Posted on 02/03/2016 6:12:09 AM PST by artichokegrower
The Modern Express is finally under tow to the port of Bilbao after the giant cargo ship spent nearly six days adrift in the Bay of Biscay, threatening to run aground along the French coast.
The amazing race to save the ship began January 26th, 2016 when British authorities picked up a distress call from the roll-on/roll-off cargo ship after it had lost stability in heavy seas in the western Bay of Biscay.
(Excerpt) Read more at gcaptain.com ...
That operation must be phenomenally hairy. It does not sound like much but those ships moving at a mere 3 knots represent truly gargantuan force. You tie your little lines to it, forget you. It doesn’t care.
Is a primary cause known for the listing of the ship?
Another great story of a similar rescue:
Wired Mag: High Tech Cowboys of the Deep Seas
http://www.wired.com/2008/02/ff-seacowboys/
Shifting cargo probably caused the list.
Cargo shift.
I'm sure this rescue cost a fortune, but I'm just as sure the indemnifiers would rather shell out for a salvage than a replacement.
I’m impressed by the salvage team moving around on a wet steel deck with a list of 50 degrees. As they noted, everything is basically a mountaineering challenge then - lines, rappelling, etc.
Those are some REAL MEN...of which only a handful are left in Europe, apparently. The rest seem to be immigration-loving Metrosexuals.
If that were true, companies would hire more women just to save money.
solid brass. these boys clank when they walk.
Ballsy rescue job, well done!
Dang! Heeled over at 50 degrees, to look at you’d think there’s no way it should even be afloat!
It looks naturally unstable. It appears 95% of the vessel is above the waterline. It just doesn’t seem right.
Add in a 50 degree list, how the thing didn’t sink is amazing.
For me, that threat of the “final roll” would be most unnerving.
Just a list? I can manage. Have managed while moving around and working.
But the threat of it continuing over into the seas while I’m tied on trying to do something else is tangible. Even harder below decks with the cargo already tipped over, rolled to one side.
Oasis of the SeasShips stats:
Length:
361.6 m (1,186.5 ft) overall
Beam:
47 m (154 ft) waterline
60.5 m (198 ft) max beam
Height:
72 m (236 ft) above water line
Draught:
9.3 m (31 ft)
Depth:
22.55 m (74 ft)
In other words, there is 7 3/4 times as much ship ABOVE the waterline as is below the surface. She is also nearly twice as tall as she is wide. Tippy? Oh maybe a little...
And this, boys and girls, is why you secure your cargo to the deck ...
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