Yesterday I saw a report that a giant container ship owned by the Evergreen Marine Corporation is hard aground in Chesapeake Bay. The ship, ironically named Ever Forward, has been stranded there for several weeks. I was immediately reminded of the situation just one year ago when another Evergreen ship, the Ever Given, ran aground in and completely blocked the Suez Canal.
Now one line from The Hunt for Red October keeps running through my head: “Andrei, you’ve lost another submarine?”
Seriously, Evergreen needs to hire some better captains. Or pilots. Or something. This is ridiculous.
(Those interested in Red October might enjoy my letters from author Tom Clancy.)
The Pilots are local hires and come from a Pilots Association. In Puget Sound (Washington State) the experience, traing and testing are very rigorous. Ships get I think whoever the pilots Association send out. I would expect the Coast Guard & NTSB will do an investigation – should make interesting reading – but will probably take close to a year for the full report.
I knew the pilots were local. I’m wondering if Evergreen should hire and keep on board their own pilots, to help their captains who can’t seem to keep from running agound. Or maybe just revert to smaller ships. A supersized container ship loses its economic advantage if it’s stranded somewhere. And I don’t understand at all why those whose cargo is aboard the stranded ship should have to help pay for offloading it to help free the ship. Shouldn’t that be entirely Evergreen’s responsibility?
I just read about “general average” but it strikes me as an outdated principle.
The Ever Given had an authorized pilot on board. This costs thousands of dollars to the shipping co.
The ever Forward had a registered pilot on board. Any ship entering the the chesapeake bay, if its in
Va. De. or Md waters is required to have a pilot on board to physically steer or direct its steering. Just maybe the white hats know something is up and had the pilot ground on purpose. Ever Given has had
children trafficking on board, thousands of arms, nukes etc. Why do you think it was held up. Not only that it is owned by Killary Clinton, and the vessel’s call sign is H3RC. There is suspicious Coast Guard activity around the Ever Given. Just maybe they let it leave the Baltimore port
to get it away from the city, and what if there is a nuke or other malady’s on board that just may be triggered when the ship hits a specific longitude and latitude to detonate. The contract has a maritime
clause fine print in the contract for these unforseen events, that don’t usually happen, but all cargo holders must pay a percentage toward the cost of ungrounding. Somebody certainly knows something
is “Rotten in Denmark”, and the next best thing to do is isolate that vessel where it’s the least detriment
to anything. Just Sayin….
I’m not much on conspiracy theories and prefer to think these incidents were either accidents or incompetence or both. Occam’s razor and all that.
Red October is still a favorite book – and movie – and your Tom Clancy letters are really special connection. Cannot grasp how huge those container ships really are, even knowing dimensions. With all the technology available today, it seems as if running aground in such large bodies of water would be a thing of the past. Even cruise ships have channel depth displays, right? Glad i work with feet on the ground! Now going to search for your TC letters; then see if i can find Red October at the library!
The only excuse they have that I can imagine is that it takes a helluva long time to stop or turn something that big. Still, their instruments and training should account for that. Yep, the size is incomprehensible to me, given that each of those containers is the size of an 18-wheeler’s trailer. Plus they, and modern cruise ships, always look dangerously top-heavy (even though I know about ballast, etc.)
The most feared word on the bridge of a ship is, “Opps”
LOL!
Most likely human error….but I wonder if climate change is quickening even at a “relative” micro level…and The Hunt For Red October was a blast for me in all its form factors …book, movie, board and computer game….and I those letters from Tom Clancy …more than a sorta wow! And you pushing back against his let’s take out some critters speaks to the friendship and your moxie.
Human error? Sure. Even climate change aka global warming is mostly human error.
Me? Moxie? Huh? Where? Nah, never.
One hitch with Red October — I’ve never liked Alec Baldwin. I was disappointed when he was cast.
good point on human error …and on Baldwin…never a big fan, not a fan….but as Ryan I thought he did fine.
Oh yeah, I thought the movie was well done. I’d have been disappointed for Tom if it had been anything less.
As a retired submariner I thought the Hunt for Red October was a very good movie, even thought the submerged scenes were seriously off-scale. Ships have had fathometers since before WW II, but they are not really much of an issue in this problem. In the case of container ships, maneuvering in costal waters is especially hazardous. They have a large vertical profile making wind a huge factor, and their great keel depth leaves a very small margin in most ports. Also notable is that coastal depths often change from what is charted because of silting and the like. In other words, it’s complicated. But, in the time-honored naval tradition, the captain is always the one responsible.
Of course, if they’d stop building bigger and bigger ships … Probably not that many harbors are being enlarged to accommodate. I read somewhere that the Ever Forward was leaving the harbor and took a wrong turn. D’oh. Big oops.
Fascinating as i hadn’t made the connection between those two ships being owned by the same company. Enjoyed Red October.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Personally I’d get rid of that huge billboard on the side of those ships. Why announce to the world that here you are, screwing up again. It looks like they’re advertising their ability to run ships aground.
Read between the lines, there is a lot more going on than you know. Try not to be sheeple, we have been dummed down too long… the nut in the shell game is not always under the shell you think it is. Killery’s code name was Evergreen. You can’t always divulge the plan before the goal is accomplished.
The CCP is not friend to anyone!
Again, I’m not much on conspiracy theories and prefer to think these incidents were either accidents or incompetence or both.