, social media pundits and critics.

[srishiva]

On CNN yesterday, they said it was a engine issue and high winds made the ship drift.
Now a ship carrying Panama flag doing this on Suez Canal Thank god Panama canal is in a totally different place.

[behaln]

The ship suffered a black out ie the generators supplying the electrical power failed. This resulted in loss of propulsion.

Since container ships have large windage area, the ship turned and finally grounded.

I am sure the Captain must be tried to avoid the grounding. The sea bottom at Suez is soft mud. It wont result in any hull damage.