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They say the ship lost power - possibly due to dirty fuel. Is there any reason why you would not drop anchor? Or does that require engine power too?
bridge in Baltimore collapsed after a ship collision against a pillar
Kurt Konrath
Kurt Konrath
This is very similar to what happened a few years ago in East Oklahoma on Interstate 40. Ship hit support pillar and took out all spans of bridge.
I think they pushed rapid approval of new design and environmental impact and had new bridge open in less than 120 days.
I think they pushed rapid approval of new design and environmental impact and had new bridge open in less than 120 days.
yes, it requires electric power to drop an anchor.
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Amazing. Serious lack of joined-up thinking there.
I’m sure that the chief engineer has some splaining to do. Just to use correct term … this was an allision with the bridge. Since the 1970s they have been building defensive barriers around bridges. Guess they couldn’t be bothered. There are many large cranes close to there that could get that wreckage out of the way quickly. But the “so called “ experts will talk and talk. I would call weeks marine and ask them to get that bridge out of the way. I am a retired captain familiar with that area
No power necessary. The anchors should be out of the hawspipe and held on the brake when possible manuvering. The chief mate plus one ab should be on the bow. This was law in the Panama Canal. If they were prepared they could have had 2 anchors down
Agreed, the master would normally require the anchor/s to be walked out and as Senorbob mentions, held on the brake, no power is required to letgo. It is usual to have two men on standby for’d to letgo the anchor if anchoring normally and also when required underway in close waters. Once the vessel is safely outbound and has dropped off the pilot/s the bosun will secure the anchors for sea. It is important to note the seamen for’d do not make the decision to drop the anchor, the order comes from the nav. bridge. Communications is obviously paramount.
More critically the question of attending tugs is important. Looking at AIS tracks the Dali had two tugs as she came off the berth. From experience this is perfectly normal. As the ship completed turning the tugs appear to be released and the Dali then headed outbound. This then raises an observation. Why were tugs not attending until the Dali passed critical parts of her outbound track, notably clearing the bridge? It could be the port authority did not mandate the use of tugs after departing the berth so the master did not request them. There may have been discussion between the pilots and master for retention of tugs. The master may not have wanted the tugs due to cost bearing in mind company policy but it is the masters final decision. But if the pilots had insisted then the master would normally agree. Crew interviews and importantly the VDR (Voyage Data Recorder) will provide conversations and other communications as well as critical component recording that will clarify this and many other factors. Note that tugs attending could have been there to assist in case of the exact type of situation that developed, like a blackout.
Question: the ship was said to moving around 8 knots... How long would it take for anchors to stop a ship that large traveling at that speed? I'm just a landlubber but I'm guessing hundreds of meters. A thousand meters? More?
In 1000 ft dredging the anchors a great amount of headway would be off . More importantly you could sheer the ship one way or the other.
You ask a good question Paul. anchoring is, under normal conditions, undertaken when a ship is stopped in the water while considering other factors such as nature of the bottom, holding ground, currents and windage. Stopped or a very, very slow speed avoids stress on the anchor cable leading to possible brake failure, loss of the anchor or the cable parting. Once the anchor hits bottom the cable is released a shackle (15 fathoms) or two at a time as the ship falls off using the brake to control the run. This is to spread the cable across the bottom to avoid it piling up too much. You can tell this by looking at the cable as the weight starts to come on, releasing more cable till it slackens, then continue until the amount of predetermined cable is deployed. The brake is then tightened hard and the cable monitored until it becomes “up and down”, ie straight down from the hawse or the weight comes on, then off, the cable as it leads away from the bow. At this point the ship is “brought up”, things are double checked (brake etc) and the vessel now lies and swings to anchor. It is the deployed cable that provides most of the holding power.
I mention a basic anchoring procedure because your question pertains to a large vessel travelling at speed and dropping the anchor under duress. That is a very different matter and obviously only done under emergency conditions. Bearing in mind what I wrote above about speed and stress it follows releasing the anchor at speed is a last ditch effort to rapidly reduce forward momentum. In an emergency the brake would be opened and the cable allowed to run, hopefully under controlled conditions but it would be dangerous. On such a large ship the immense stress as the cable ran at speed, hit the bottom and dragged would make it very difficult to control on the brake. If the brake could not hold then the cable would run to the bitter end and rip from the chain locker. If it held the hope is some way comes off the ship. Deploying both anchors would be beneficial but trying to provide a practical stopping distance at speed is extremely difficult to know under shipboard operational or emergency conditions.
It really is one of those hope and pray moments. But no master wants to go aground with the anchors still in the pipe.
The problem with 'let it go' and using the brake is very dangerous, it can dismount the winch, and put it on fire altogether if the brake fails!
Thank you for the information gentlemen. That lives were lost makes this whole deal rather tragic.
Hi Jim, an anchor is prepared for dropping and held on the brake prior to release. When it is letgo it runs until the anchor hits bottom, the brake is held and then cable played out in a controlled manner. The first video you show identifies an uncontrolled release and very poor attempts to slow the cable. Unfortunately they allowed the cable to run, too much and too fast. Many times there are sparks as a cable runs and the brake linings do get hot. The videos you show are how not to do it. In support of this discussion I have anchored countless times, worldwide, in all conditions, on vessels as large as 240,000 deadweight tons and many smaller vessels 
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.Yes even if the accident is over sound the danger signal and drop the anchors.it takes excellent seamanship to let go an anchor underway. When the anchor hits the bottom there’s a moment when you can set the brake, then the anchor won’t set and you can dredge it across the bottom. I was forced to do this twice in my career. The chances of a third world crew pulling this off are not great. It’s possible that the master and crewman don’t speak the same language
Base of Delaware Memorial bridge. The same huge ships pass here
I think this should be interesting. Latest on the crash...
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The crew size on a container ship is TINY. My experience is just from doing paid research 40 years ago, but most ships whatever flag they flew had Indian officers and mostly Phillipino crew, with maybe 15 or so guys running the whole ship. With this wreck I'd assume there was a harbor pilot on board who would be technically in command until they were out of the harbor. Where I am in San Francisco Bay, with 6 major commuter bridges ships always have at least one tug as an escort. Yes indeed this will be a mess to unravel!