35-pound object that hit car in Portland came from tugboat, FAA says
PORTLAND, Maine (WGME) – After an investigation by the FAA and Casco Bay Lines, it was determined that the 35-pound metal object that caused significant damage to a vehicle in Portland broke off from a tugboat.
Hmmm, line tender might have some ‘splainin’’ to do.
We had a car carrier here that had too many lines on one bollard with a close to vertical pull. The 500kg bollard was plucked out of the wharf and went over the top of the car carrier landing about 250 metres away in the middle of the basin.
The pier was an old finger pier and the bollards had never been designed to withstand the force they were subjected to by tension winches and the acute angle.
The trick would be if it had landed on a car would have been recognising whose car.
What gets me is the car was parked in a port where tugs, ships, barges, bits & cleats are normally located, they find the heavy 35lb piece of non-precision cut, poorly safety yellow painted metal in the pictures below & call the FAA? Should have called Space Force, maybe it fell off a UFO? Dumbos.
A downturned “horn” from a bit. I’ve seen those break off before.
One must get a turn on the bit before dipping the line under the horn.
The metal looks very crystallized too!
One may get much bigger things flying
Not a ropę broke here but the whole bollard assembly catapulted into the water here.
I’m not familiar with that area but I’m thinking this is the building that the object flew over.
By Seasider53 - Own work, CC BY 4.0, File:Maine State Pier 2025.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
He told us he believes that tension must have “slingshotted” the cleat off the tugboat, high over the Maine state pier, before crashing down onto Cam Malette’s car. “A big, heavy piece of metal flying over that building is pretty insane”, Clancy says.
Had that, 0315 on a Sunday, port of refuge as sheltering from an inbound storm.
Pulled the bollard clean out of the quayside; we had 12 ropes out for 3 days, chafing all the time.
Apparently it was our fault that the bollard was not rated for a doubled up towing hawser.
There is no chance that piece of metal weighs 35 pounds.
I was doubting you enough to use my favorite weight calculator from Online Metals.
Looks like about 12" of 2" round bar to me but (using the weight of A-36) it would have to be 3” by 18" to top 35lbs.
It seems to me to be a horn from a fairlead. It prevents a line from falling off.
