Ship carrying 4000 Cars Hits Oil Tanker

Man, two slow-moving ships hitting each other in the ocean. I imagine the scene was a bit like the guy from the first Austin Powers getting run over by the steamroller.

NOO!!!!!

 

Well, it could have been BMWs and Volvos

http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread/t-36980.html

 

They don't actually move THAT slowly. Given numerous reporting in the sailing mags about people not being able to raise anyone on the bridge of large ships at sea on the radio, it seems that not keeping a legal watch is quite common. That being said, it is quite the needle in a haystack, even if they are in the shipping lanes other than near a port!

 

It's really really hard to stop or even turn those big ships.

 

Daniel is right. A big oil tanker doing an average 12 knotts takes roughly 12 miles to stop and about 8 miles to full answer to the helm. The car carrier should have been much more maneuverable. See comment below re Murphy

 

holy moly! 12 miles to stop?? that's amazing. i never would have imagined it was that much. not that i thought it could stop on a dime or anything. i just don't think we landlubbers have a clue about that sort of thing

 

Yeah, sure. Don't you watch The West Wing? : )

 

If the navigation bridge is 105' (very convenient for calcs, don't know the bridge height of a tanker) above the water the visual horizon is - 12 nautical miles. Consider that 2 ships approaching each other both travelling at 12 knots are closing at a relative speed of 24 knots. Thus, until about 30 minutes before the collision, they wouldn't have been able to see each other. And this would be the BEST case.
If they were on perpedicular courses, they would be about 8.5 NM from the collision point before they would see each other. Of course the radar mast would be higher giving greater warning. I have ignored the height of the ship in the calcs, it would slightly increase the distance at which they would see each other.

Yet, even at these distances, and with the massive momentum these ships carry, the "Give Way" vessel could have changed course and avoided the collosion.
My non-professional conclusion: Neither ship was observing legal watch requirements.

 

kinda scary that stuff that big would just sort of be driving along without paying attention... must be drivers from new york... (i'm from ny before all the flames start)

 

If they were from Texas, they would have shot each other before crashing.

 

hmm according to the History Channel the Exxon Valdez
could make a full stop in just a mile by reversing its
engines.