Wallin, I appreciate your aircraft credentials, but youâve made so many incorrect statements about boats in the general and the accident in particular, that you havenât demonstrated knowledge about ships or information about this particular incident or the effect of wind age on large slab sided vessels. You have implied that the boat was operating at an unsafe speed, that the design of the vessel was foolish, that the boat made a sharp turn, that the crew may have been at fault and that wind doesnât blow boats around. None of these things are correct or jibe with the facts. You said:
âAs previously mentioned, 8 knots may be the limit operating speed for that area. If that is the case, then operating on the limit at reduced visibility and decreasing space is indeed "pushing it".
8 knots is not âpushing itâ - itâs the proper speed to maintain steerageway when leaving port and transiting to open waters.
âBut reports says they lost control, meaning the redundancy was not there, or the redundancy were all broken too, meaning they were operating a very unsafe vessel.â
The vessel was inspected before leaving port
âMakes one think. Who in his right mind would make a multi million dollar boat that can't be steered once the power is out, and make the steering worked only by one engine? That would be gross negligence on the designer, or gross negligence on the operator/owner of the ship, if they allowed it to travel with only one its system workingâ
As previously mentioned, and from information readily available, in addition to the main engine, large vessels of this size typically have 3 engines for generating electricity and one spare generator
âAs for the captain to overrule the pilot who was managing the emergency, well, the pilot was there for a reason. He was the captain at that momentâ
No, he was not. The Captain is the master of the vessel and AlWAYS has the final authority and responsibility. The pilot is there to aid in navigation.
âThere is the human factor that can not be put aside. Sometimes, the routine makes one complacent, pushing things to their limit because nothing bad happened. He might have done that speed many times, unsafely and the dice roll just caught up with him. Who knows? Maybe he was under pressure to get to the shore as fast as possible or just getting a bad case of "gethometitis" that he disregard some safety buffersâ
âOne thing I know, A true professional equipment operator always take many things in consideration, topmost of which is safety. There is always a preparation or adjustments to the prevailing condition. A highway may be marked 100mph, but would you drive that fast in icy road conditions? Did the Pilot knew the ship is being operated without any safety backups for its system? If he knew, would he still run it at the allowed speed limit or would he creep that hulk into the harbor so that an anchor drop could stop it on time?â
Nothing was pushed to the limit, the speed was reasonable and appropriate and no one was going home - the vessel was LEAVING port. No safety buffers were disregarded and from the videos, we know visibility was good. The vessel lost electrical power due to an as yet unknown cause, and as a result lost propulsion and steering control. The vessel was being operated safely - safety and not running aground (staying within the marked channel) and avoiding collisions are always of paramount importance when leaving or entering a harbor.
âNot discussing the wind as it happened at dead of the night which normally have still air,â
As you will see from the images below, the wind at the vessel was 6.4 knots at the time.
â I do not think the wind was not that strong on that night to veer the ship suddenly to the pillar if that is what happened."
The point there is the sudden course change just seconds to impact.â
Vessels this size do not âsuddenly veerâ. If you look at the images below of the vesselâs course, you wonât see any sudden âveeringâ what you are seeing are a number of recorded positions, so what appears to you as a sudden change in position is actually a gentle turn or drift. Youâll notice from the course chart that the course only deviated a few degrees after losing power - consistent with the effects od wind age and current.
âShips do not necessarily gets blown about by the wind. Sailboats won't tack if that is trueâ
Ships of ALL sizes are influenced by the wind, especially tall, slab sided vessels like the Dali, and I donât understand your comment about tacking. Wind is often changing and that goes for tacking as well. Modern sailboats are not blown forward by the wind except when running before the wind. On other points of sail, they are âliftedâ by the sail, much like a vertical airplane wing, with the lateral force resisted by the keel.
And finally, since you have aeronautical experience, you should be familiar with this formula which calculates the force generated by the wind against a flat object (which the cargo stack on the Dali is):
The force of wind on a flat object can be calculated using the formula F = 0.5 x Ï x A x V2, where F is the force in Newtons, Ï is the density of air in kg/m3, A is the surface area of the object in square meters, and V is the wind speed in meters per second.
P=1.222. A =16,257 V=2.68. F= 26,600 newtons = 5,958 lbs
Wallin, I appreciate your aircraft credentials, bu... (
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