The Black Deep and the PLA General Directions - Update

[prestomg27]

'Tis better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission, maybe my approach here.

If they call me up after transiting next year I fear I will either copy that old comedian whose act contained mainly static interjected with 'sorry' buzz buzz whistle whistle, 'can you say again' crackle crackle, 'must dash' fizz fiz; or, just plead ignorance.


p.s. they don't read this nonsense do they?

 

[DanTribe]

I note BBC news is reporting that Maersk will transfer operations form Felixstowe to London Gateway.
I assume this will affect traffic patterns. in Black Deep?

 

[Poecheng]

Collision between dredger Shoreway and yacht Orca resulting in the yacht sinking with loss of 1 life

I know this very incident well (for reasons not for the forum) and have read the report carefully.
Merely identifying a collision between yacht and ship does not engage with the point under discussion, nor does a single, tragic incident mean ipso facto we all have to change behaviours (as I will develop).
To be relevant to this discussion, root cause analysis of that incident would need to show that a phone call or VHF call to Harwich VTS and consequential permission for the yacht to be in the channel would or might have made a difference. There is no such conclusion to my recollection. The yacht in this instance was aware of the presence of the ship. Granting a yacht permission to enter an area does not mean that the ship will conduct itself properly.

What is the implication behind raising this incident in this discussion? Is it that no outer limits of ports or their approaches may be entered by yachts absent permission of the harbourmaster? That was not the conclusion of the report, has not been adopted in Harwich and is overreach on a massive scale.
It is one thing contacting the port in order to enter the port or even crossing the entrance though, for example crossing the entrance to Zeebrugge requires no such communications (though VTS may contact you if they wish, which is quite different).

Putting bad visibility to one side, Black Deep appears to me to be straightforward for a yacht safely to navigate. The width is clear, the direction of the shipping is clear, it is well bouyed. You know where you are and that you are potentially in there with the big ships (though fairly rarely in my limited experiene). It is not the Westerschelde where they are coming from all angles plus the crazy fishing boats. The only issue is the speed of the ships and keeping an eye/AIS/radar lookout as appropriate. Seems to me a fairly straightforward place to be but needing to be in alert mode (ie more than normal). Precautions are one thing but the potential to be denied permission to even cross Black Deep (not just wait a bit, but permission denied) is frankly absurd. They don't own it !

 

[Sailing steve]

In general the British are far too complaint in acquiescing to the wants/needs/demands of commercial organisations.

Perhaps it's time to become more like our French cousins who when faced with said wants/needs/demands from commercial organisations to the detriment of their own freedoms to act as they please would react by a mass protest from hundreds of leisure craft anchoring in or repeatedly sailing up and down the Black Deep effectively closing it off to commercial traffic altogether.

 

[westhinder]

@tillergirl thank you very much for your efforts.
When crossing from Nieuwpoort to Harwich and vice versa via Long Sand Head I normally monitor Sunk VTS when in the vicinity of Long Sand Head. Does the new rule mean that London VTS should also be monitored and asked for permission? My normal course would take me just east of the red ‘Black Deep’ buoy, so would that be technically outside the Black Deep and outside the authority of the PLA?

 

[Marmalade]

They must have seen us on AIS / RADAR many times. I have not had a call on the VHF from VTS complaining that I hadn't asked permission.
Has anyone else?

good point - no contact ever made with us