For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By Charles Hunt
#1836084
Where are our mariners? Grumpy One, Josh (in a previous life IIRC) anyone else?

I'm sure they could get it sorted toot sweet.

Or perhaps Bill could fire some torpedoes at the canal sides to free things up a bit.
By TopCat
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1836087
I reckon they should dig the sand out from underneath and push the ends away from the shore.

Sounds pretty simple to me.
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By Rob P
#1836088
Am I the only one who can hear

"Left hand down a bit Chief"

"Oh crikey!"

"I meant left hand up a bit"

Rob P
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By Flying_john
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1836089
Have you seen the machine they have (with two drivers) digging away at the bank of the canal !

Wouldnt a floating dredger do a better job of trying to get some more water under the keel ?
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By MikeB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1836092
Rob P wrote:Am I the only one who can hear

"Left hand down a bit Chief"

"Oh crikey!"

"I meant left hand up a bit"

Rob P


That has happened before. I'm working on a case at the moment in which a tanker transiting southbound clobbered a bank after the Pilot ordered an alteration of course to stbd (towards the nearest bank) but the bridge crew overrode him ordering hard a port, and didn't arrest the swing in time to avoid hitting the opposite bank. Luckily it didn't get stuck (though suffered significant damage).

Cant talk about current incident as we are involved.
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By Josh
#1836099
I assume as ever the main winners will be anybody in Admiralty law given the forest of claims, and the awful mess that is liability with a pilot on board. Smit, or whoever else are hired as salvors will also get a license to print money given how that all anyone cares about is speed.

There are lots of fun hydrodynamic effects in canals and narrow channels that can either tend to keep you in the centre or suck you off towards one side with great rapidity but it's a long time since I was at sea and my shiphandling these days is limited to pootling in yachts around the Solent. However, as with aviation incidents, ensure you have your salt grinder to hand when consuming any general media about what may have happened.

Fun story - the UK bribery act caused massive issues on Suez transits when it first came in when I was working for BP as we were no longer allowed to give all comers their bricks of Marlboro Red, which is the currency the Suez Canal runs on. The more senior you are, the more bricks you get. After a few ships went through without any baksheesh, others starting experiencing delays until the company counsel managed to draft an opinion that covered us to grease the wheels once more. Plus ca change!
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By Bill McCarthy
#1836105
The Dreadnought was to be the first nuclear submarine to transit the Suez Canal on a Far East Deployment. The rest of the task force went through but permission for us was refused. We did some very sneaky things in the Med while we waited, returned to Gib, then it was “store for war” (what bliddy war we said), set sail not knowing where we were going, but it was to be “Operation Journeyman”. Very false details in Wiki by the way.
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By Sooty25
#1836146
Josh wrote:and the awful mess that is liability with a pilot on board.


the responsibility of safe navigation remains with the Master of the Vessel even when there is a Pilot on board. A pilot should be considered merely as a "local guide".
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By Sir Morley Steven
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1836161
Unloading it would be a logistical nightmare. I am assuming emptying out the fuel and supplies would not lighten it enough to displace less water and rise enough.
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By VRB_20kt
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1836165
Those diggers really do look puny. Not sure why they haven't deployed high volume hoses to shift some of the muck.