Dismasted but not your average sail boat

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William_H

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Knowing my friends on this forum love boats thought this might be of interest. Two injured and iconic WA tall ship damaged by container ship.
The TS Leeuwin is a sail training boat built about 30 years ago in steel. Rigged as a barque.
The container ship has a huge wind area and gusts were pretty strong at the time. I am told these big side area ships are devils to handle in close quarters. This one got away.
ol'will
 
A real shame. We saw the Leeuwin in Albany last year and it was really impressive, not only as a traditionally rigged ship but also for the aims and achievements of those who manage it.
 
Presumably Maersk have both the financial resources and technical skills and expertise that they could fly a team out to make good the damage before the injured crew have even fully healed. Thats what a responsible megalithic organisation with a corporate and social governance reputation to maintain would do. Presumably they’ll actually do nothing until forced to by the insurers/solicitors and then quibble over the cost of every shackle.
 
An armchair expert writes...

A gust of wind. OK, I get that. Those things must be a bit of a nightmare at low speed, but either there was a mechanical issue or someone screwed up. Cue a knock down drag out between the port authorities (presumably responsible for the pilot and tugs) and Maersk because their captain has ultimate responsibility. I hope the Leeuwin and her crew don't get caught in the crossfire.
 
The news report I saw said the tugs actually lost control of the vessel due to its very high windage. I'm not sure how many tugs there were but the photo showed at least three so it's difficult to pin blame on anyone specific..
 
Stemar said:
An armchair expert writes...

A gust of wind. OK, I get that. Those things must be a bit of a nightmare at low speed, but either there was a mechanical issue or someone screwed up. Cue a knock down drag out between the port authorities (presumably responsible for the pilot and tugs) and Maersk because their captain has ultimate responsibility. I hope the Leeuwin and her crew don't get caught in the crossfire.
Click to expand...
I have a friend who is a pilot for Fremantle port. I have quized him at length about bringing biog ships in. Yes the windage can be a huge problem. As I understand it the pilot takes full control of the ship and hence full responsibility.
Re ylop comment re Maersk flying a crew out to fix the problem. I doubt that would be necessary considering the ship was built in Fremantle about 20 years ago and presumably the capability to repair is still here. Hopefully mostly broken rigging wires. I imagine the steel masts are ok or fixable. ol'will
 
ylop said:
Presumably Maersk have both the financial resources and technical skills and expertise that they could fly a team out to make good the damage before the injured crew have even fully healed. Thats what a responsible megalithic organisation with a corporate and social governance reputation to maintain would do. Presumably they’ll actually do nothing until forced to by the insurers/solicitors and then quibble over the cost of every shackle.
Click to expand...
Having being skipper with Maersk for over 20 years, yes, that is what they will do.
 
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