I just observed that the OSV M/V Thunder had a gaping hole in its port quarter being towed out of fourchon.
Does anyone have any insight into the cause and if the NTSB is aware?
No details, but:
Heard the were in a collision with a container ship
Rumor mill from a semi-reliable source states that the wheelman on the Thunder was distracted by his cell phone when crossing the fairway.
That Goes to show based on todays culture, it’s the phones fault that the OSV got T-boned.
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Correct. The master was the only one in the wheelhouse at the time. Not sure what was going on up there but obviously not paying attention. The Thunder was crossing the shipping lane and got hit by the bulk carrier M/V Bunun Queen on the port side and had to get towed to Fourchon and then to Amelia for repairs.
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I wonder how the ship fared.
Thanks for the update.
Ship appeared to be fine. Last I checked it was in the river loading cargo.
Crazy that two ships can crash, with a USCG vessel apparently in the vicinity, and hardly a peep in the news besides that post I linked that only mentions one of the vessels and no details.
I just searched again and can’t find anything.
Outside of 12nm so no one cares?
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I think a greater power is putting a ‘hush hush’ on things. There were pictures on social media out there of the damage. Can’t find them now.
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Why does everyone keep bringing up the shipping lane? It wasn’t a traffic separation scheme and he got hit on the port side.
This is really odd. Why would a captain “looking at his phone” not make the normal news headlines? If an airplane pilot packed it in, while on tinder, I would expect that to be national news. Did this actually have a collision? There are no photos on the web of this incident.
Definitely a collision, when it was being towed out of fourchon, the hole in the port quarter of the OSV was big enough to drive a car through. (A dodge neon probably.)
He means the safety fairway. Ships can’t really go outside of it but a crewboat certainly can.
We saw her being towed out of slip C not my pics I clipped from social media before the post was removed.
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“Can’t really go out of it”? What the hell does that mean? Are you saying he was constrained by draft or was restricted in ability to maneuver? No crewboat was involved in this accident and all vessels are required to maneuver by colregs.
I know what you’re saying: that both vessels regardless of geographical location are bound to avoid a collision.
You’re not from the US I take it? Or at least have never been in the Gulf of Mexico?
The Gulf is full of safety fairways, laid out for large vessel traffic to be able to maneuver safely, without having to dodge one of a million oil rigs and platforms. They are 2 miles wide. Safety fairways take you to all of the major Gulf ports. Sort of like ship highways.
Ok so the “supply boat,” not crew boat (close enough) spends his days running around those oil rigs and platforms, and is not required to stay inside the safety fairway.
Typically in the Gulf, the small boat traffic stays out of the way of the big ship traffic. This guy tried to cross the bow of a ship and didn’t make it. If the ship was towards the edge of the fairway and couldn’t maneuver to starboard because it would take them out of the fairway or would have to go around an oil rig, well there you go.
All the purple lines are the safety fairways.
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Yea I’ve spent a day or two in the Gulf and many of these fairways are in open water with absolutely nothing around them and plenty of water depth too. So you’re saying that a ship in the fairway is relieved of his duties to follow the rules of the road?
I’m saying hardly any ship will get out of the fairway. They’re there for ships. Not OSVs.
A ship couldn’t maneuver to avoid a collision because he would leave the fairway or have to go around an oil rig. 
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