Ships collide in English Channel

B

BlueSkyNick

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 Apr 2003
Messages
11,766
Location
Near a marina, sailing club and pub
Visit site
Just heard on the news that India Juliet - the Solent CG chopper - was called out last night after two ships collided in the channel. One of them was Russian and now proceeding to Southampton to assess damage. Nobody was hurt.

Can't find any news stories on the BBC website yet, though.

If they can't see and avoid each other, it doesn't bode well for us in smaller vessels.
 
AIS is very helpful....

....because they at least they will know the name of the cowboy that hit them to put on the claims form /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif. At least it appears there were no injuries and both were still floating.

Robin
 
Reinforces yet again my attitude towards ships.

I allways work on the assumption that the officers on the bridge are Unqualified .Drunk or asleep.

In some cases probably all three.

I know this is a slur on the majority of concientious ships officers but from the vantage point of a little plastic boat I think its the best approach.

I also believe that all ships officers should be breathalized as a matter of routine on arrival at any British Port.At present it requires a Pilot or VTS officer to become concerned enough to involve the police ,with peoples reluctance to be whistleblowers it rarely happens.
 
Nick

We have crossed the Channel now 4 times this year and have heard at least one agitated communication between ships on Ch16 each time, interestingly not always calling the other vessel by name and not apparently using DSC and the other vessel's MMSI. It begs the question about the use of AIS since if this were fitted and switched on the bridge officer would have known the name and the MMSI of the vessel he was calling. In a couple of instances the language used by the right of way vessel was distinctly anglo-saxon and questioned the parentage of the other officer! One was asked to 'get his f~~~~~g Captain on the bridge NOW'.

A few years back we even saw a coaster do a full 360 deg circle to avoid colliding head on with a VLCC going the 'correct' way in that lane, more akin to a dinghy race tactic than seamanship - and not a word was heard on VHF!

We actually had one ship alter course to pass behind us last Sunday although we had previously altered to go behind the one in front of him (we were under sail doing about 8.5kts and coming in on his starboard side, so theoretically with right of way) when it was very apparent we would not clear this one safely otherwise. Time was when they would give way most of the time, especially for some reason the bigger ones, but nowadays it is a rare enough occurence to note in the log and certainly worth a friendly wave of thanks or a brief thanks on VHF.

Robin
 
You generally think of the Norwegians as seafaring people, but last night our new highspeed catamaran car ferry hit the island just outside the harbour unfortunately killing one of the crew. This vessel has had two collisions in its first 18 mths of service, the first time it hit the supports to the main suspension bridge in the town centre, and the older slower ferry hit the same island two years ago, reason - the captain thought the first officer had the helm and the first officer thought the captain had the helm!!!
We have collisions several times a month throughout the land often due to the crew being under the influence, or just plain incompetent. One crew near Bergen have been found over the limit twice and still operate the ferry!
So I agree with Graham that there should be compulsory breath checks and stricter policing of 'apparently' professional seamen.
 
mmm, when we came back last Monday, I slowed the boat down by spilling the wind in the main, to allow a small ship to clearly pass in front of us (about 5cables). Then pushed on with a bigger ship bearing down on us, I decided to start the donkey and motor ahead, rather than tack away. Also cleared comfortably - measured it as 1.2 miles on the radar.

After we had passed I saw a clear puff of smoke come out of his funnel. This made me think that he had given way by slowing down rather than altering couse - the puff of smoke being the throttles reopened.

It is much harder to notice any change of speed than it is a change in direction. Is this common practice?
 
I've never noticed a speed change but doubt they do it. Altering course requires probably very little effort on autopilot by the man on the bridge, just needs a willingness to do it. I often thought in the past it gave them something to break the monotony but now it seems they are on rails rather than roads or maybe it needs forms to be filled in? Same with fog horns, very rare these days it seems though we did hear one ship on the Mayday weekend and one last week in Alderney race honking away. Interestingly Condor Express who blasted past us off St Peter Port in fog last Thursday was NOT sounding a foghorn, but he did pass us well clear to starboard on the Herm side, still with engine noise like that who needs a foghorn!
 
Funnel smoke ...

Ships momentum is too great for a 'throttle' manoeuvre to work ..... actually its the Ships Engine Telegraph ...

You just probably caught a whiff coming fromn one of bthe generator stacks ... most funnels have a number of exhausts exiting ....
 
Graham
If what you say is correct, that you ‘give commercial shipping a wide berth’ then your assumptions obviously work as you have not been mown down by commercial shipping yet – though if that’s your honest opinion you just posted and you gob off on here enough about a load of tosh - then dont advertise your sail number on here or maybe you will.

I am almost speechless at your assumptions – I wont even bother to ask you what you base your assumption on as you sound so bigoted that you opinions are worthless.

For those readers with a bit more common sense –

If you are not aware of the real world, manning reductions on some commercial shipping is now so dire that it is indeed becoming more common that watchkeepers are falling asleep on bridge watch, even lookouts have been dispensed with after successful lobbying from shipping companies - to reduce manning even further. The MCA want nothing to do with it - even in UK waters, as they are powerless to react when other countries decide that the manning of their vessels are adequate.
On coasters and other medium traders, having a total crew 5 or 6 is not uncommon – probably less than the manning on a medium range cruiseing yacht nowadays /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. Mix this with commercial obligations – entering and leaving port, cargo watch in port, routine maintenance to keep the vessel seaworthy (lsa and fire equipment) plus cargo documentation plus company documentation plus IMO documentation and port state control documentation, plus mandatory drills …….. do you get the picture.
Correct seamanship practices are achievable if a vessel is manned properly – YOUR question should be, what flag, what manning levels, what P&I club insures them and what classification society are they under - not gobbing off about being qualified/drunk or asleep. You should be ashamed of yourself.

In conclusion – your knowledge of commercial shipping is nil, your ignorance about what may have caused this incident is astounding, your knee jerk reaction to breathalyse everyone is, in my opinion, pathetic, and your statement that it needs a pilot or VTS operator to call in the police etc ………… is crap.
 
I think you are out of order too, landaftaf. Graham's approach that you should assume the worst unless you know different is reasonable. Much safer than assuming that everybody who should be on watch is actually there, sober and wide awake, then finding out the hard way that they are not!

He did point out that he recognised that his assumption is a slur on the majority of conscientious officers.

It might also be possible that graham comes into contact (pardon the pun!) with a large number of ships in the course of his work, and therefore has reasonable grounds to make his assumptions.
 
We crossed under sail from Cap Gris Nez to Dungeness last week. At least 4 large vessels alterred course a few degrees to avoid us. Also one French fishing boat. Starting to think we lead a charmed life.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top