Posted on 03/23/2022 12:16:17 PM PDT by csvset
Dredging around the stuck Ever Forward kicked off over the weekened with two dredges now working to clear mud from the around the ship’s hull.
Port of Baltimore Executive Director William Doyle said dredging commenced Sunday lead by Donjon-Smit, the appointed salvor, and Cashman Dredging & Marine Construction.
AIS shows two dredges, Donjon’s Oyster Bay and Cashman’s Dale Pyatt, on scene with Ever Forward. Doyle notes that Dale Pyatt is the largest “clam shell dredge” in the Western Hemisphere, equipped with 28 cubic yard bucket. Donjon Marine Co.’s Oyster Bay is equipped with clam shell bucket that is 15 cubic yards.
The dredging is part of a salvage plan that has now been approved by the U.S. Coast Guard.
“The team is mobilizing all available local tugboats to join in the refloating operation,” Evergreen said in a March 18 update. “After sufficient mud is excavated the refloating operation will begin using both the tugboats and the power of her main engine. The rescue team will carry out the plan utilizing the most beneficial high tide period in the port area.”
No timeline has been provided for the refloating.
The 334-meter-long Ever Forward grounded Sunday, March 13, after straying from the Craigshill Channel as it departed the Port of Baltimore for Norfolk, Virginia. The ship remains grounded between buoys 16 and 14, off of Gibson Island. The cause of the grounding is unknown. The Port of Baltimore continues operating normally with ship traffic not impeded.
With the full moon having just passed, the next full moon will take place April 16 and provide the most favorable high tide conditions. However, the tidal range in the northern part of Chesapeake Bay is only about a foot at most, so whether the refloating effort will await the full moon may not make much of a difference—as it provides only about an extra inch of water.
The Ever Forward’s crew, who remain on board, continue to conduct soundings to monitor for pollution. So far no pollution has been reported and the vessel remains stable.
Why are they calling it “Ever Forward” when it says “EVERGREEN” on the side?
They did the same with “Ever Given”
Riding high? It looks like they are empty!
Insurance scam?
There was a pilot on board.
It’s riding high because it is in 25’ of water with a 40’+ foot draft.
LonePalm...
That plimsoll line is pretty high up in the water! Do you suppose all those containers all filled with ping pong balls and corks?
Will we get enough global warming and sea level rise this fortnight to lift her up off that mud flat?? Tides?
https://www.tides.net/maryland/505/
Was the crew off watching March Madness? Spanish Soccer? Messed up hcked up GPS?? (This would not suprise me!) Did someone move the channel markers?
Very odd to my landlocked eye!
How do you know it was the pilot’s error?
Could be engine or steering gear failure.
Evergreen is the name of the shipping line.
Ever XXXX is the name of each vessel in the fleet and they have dozens.
“EVERGREEN” is name of the company, GIVEN/FORWARD is the name of the ship.
EVER STUCK
-—ping pong balls and corks? I was going with a load of Mike’s pillows. But clearly, from the water line, most have to be empty. Makes me wonder why they were going to Norfolk? And there’s no way this was an accident. The pilot might have gotten his bonus for planting this thing.
Think about it: Chesapeake Bay, right next door to WDC, just miles away from Annapolis, and on its way to our largest naval base. That bay is the best marked waterway on the planet. Built for Supercarriers. The Evergreen guys must have a class on beaching whales?
These aren’t dredges-—they’re muck buckets. Totally capable of scooping mud from anyplace except UNDER THE SHIP, where the stuckishness is. Remember how they got the Intrepid unstuck from its dock in NYC when they took it to drydock for a paint job? They water-hose-blasted the muck and mire away. Gonna be interesting to see the next way this can be screwed/unscrewed.
Rather than dredge, why not offload enough containers to lighten the ship enough to pull her off the mud.?
Thank you for the catch.
Blasting the muck out with a water hose seems to be much more appropriate.
Unless the EPA now forbids such silt creating methods (that work) from being used in the Bay.
Or maybe Cashman is one of those connected firms that seem to populate East Coast shipping.
Chesapeake Bay is very shallow, isn’t it? I read a sad story about a gal who dove into it and broke her neck. The I remembered a sign at one of the rest areas that said it’s only about 6 feet deep in some places.
They're clamshell dredges. Once they dredge a channel, tugs will drag/push the ship into it.
If there had been engine or steering gear failure, that has yet to be given as a reason, i will be among the first to apologize for not always pointing the finger at mechanical objects as the cause.
Such as, the gun killed, the car killed, the train killed. Yes, i am sceptical.
Like if you intend to set off that nuke at Norfolk why waste a bunch actual merchandise in your shipping containers?
Or most of them are dummys except for a few that have the missle launchers. Who know? If true I doubt we will find out! Who has the stones to do any-ting about it? (Its like we are living in some dxxx Bond movie with strange supervillains.)
Right, that was my thought. It’s got a lot of extra freeboard.
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