[QUOTE=Tugted;196148]Signet towed that one of Providence.[/QUOTE]
Yup. The USS SARATOGA.
[QUOTE=Traitor Yankee;196145]The chief mate is a mud boat guy who has used the large sob license loopholes to get his unlimited master, and hasnāt towed anything since his internships at school. Unless the whispers are completely wrong. Heās worked for ECO since graduation.[/QUOTE]
so there you goā¦I bet the DINO is not operating under a subchapter I inspection nor being manned accordingly either
but ask Chouest about how awesome they are at towing big unwieldy vessels in the winter in extreme environsā¦to this day they admit not the slightest level of responsibility for the loss of the KULLUK. if you ask them, everyone of their people was top notch who all performed excellently and there was not a single thing wrong with the AIVIQ. Defective tow gear and mysterious green goo all conspired against them. Must have had Queeq sailing as master on the Great Blue Beheamoth
letās see what a swell job ECO does this time?
I think itās too wide at the flight deck level. Some buildings are in the way or something like that. Again thatās just some speculation I have heard.
[QUOTE=Lee Shore;196147]Why go around the Horn? The Independenceās dimensions should allow it to transit the new Panamax. They must be getting a day rate or trying to squeeze as much as they can out of a fixed price contract.
My prayers are with the poor slobs going through that winter garden spot towing an aircraft carrier.
If I was a bus driver, iād take the shortcut or wait till next southern hemisphere summer.[/QUOTE]
Maybe they didnāt know that Summer in the North means Winter in the South??
[QUOTE=KrustySalt;196114]Wow, around the Horn? They must be getting a day rate haha![/QUOTE]
Not sure but I believe the more common route is the Straits of Magellan which is a bit shorter and requires a pilot. It might be to avoid canal transit fees. With this tow transit time likely is not an issue.
I had wondered about taking the Straits route too.
But, seeing how it blows through there like a sonofabitch and with that eastern end being fairly narrow, might it be too much of a risk towing through there?
Could a large tow be navigated through with the scope of wire probably needed out to keep the wire from parting or from dragging on the bottom?
Iāll try and see if I can find anything on the Directemar site regarding tows in the Straits.
Does anybody know who is the Captain of the Dino is with this tow?
Does anybody have a guess how much the scrapper will get for each one of those screws?
For the collectors: International Shipbreaking Port of Brownsville states they do have an eBay store for anybody that is interested in a part of her once dismantling begins.
[QUOTE=capnfab;196166]I had wondered about taking the Straits route too.
But, seeing how it blows through there like a sonofabitch and with that eastern end being fairly narrow, might it be too much of a risk towing through there?
Could a large tow be navigated through with the scope of wire probably needed out to keep the wire from parting or from dragging on the bottom?
Iāll try and see if I can find anything on the Directemar site regarding tows in the Straits.[/QUOTE]
Donāt know very much about towing. Iād be intrested to know about the Straits / Horn.
I went Rio Platte to Far East one time and took a quick look at that route, going around westbound but we ended up back northbound up the coast then thru the PC.
[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;196169]Donāt know very much about towing. Iād be intrested to know about the Straits / Horn.
I went Rio Platte to Far East one time and took a quick look at that route, going around westbound but we ended up back northbound up the coast then thru the PC.[/QUOTE]
Blog of the transit of USS REAGAN:
Here is a link to the Strait of Magellan pilots site, Directemar:
http://web.directemar.cl/pilotaje/pageB.html#b3
The western end of the transit and Paso Tortuoso description pretty much told me all I needed to know.
You might recall I was down there last year for an expedition cruise, just an incredible experience and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in navigating through the Fiords of southern Chile.
[QUOTE=Bayrunner;196137]The navy fleet tugs probably donāt have the range and power for a tow like this. I think the USNS Apache only has 20 cylinder EMDs in it, 8000hp or so. Dino like is in the 12000+ range.[/QUOTE]
The Dino Chouest has 20,000+ Horsepower.
Itās currently towing the Independence at a speed of 9 knots.
Wow thatās more than I thought. They should have no issues with that much power. Iām sure they have plenty of cable available to keep the tow from doing any surging. When my tug was doing some Suisun Bay to Brownsville tows we could have used another 1000ft of cable, but my tug was designed to be an east coast towing tug, not a west coast tug. There seems to be some differences when you compare them.
The Dino was south of San Francisco and making good speed when I last looked.
Is she a sister ship of the Laney Chouest??: http://www.maritimejournal.com/news101/tugs,-towing-and-salvage/chouest_now_has_worlds_largest_anchor-handler
In that case she has all the power and gear to handle this job, incl. winch capacity for spare wires:
Winches for the vessel were specially designed and built by Brattvaag and are the largest and most powerful ever installed on an oilfield support vessel.
Each of the four drums can accommodate 11,000ft of five inch wire, while the four secondary winches each have a capacity 14,000ft of five inch manmade fibre rope.
The Dino has less power than the Laney, 10,000 hp less. The Dino has plenty enough ass to do the job.
Will CV-62 make a stop outside her home port with another tug holding her position for the last time, while Dino refuels? Time will tell. She served her country well.
The Thursday, March 27, 1997 pages of The Daily Telegraph
Seattle reunion Sept 11, 2016. They mustered in front of her for the last time.
Source:
USS Independence (CV-62) Veterans Club
Iāve seen the DINO. I do not doubt the horsepower, the winches, or the maximum towing speed that is possible.
My concern is that Chouest has little to no successful ocean towing experience. If fact, Chouest is infamous for its spectacular ocean towing failure when AIVIQ put KULLUK on the rocks in Alaska. I wonder about the qualifications of the master and crew to be conducting a tow around Cap Horn in early winter. I wonder if they will try to tow too fast as AIVIQ did. I wonder if they have adequate surge gear rigged ---- AIVIQ/KULLUK did not. I wonder if they will be āthrottle happyā, as many guys from the bayou often are. I wonder if they will try to tow to fast in bad weather as AIVIQ/KULLUK did.
I doubt that any of the people in the Chouest office are experienced enough in ocean towing to be competent to supervise this tow. I have no doubt that the office will pressure the master to take greater risks to maximize profits.
[QUOTE=Traitor Yankee;196145]The chief mate is a mud boat guy who has used the large sob license loopholes to get his unlimited master, and hasnāt towed anything since his internships at school. Unless the whispers are completely wrong. Heās worked for ECO since graduation.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=c.captain;196150]so there you goā¦I bet the DINO is not operating under a subchapter I inspection nor being manned accordingly either.[/QUOTE]
What about that statement makes you think it isnāt being manned properly by USCG standards? The chief mate has master unlimited oceans and master of towing oceans, just because he might not have adequate experience doesnāt mean he doesnāt have the license, and the USCG only cares about the license.
Iād bet theyāre above manning requirements to be quite honest. When it came back from Alaska, they upped the manning on Aiviq to above the requirement for the transit. Thereās a former Coastie in the office now that has been very good at ensuring compliance fleet wide since he was hired.
[QUOTE=jbtam99;196279]Iād bet theyāre above manning requirements to be quite honest. When it came back from Alaska, they upped the manning on Aiviq to above the requirement for the transit. Thereās a former Coastie in the office now that has been very good at ensuring compliance fleet wide since he was hired.[/QUOTE]
You mean after they manned it illegally and lost the Kulluk?
[QUOTE=Capt. Phoenix;196285]You mean after they manned it illegally and lost the Kulluk?[/QUOTE]
remember that to this very day that Chouest admits not the slightest bit of wrongdoing or even any error on their part in their fateful tow of the KULLUKā¦
if you ask them, they did everything perfectly and it was other factors out of their control that caused the rig to be lost like it was.
can an old dog learn new ways? very doubtfully to me