Milano Bridge allides with gantry crane in Busan today

That the vessel was in ballast with only three quarters of prop immersion resulted in the transverse thrust to port from a fixed pitch right hand propeller being more pronounced. The rudder is largely ineffectual because it was partly submerged in aerated water from the astern movement. It is generally not a good move to move the rudder from amidships in a large ship with stern way on unless the engine is already running ahead. It exposes the rudder to large forces.
Bow thrusters are pretty ineffectual at speeds above 5 knots. They work well when vessels have stern way on because the pivot point moves and they have more leverage.

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Guy was going too fast on approach for whatever reason. (Perhaps mechanical)Took many tools out of his bag that he could’ve used had he been a bit slower. Old timer once told me “Go slow, if you have a problem, you do thousands, If you go fast, Hundreds of thousands.” That was a long,long time ago. Multiply that by whatever number you choose in this day and time.

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As I was told one slow astern is much more preferred than one full astern.

Being so far above normal, I doubt the speed was intentional. Mechanical issue more likely.

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That’s what I was thinking. Making initial approach at 8 knots and final approach at 5.5 knots with a ULCV seems like a mechanical issue to me, not operator error.

Not as hot but similar.

Wise words! A master should always take certain actions before and during berthing. There are some important golden rules to follow :

  1. Slow the speed
  2. Control the approach
  3. Planning
  4. Preparation
  5. Briefing
  6. Team work
  7. Checking equipment

He should always brief the bridge team to ensure the officer of the watch (OOW), helmsman, lookout and pilot are fully aware of the expected manoeuvres and the likely effects of wind, tide and current.
Always ask the pilot to discuss the passage and berthing plan.
Always have your anchors ready to let go and forecastle manned in advance of berthing.

Better to suffer the embarrassment of a missed approach than be responsible for destruction of property.

I do suspect a mechanical problem. Speed just doesn’t look right.

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The problem I see with the mechanical problem story is the track. If they couldn’t control the speed why didn’t they take a different track? Why didn’t they say further off the pier? They had all kinds of room to stop a little further out.

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Not disagreeing on that point, appears they had slowed down somewhat after turning towards the dock. But for whatever reason , that next to last leg shows a definite speed increase. Jury out on what that reason was. Either way, bad day for all.

There seam to be more minor damages:
The already known collapsed gantry crane and two further ones derailed.
Moreover, the yet berthed vessel contacted.

Lag is a bitch.

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No shit.

With a few exceptions, kept my assist tug or tugs, when I needed them on a fairly short leash. No bow thruster in play. Would have liked one, but not as reliable then as we liked. Good assist tug operator and caution approaching the berth worth the extra cost to stay off the 6 o’clock news.

Coming out of the S/Y the ship very light.

I was taking the ship across the bay to the yard and the pilot got cancelled, too windy. Had to anchor. It was like trying to steer a ping pong ball.

Min draft, min fuel, min ballast, even some of the fresh water pumped out,

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Don’t envy you Kennebec_Captain. Been there done that. Effing hairy, wind and no ballast or fuel. Always was suspect leaving shipyard if all was supposedly “Normal”. Sounds like this ship from prior posters had a shipyard period prior to this headache. A headache most of us has gone through. But hopefully not in this entirety.

My point was a very light ship might catch a pilot by surprise. It surprised me at first. The Milano Bridge might have been very light and the pilot didn’t expect it. That might explain the difficulty getting slowed down.

For sure. Prop immersion was lacking

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Yeah, I had all kinds of sea room to figure it out. Not this pilot.