Suez blocked.

[newtothis]

Work suspended until tomorrow.

This is interesting. It’s a speeded up AIS based animation:

See what happens at 14 seconds in. She closes the port bank then swings across the channel.

Kukri, what's your expert opinion here? Seems to indicate the power failure/windage issues are a bit of a red herring, and that it was pilot (literally) error or canal effect.

 

[Bilgediver]

The suez canal is run as an employment scheme, so there are lots of tugs

They can anchor in the Bitter Lakes like the poor barstewards caught there after the 6 Day War; hopefully it won't be 7 years to unplug it this time.

Oh dear.... Maybe they will have to eat the cargo. My brother got sick of Tasmanian apples on board a Port Line ship and swapped some for meat from another.
Happy Days.

 

[Kukri]

Kukri, what's your expert opinion here? Seems to indicate the power failure/windage issues are a bit of a red herring, and that it was pilot (literally) error or canal effect.

I’m no expert but yes that is my opinion. I suspect that at or close to her full load draft, as she appears to be, the ship will have been close to the limits for the Canal, thus increasing interaction effects, and she may well have handled somewhat differently to the way she normally handled at “container draft”.

 

[alan_d]

.... and extends to Victoria Point (now Kawthaung) - the border post between Myanmar and Burma.

Last time I was there it was the border between Myanmar/Burma and Thailand.

 

[Concerto]

This article is worth reading about the salvage operation that SMIT are now involved in.
How to Dislodge a 200,000-Ton Ship From a Canal Wall

 

[sarabande]

That article refers to the refloating as a "Stern Test". And a "Bow Test" as well ?

 

[penfold]

It's curious that a lot of pictures prior to this event show her trimmed by the bow; I'm not a deck officer but orthodoxy says she will handle like a supermarket trolley with a gammy castor like that.

 

[mersea_paddler]

Fewer Lion fish making their way to the Med for the time being then

 

[burgundyben]

Looks like she is still there.

 

[fredrussell]

I’m off down Asda to stock up on pasta and toilet roll.

 

[Kukri]

It’s a conspiracy by the shipping industry to drive already high freight rates into the stratosphere!

Oh, hang on... it’s another sort of conspiracy...?...

QAnon claims stuck Suez canal ship used by Hillary Clinton to traffic children

 

[capnsensible]

Quieter in the Gibraltar Straits today.

 

[Kukri]

working down...


but a long way still to go...

 

[Concerto]

Why is he clearing the starboard side?

Still need a bigger digger to be effective.

 

[Bilgediver]

It's curious that a lot of pictures prior to this event show her trimmed by the bow; I'm not a deck officer but orthodoxy says she will handle like a supermarket trolley with a gammy castor like that.

That is certainly unusual and great efforts are taken regarding loading plans to ensure an even keel or trim by the stern is achieved. If what you say is true then the bow must be firmly stuck in the desert

 

[Lucy52]

Didn't the Israelis use water pumps to move the desert, would that help shift the bank?

 

[penfold]

That is certainly unusual and great efforts are taken regarding loading plans to ensure an even keel or trim by the stern is achieved. If what you say is true then the bow must be firmly stuck in the desert

Sorry, I don't mean in the immediate past, just when I googled the ship a surprising number of pictures showed her trimmed by the bow.

Why is he clearing the starboard side?

Still need a bigger digger to be effective.

Because he can't get to the port side without using an aqualung and a snort mast for the digger. I can see them having to create a bulge in the canal so they can get a dredger all around the bow, diggers just can't shift sand fast enough(short of those huge things they have in opencast mines anyway).

 

[Kukri]

I think that pictures of container ships in port working cargo can mislead as to the arrival and departure conditions, and a ship under way in shoal water will tend to trim by the bow; I would be very surprised if a ship put to sea trimmed by the bow.

 

[chrishscorp]

Why is he clearing the starboard side?

Still need a bigger digger to be effective.

A couple of diggers with long reach arms should go down far enough, its more a case of if they are available.

 

[BurnitBlue]

After some research using Google I have the solution. Use the digger to dig a hole about 5 meters from the bow. Buy an out of date depth charger from the Royal Navy. Place the depth charger in the hole. Tinker with the trigger then stand back preferably with a remote trigger and set the depth charger off. The shock wave will agitate the sand and in effect aeriate it so the water will instantly turn the area in contact with water into quick sand. This is a known fact, see Google.

A stout peice of plywood will protect the ship plating.

I need help with calculating the exact distance and depth of the hole. Otherwise what could go wrong?