Clouds Ship corner... welcome to my world

[Cloud23465]

Well... Welcome to what will be my little corner of the world. I'm going to bring information on what I know of the industry from my research (and work in). A container... what is it? Think of it as a removable trailer, Unlike your standard 53 foot trailer that truck drivers haul, Contaiers can be remove from the chassis which hauls it.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Maersk_5327container.jpg
This is a standard 40' conainer, but they also come in 20' and 45'. The have to different hight levels 8' 6" being a standard container and 9' 6" being a high cube. There is also Reefer (refrigeration) containers that keep parishable goods cool or frozen.

Now there are several modes to transport the containers... the obvious is by truck, but there is also Rail too. intermodal as it's know as where Containers are stacked on train cars. There generally double stacked (see photo) to maximize transport to help lower cost. Trains in some areas can run miles long with train cars like these.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MEX_TEX_Container.jpg

But, the whole process really begins when the ship thats carrying the container pulls into a port to discharge the containers. The ships that containers come on are huge... how big? The Emma Maersk (Pictured below) is 1302 feeet long, 184 feet wide, Her hull stick up 99 feet out of the water and has a draft of 50 feet below the water. She can carry 156,907 dead weight tons and has a 109,000 hp motor that can carry this ship up to 25.5 knots (about 30 mph). She can carry 11,000 twenty foot contaiers or 6,500 40' containers.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/EmmaMaersk.jpg

Well thats the introduction and a bit of information to get you clued into what this is all about. Next will be equipment that handles containers... then I start showing the disaster photos.

[campy]

When I'm cruising, I sometimes get a chance to watch container loading & unloading when the ship is in port with cargo vessels nearby. I look forward to reading your insider perspective, Cloud.

[Cloud23465]

When I'm cruising, I sometimes get a chance to watch container loading & unloading when the ship is in port with cargo vessels nearby. I look forward to reading your insider perspective, Cloud.

I look forward to informing anyone who whats to know about this field and answer any questions they may have about somthing. :thumbup:

[canuck31003]

How long does it usually take to load/unload one of those big container ships?

[Cloud23465]

How long does it usually take to load/unload one of those big container ships?

One that that Maersk ship... Proabably about 24-48 hours to do a really big amount It all depends on how much is unloaded and loaded back, and how many cranes they put to work on the ship. As large as this one is the more then likely put 5-6 cranes working on it at once. But this is the biggest and thats at max.

But your average ship is about 900 feet long and 140 feet wide and carries between 4,000 to 6,000 20' TEU = Twenty-foot equivalent unit . A 40' container counts as 2 so keep that in mind. But most of those ships range about 24-36 hours becauses they use about 2-3 cranes at once so it's pretty close the same amount of time.

[campy]

How long does it usually take to load/unload one of those big container ships?
But your average ship is about 900 feet long and 140 feet wide Really? Why so wide? Because I know 965' and 106' are the limits for the Panama Canal, and it seems odd that they'd design them so they'd fit by length but go so far over in beam.

[Fireand'chutes77]

How long does it usually take to load/unload one of those big container ships?
But your average ship is about 900 feet long and 140 feet wide Really? Why so wide? Because I know 965' and 106' are the limits for the Panama Canal, and it seems odd that they'd design them so they'd fit by length but go so far over in beam.
I'd think for stability concerns. They stack the containers three or four high on the deck, not to mention down below, so I'm thinking they need some lateral force to counterbalance the top-heavy-ness.

(But then, I don't know too much about container shipping. :blush:)

[Cloud23465]

How long does it usually take to load/unload one of those big container ships?
But your average ship is about 900 feet long and 140 feet wide Really? Why so wide? Because I know 965' and 106' are the limits for the Panama Canal, and it seems odd that they'd design them so they'd fit by length but go so far over in beam.

Yeah, Panamax are getting to be a thing of the past. Panama had to make a major decision to either spend about $5 billion dollars to make bigger locks or loose out on major revenue. the 140 feet wide ships are the suez class ships (that uses the suez canal instead of the panama canal).
The ships arn't getting any smaller...thats for sure and panama figured that out so thats why there going to make bigger locks for the bigger ships.

[Cloud23465]

I'd think for stability concerns. They stack the containers three or four high on the deck, not to mention down below, so I'm thinking they need some lateral force to counterbalance the top-heavy-ness.

Your right about below deck. They can stack 9 and as much as 11 deep below deck and now there looking at 7 and even 8 high on the decks.
here's some more information on ship classes and sizes
Ship Classes (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/2.jpg)
Future ship sizes (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/1.jpg)

[BluetoothThePirate]

I'd think that since a container ship can do all the business it can handle running from China to the container ports in western Mexico and back again, the Panama Canal isn't even an issue: they just run the Pacific over and over. I've heard that since containers are cheap to buy new in China and shipping them back deadhead is costly, that there's a surplus of containers building up in North America from the trade gap. I saw one place... (seeks link)

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/CHE/CHE-037.htm

It's a portable museum. The walls are made of containers, and the rest of the exhibit could be packed into them and carried by train.

I'm a truck driver, but I don't carry intermodal freight like many other carriers do. It's a shame, because it really makes sense from a variety of standpoints: rail is more cost-effective and fuel-efficient per ton than trucks, and if the trailer or railcar has a mechanical problem, you can swap the whole load to another one without breaking the seal on the container or hand-lumping the freight from one to the other. Plus, some of the container trailers can be telescoped for various lengths of container, for one forty-foot, two twenty-foot, on up to the big 53' containers used for domestic shipments. Those are too big for the standard ship equipment, but they're at the size limit for rail and truck trailers.

The reefer containers with electric cooling are really amazing to me. We have reefer trailers at my company, but they work by direct-gearing the reefer compressor to a small diesel engine, meaning we can't plug them in to keep them going, they need fuel all the time, and if they run dry they need mechanical work to be restarted. (Air in the fuel line is a game-killer for a diesel). The reefer container trucks carry a generator slung under the chassis, but on ships or trains the containers are plugged in to central powerplants. If the generator stops working, you can plug it in to an extension cord at a truck stop and wait for repairs, or plug it into the truck's APU, a much better system in my opinion. I once had a reefer quit in a drop yard, it wasn't my load but I was there at the time, and even after we fueled it it couldn't restart. 20,000 lbs of frozen pizzas, ruined.

The only mode of transport that can't use those type of containers is air, because a plane is round and they're square. Cargo and passenger planes use a special, trapezoidal cargo container that matches the shape of the body. However, a current pet design concept among aviation futurists is a new breed of rigid hybrid airships that can fly at low altitude and speed (120-some MPH), and carry several forty-footers across the country in a day.

[Cloud23465]

Yeah, Iv'e heard some reefers can be a real pain. Only being able to use gen-sets, I know of the 2 types, the ones attached under the chassis and the ones that clip on the the front of the reefer. I've also heard how costly a reefer is though i've never heard an exact figure I've heard in the tens if not in the hundreds of thousand area. It's good to know a truck driver on here. I have alot of respect for them because they are the backbone of the economy. Trains are limited to there area by rail, but as long as there's a road... the truck can get there.

oh yea, it is pretty neat how they can do what they do with containers... building houses out of them and all.

[Cloud23465]

Ok, so now that you know more about the containers and the ships they ride on... it's time for the equipment that handles the ships and the containers that come of them.
The main and most important piece of equipment is the Gantry crane.
Gantry Cranes on a ship (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Gantry.jpg) As you can see from the link that the gantrys can be shipped fully assembled. They are hooked to electric unlike most port equipment that runs of diesel. With the arm's of the crane boomed up these monsters are 240' tall, able to carry 80 ton containers on and off a ship very quickly.
Now once the container comes of the ship... some ports use yard hustlers which are basically smaller version of big rigs... that being they only have half a cab and no sleeper and one less rear axle with a chassis or they use a new more modern way of transporting the containers to the storage yard by what's know as Straddle carriers. Straddle Carrier (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Strad.jpg)
Well that's all the time I have for now, I'll get to the rest later.

[Cloud23465]

Well, I guess it's time to get to what I wanna show you... The wrecks and accidents! I'll start you out with the small stuff and work my way up to the huge... uh accidents.
Ships create stow plans to distribute the weight on the ship equally to keep it balanced and from rolling over...well something wen't horribly wrong in this ships case...
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/4049804.jpg

[Fireand'chutes77]

The main and most important piece of equipment is the Gantry crane.
Gantry Cranes on a ship (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Gantry.jpg)

That must be one interesting boat ride...

...or they use a new more modern way of transporting the containers to the storage yard by what's know as Straddle carriers.
I've seen those before. MTH, a model train company, sells those as (expensive!) working accessories for port scenes on layouts.

This is all very interesting. :D

Well, I guess it's time to get to what I wanna show you... The wrecks and accidents!
Wheeeeee! :D :laugh:



I'll start you out with the small stuff and work my way up to the huge... uh accidents.


[ship pic]
That's considered small? :blink:

I certainly wouldn't want to be the guy on duty for that one... :laugh: :unsure:

[Cloud23465]

The cranes take a trip all the way from china. The boat they ride on can take on water to be as low as possible. I'll do a piece on the too.

Straddle Carriers (The real ones) cost about $600,000 per unit. The big Gantry cranes cost between $7-$8 million dollars a piece.

Yeah, that crargo loss is not copaired to others... i'm talking about losses in the $100 million dollar range. They were more then likely able to get that ship righted back up and the containers were for the most part ok. I've got some pictures of containers that have been smashed like pan cakes.

[TransWarpDrive]

Well, I guess it's time to get to what I wanna show you... The wrecks and accidents! I'll start you out with the small stuff and work my way up to the huge... uh accidents.
Ships create stow plans to distribute the weight on the ship equally to keep it balanced and from rolling over...well something wen't horribly wrong in this ships case...
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/4049804.jpg
:blink: Holy molars... :blink:
Man, I'll bet that ship made a gawdawful crash when she capsized. I'd hate to be standing on the dock when something like that happens...:unsure:

[Cloud23465]

I'd hate to be standing on the dock when something like that happens...:unsure:

I Could only imagine... Well, here's 2 more ships that suffered the same fate at the dock. http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/54098409.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/8940.jpg
But that's all ive got on those types of wecks. Were going to start to get to the big stuff next

[TransWarpDrive]

:blink: "...the big stuff next?"
You mean this isn't?
Wow...:huh:
Now I'm hooked. I want to see the "big stuff."
Awaiting your next post...

[Cloud23465]

:blink: "...the big stuff next?"
You mean this isn't?
Wow...:huh:
Now I'm hooked. I want to see the "big stuff."
Awaiting your next post...

As far as Cost of the damage to the ship and merchandice... yeah those are nothing... heres one of the larger size wrecks.

Ok. You would think as big as oceans are... that something like this could nor would ever happen... but....

August 9 2007
77,211-gross tonnage 1994-built M/V Alpha Action, chartered by NYK & sailing from Nagoya, Japan to Chile -- in collision with -- 25,836-gross tonnage M/V Wan Hai 307 12 km. SW of Oshima, Japan on July 27. Both vessels are now drifting east from the site of the collision.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/AlphaAction1.jpg
The bow of the Alpha Action runs into the rear port side of Wan Hai 307
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/AlphaAction2.jpg
Water level angel of the wreck
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/AlphaAction3.jpg
Aft deck cotainers are kocked sideways on the stack.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/AlphaAction4.jpg
Alpha Action bow is severely damaged as you can see by the huge hole.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/AlphaAction5.jpg
Alpha Action hit so hard that contaiers are stuck and stiking out of her bow.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/AlphaAction6.jpg
Wan Hai 307 suffered a major hole im sure and the Stern of the ship is way below the water line... the engine is more then likely taken on water
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/AlphaAction7.jpg
No figure of the cargo loss from this is out yet but im sure it's in the $100k range

Thats it for now... more to come later.

[TransWarpDrive]

:blink: Whoa.
You're right - all that ocean space,and they still managed to collide. I'd say that's some sloppy navigation being practiced there...

[Cloud23465]

Yeah... you'd think that they'd see each other... I've actually found more pictures of the container ship that suffered damaged. I'm going to downsize the pictures and link them here in a second.

[Cloud23465]

Ok the new pictures are uploaded. I didn't downsize them so you could get a better view with the bigger Res. pictures.
Alpha Action Wreck #8 (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/AlphaAction8.jpg)
Alpha Action Wreck #9 (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/AlphaAction9.jpg)
Alpha Action Wreck #10 (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/AlphaAction10.jpg)
Alpha Action Wreck #11 (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/AlphaAction11.jpg)
Alpha Action Wreck #12 (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/AlphaAction12.jpg)
Alpha Action Wreck #13 (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/AlphaAction13.jpg)
Alpha Action Wreck #14 (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/AlphaAction14.jpg)

Wan Hai 307 load has been taken off and shes heading to dry dock to see about being repaired. No word on alpha actions fate though.
Wan Hai 307 is 198 meters long or about 650ft and Alpha Action (I cant seem to find the stats on this ship) but is obviously longer... I think someone needs glasses or something. :confused:

[Cloud23465]

June 29th 2000 Maersk ContainerTerminal Oakland, California
The Pilot May Have Miscalculated Distances Between Bow & Warf.
Part of the the Maersk-Sealand Pacific Coast Services.
M/V Glasgow Maersk Was departing Long Beach For Oakland.
Warf suffered damage of about $100,000.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/GlasgowMaersk1.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/GlasgowMaersk2.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/GlasgowMaersk3.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/GlasgowMaersk4.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/GlasgowMaersk5.jpg
It amazing that these people have 2 way radios that cost about $1,000 a piece and they couldn't have some one on the bow of the ship radio someone in the wheel house weather there going to make it or not...:confused:

[kyojikasshu]

I had to do a little lookup, because in that first picture, the container that says "MAERSK SEALAND", made me think of the rogue micronation of Sealand. I was able to find that it's part of the company name, resulting from a merger, and has nothing to do with the micronation.

It's kind of funny to see the mangled container that reads "WAN HAI - We carry, we care."

I've seen a lot of these containers, though, although always on land. There's a rail yard right near the interchange of I-96 (the Jeffries Freeway) and M-39 (the Southfield Freeway), and there's usually a lot of them stacked, visible from the Jeffries. They're usually CRST containers, though.

[Cloud23465]

I had to do a little lookup, because in that first picture, the container that says "MAERSK SEALAND", made me think of the rogue micronation of Sealand. I was able to find that it's part of the company name, resulting from a merger, and has nothing to do with the micronation.

It's kind of funny to see the mangled container that reads "WAN HAI - We carry, we care."

Maersk is the largest container company in the world. With an over 500 ships in its fleet and over 1.8 million containers world wide... they handle contracts for Wal-marts exports as well as large U.S. government contracts. They recently opened the first private owned port in the united states here, In Portsmouth, Va. Spending over 400 million dollars just on 280 acres of land.

As far as the Wan Hai container went... yeah I got a pretty good laugh out of that myself.:laugh:

[jeriddian]

I ofudn it pretty amazsing that the containers in picture #11, could lean out so far away from the ship, and still not fall.:blink:

[Cloud23465]

I found it pretty amazsing that the containers in picture #11, could lean out so far away from the ship, and still not fall.:blink:

Well, theres 2 reasons why they didn't. Twistlocks for one, which interlock and secure the containers together. And another factor is the lashings, Metal bars that are place in the corners of the cotainter that on the other in are locked to the deck. Thats why they didnt fall of. Trust me, this stuff is made of the strongest cast metal you could find. (but with all the weight it puts up with it has to be strong or it will fail of course)
Check out the pictures of the equipment.
Twistlocks secure containers to the deck and the same thing goes between containers. (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Twistlocks.jpg)
Lashing bars Cross the front of the containers (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/HYUNDAIBARON-1.jpg)

[jeriddian]

I found it pretty amazsing that the containers in picture #11, could lean out so far away from the ship, and still not fall.:blink:

Well, theres 2 reasons why they didn't. Twistlocks for one, which interlock and secure the containers together. And another factor is the lashings, Metal bars that are place in the corners of the cotainter that on the other in are locked to the deck. Thats why they didnt fall of. Trust me, this stuff is made of the strongest cast metal you could find. (but with all the weight it puts up with it has to be strong or it will fail of course)
Check out the pictures of the equipment.
Twistlocks secure containers to the deck and the same thing goes between containers. (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Twistlocks.jpg)
Lashing bars Cross the front of the containers (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/HYUNDAIBARON-1.jpg)

Pretty cool, Cloud....:D

[Fireand'chutes77]

Re: Bow crunch: Wow, it's amazing to see steel like that just peeled back like a tin can! :blink: And I have to remember that when I'm looking at those busted-open containers, I'm looking at ruptured corrugated steel... the things that Mythbusters uses as blast chambers... Man... you really gain respect for the power of momentum and kinetic energy with pictures like these.

It amazing that these people have 2 way radios that cost about $1,000 a piece and they couldn't have some one on the bow of the ship radio someone in the wheel house weather there going to make it or not...:confused:
Well, they have SUVs and cars now with little radar things on the bumpers that beep when you get close to things.... maybe they could use some of those! :laugh:

Re: Lashing bars: Are the lower containers supposed to be bowing in like that? :unsure:

[Cloud23465]

Re: Lashing bars: Are the lower containers supposed to be bowing in like that? :unsure:

No, but you have a good eye though. That's actually damage from a wave that a ship took. Rouge waves and bad thunderstorms really kick up the water out there. that picture was taken by the merchant marine of that ship and I was going to feature it later but I couldn't find a good clear picture of lashed containers so I had to use that one.

And maybe ill present that idea to some ship companys.. along with some traffic lights to avoid collisions at sea while im at it.:laugh:

[Cloud23465]

January 2000... 6 Months before... at the exact same port as the Glasgow Maersk accident... the Tampa Maersk was the first ship to try the dock diet... and she really dug into it more then the Glasgow Maersk did and you can see by the results :laugh:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/tampamaersk1.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/tampamaersk2.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/tampamaersk3.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/tampamaersk4.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/tampamaersk5.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/tampamaersk6.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/tampamaersk7.jpg

[TransWarpDrive]

:blink:
Wow...
Wouldn't something like that go on the helmsman's records? One would think after so many mishaps that he or she'd be subject to some sort of safety review before being allowed to helm a ship again. They do a similar thing for aircraft pilots who display unsafe flying habits.

[campy]

:blink:
Wow...
Wouldn't something like that go on the helmsman's records? One would think after so many mishaps that he or she'd be subject to some sort of safety review before being allowed to helm a ship again. They do a similar thing for aircraft pilots who display unsafe flying habits.I don't know, aren't harbor pilots usually in calling the shots for such maneuvers? Besides, given a choice, I think I'd take being helmsman over being captain of the ship in question.

[Cloud23465]

:blink:
Wow...
Wouldn't something like that go on the helmsman's records? One would think after so many mishaps that he or she'd be subject to some sort of safety review before being allowed to helm a ship again. They do a similar thing for aircraft pilots who display unsafe flying habits.

Yeah, but airplanes are way different thing. When container ship like these come to port the captains don't dock the ship. Harbor pilots who come aboard before entering the harbor are the ones that are responsible for the ship and its cargo.

Harbor pilots are supposed to be experts of local bodies of water, knowing where all the channels are and what not.

[TransWarpDrive]

:blink:
Wow...
Wouldn't something like that go on the helmsman's records? One would think after so many mishaps that he or she'd be subject to some sort of safety review before being allowed to helm a ship again. They do a similar thing for aircraft pilots who display unsafe flying habits.I don't know, aren't harbor pilots usually in calling the shots for such maneuvers? Besides, given a choice, I think I'd take being helmsman over being captain of the ship in question.
You may be right about that, campy. I forgot that harbor pilots are the ones who navigate the ships into port, giving the helmsman the directions to steer the ship with.
EDIT: Cloud beat me to the punch with his explanation - he's absolutely right. The harbor pilots bear the responsibility for bringing the ship in.

[Cloud23465]

The captain said he need to take a vacation and wanted to go to the beach... but man. Just kidding. Here's the story

August 19th 2003. Table Mountain, South Africa
Lloyd's Register>> US-flagged Maersk container ship Sealand Express (32,926 DWT), went aground at Dolphin Beach, Cape Town at about 0730 local time this morning after dragging its anchor in heavy seas. Two harbour tugs and a salvage tug on contract to the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) responded to the initial call, but by the time they had reached the scene 20 minutes later the ship's bows were aground on sand. The ship is now grounded firmly onto sand, where a heavy swell has begun pounding it, and lying parallel with the beach a short distance away. A Smit Pentow salvage team, under contract to Maersk Sealand, boarded the vessel to secure the safety of the crew and to attempt salvage. According to SAMSA a further attempt to tow the vessel clear will be made at high tide later today. Meanwhile the National Ports Authority in Cape Town reports there is no evidence of pollution.

M/V Sealand Express has more than 1,037 containers aboard, including 33 filled with hazardous materials such as flammable compressed gas, alcohol, fireworks & industrial chemicals. Environmentalists expressed alarm at the news that the vessel was also carrying 50 tons of uranium ore concentrate, destined to be turned into nuclear fuel in the United States. But a nuclear engineer said the material was only mildly radioactive and that the oil posed a much bigger danger. By Aug. 22, an estimated 70 tons of oil had been pumped to one of the anchor handler tugs. Oil is being pumped along a 20mm floating pipe about 350m seaward to one of the anchor handler tugs.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Sealandexpress1.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Sealandexpress2.jpghttp://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Sealandexpress3.jpghttp://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Sealandexpress4.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Sealandexpress5.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Sealandexpress6.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Sealandexpress7.jpg

M/V Sealand Express was pulled from a sandbank by tugboats on Sept. 13 during the spring high tide. Ships waiting to enter the harbor had been cleared from the area in case M/V Sealand Express "popped like a champagne cork" from the sand, said Evelyn Holtzhausen, spokesman for United States Ship Management (USSM), which owns the vessel. Instead she had come away "like a knife through butter", she added.

[Fireand'chutes77]

Yike... I'm glad they got the ship loose relatively quickly. Waves like that can batter a ship to pieces in short order.

[Cloud23465]

Antigua & Barbuda flag, 40,306gt. M/V APL Panama grounded on sand Dec 25 while inbound to the Port of Ensenada. Master did not wait for port pilot & tugs -- she proceeded to enter port without them. Geeez!!! M/V APL Panama ran aground on Ensenada Beach outside breakwaters. No reports of heavy weather or fog. Two 5000-bhp Crowley tugs from Port of Los Angeles arrived today to try to free the vessel. All efforts to pull the vessel off the sandbank during high tide using services of tugs unfortunately failed. Discharge of some of the 900 TEUs on board being considered but will be difficult due to location of the vessel -- in the middle of nowhere. She is aground 200 ft from beach on sandy bottom. Geeeez, we've known for years that if you're at Ensenada and nothing is going on -- just go to the beach! M/V APL Panama did!!

After running aground on Christmas Day, M/V APL Panama remains a colossal figure looming over the coast just south of the port of Ensenada, and a National City marine contractor has been retained to help free it. After unsuccessful attempts by three tugboats sent from Los Angeles to dislodge the ship and bring it afloat, the ship's owner contracted the Crowley Maritime Corp., a worldwide salvage company based in Florida, to float the vessel. Crowley then contacted RE Staite Engineering Inc. of National City, a marine construction company, on Dec. 29 requesting the company join the team in the effort to free the ship. Three more powerful tugs should have arrived in Ensenada by now, but 1st cargo must be unloaded from the ship via a sky crane & fuel oil needs to be pumped from the ship. Both will lighten the ship's load, thus making the tugboats' job feasible, but it will take time. Additionally, lines need to be attached to the newly arrived tugboats. Another factor in freeing the ship is the tide. During periods of high tide the ship almost floats; however, during low tide the result is the opposite. The recent high surf that Ensenada experienced also pushed the ship farther inland toward the coast as the tide rose. Initial reports said the crew didn't wait for the port pilot to guide them into the terminal before trying to bring the vessel into port -- but there is another story that denies this claim

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama1.jpg
Sooo.. you hit the beach with no where to go... you call the beach hot dog guy for some take out.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama2.jpg
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You can only wonder what these guys are thinking...
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama7.gifhttp://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama8.gifhttp://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama9.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama10.gif
Lets start to unload the ship.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama11.gif
Super Evergreen helicopter helps pick up the containers
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama23.gif
What a view!
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama12.gif
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The poor tug tried but he couldnt do it alone...

[Cloud23465]

More from the APL Panama..
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama16.gif
The words out theres a ship on the beach.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama17.gif
The rear deck is being unload... but the Evergreen helicopter broke down.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama18.gif
So they called in a land crane.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama19.gif
Truck drivers are hired to help discharge the containers.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama20.gif
Thats about it for the hold.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama21.gif
back decks pretty much empty
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/aplpanama22.gif
as they go forward... soon enough containers are taken off... It took 7 tugs all at once to pull the ship free... some 2 months after she was beached... shes free.

[Cloud23465]

I'm taking the next few days off on this till things simmer down from the marathon so those that like to see this stuff wont have to play catch-up.

[Cloud23465]

Back to it :biggergrin:

M/V Safmarine Agulhas - lost power & ran aground just outside East London (South Africa) on June 27 -- harbor tugs have as yet been unable to free her -- 22 crew remain onboard the vessel and will be brought ashore should it be deemed necessary. From our Sr. Correspondent Tim Schwabedissen. (Wed. June 28 2006)

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/SafmarineAgulhas1.gif
Uh Oh...
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/SafmarineAgulhas2.gif
Wrong turn?
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/SafmarineAgulhas3.gif
Yeah, we needed to be on the side where that ships coming out... we mist our turn
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/SafmarineAgulhas4.gif
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http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/SafmarineAgulhas10.gifhttp://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/SafmarineAgulhas11.gifhttp://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/SafmarineAgulhas12.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/SafmarineAgulhas13.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/SafmarineAgulhas14.gif

[Cloud23465]

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/SafmarineAgulhas15.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/SafmarineAgulhas16.gif
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http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/SafmarineAgulhas18.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/SafmarineAgulhas19.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/SafmarineAgulhas20.gif

This was not able to be pulled from the beach. Tugs tried but wernt able to get her to budge... as you can see she broke in half. All the cargo was removed and damage to the cargo was minimal. All the crew was safely removed as well. She later broke in half as you can see.

[TransWarpDrive]

:blink: Holy molars...
I'd sure hate to be the harbor pilot who navigated either one of those last two ships you showed.... :unsure:

[Cloud23465]

:blink: Holy molars...
I'd sure hate to be the harbor pilot who navigated either one of those last two ships you showed.... :unsure:

Actually... the pilot wasnt to blame... sorry I missed this information.

M/V Safmarine Agulhas would seem to be the latest victim of the unmanned engine room scenario so many ships now operate under.

Minimal manning means that the engine room is frequently not manned at all once the engines have been started and run up to operating temperature. This, in turn, means that the "running maintenance" that used to be done by the oilers & greasers is also no longer carried out -- and engine failure due to undetected minor problems that suddenly become big ones is becoming a more frequent problem. When an engine fails & cannot be restarted in a position where the ship is close to the shore, the results can be very expensive indeed. For M/V Safmarine Agulhas the price may be an ultimate one.

So being cheap with staff can cost you big in the end. :alumnus:

[TransWarpDrive]

:blink: Holy molars...
I'd sure hate to be the harbor pilot who navigated either one of those last two ships you showed.... :unsure:

Actually... the pilot wasnt to blame... sorry I missed this information.

M/V Safmarine Agulhas would seem to be the latest victim of the unmanned engine room scenario so many ships now operate under.

Minimal manning means that the engine room is frequently not manned at all once the engines have been started and run up to operating temperature. This, in turn, means that the "running maintenance" that used to be done by the oilers & greasers is also no longer carried out -- and engine failure due to undetected minor problems that suddenly become big ones is becoming a more frequent problem. When an engine fails & cannot be restarted in a position where the ship is close to the shore, the results can be very expensive indeed. For M/V Safmarine Agulhas the price may be an ultimate one.

So being cheap with staff can cost you big in the end. :alumnus:

Hmmm...seems the budget cuts didn't save them any money after all, now did they? :P

[Cloud23465]

Well I've worked my way up to one of the biggest disasters... He she is.

November 12, 2002
M/V Hanjin Pennsylvania
Length: 930ft
Built: March 2002
4,389 TEU Capacity.
sailing from Singapore to Hamburg With Container Cargo & 21 crew
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/hanjinpennsylvania1.jpg
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http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/hanjinpennsylvania9.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/hanjinpennsylvania10.jpg

[Cloud23465]

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/hanjinpennsylvania11.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/hanjinpennsylvania12.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/hanjinpennsylvania13.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/hanjinpennsylvania14.jpg
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http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/hanjinpennsylvania18.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/hanjinpennsylvania19.jpg
Hatch covers just blow off and cotainers sent flying off the deck...
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/hanjinpennsylvania21.jpg
Containers and cargo destroyed to total nothingness.

[Cloud23465]

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/hanjinpennsylvania22.jpg
Fire damage pretty much everywhere
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/hanjinpennsylvania23.jpg
Acomidation areas
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/hanjinpennsylvania24.jpg
This was the wheel house...
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/hanjinpennsylvania25.jpg

Hanjin Pennsylvania fire "has gutted accommodation & engine room" At least 6 rows of containers on deck & under deck have been effected by the blaze, which is understood to have started in a container carrying fireworks & spread to engulf the area immediately forward of the superstructure. But as the ship continues to burn, and salvage crews are still hampered in their attempts to board the vessel to carry out firefighting operations, experts are already suggesting the likely cause of the explosion was not a container full of fireworks.

M/V Hanjin Pennsylvania. China, along with India and the U.S., have emerged as major exporters of the commodity, and Europe is the major importer. The 2000 amendment to the IMDG Code, effective Jan. 1st 2001, states that calcium hypoclorite should be stowed in areas shaded from direct sunlight & away from heat sources. There should be adequate air circulation through the cargo.

The fire was understood to have started in below deck spaces, according to Hanjin sources. Fireworks should be carried on deck & are regarded as hazardous cargo. The similarity of the explosion & fires onboard Hanjin Pennsylvania present an uncanny resemblance to those onboard other containerships, where a commodity known as calcium hypochorite (more commonly known as a purifying or bleaching agent used in swimming pools for example), has been identified as the main cause.

19 crew were rescued, Sadly, 1 dead & 1 missing.

[kyojikasshu]

Well, at least none of these hit any bridges, like the Summit Venture did the Sunshine Skyway back in 1980.

Don't know how much damage the ship suffered (it was repaired and went back into service), but a bus and a few other vehicles went over the gap caused by the collision. One truck actually bounced off the ship's deck, and the driver actually survived...

That particular disaster is personal to me, because as a 5-year-old, I went over that bridge not one week earlier while my family was in Florida. We were on the Ohio Turnpike headed for home when we heard about the incident on the radio later that day.

[TransWarpDrive]

Well, at least none of these hit any bridges, like the Summit Venture did the Sunshine Skyway back in 1980.

Don't know how much damage the ship suffered (it was repaired and went back into service), but a bus and a few other vehicles went over the gap caused by the collision. One truck actually bounced off the ship's deck, and the driver actually survived...

That particular disaster is personal to me, because as a 5-year-old, I went over that bridge not one week earlier while my family was in Florida. We were on the Ohio Turnpike headed for home when we heard about the incident on the radio later that day.

Thats aweful. I hate to hear ay time of a young kid getting killed by anything but something like that does make it worse... one of those never should of happend things.

I think Rob was saying he and his family traveled over that bridge one week before the Summit Venture hit it when Rob was only five years old.

[Cloud23465]

[QUOTE=Rob;2468]Well, at least none of these hit any bridges, like the Summit Venture did the Sunshine Skyway back in 1980.

Don't know how much damage the ship suffered (it was repaired and went back into service), but a bus and a few other vehicles went over the gap caused by the collision. One truck actually bounced off the ship's deck, and the driver actually survived...

That particular disaster is personal to me, because as a 5-year-old, I went over that bridge not one week earlier while my family was in Florida. We were on the Ohio Turnpike headed for home when we heard about the incident on the radio later that day.

I think Rob was saying he and his family traveled over that bridge one week before the Summit Venture hit it when Rob was only five years old.
:o Well I cant read... its offical.

But back to the bussiness at hand... well actually Not for another few day anyways. All the information I had on the other disaster to come were pre-typed and lost when I deleted the files before I was supposed to sooo... I've got to get everything back up before i go on.

[kyojikasshu]

:o Well I cant read... its offical.

But back to the bussiness at hand... well actually Not for another few day anyways. All the information I had on the other disaster to come were pre-typed and lost when I deleted the files before I was supposed to sooo... I've got to get everything back up before i go on.

Yeah, that kind of sucks when you lose your data like that. Well, we'll certainly be here, that's for sure!

[Cloud23465]

Yea, but I messed up and deleted the file before I was supposed to so... it's nobodys fault but my own.

[Cloud23465]

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/pinata1.gif
Off Loading This Piñata As Part of Part of NCX Link (Northern China & Japan)
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/pinata2.gif
The Conainer Was An Old Box -- To Make A One Way Trip. The "Shipper Owned Container" (SOC) -- Not Unlike Others of It's Type. Was Just A Piñata...No Candy & Toys Here.Shippers Stuffed It With Cargo of Old Copper Wires - Regardless of Consequence. At Destination The Container Was To Be Transformd To Scrap Itself
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/pinata3.gif
Happy Birthday! The Piñata Is Broken! No Blindfloded Children Needed Here :laugh:
This is The Consequence of A Last Inspection Date For The Container -- 3 Years Ago! Records Show The Container Was Damaged Before & Repared Only For This Single Voyage, -- Repairs Done Oh, So Very Well.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/pinata4.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/pinata5.gif
Ah... what a wonderful mess.

[jeriddian]

I can't make it out. What was in it?

[TransWarpDrive]

Old copper wires, I believe he said (in a caption between two pictures).

[Cloud23465]

Old copper wires, I believe he said (in a caption between two pictures).
Yep, that what it was. The container couldn't handle the weight so It just broke In to. It also looks like it caused some dameage to the spreader bar.

[Cloud23465]

Febuary 10. 2000
The Hong Kong container vessel M/V OOCL AMERICA (66.047 gt, built 1995) sustained heavy weather damage on a voyage ex Long Beach for Kaohsiung on Jan. 29. There is major cargo damage. The vessel encountered severe weather Jan 31 in the Pacific Ocean and lost a large number of containers overboard. OOCL put the figure at around 300, but could not confirm exactly, as the vessel is still underway and is not expected to dock in Kaohsiung until Feb 8. The company said it will survey the damage then. A maritime attorney for cargo interests who had been contacted about the incident put the figure at 350 containers lost overboard & 217 still on board but crushed or bent out of usable condition.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/ooclamerica1.gif
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http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/ooclamerica7.gif

It is now understood that on 29 Jan, the Westbound vessel encountered a severe storm in position 41 49 N, 147 53 W, that at 1400 hrs engine speed was reduced to 70 RPM and that the containers went overboard at 1613 hrs during an engine failure that caused the vessel to drift away from the wind, triggering a 45 degree roll. We cannot pinpoint the exact geographical position of the actual loss, but draw a line due South along the Yukon Territory /Alaska border and another one due West along the California / Oregon border. The incident happened roughly where these lines cross.

[Monstrorrendinformingens]

Can anyone make out the name on that orange container?

[Cloud23465]

Can anyone make out the name on that orange container? Hapag-Llyod. A Hamburg, Germany based shipping company. They are also the shipping company with the longest history to the port of hampton roads when they first started docking cargo ships back in the 1970's.

[Monstrorrendinformingens]

So I thought right, thanks. If I just could remember the historic details I've been told about Hapag-Lloyd...well, I guess I won't need this knowledge all too much.

[Cloud23465]

M/V P&O Nedlloyd Barcelona had sustained significant damage to her cargo of containers. That's about all we knew about this photo set when it was sent to us in July 2005.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/PONedlloydBarcelona1.gif
Somewhere in the North Pacific -- M/V P&O Nedlloyd Barcelona and her containers approach a worsening storm.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/PONedlloydBarcelona2.gif
From the bridge -- M/V P&O Nedlloyd Barcelona sails down into the trough of angry waves as high winds batter the containers. This is going to be a bad storm. Beaufort Scale 7 or 9?
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/PONedlloydBarcelona3.gif
At least 6 containers on the top stack have been swept from M/V P&O Nedlloyd Barcelona's bow.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/PONedlloydBarcelona4.gif
M/V P&O Nedlloyd Barcelona begins to give up her containers -- overside to the Pacific storm.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/PONedlloydBarcelona5.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/PONedlloydBarcelona6.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/PONedlloydBarcelona7.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/PONedlloydBarcelona8.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/PONedlloydBarcelona9.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/PONedlloydBarcelona10.jpg

Something tells me it was a long day for these guys...

[Monstrorrendinformingens]

Yeah, ship puzzles!:laugh:

[Fireand'chutes77]

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/PONedlloydBarcelona1.gif

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/PONedlloydBarcelona2.gif

Something tells me it was a long day for these guys...
I'll say... that top picture leaves me with an expression like: :surprised: Those massive cargo ships being tossed and pounded by even more massive waves....

In the second picture, it's like they're sailing downhill. If I were in the bridge in that, I know I would've been yelling, "OH NOS!" :ohmy: :blink: :ohmy:

(While the cap'n and crew looked at me bemusedly. :P)

[TransWarpDrive]

Looking at the pictures of the damage, I have to wonder what the shipper spends on insurance premiums...:unsure:

[Cloud23465]

The wave was probably 40 to 50 feet tall to cause something like this. As far as the insurance thing goes... I dont think its how much... more along the line of who would provide the insurance. Ill do some reachsearch on this intresting question and get back to you on it.

[lunchmeat]

Biggest measured wave that anyone survived to talk about was recorded by a Navy oiler back in the fifties in the Drake Passage, between Antarctica and South America. 110 feet (~35m). Surf's up :rolleyes:.

Probably have bigger on record now that we can measure individual waves, from space, using sythetic aperture radar. Going to sea is not the safest occupation in the world.

[Cloud23465]

Yeah, This last ship was in the pacific at the time... I've heard the weather and waves cant get pretty rough out there.

[campy]

Yeah, This last ship was in the pacific at the time... I've heard the weather and waves cant get pretty rough out there.But I thought it was called the Pacific because it was so peaceful. Or is this another Greenland/Iceland deal? :laugh:

[Monstrorrendinformingens]

Well, after all the pirate ships have been crushed by the sea itself that's pretty peaceful...in its own way...like a cemetery...:dubiety:

[lunchmeat]

Actually, I think Balboa just caught it on a good day, as befitting the largest of the oceans hereabouts, it also has the most extreme weather (typhoons and so forth). The thing with the Drake Passage involves the Circum-Polar Current Meeting two other current systems plus some standing high and low pressure systems. Since it is so much narrower than the passage between Africa and Antarctica, it tends to focus events like rogue waves.
The Atlantic has more pronounced vertical stratification, due to the two basins divided by the Atlantic mid-oceanic ridge, but the Pacifc wins on just about everything else. Deepest trenches, largest and most prolonged storms, most islands, most tectonic activity and so on.

[jeriddian]

Actually, I think Balboa just caught it on a good day, as befitting the largest of the oceans hereabouts, it also has the most extreme weather (typhoons and so forth). The thing with the Drake Passage involves the Circum-Polar Current Meeting two other current systems plus some standing high and low pressure systems. Since it is so much narrower than the passage between Africa and Antarctica, it tends to focus events like rogue waves.
The Atlantic has more pronounced vertical stratification, due to the two basins divided by the Atlantic mid-oceanic ridge, but the Pacifc wins on just about everything else. Deepest trenches, largest and most prolonged storms, most islands, most tectonic activity and so on.

Sort of makes its name a little bit of a misnomer, doesn't it?:P

[campy]

I don't know, I think I'm going to have to book a lot more cruises and gather some more data on this question. :D So far the roughest water I ever experienced was sailing from NY to Bermuda in 2003. That was also the smallest ship I ever cruised on, a mere 682' long.

[Cloud23465]

For truck drivers ... this maybe painful to look at so...
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/disaster2002_RTG1.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/disaster2002.gif
The driver suffered a broken back when he was compressed into his seat.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/disaster2002_RTG3.gif
Though NO Cause was listed as to why this happend... A number of things could be the reason.. more then likely it was something that wasn't supposed to be by law... such as overweighted or something else.:unsure:

[jeriddian]

So...the container was accidently dropped on the truck? That's what it looks like. Was it too heavy for the crane lifting it?:huh:

[Cloud23465]

So...the container was accidently dropped on the truck? That's what it looks like. Was it too heavy for the crane lifting it?:huh:
I'm thinking that the spreader bar could of failed and or maybe the opperator hit the unlock button... I dont know RTG's that well... so its hard to say if it had a fail safe or what... that is the contaier cant be unlocked untill the weight of the container is supported by the ground... or in this case the chassie. The port was tight lipped on this one, so it makes me believe that it was a screw up on the operators end.

[lunchmeat]

I don't know, I think I'm going to have to book a lot more cruises and gather some more data on this question. :D So far the roughest water I ever experienced was sailing from NY to Bermuda in 2003. That was also the smallest ship I ever cruised on, a mere 682' long.

Toss up between the Bering Sea, Hurricane Greta and Typhoon Peggy. Lots of green water (green people, too). Hurricane Georges and Typhoon Dinah weren't exactly a load of laughs, either.

[TransWarpDrive]

So...the container was accidently dropped on the truck? That's what it looks like. Was it too heavy for the crane lifting it?:huh:
I'm thinking that the spreader bar could of failed and or maybe the opperator hit the unlock button... I dont know RTG's that well... so its hard to say if it had a fail safe or what... that is the container cant be unlocked until the weight of the container is supported by the ground... or in this case the chassis. The port was tight lipped on this one, so it makes me believe that it was a screw up on the operators end.
If you ask me, an accident like this is a very good reason why you should get out of the truck while they put the container on the trailer. At least that's what I would have done...

[Cloud23465]

So...the container was accidently dropped on the truck? That's what it looks like. Was it too heavy for the crane lifting it?:huh:
I'm thinking that the spreader bar could of failed and or maybe the opperator hit the unlock button... I dont know RTG's that well... so its hard to say if it had a fail safe or what... that is the container cant be unlocked until the weight of the container is supported by the ground... or in this case the chassis. The port was tight lipped on this one, so it makes me believe that it was a screw up on the operators end.
If you ask me, an accident like this is a very good reason why you should get out of the truck while they put the container on the trailer. At least that's what I would have done...

Where my dad works most of them do. But with the use of strads, the driver is parked when they bring the container to put it on a chassie. RTG's line up with the container stack, pick up the container and the truck driver has to pull through the legs.
But the drivers do complain that there backs hurt from the shaking of the truck... so the port said get out of the truck and stand outside.
Check out this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RttnxehwgwY). Strad pick up the container... guys standing outside... very smart he is...yes

[Cloud23465]

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/disaster2001_pier3.gif
The RTG was traveling to move a can from the pile to where the trucker was parked -- when the ground beneath the forward-left wheel gave way -- to a sink hole on the dock itself. Indeed, peers on the wharf said it was it was time for some "Pier Review!"
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/disaster2001_pier2.gif
It's left-foward wheel filling the hole -- the RTG proceeded to tilt over -- and --
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/disaster2001_pier1.gif
-- and -- eventually collapsed the RTG onto the waiting truck & chassis. It is understood that this 40 ft container was not overweight -- the ground just gave way.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/disaster2001_pier4_.gif
The trucker was uninjured -- minor cut on his arm.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/disaster2001_pier5.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/disaster2001_pier6.gif
Because the RTG rolled over slowly, the operator was able to be helped out -- before the cab was eventually crushed.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/disaster2001_pier7.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/disaster2001_pier8.gif
Former post of the very lucky operator sat.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/disaster2001_pier9.gif
Since Sept. 18 the Harbor Dept. has filled in the sink-hole. RTG has been removed with a large mobile crane. Mechanics don't know whether to fix the crane or use it for parts.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/disaster2001_pier10.gif
Oh yes, we finally found that fine china shipment in this other casualty container...

[TransWarpDrive]

:blink: Whoa...
All that mess because of a sinkhole in the dock. Man, that crane operator was one lucky son of a gun.

[Cloud23465]

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli16.gif
M/V MSC Napoli With Flooded Engine Room... Its Settling By The Stern
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli17.gif
The 100 Foot Steel Fence & A Police Presence Has Stopped The Scavenger Circus.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli18.gif

In the end several barges and floating cranes came to the M/V MSC Napoli and discharged the containers... as for the ship, it is understood they were able to get her back afloat and to a yard where major repairs will take place... if this ship will return to service is unclear but possible.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/disaster2007_Napoli41.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/disaster2007_Napoli70.jpg

[Cloud23465]

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli1.gifhttp://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli2.gifhttp://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli3.gif
As you can see in the second picture... shes got a huge crack in the hull.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli4.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli5.gifhttp://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli6.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli7.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli8.gif
M/V MSC Napoli Between The Rock & The Hard Place. Her Hull Is Failing - She Is Parting Into Two Sections - She Has Lost Over 200 Containers Overside.
She Still Carries Over 2,000 Containers - Many of Her Containers Are Laden With HAZMAT. MSC Napoli Is About To Capsize.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli9.gif
Of The 200 Containers Overside -- Some 40 Containers Have Crashed On Branscombe Beach, Sidmouth. These Containers Were Laden With The Merchant Dreams of Compainies -- Big & Small.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli10.gif
But A True Circus Has Begun. This Is No Flea Market! Forget The Loss of The Other Guy... Scavengers Begin To Swarm Lawful Cargo of M/V MSC Napoli.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli11.gif
The Scanvenger Flea Market Includes This Knitting Yarn -- As Well As --Motorcycles, Perfume, Exhaust Pipes, Steering Wheels, Beauty Cream & Even Bibles.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli12.gif
Meanwhile M/V MSC Napoli Hangs On. Against All Odds Jan. 22 2007 Millions of Dollars Worth of Cargo.. Professional Careers In The Balance. But Some Humans Think Only of Themselves, Not The Great Investment of Others.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli14.gif
M/V MSC Napoli Struggles To Survive Her Mission Duty of Safe Cargo Delivery. While SCAVENGERS Do Their Worst. Under These Conditions... This Is Stealing BMW Motorcycles. Folks, There Is No "Doctrine of Unattended Cargo" That Provides Salvage Rights For This Cargo. This Is Like Finding An Unlocked Bicycle On Your Street. This Is Not Abandoned Cargo.. Just Cargo In Peril...With A Known Owner
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli13.gif
We Hope That This "Thrill of Loot" Will Give Way To Public Spirit - For Return of This Stolen Cargo. If Not... We Understand They Will Be Arrests. UK Police Are Taking Action. These Are Looters!
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli15.gif
Thing are not looking good for the M/V MSC Napoli.

900 ft., 62,000-ton British container ship, M/V Napoli (built 1991), enroute to Le Have and Sines, took on water after developing hole on starboard side in gale-force 9 conditions --in 40ft seas and 70mph winds --as it made its way through the English Channel, 50 miles off the Lizard in Cornwall. The 26 crew abandoned ship without injuries. Two helicopters from RNAS Culdrose airlifted the crew to safety after the vessel made a distres call. M/V Napoli is stable and towing vessel M/V Anglian Princess is on scene. From our Sr. Correspondent Tim Schwabedissen. (Thurs. Jan.18 2007)

[Fireand'chutes77]

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli5.gif

This end down, eh? :rolleyes: :P :laugh:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli4.gif

Goodness. :blink: I wonder what it was like belowdecks...

[Cloud23465]

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/MSCNapoli5.gif
This end down, eh? :rolleyes: :P :laugh:


Actually... I could see where you thought that. :laugh: but no... It's actually a mark for where the tugs can push against the ship without causing hull damage.

[campy]

Goodness. :blink: I wonder what it was like belowdecks...I'm guessing ... damp. :laugh:

[Cloud23465]

Goodness. :blink: I wonder what it was like belowdecks...I'm guessing ... damp. :laugh:

Well... let put it this way... the ship did have a pool before... but this one has to be the first ship with the pool on the inside... I can see the captain say... "ok, who up for some laps?":laugh:

[campy]

Goodness. :blink: I wonder what it was like belowdecks...I'm guessing ... damp. :laugh:

Well... let put it this way... the ship did have a pool before... but this one has to be the first ship with the pool on the inside... I can see the captain say... "ok, who up for some laps?":laugh:Not hardly. I can name several ships off the top of my head that had indoor pools. Titanic was one ... :eek:

[Cloud23465]

Goodness. :blink: I wonder what it was like belowdecks...I'm guessing ... damp. :laugh:

Well... let put it this way... the ship did have a pool before... but this one has to be the first ship with the pool on the inside... I can see the captain say... "ok, who up for some laps?":laugh:Not hardly. I can name several ships off the top of my head that had indoor pools. Titanic was one ... :eek:

Oh yeah... I forgot about the Titanic. I just took a look at the specs on the Titanic (I never have before)I just realised that most of the average ship modern container ship is now the size of it, if not larger. But yes I also took into account what year the Titanic was made too. Well I learned something new today :alumnus:

[campy]

Oh yeah... I forgot about the Titanic. I just took a look at the specs on the Titanic (I never have before)I just realised that most of the average ship modern container ship is now the size of it, if not larger. But yes I also took into account what year the Titanic was made too. Well I learned something new today :alumnus:It's amazing how many people seem to believe Titanic was and is the biggest ship ever. It's not even close. Many of the cruise ships today are bigger. I remember when Royal Caribbean launched Freedom of the Seas, the largest passenger ship ever at the time, (there's now one sister ship and another nearly ready to go) the Today Show put on a CGI animation showing how much bigger the new ship is.

[Cloud23465]

Currently the largest ship in the world is the Knock Nevis supertanker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Nevis). built back in 1979 shes 1504 feet long and 226 feet wide and dips 81 feet below the water line when fully loaded. This thing is 622 feet longer, 134 feet wider, and 47 feet deeper... besides just a bit longer and this thing would be twice the size the Titanic was.:eek:

[campy]

Currently the largest ship in the world is the Knock Nevis supertanker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Nevis). built back in 1979 shes 1504 feet long and 226 feet wide and dips 81 feet below the water line when fully loaded. This thing is 622 feet longer, 134 feet wider, and 47 feet deeper... besides just a bit longer and this thing would be twice the size the Titanic was.:eek:Yeah, passenger ships aren't as big as supertankers. Royal Caribbean just started building the first of their new Genesis class, which will be 1181' long and 154' in beam.

(I happen to be part owner of Genesis and the rest of the 30+ Royal Caribbean ships in service or a-building. I own 100 shares of the corporation ... approximately one two-millionth fraction of the whole. :laugh: )

[Fireand'chutes77]

Currently the largest ship in the world is the Knock Nevis supertanker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Nevis). built back in 1979 shes 1504 feet long and 226 feet wide and dips 81 feet below the water line when fully loaded. This thing is 622 feet longer, 134 feet wider, and 47 feet deeper... besides just a bit longer and this thing would be twice the size the Titanic was.:eek:
Sorta reminds me of the fact that the entire first flight of the Wright Flyer can now fit comfortably within the wingspan of a 747. :laugh:

I was something of a Titanic nut when I was a little kid, and back then I probably could've spouted off the Titanic's stats and details by heart. I can't do that now, but I still have an affinity for the subject.

[TransWarpDrive]

I don't know which is worse: seeing the ship sink or watching the looters plunder the stuff on shore...:unsure:

[Cloud23465]

I don't know which is worse: seeing the ship sink or watching the looters plunder the stuff on shore...:unsure:

Take into consideration that the what happened with the ship was a accident... but the looters on the other hand... there intentions as to what there here do to is clear... take stuff that doesn't belong to them during a bad situation. To me... the looting is way worse. :angry:

[Cloud23465]

It's bad enough having one of your ships involved in a wreck... But to at the same time? Yeah... take a look at the pictures and you do the math.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/APLDubaiow.jpg
this is the APL Dubai
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/APLAlmandine.jpg
and you can see clearly the name of this ship... thats painful.

[Cloud23465]

Sorry i've been slacking. But i've got a really big one planned and I wanna get all the fact straight before I post It... it's a really hot one... if you catch my drift?:eek:

[Fireand'chutes77]

Sorry i've been slacking. But i've got a really big one planned and I wanna get all the fact straight before I post It... it's a really hot one... if you catch my drift?:eek:
My world's on fire; how 'bout yours?
That's the way I like it 'cause I never get bored!

Smashmouth, "All Star"

:laugh: :P

[Cloud23465]

64,054 GT. Panama flag container M/V Hyundai Fortune (built 1996) has suffered major explosion & massive fire in aft on-deck container stacks. Entire after end of ship completely involved in fire. Crew has abandoned ship, picked up by Dutch Navy frigate HNLMS De Zeven Provincien. M/V Hyundai Fortune in position 12-39N 047-22E (Gulf of Aden). Numerous (60 to 90) containers blown over the side, forming a debris field about 5 miles long -- many of which are drifting around the vessel. All aft of the accommodation & including it are fully involved in full flame & dense smoke.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Hyundaifortune1.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Hyundaifortune2.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Hyundaifortune3.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Hyundaifortune4.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Hyundaifortune8.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Hyundaifortune14.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Hyundaifortune16.gifhttp://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Hyundaifortune18.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Hyundaifortune17.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Hyundaifortune15.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Hyundaifortune11.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Hyundaifortune6.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Hyundaifortune9.gif
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Hyundaifortune10.gif

[Cloud23465]

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Hyundaifortune7.gif
At this point... it's still unknown what caused this. :errr:.. The damage was so bad that there was no way to identify what sparked the explosion.:blink:

[TransWarpDrive]

:blink: Holy molars...
Man, I'd sure hate to have been on that ship when the explosion occurred. I take it there were no casualties among the crew?
Wow...:unsure:

[Cloud23465]

:blink: Holy molars...
Man, I'd sure hate to have been on that ship when the explosion occurred. I take it there were no casualties among the crew?
Wow...:unsure:

I know a bad as this looks you expect something to of happened but... all 27 crew memeber were recovered in good health. Well one did have some non-life-threatening injuries but quick action saved the crew.

[TransWarpDrive]

:blink: Holy molars...
Man, I'd sure hate to have been on that ship when the explosion occurred. I take it there were no casualties among the crew?
Wow...:unsure:

I know a bad as this looks you expect something to of happened but... all 27 crew memeber were recovered in good health. Well one did have some non-life-threatening injuries but quick action saved the crew.
That's good to know. Glad to hear they all survived.

[Cloud23465]

I've uploaded a special from the Discovery channels Extreme Engineering on Container ships and a ports. It's broken into 5 parts and it's pretty close to an hour long total. 8-10 minute pieces. This show what work looks on the docks and it also shows how the ships are made at the same time. Enjoy!


Extreme Engineering - Container Ships Part 1 of 5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg4lnKPBcqk)
Extreme Engineering - Container Ships Part 2 of 5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr0OHwq1S_I)
Extreme Engineering - Container Ships Part 3 of 5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFR6ta5vlgk)
Extreme Engineering - Container Ships Part 4 of 5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaVoa1e4cH8)
Extreme Engineering - Container Ships Part 5 of 5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMlTMvZecXA)
Video from a disk that the port that I work at put out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3MktODi99A)

[Fireand'chutes77]

At this point... it's still unknown what caused this. :errr:.. The damage was so bad that there was no way to identify what sparked the explosion.:blink:

Burned right down to the waterline... Yike! :ohmy:

[Cloud23465]

Ok everyone into the water.... Opps! I guess the containers though that ment them too.:laugh: but they did make a heck of a splash.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/0984098.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/383036749840984.jpg

[TransWarpDrive]

Whoa! Four cargo containers into the drink! Yeah, they made a heck of a splash, all right!
I have to wonder how much it costs to insure shipments made by ocean freight - especially after seeing photos like these.
These pictures are the stuff of shippers' nightmares, that's for sure...:errr:

[Cloud23465]

Whoa! Four cargo containers into the drink! Yeah, they made a heck of a splash, all right!
I have to wonder how much it costs to insure shipments made by ocean freight - especially after seeing photos like these.
These pictures are the stuff of shippers' nightmares, that's for sure...:errr:

But also take into acount how many ships there are out there. Maersk alone has over 500+ vessels in there fleet. The're are hundreds of ships from ship lines that have never visited the U.S. and I probably don't know the even exist. But the're are insunace companys that offer insurance though i'm sure that it's just like car insuance... The higher the value of the contents... the more the insuance will cost. Most of the sites i've checked don't list the rate per... this website has the best information I can find right now on the insuance. http://www.roanoketrade.com/productservices/cargo.htm

[TransWarpDrive]

Thanks for the link, Cloud. It was interesting to read. It seems you take your chances when you ship something via any form of freight transportation - land, sea, or air.

[Cloud23465]

66,433gt, China Shipping Uk Ltd. 280m, container M/V Xin Qing Dao, Malta (Valetta) for Felixstowe -- Storm Force 11 , 30 meter seas & 30 degree (very severe) rolling -- 31 laden 40' containers lost overboard & another 29 damaged off Brittany, night of Oct. 27, 2004
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/XinQingDao1.gif
M/V Xin Qing Dao reaches Port of Felixstowe on the morning of October 30 2004 -- there has been damage resulting from a storm on the night of October 27.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/XinQingDao2.gif
Xin Qing Dao had survived a rare Beaufort Scale #11 storm off Brittany -- with exceptionally high waves to 30 meters (90 feet). The sea was completely covered with long white patches of foam lying in the direction of winds to 63 knots. The unexpected can always be expected in such seas. Seamanship saved the vessel.
Xin Qing Dao was saved -- but 31 laden 40' containers were lost overboard & another 29 containers were severely damaged.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/XinQingDao3.gif
These 60 lost or severely damaged 40 fooot containers were laden with everything from computers to tennis shoes -- each container with a value ranging from some US$20,000 up to the US$Millions! This loss/damage to 60, 40ft containers has yet to be calculated -- but expect a BIG number, with each container coming fully equipped with it's own maritime lawyer -- to plead the issue of whether either "fault" or "a peril of the sea" is to blame!
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/XinQingDao4.gif
It is estimated that over 10,000 ocean containers are lost each year over the side in the world ocean trades -- the result of high seas perils, improper stow, fire & even pirates. The yearly financial loss due to ocean shipping container misfortune has not been calculated -- but the estimates are staggering -- in the US$ Billions.

[Fireand'chutes77]

Xin Qing Dao had survived a rare Beaufort Scale #11 storm off Brittany -- with exceptionally high waves to 30 meters (90 feet). The sea was completely covered with long white patches of foam lying in the direction of winds to 63 knots. The unexpected can always be expected in such seas. Seamanship saved the vessel.

Yike... So a ship that big was in serious peril of going down? :blink:

[Cloud23465]

Xin Qing Dao had survived a rare Beaufort Scale #11 storm off Brittany -- with exceptionally high waves to 30 meters (90 feet). The sea was completely covered with long white patches of foam lying in the direction of winds to 63 knots. The unexpected can always be expected in such seas. Seamanship saved the vessel.

Yike... So a ship that big was in serious peril of going down? :blink:

If it wasn't for quick actions taken by the captain and or crew... yeah, it could of easily rolled over and probably sunk.

[Cloud23465]

Yeah, I'm going to get back to this post soon... I've just been really busy digging to get information to get in the union I haven't had the spare time to find anymore wreck... but I will soon.:biggergrin:

[Cloud23465]

Here's a video that shows what happens when people stack containers... in the wrong place.... the music is very fitting :laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BlFC9QWOLg

BTW can anyone tell me the name of that song?

[Cloud23465]

Ok this was just WRONG! I can here the captain now... drop the anchor...opps!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz6BCeyhWUU

[lunchmeat]

Xin Qing Dao had survived a rare Beaufort Scale #11 storm off Brittany -- with exceptionally high waves to 30 meters (90 feet). The sea was completely covered with long white patches of foam lying in the direction of winds to 63 knots. The unexpected can always be expected in such seas. Seamanship saved the vessel.

Yike... So a ship that big was in serious peril of going down? :blink:

Size has only minimal meaning in the face of severe conditions at sea. Lloyd's register lists lots of ships that sink, or just disappear, every year. Granted a lot is for the purposes of either barratry or filing false insurance claims, but there are significant sinkings resulting from either poor seamanship or bad material condition. Most people have no idea how many vessels go down annually, it isn't sexy enough tp get the media's attention and few people have contact with sailors, merchant or naval, anymore. When one recalls that more than 90% of the world's goods travel by ship, the scale of operations becomes a little clearer (and one of the reasons reducing the Navy below 350 ships is a really stupid idea, we still rely on freedom of the seas to function as a nation). One of the reasons so many American companies operate ships under foreign flags is that the pay for the crews is much less than for US crews, unfortunately, the safety and training standards are also much less. Plus, merchant ships operate with smaller crews, so there are fewer people to perform damage control functions.

Warships get away with a lot of things merchant ships don't due to having an excess of horsepower. A naval vessel can survive pretty much any weather as long as it has enough fuel to keep the screws turning. The ships that went down in "Halsey's Typhoon" during WWII all ran out of fuel due to a decision to delay replenishment to maintain task force speed (one has to slow down to refuel at sea). This wasn't entirely the admiral's fault, air reconaissance of hurricanes didn't really start until 1946 and the first weather satellites launched in the 1960s, so forecasting and identification of storms relied on information coming in from land stations and ships and then being interpreted. Strangley the Japanese declined to provide us with conditions where they were, probably still sore over the whole Marianas Turkey Shoot thing that had happened a few weeks earlier.

[Cloud23465]

Xin Qing Dao had survived a rare Beaufort Scale #11 storm off Brittany -- with exceptionally high waves to 30 meters (90 feet). The sea was completely covered with long white patches of foam lying in the direction of winds to 63 knots. The unexpected can always be expected in such seas. Seamanship saved the vessel.

Yike... So a ship that big was in serious peril of going down? :blink:

Size has only minimal meaning in the face of severe conditions at sea. Lloyd's register lists lots of ships that sink, or just disappear, every year. Granted a lot is for the purposes of either barratry or filing false insurance claims, but there are significant sinkings resulting from either poor seamanship or bad material condition. Most people have no idea how many vessels go down annually, it isn't sexy enough tp get the media's attention and few people have contact with sailors, merchant or naval, anymore. When one recalls that more than 90% of the world's goods travel by ship, the scale of operations becomes a little clearer (and one of the reasons reducing the Navy below 350 ships is a really stupid idea, we still rely on freedom of the seas to function as a nation). One of the reasons so many American companies operate ships under foreign flags is that the pay for the crews is much less than for US crews, unfortunately, the safety and training standards are also much less. Plus, merchant ships operate with smaller crews, so there are fewer people to perform damage control functions.


I've heard of what you just talked about alot on fourms for ship spotting websites. US flagged ship merchant seamen make really good money.... I've heard from as much as $300 a day and they pay no out of pocket cost for there food... and these guys eat good! I'm not talking about cheese sandwitches... but steaks and other hearty foods. But shiplines are always trying to cut the bottom dollar at the cost of jobs. APMT Owned by maersk... the largest ship line in the world opened at $600 millon dollar termial up the river from where I work. They purchased automaged RMG's and Gantry's.... Which took alot of work and good jobs from ILA workers... I was quite shocked to learn that the union signed off on the termials automation... but then again when I think about it... I wasn't anymore:dubiety:

[jeriddian]

I have a very good friend of mine who played in my band when I was in school in Galveston, who was a merchant mariner. His whole family were sea dogs. His father was an admiral in the navy. He was was a lieutenant commander in the reserves. His brother was a merchant mariner as well. His distinction was that he became the youngest captain of unlimited tonnage at the age of 32. He would go out on cruises in these giant 200,000 ton supertankers for nine or ten months at a time, then come back with a check for $80,000 to $90,000 in his pocket for each run.

[lunchmeat]

...
I've heard of what you just talked about alot on fourms for ship spotting websites. US flagged ship merchant seamen make really good money.... I've heard from as much as $300 a day and they pay no out of pocket cost for there food... and these guys eat good! I'm not talking about cheese sandwitches... but steaks and other hearty foods. But shiplines are always trying to cut the bottom dollar at the cost of jobs. APMT Owned by maersk... the largest ship line in the world opened at $600 millon dollar termial up the river from where I work. They purchased automaged RMG's and Gantry's.... Which took alot of work and good jobs from ILA workers... I was quite shocked to learn that the union signed off on the termials automation... but then again when I think about it... I wasn't anymore:dubiety:


It took them a long time to get there, life for a merchant seaman prior to WWII could be pretty miserable, part of the problem now is that with so few US flagged merchants the billets are hard to come by. One fellow I knew in the Navy is a tanker captain for Sun Oil, he is only allowed to work for six months out of the year, but still makes rather good money at it. He ended up buying a shrimp boat to keep himself busy the other six months.

I have a very good friend of mine who played in my band when I was in school in Galveston, who was a merchant mariner. His whole family was sea dogs. His father was an admiral in the navy. he was was a lieutenant commander in the reserves. His brother was a merchant marinier as well. His distinction was that he became the youngest captai of unlimited tonnage at the age of 32. He would go out on cruises in there giant 200,000 ton supertankers for nine or ten months at a time, then come back with a check for $80,000 to $90,000 in his pocket for each run.

that's about the same deal the guy I know has, there are quite a few merchant mariners that hold reserve commissions, I thought about trying for it for awhile, but the slots are so few that one pretty much has to be part of the good ole boy network to find anything.

[Cloud23465]

Here's some stats of what I know about current companys in the shiping world as far as how many ships they have, how much capacity it's fleet can carry, where there based and what there logo looks like

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3b/Maersk_logo.svg/120px-Maersk_logo.svg.png

Maersk Line - Founded 1904 - Headquarters Copenhagen, Denmark
Number of ships - 490
Fleet capacity - 1,791,001 TEU

__________________________________________________ ______

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2d/Logo_msc.gif

MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) - Founded in 1970 - Headquarters Geneva, Switzerland
Number of ships - 316
Fleet capacity - 1,086,782 TEU

__________________________________________________ ______

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/03/CMA_CGM_logo.jpg/160px-CMA_CGM_logo.jpg

CMA CGM - Founded in 1855 - Headquarters somewhere in France
Number of ships - 257
Fleet capacity - 694,212 TEU

__________________________________________________ ______

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3f/Evergreen_Marine_Corporation_logo.png/225px-

Evergreen Marine - Founded in 1968 - Headquarters Taipei, Taiwan
Number of ships - 175
Fleet capacity - 595,244 TEU

__________________________________________________ ______

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f8/Hapag-Lloyd_logo.jpg/200px-Hapag-Lloyd_logo.jpg

Hapag-Lloyd - Founded in 1856 - Headquarters Hamburg, German
Number of ships - 129
Fleet capacity - 459,742 TEU

__________________________________________________ ______

http://www.chinashippingna.com/publish_dir/menu/Logo1.gif

China Shipping Container Lines - Founded in 1997 - Headquarters Shanghai, China
Number of ships - 86
Fleet capacity - 393,601 TEU

__________________________________________________ ______

http://www.cosco-usa.com/images/cosco-logo.gif

Cosco (China Ocean Shipping Company) - Founded in 1961 - Headquarters Shanghai, China
Number of ships - 117
Fleet capacity - 378,959 TEU

__________________________________________________ ______

http://www.hanjin.com/en/img/MenuTop/top_logo.gif

Hanjin - Founded in 1977 - Headquarters Seoul, Korea
Number of ships - 80
Fleet capacity - 335,519 TEU

__________________________________________________ ______

http://www.apl.com/images/logos/apl_logo_135.gif

APL (American President Lines) - Founded in 1846 - Headquarters Singapore
Number of ships - 86
Fleet capacity - 329,680 TEU

__________________________________________________ ______

http://www.oocl.com/oocl/images/oocl_logo.gif

OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line) - Founded in 1947 - Headquarters Hong Kong , China
Number of ships - 72
Fleet capacity - 326,406 TEU

More to come...

[TransWarpDrive]

One question: What does the acronym "TEU" stand for? :unsure:

[campy]

One question: What does the acronym "TEU" stand for? :unsure:From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Containerization): Container capacity is measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU, or sometimes teu). An equivalent unit is a measure of containerized cargo capacity equal to one standard 20 ft (length) × 8 ft (width) × 8' 6' ft (height)'container.

[TransWarpDrive]

One question: What does the acronym "TEU" stand for? :unsure:From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Containerization): Container capacity is measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU, or sometimes teu). An equivalent unit is a measure of containerized cargo capacity equal to one standard 20 ft (length) × 8 ft (width) × 8' 6' ft (height)'container.
OK, thanks, campy. Now I can understand those figures under each company's heading. :)

[Cloud23465]

Sorry I missed answering this but it seems campy covered it very well. as answered a TEU also short for twenty foot equivalent unit. There's also FEU which is of course forty foot equivalent unit which is counted as 2 TEU's. There's also one more size of shipping container and thats a 45' container.
45' containers are not as commonly used seeing that they wont fit in the cell within the ship and on the deck. 45' container are usually kept on the 3rd row and above of a stack. Check out the picture... the 45' continers stick out pretty good and are easy to spot.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/P8050018.jpg

[TransWarpDrive]

Thanks, Cloud, for your answer too. I'm learning more about ocean freight shipping now than I knew back when I actually worked a job packing items to be shipped by both air and ocean freight. All I knew back then was that each box I packed had a 150-pound weight limit, and that each one needed its own list of contents for the customs inspectors.

[Cloud23465]

Thanks, Cloud, for your answer too. I'm learning more about ocean freight shipping now than I knew back when I actually worked a job packing items to be shipped by both air and ocean freight. All I knew back then was that each box I packed had a 150-pound weight limit, and that each one needed its own list of contents for the customs inspectors.

Yeah, this industry goes alot deep then some people will ever know. Unfortunately there's also a dark side with the high drug trafficking. Some ships come in to ports wrapped drugs in water resistant material that floats and toss the package overboard to either the water or a shoreman who's wating on the docks. But thanks to work between the small coast guard boats that follow ships into dock and port police who are always at the dock when a ship is coming in, illegal trafficking has all but stopped by that means.
Unfortunately this means the smugglers have got alot more crafty and break seals of containers and hide it within. For me, there's no way this is worth the risk of doing and I have been offered the chace to do it by the foreign merchant marines to do so before. I love my job and my freedom to much to risk it all on something so stupid. Other then that small problem... everything else is intresting and fun to me.

[Cloud23465]

I've seen probably a half dozen containers have damage like this in the past 17 months i've done this work. But i've never seen a second teir stack container suffer damage like this and the one right below it not get a scrach on it. Normally it's backwards but... I dunno. Take a look for yourself.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/10-22-07_0958.jpg

[lunchmeat]

I've seen a 21" replenishment stanchion bent over like a candy cane by waves rolling over the deck. If a wave is traveling on the order of 110kph and each cubic meter of watrer masses a ton, the transfer of energy can be on the order of 600kg per square meter. granted, a lot is dissipated byt the fact that the water will flow, but it is still far more powerful than most people appreciate.

[Cloud23465]

Granted, a lot is dissipated by the fact that the water will flow, but it is still far more powerful than most people appreciate.
You've got that right. I know if I hit one of the sides of these containers as hard as I can... it wouldn't even scratch it... when a wave can do something like this... I know it has alot of power... more then I ever wanna feel.:confused:

[Cloud23465]

IF you watch the news... it's hard not to of heard this recent accident.
M/V Cosco Busan EX Hanjin Cairo
5447 TEU Capacity
284.70M length
40M Beam

Here's the kicker...Cosco (China Ocean Shipping Company) Is denying ownership of the ship and I quote

"COSCO Group confirms that M.V. "COSCO Busan" is not owned, managed, operated, or chartered by COSCO Group or any of its companies."

Cosco is probably trying to say it's a Hanjin ship.... that's just sad. Here's the story from my sources.

The Embarked Harbor Pilot Blames Vessel "Maintenance" For The Mishap --

-- What Remains Unspoken?

M/V Cosco Busan Had Been Purchased Last Month -- Crew Was On Inaugural Voyage

"Human error factors" probably were involved in a ship crash and oil spill that killed nearly 400 birds in San Francisco Bay and prompted a federal criminal probe, the U.S. Coast Guard said Nov. 11. The U.S. attorney in San Francisco has opened a federal criminal investigation into the Nov. 7 crash of the M/V Cosco Busan to determine whether the captain & crew violated federal maritime laws.
Although not officially detained, the captain and crew were barred from leaving the vessel, which is docked for repairs in Oakland, the Coast Guard said.

In command at the time -- harbor pilot Captain John Cota said he could hardly feel anything on the ship -- suggesting that there wasn't much damage. The ship didn't roll. There wasn't a loud sound. Cota quickly radioed authorities over an open radio network to report the ship had "touched" the bridge, according to an official with knowledge of the investigation. "Traffic, we just touched the delta span" Capt. Cota is alleged to have said.

"You had a competently manned ship with a pilot, all the navigation and sensors," said Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard. There were "probably some human error factors, but we need to determine the facts, because there's no reason a ship like that should have collided with the bridge." M/V Cosco Busan was departing Port of Oakland for South Korea when it struck a tower supporting the western suspension span of the Bay Bridge, cutting a 212-foot, 12-foot wide gash in the ship's side.

About 58,000 gallons of heavy-duty bunker oil poured out of the vessel as it was moored near Treasure Island. The oil sickened birds and formed globules on more than 20 of the area's beaches. It oozed along the San Francisco city waterfront and out of the bay, beneath the Golden Gate Bridge toward Marin County.

"Response was set into play within an hour of the event itself," Admiral Allen said Nov. 11. Regarding the initial low estimate of 140 gallons of lost oil, Allen said heavy fog and damage to the ship's tanks hindered initial aerial and on-ground evaluations of how much oil had leaked from the ship.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident, and was interviewing the pilot, the ship's crew, and other pilots who were on the water at the time of the crash on Nov. 7. The 26 crew had been on its inaugural voyage on the ship, which the current owner purchased last month. The NTSB also intends to review the ship's voyage data recorder, which should have recorded captain and crew conversations on the bridge and other information in the 12 hours leading up to the bridge collision, Hersman said.

As of Nov. 10, 23 beaches in the area remained closed. Angel Island State Park, the Bay's largest island, reopened Nov. 11, the Coast Guard said. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency, freeing money to clean up the spill. Seven miles of containment boom stretched across the bay has collected more than 12,271 gallons of oil so far, and another 4,000 gallons have evaporated, officials said.

Nearly 400 dead birds have been recovered from the bay, while another 500 birds have been rescued alive but soaked in oil, according to Lisa Curtis, administrator of the Department of Fish and Games Office of Spill Prevention and Response.

In 1989, the oil M/T Exxon Valdez ran aground & fouled Alaska's Prince William Sound with almost 11 million gallons of crude -- the nation's worst ever oil spill. Thousands of birds & animals died in the disaster, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Often birds and animals are threatened when they come in contact with the oil and swallow it as they try to clean themselves, said the NOAA Web site. In addition to birds, oil spills can be very harmful to fish and shellfish, NOAA said.

Twenty wildlife teams were scheduled Nov. 11 to be the bay, working to find sick birds so they can be rehabilitated, Curtis said. On Nov. 10, the state's other U.S. senator and a leading Coast Guard official decried the accident.

Rear Adm. Craig E. Bone, the U.S. Coast Guard's director of inspection and compliance said "This incident should have never ever occurred," he said. "There's systems, there's capabilities, there's licensed operators, there's a pilot on board the vessel, there's the capacity and the capability to safely navigate through this port and waterways every day." He added, "But we have to move beyond the incident and the fact that it occurred and move forward into the response." The California Dept. of Transportation said the collision did no structural damage to the bridge and there was no interruption of bridge traffic -- more than 250,000 vehicles daily.

The Embarked Harbor Pilot Is Reported To Blame Vessel "Maintenance" For The Mishap, At Least In Part. Sources To The Cargo Letter Tell Us That One of The Two Radar Units Aboard M/V Cosco Busan Did Not Function As She Began Departure From Port of Oakland On Nov. 11 2007. Dramatic, But Not A "Maintenance" Problem Sufficient To Explain The Incident.
We Also know that the harbor pilot was relieved/replaced by another pilot shortly after the incident. He left the vessel shortly.

As Controversy Grows -- A New Question Arises. Knowing That A Bridge Collision Was Inevitable At Some Point In History -- Why Did The Oakland Bay Bridge Not Have Fenders Or Other Standard Guards To Prevent Such Fuel Tank Damage To M/V Cosco Busan? The Oakland Bay Bridge Has Just Undergone A Major Refit. Harbor Safety Has Been Disregarded?

While The Media Condemns The Harbor Pilot -- We Stll Have Questions. Issues of Current, Wind & Visibility. These Issues & Others Have Yet To Be Addressed. We Are Not Yet Ready To Place Blame On he Harbor Pilot -- Captain John Cota.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Cosco_Busan2.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd138/shiphappens/Cosco_Busan1.jpg

I'll give you more on this when I can. I just know there's a lot of finger pointing in who's to blame and who should pay.:confused:

If I also may add that i'm shock to see fuel spill out from the point of where the ship was damaged. I was always my understand that the under belly of the ship is where the fuel was. But it seems I have some research to do on this...:confused:

[Fireand'chutes77]

I'd heard of this. Thanks for the report.

I didn't know the ship involved was an M/V, though. I'd heard "oil spill" and immediately thought tanker. I can't remember the media specifying it as an M/V ("cargo ship").

[Cloud23465]

I'd heard of this. Thanks for the report.

I didn't know the ship involved was an M/V, though. I'd heard "oil spill" and immediately thought tanker. I can't remember the media specifying it as an M/V ("cargo ship").

I know the feeling.... because I thought the same thing myself. I was totally blown away when I saw It was a container ship and not a oil tanker. :blink: I've only a few days ago started to get a little time to look into this. As for the media coverage... that's a mystery to me as well.:confused:

[lunchmeat]

It's a constant source of wonderment how often the media gets it wrong. I've been involved in things where the press has shown up and immediatly misquoted something right after being corrected after earlier misquoting th same statement. It can be really maddening.
I suspect that ship has either a really big transverse bunker, which would be a foolish way to design one, due to free surface effects, or has wing bunkers. If it was a Chinese built vessel, it probably conforms to the same quality control standards Beijing has applied to the production of toys, so structural integrity and the presence of safety measures such as cofferdams would be questionable.
One of the things about oil is that it spreads out in a monomolecular film on water, a little bit goes a long way.

[Cloud23465]

The ship came from the following shipyard: Hyundai Heavy Industries Ltd. Co, South Korea.

[TransWarpDrive]

It's a constant source of wonderment how often the media gets it wrong. I've been involved in things where the press has shown up and immediately misquoted something right after being corrected after earlier misquoting th same statement. It can be really maddening.

Tell me about it. The news media misquotes, misinterprets, or just plain twists the facts into something entirely fantastical or bizarre. I remember a few years ago reading an article in the Chicago Tribune about a space shuttle launch to supply an assembly to the International Space Station. The article went on to say (and this is the truth, as God is my witness) that in order to achieve Earth orbit, a shuttle has to fly at a speed that's eleven times faster than light.
:surprised: Yes, you read that right; they actually said faster than light when they should have said faster than sound.
They also insist on mislabeling things; even today, journalists insist on describing someone with multiple personality disorder as being schizophrenic. Either they really don't know the difference between the two mental illnesses, or they just don't care.

[lunchmeat]

Hmmm, 11 times faster than the speed of light. Must be a DARPA project.

“I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast.”

Newspaper correspondents with an army, as a rule, are mischievous. They are the world's gossips, pick up and retail the camp scandal, and gradually drift to the headquarters of some general, who finds it easier to make reputation at home than with his own corps or division. They are also tempted to prophesy events and state facts which, to an enemy, reveal a purpose in time to guard against it. Moreover, they are always bound to see facts colored by the partisan or political character of their own patrons, and thus bring army officers into the political controversies of the day, which are always mischievous and wrong. Yet, so greedy are the people at large for war news, that it is doubtful whether any army commander can exclude all reporters, without bringing down on himself a clamor that may imperil his own safety. Time and moderation must bring a just solution to this modern difficulty.”

“I think I understand what military fame is; to be killed on the field of battle and have your name misspelled in the newspapers.”

and since we're having an absurdly prolonged election season (personally I reuse to vote for anyone who declared candidacy before this past September and would favor anyone who waited until the primaries)

“If forced to choose between the penitentiary and the White House for four years, I would say the penitentiary, thank you”

Quotes from William Tecumsah Sherman

[Cloud23465]

I finally found something on this shuttle carrier /runner thing that I got to ride one. Check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eQd6cmoA0g

[Fireand'chutes77]

I finally found something on this shuttle carrier /runner thing that I got to ride one. Check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eQd6cmoA0g
Wow, that's cool. :blink: :D The hydraulic pressure you'd need for something like that is pretty staggering... as was the fact that the machine could essentially bend in the middle.

[Cloud23465]

I finally found something on this shuttle carrier /runner thing that I got to ride one. Check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eQd6cmoA0g
Wow, that's cool. :blink: :D The hydraulic pressure you'd need for something like that is pretty staggering... as was the fact that the machine could essentially bend in the middle.

The great thing was I though that was as high as it got... just enough to pick the container up.... but when it went up like 30 feet... my eyes were like this :blink::surprised: :laugh:

[campy]

I finally found something on this shuttle carrier /runner thing that I got to ride one. Check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eQd6cmoA0g
Wow, that's cool. :blink: :D The hydraulic pressure you'd need for something like that is pretty staggering... as was the fact that the machine could essentially bend in the middle.

The great thing was I though that was as high as it got... just enough to pick the container up.... but when it went up like 30 feet... my eyes were like this :blink::surprised: :laugh:I could use one of those for my trips to the town dump. :hmm: Wonder what kind of gas mileage they get? :laugh:

[Cloud23465]

I finally found something on this shuttle carrier /runner thing that I got to ride one. Check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eQd6cmoA0g
Wow, that's cool. :blink: :D The hydraulic pressure you'd need for something like that is pretty staggering... as was the fact that the machine could essentially bend in the middle.

The great thing was I though that was as high as it got... just enough to pick the container up.... but when it went up like 30 feet... my eyes were like this :blink::surprised: :laugh:I could use one of those for my trips to the town dump. :hmm: Wonder what kind of gas mileage they get? :laugh:

No telling. My dad says that the Cummins diesel trucks they have are pretty fuel efficient mainly in part because of the equipment and programs they have. I don't remember the exact amount but I was shocked to hear how little they burn even after running a full 8 hour shift. If I had to get on that shuttle runner... at least 10 mpgs. :errr: They of course dont have mileage meters... just hourly.

[campy]

I finally found something on this shuttle carrier /runner thing that I got to ride one. Check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eQd6cmoA0g
Wow, that's cool. :blink: :D The hydraulic pressure you'd need for something like that is pretty staggering... as was the fact that the machine could essentially bend in the middle.

The great thing was I though that was as high as it got... just enough to pick the container up.... but when it went up like 30 feet... my eyes were like this :blink::surprised: :laugh:I could use one of those for my trips to the town dump. :hmm: Wonder what kind of gas mileage they get? :laugh:

No telling. My dad says that the Cummins diesel trucks they have are pretty fuel efficient mainly in part because of the equipment and programs they have. I don't remember the exact amount but I was shocked to hear how little they burn even after running a full 8 hour shift. If I had to get on that shuttle runner... at least 10 mpgs. :errr: They of course dont have mileage meters... just hourly.Not bad. What about heated seats, lumbar support and a sunroof? Those are all must-haves. :thumbup::biggergrin:

[TransWarpDrive]

I finally found something on this shuttle carrier /runner thing that I got to ride one. Check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eQd6cmoA0g
Wow, that's cool. :blink: :D The hydraulic pressure you'd need for something like that is pretty staggering... as was the fact that the machine could essentially bend in the middle.

The great thing was I though that was as high as it got... just enough to pick the container up.... but when it went up like 30 feet... my eyes were like this :blink::surprised: :laugh:I could use one of those for my trips to the town dump. :hmm: Wonder what kind of gas mileage they get? :laugh:

No telling. My dad says that the Cummins diesel trucks they have are pretty fuel efficient mainly in part because of the equipment and programs they have. I don't remember the exact amount but I was shocked to hear how little they burn even after running a full 8 hour shift. If I had to get on that shuttle runner... at least 10 mpgs. :errr: They of course dont have mileage meters... just hourly.Not bad. What about heated seats, lumbar support and a sunroof? Those are all must-haves. :thumbup::biggergrin:

That's OK; there's a farm equipment company here in the U.S. (I think it's John Deere) that offers a CD player as optional equipment in one of its combines (a machine that harvests corn or other crops). Since the combine operator's going to be in the vehicle practically the whole day, they said they might as well give him/her some entertainment options to make the job more pleasant. I don't remember if the CD player uses stereo speakers in the combine's cab, or if the operator wears headphones to hear the music. :alumnus:

[BluetoothThePirate]

Definitely not headphones. Even as loud as a big machine is, hearing what's going on outside is an important safety feature.

I like the concept on that container runner, but it seems to be less useful than the big lifters that look like giant forklifts, and can stack 4 high. However, this looks like it has better stability and probably less cost to purchase and operate, so I can see a lot of carriers using these at smaller yards or as a supplement to other, more versatile machines. The big problem I see right off the bat is that it can't straddle a rail car unless it can get around the end, so it can't be used to load and unload a coupled train. It also needs an aisle wide enough for its wheels between containers, so it can't work on a dense stack.

I also noticed the little semi-tractor in the video was a "yard dog", a terminal shunter. Those are pretty cool. In a road tractor, the driver has to step out of the cab onto the ground after coupling to connect the air lines and electrical cable, and then crank up the landing gear on the trailer in order to move it. In a yard dog, the operator has a door on the back of the tractor, so he can step out onto the deckplate to couple the air lines at their level, no climbing stairs. Plus, the coupler is air operated, no manual releasing, and the coupler platform itself is on a hydraulic lift: rather than raising the gear, the truck raises the front of the trailer. Add in the 360 degree view afforded by the tiny cockpit and the extremely tight turning radius due to a hydraulic transmission and single rear axle, and those little trucks are the best in the world for moving trailers around a facility all day long.

[Cloud23465]

the shuttle carrier/runner will have 2 major uses at NIT. First of all it will replace transtainers for Intermodal double stacking and will deal with berthing problems. NIT has 2 Berths... a North and south. At the North berth and strad stacking area APL, MOL, NYK, OOCL, Hyundai MM and Hapag-Lloyd are ships companys that berth at the north berth. The south berths host Yang Ming line, K-line, Hanjin, and USAC. Ok sometimes the North Berth has a ship being worked on and one of the ship that use that same berth would have to wait. With the shuttle carriers/runner they won't have to worry about the berthing loacation. Straddle carriers... the taller version of the shuttles cant change hight and have a higher center of gravity which causes low speed requirements so they don't flip over. With the lower center of garvity the shuttles have... they can get up to 30mph if I recall correctly.

[Cloud23465]

Very neat video time lapse video I found of Denmarks Odense Ship yard building the current largest Container and largest active ship in the world... The Emma Maersk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17bK_UflhT4

[TransWarpDrive]

Very neat video time lapse video I found of Denmarks Odense Ship yard building the current largest Container and largest active ship in the world... The Emma Maersk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17bK_UflhT4

:blink: Wow. That ship's even bigger than I initially thought it would be. Thanks for the link there, Cloud.

[Cloud23465]

Very neat video time lapse video I found of Denmarks Odense Ship yard building the current largest Container and largest active ship in the world... The Emma Maersk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17bK_UflhT4

:blink: Wow. That ship's even bigger than I initially thought it would be. Thanks for the link there, Cloud.

Your welcome. Here's some stats from Wikipedia on her.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_M%C3%A6rsk