thanks Army. They usually either stay in port, or outrun the storms, but I got the impression this one sneaked up on them. The ship is the length of four football fields and is somewhat slow. Forgot to ask him how many knots she'd do. Do know they once dumped an entire load of Hummers into the sea that were loaded on deck in order to save the ship. don't know what they do with about a jillion barrels of oil.
As I have bored people before on these threads, I once rode out a Force 12 for eighteen hours in a 36' sailboat. I have this appreciation for what can happen.