another cruise ship crash, tears down dock...

i can see that people in control can get tired and bored since ships are moving so slow.
i know that they have all technological tools now, ships today are not exactly triremes.

US Navy ships, cruise ships, oil tankers... this is just insane.

so how do they manage to hit something...?

maybe should try self driving car technology...

 

I say bring back the old helmsman!
Max.

 

Speed kills .... the dock in this instance. Who was in charge?

The question is ... how in the hell did that dock sneak up on that ship like that?

 

Ship...1

Dock...0

 

I know one of the officers at the U.S. Coast Guard here in the S.F. Bay Area and despite all the technological gadgets and gizmos, piloting a ship is still a fairly hazardous process.

That's why the Golden Gate Bridge (and other bridges on the bay) are still required to maintain and operate 2 mile foghorns during low visibility.

 

I know one of the officers at the U.S. Coast Guard here in the S.F. Bay Area and despite all the technological gadgets and gizmos, piloting a ship is still a fairly hazardous process.

That's why the Golden Gate Bridge (and other bridges on the bay) are still required to maintain and operate 2 mile foghorns during low visibility.

I use mine every time I drive on that bridge in the fog.

 

I live about 3 miles east of the bridge and here's a sample of the air operated foghorns:

 

I live about 3 miles east of the bridge and here's a sample of the air operated foghorns:

Cool. I've sailed to SF and docked at the Embarcadero a few times while in the Navy during Fleet Week. It's a cold, cold place to have a mid-watch.

While we didn't have a official cruise control we could connect the DRAI to plot and control 'with supervision' the ships course.
https://standards.globalspec.com/std/499777/npfc-mil-a-22523
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/navy/nrtc/14308_ch9.pdf

 

Just as an interesting factoid, the foghorns on the Golden Gate bridge are one of the few remaining air operated fog signals in the world.

Modern marine signals are like the ones used on drilling platforms which are an electronically generated "pure tone" using steel diaphragms that vibrate like a tuning fork. They emit a 400 Hz. "ping" which is rather annoying to nearby residents so the Golden Gate decided to retain it's original compressed air operated system installed in 1937.

 

You may have cruise control and auto steering, but you know in certain evolution's, the Captain is on the bridge. In close quarters, entering port, and docking are but three.

In 1995, with auto at the helm, and using GPS for positioning ran aground on the Rose and Crown shoals, SE of Nantucket. The Royal Majesty is a 600 ft cruise ship. No one noticed the GPS antenna connector failed on the flying bridge a couple of hours after leaving port. It was not secure to the railing and was just laying about.

The GPS receiver aboard had the position, the solution, abbreviated SOL, and the source as DR (dead reckoning).

So, auto at the helm may be good for for reduced watch stations, but there are times you need to cast a seaman's eye, or a few of them. over the horizon.

 

That ship seemed to stop pretty fast considering it’s size. You can see from under the port bow what appears to be the wash from a truster as they try to keep the ship away from the dock. Also there is something hanging into the water from where the anchor would be. Dropping an anchor would be an emergency attempt to stop the ship. All in all pretty well handled.

As for foghorns, I too lived within range of the GGB’s horns. 30th and Geary in San Francisco. That place was often foggy when downtown it was clear and sunny which is why I don’t live there anymore. I would leave my office in bright sunshine all geared up to go do some outdoor thing. The 38 Geary bus would plunge into the fogbank at about Arguello and all hope of doing anything fun was extinguished. Retreat into my apartment and later fall asleep to a foghorn lullabye.

 

Speed kills .... the dock in this instance. Who was in charge?

The question is ... how in the hell did that dock sneak up on that ship like that?

Looks like he was trying to perform a "drifting" parallel park.

 

Pretty fast drift ..... Looked like the typical holy shit moment.

 

I have had docks jump out in front of me.

 

Cruise control for ships?

Well, it is a cruise ship -- What other controls could it have.

 

Cruise control for ships?

Well, it is a cruise ship -- What other controls could it have.