Milano Bridge allides with gantry crane in Busan today

Could well be. The kinetic energy (1/2 mV^2) has become so large with these mega ships that they are very hard to slow down. The mass is so high and on top of that you have to multiply it with the speed squared.

Iā€™ve been told the dead slow on these ships can be as high as 12 kts. On the link I posted the three ships had DS of five, six and twelve knots.

In this case however as was mentioned the chartlet shows a speed reduction from 9.3 kts to 7.6 in two minutes with a dead slow ahead bell. To me that suggests a DS speed closer to 6 kt than 12 kts. Even assuming the tug assist to slow down a 12 kt DS seems unlikely.

Even at full ahead loaded, my speed was 8-12 kts depending on current. Light about 10-15. Slow bell about 2-4. Much smaller unit (30+k tons, but managable.) I do not envy those megaship officers with those slow bell numbers. As a few posters noted, extra tugs were warranted in this manuever. What a mess. How big can these ships go if they canā€™t control them?

The table shows the shipsā€™ speed at Dead Slow for ā€˜the loaded or design draftā€™.

What could be this speed at the allowed minimum draft?
Probably, nobody calculated/tested the speed for Milano Bridgeā€™s less than minimum draftā€¦

In my opinion the shipā€™s speed was too high and the Master should have reduced it before entering the port. The harbor pilot cannot really be blamed for that. So the proximate cause of the incident was too high speed due to bad planning of the whole thing = poor Masterā€™s fault. I have seen it many times. But various insurances will pay and nobody was killed so life goes on.

My guess is that with decreasing displacement propeller slip would decrease but that with decreasing prop immersion slip would increase faster. To go out on the limb even further Iā€™d say the difference is going to be in the tenths of a knot. fwiw.

1 Like

Most of the posters here have a pretty good idea without getting too technical know what happened here. The latest report confirms most of our observationsā€¦ Good panel guys.

So youā€™re saying the pilot boarded after the ship had entered the port, steaming at 8 kts and within sight of the pier?

Am interested when the pilot boarded, and also familiarity the master had with the port. Regardless ,the voyage planning with or without the pilot is questionable.

Iā€™ve never been to Busan NewPort but in bad weather the pilots at Old Port Busan get on and off at the NewPort Pilot station which is somewhere near the end of the southern most breakwater. Donā€™t recall exactly where.

New_Port

How you get this info is commendable. My skills are not that advanced. Thank you, it does help the picture/subject a bit clearer.

The ship was at Busan on March 10, before leaving to Chinaā€¦ and the ship yard.
I ignore, if it was the same master.

Whatever master was aboard, were they familiar with the port and the ships handling characteristics, light or loaded?

How familiar the master was with Busan will probably have to wait until the enquiry. For most masters experience of handling these Mega ships will have been obtained as the ships they have commanded have got larger over the years. I seem to recall that CMA CGM did send their masters to a simulator for each new class of ship.
I was a regular caller at Busan years ago and the pilot boarded a fair way into the port. One time in bad weather the tugs were fast and the crew were getting ready to throw the heaving lines when the pilot made the bridge.

1 Like

Are you talking about Old Pusan or New Port?

At New Port the pilot station itself is somewhere just east from the end of that first breakwater.

Thatā€™s not to say the pilot came from the pilot station, he might have hopped off an outbound further in but thatā€™d be a longer run for the boat.

In this case not likely because the pilot boarding area further out is in well protected waters but itā€™s not uncommon in ā€œbreakwater portsā€ for the pilot to get on inside. In small ports the pier is sometimes close. Eight knots might be little hot especially if thereā€™s no room to slow down or make a turn to bleed off the speed.

Some South African ports come to mind. But even then, this fubar is hard to explain away.

I know better than to tell the story of how I came sliding in that one time, half-fast ++, because Iā€™ll get a lot of well you shoulda looked at the chart a little closer and not come in so fast. Yeah, well no shit. :slightly_smiling_face:

2 Likes

You mad, bro?

We have all been there.Itā€™s called experience and what not to do because we have done that and wonā€™t do it again. Most of us knew/know what happened here before the simulations were demonstrated. Some very good mariners on this site that can see through this incident. Yes, hindsight is 20-20, but this one is a no brainer. Always preached to my mates, Speed Kills.