Docking Mishap

Oct 1, 2007
1,865
Boston Whaler Super Sport Pt. Judith
Pretty good breeze on the dock also, complicating matters. If I were docking Maxine there I would have made her all stop outboard the dock and let the breeze set her in while using the engine only to maintain heading and speed at zero.
 

JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
7,770
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
OK, Guys explain why his bow turns to Starboard.?

1) His Rudder is hard over Starboard from the start.
2) He then does a full Starboard engine reverse to turn the bow faster.
3) Finally both Port and Starboard engine in reverse to slow impact.

Ans: He came in too fast, but had is Port engine slow ahead at start to straighten up his boat.
Jim...
 

jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
23,159
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Equipped with 1 Diesel engine and 1 propeller shaft.
Likely why he had two tugs, one on a bow line and one on a stern line to assist in “turning”.
 

JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
7,770
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
I stand corrected on port engine [only one shaft too].:redface:

What I mistook as dual engines was when he did a hard reverse and the rudder split the prop wash in half.

At the start his engine was in a slow reverse, but really kicks up the back wash at the end that slowly turns the bow.
Jim...
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,568
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
I must have watched this 10 times now.... and it surprises me how little damage the Milano seems to have sustained. The crane was demolished and a tonne of steel falls on the ship and you don't see any deformation in the rail, the paint does not seem to be scratched....

curious:rolleyes:
 

jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
23,159
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
you don't see any deformation in the rail, the paint does not seem to be scratched....
Maybe that is why the ship comes in so fast. The captain knows the ship is indestructible.
 
May 25, 2012
4,338
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
what the ship and tugs are doing makes no sense at all. so many things are odd. that said, on the lakes we were docking every day sometimes twice a day, at least every other day. the masters and mates on the lakes are not ocean mates but actually lake pilots. the engines and shifting gear are much different then that of long distance vessels of the ocean. i know thing can get out of hand, but everything in that video is way out of sync. the bow reverses direction and gets way off the dock. did the tug do that? the stearn tug is not slowing the side momentum. does the ship have a bow thruster? a hard reverse in the harbor will move massive amounts of water between the dock and the hull and act as a cushion. it's been over 30 years for me and i don't know modern ocean gear around the docks.
most harbors on the lakes have mud bottoms. dragging an anchor going into a slip with a fully loaded boat was often used. that boat appears light (don't know). up on the lake tug are used only sometimes. lake guys are docking specialist. :)
one would assume that harbor pilots are very skilled at docking.
maybe he was texting
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,980
O'Day Mariner 19 Littleton, NH
timeline.jpg

Containership Milano Bridge allided with cranes in Busan, one injured
"14:37: Commenced STBD turn, STBD 20 Helm, Dead Slow Ahead, Speed: 9.3Kts
14:39: Stopped engine, Speed: 7.6 Kts
14:40: Pilot appeared panicked, Speed 7.6 Kts, Dead slow ahead STBD 20 helm.
14:42: Pilot realizes heavy drift to port, panicked, full ahead engine, hard Stbd helm, concerned to avoid three (3) moored vessels. AFT Tug continuously pulling.

14:44: Cleared 1st moored vessel, drifting towards 2nd moored vessel, Navigation full ahead, STBD 20 helm, drifting further towards berth. FWD tug’s action not known as pilot speaking in local language. Master used BT.
14:47: Cleared 2nd moored vessel, random orders on ME and rudder, stern drifting towards port side, Speed 6 kts. 14:47: Cleared lesser beamed 3rd moored vessel.

14:49: Made hard contact with Gantry no.85 , fully collapsed on stern of ONE vessel. ME Nav full ahead, speed. 5.2 kts. FWD tug not pulling.
14:50: Emergency full stern to prevent contact with moored vessel ahead.
14:52: Hard contact with Gantry crane no. 81 by bridge wing, which was working on the moored container vessel ahead followed by slight contact with the moored vessel around Bay 02 & 06."

She was empty at the time of the accident.


-Will (Dragonfly)
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,568
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Full ahead seems like a bad idea. And why would you make an approach if there were moored vessels in the way?
 
Jan 11, 2014
12,961
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Full ahead seems like a bad idea. And why would you make an approach if there were moored vessels in the way?
Since the vessel was empty, it was probably going to a spot on the wharf to begin loading.
 
Sep 15, 2013
708
Catalina 270 Baltimore
From where I sail I see many ships dock. The one thing I never see is the engine running. Tug boats do all the work. That stuck out to me immediately. That indicates a problem right there.
 
May 1, 2011
5,020
Pearson 37 Lusby MD
It's clear to me that the pilot had far too much speed on. The aft tug was being pulled sideways because of the speed of the freighter. I think full speed ahead and 20 deg stbd rudder were ordered because the pilot decided to abort the approach - but he forgot to tell the aft tug to stop pulling. Not saying he'd have cleared the first gantry he struck!
 
May 17, 2004
5,685
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
And why would you make an approach if there were moored vessels in the way?
I think “moored” in this case is just the other ships docked along the wharf.

I’d be curious to know what the speeds look like for a typical approach. Carrying 9 knots that close to the dock seems ludicrous to me, but I don’t know if that’s standard. Even the lower speeds in the 5’s after they bled off some speed still seems to violate the principle of not approaching the dock faster than you want to hit it.

After reading the account Will posted I’m not sure the approach was salvageable after 14:40 (between position 2 and 3). There was so much side slip that it might not have been possible to get back on track against an onshore wind, especially with the rudder and hull only partially submerged.
 
Jan 11, 2014
12,961
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
especially with the rudder and hull only partially submerged.
It appeared that much of the reverse thrust was being pushed up against the hull above the water. The bottom ⅔ of the reverse thrust was slowing the boat down, the top ⅓ was pushing it forward.

I think the technical term for this docking was a cluster truck or words and sounds to that effect. ;)
 
Oct 29, 2016
1,929
Hunter 41 DS Port Huron
Its interesting that in the graphic Will posted all the other ships are facing the opposite direction, and you can see there appears to be deeper water to starboard. I believe who was ever trying to dock that ship wasn't coming in from the right direction to begin with, was he possibly attempting to spin 180 to dock and was pushed in by the onshore breeze? It would certainly explain the hard starboard rudder.....
 
Last edited:
May 17, 2004
5,685
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
Its interesting that in the graphic Will posted all the other ships are facing the opposite direction, and you can see there appears to be deeper water to starboard. I believe who was ever trying to dock that ship wasn't coming in from the right direction to begin with, was he possibly attempting to spin 180 to dock and was pushed in by the onshore breeze? It would certainly explain the hard starboard rudder.....
That’s an interesting point. Looking again at the video it does look like we’re seeing the bow of the ship in front, and the bridge possibly on the stern of the ship behind Milano Bridge, which is consistent with Will’s picture.

Total speculation now but I wonder if Covid-19 has led to shifting of some harbor pilots or crews into situations where they have less experience. It certainly seems there were communications issues with the front tug Captain. And if a pilot were put on a ship with unfamiliar tonnage or in an unfamiliar harbor that may explain how he got into such a bad position.