Ro-ro ships – manoeuvring difficulties

From: The Nautical Institute Marine Accident Reporting Scheme MARS Report No 190 August 2008

Ro-ro ships – manoeuvring difficulties

An inbound pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) was approaching the pilot station at her scheduled time, in very confined waters. A gale warning was in force and with only two miles to go to the pilot embarkation point, the wind suddenly increased and pilotage services were abruptly suspended.

The master was instructed to await further orders and decided to head back to open waters rather than wait in the confined area or anchor there. The wind caught the beam of the high-freeboard and low draught vessel, and started setting her on to the lee shore, less than two miles downwind. Using full rudder and engine power, and transmitting appropriate signals on the air horn and VHF radio, the master just managed to turn the ship’s head into the wind and execute the 180-degree turn and head out to open sea.

Once out of the lee of the land, the full force of the gale caused the ship to move sideways at about five knots, even with the engine going on harbour full ahead. The vessel remained stubbornly beam on to the wind despite all attempts to heave to with the head into the sea and swell. This type of vessel has been rightly described as a ‘ping-pong ball on the water’ and under high wind conditions, ro-ros are almost impossible to control or manoeuvre.

At the first indication of approaching strong winds, masters of ro-ros and similar high-sided vessels must not hesitate to leave port or confined waters and anchorages and head out to open sea. Maintaining a safe position under way in the lee of a high offshore island is a safe option, provided the location and predicted movement of the weather system is known.

If sailing from port is not possible, ships have been kept alongside with continuous use of tugs, and, in uncrowded anchorages, mooring to two bower anchors may considered, but with engines in full readiness until the wind has abated.

Even with full scope of chain on both anchors, ro-ro vessels tend to yaw violently in strong winds and the ‘jerk’ at the extremity of each yaw may cause the anchors to drag, especially if the holding ground is less than ideal.

Mariners whose vessels may be navigating or lying at anchor near a ro-ro vessel in high winds, must allow for a greater margin of safety.

Those of us who now operate offshore vessels with lots of high HP thrusters forget that many of our brother mariners are still operating with one screw, maybe only enough horsepower to reach hull speed and with hull’s high sided or with huge stacks of containers on deck.

I’ve been in irons before in the Bering Sea with an old WWII knotship fish processor in January at St Paul Island and the only way to get out of it was to turn away from the wind towards the shore and get enough speed on to throw the rudder full over and hoped that the bow would get across up into the wind…a true asshole clenching experience and one I care never to ever live again. I was lucky that we had enough room to make the maneuver. Lesson learned, get out of a danger area before the weather turns to shit or just don’t go in there in the first place.

Those who remember the wreck of the ALL ALASKAN up at St Paul know what the result looks like when you wait too long…

Not a good night for those poor miserable sods…

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I’ve never been on a RO/RO that didn’t have some sort of problems with high winds.

We about blew off the docks in Bristol, England. It took over an hour to get the tugs to us, thankfully the mooring lines held that long. We’ve come off the dock in Japan at various times. Dragged anchor a time or two.

Now I try to stay away from them as much as I can.

[QUOTE=c.captain;70275]. Those who remember the wreck of the ALL ALASKAN up at St Paul know what the result looks like when you wait too .[/QUOTE]

I remember the night the All Alaskan went aground very well. I was there. I was mate on the Snowbird, we were alongside transferring cargo until it got too rough to continue. We cut loose and later anchored south of St.Paul.

The captain had left the ship and was at the St. Paul Airport to go on vacation but was stuck because of the bad weather. The mate was sailing relief captain.

We were put on time charter to attempt to remove the remaining cargo from the All Alaskan but it was driven too far ashore, we couldn’t reach it. I assume the wreck has been removed but last I heard it was still there.

K.C.

The SNOWBIRD was a sweet little ship in her day. I always though FS’s were one of the best designs to come out of WWII. FS’s, knotships and Miki-Miki’s.

I myself missed that night but was there that same season. Such miserable weather no man should have to face! My turn to miss going aground there was two seasons later.

As far as the ALL ALASKAN goes, she is now very long gone. Demolished and scrapped from the shore. It used to be that any old wreck in Alaska would become a monument until wind, wave and weather would do their will against steel but in today’s world of many ridiculous sensitivities, wrecks must be removed at incredible expense to underwriters. If the hull of the SELENDANG AYU hadn’t disintegrated as it did, the State of Alaska was going to make them raise it and tow it out of there. How many hundreds of millions of $$$ would that have wasted to do what nature did for nothing! Just the nonsensical “clean up” of the 300k gallons of IFO that spilled from the wreck cost almost $100M and did nothing but make lots of money for NRC and all the little subcontractors who laughed all the way to the bank afterward. One winter of storms and all that oil vanished forever along with the wreck.

Now there is this almost equally ridiculous plan to raise the COSTA CONCORDIA intact! Cut the effing superstructure off the hunk where it lies, right the hull and then tow in out of there. You can’t bring a ship like that upright without cutting it down as far as the main deck if not lower.

The Snowbird was in fact a sweet little ship, here she is alongside Dutch in 1985

[ATTACH]1923[/ATTACH]

K.C.

[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;70292]The Snowbird was in fact a sweet little ship[/QUOTE]

According to shipspotting.com* the BETSY ROSS is still in Astoria…I sure hope so!

  • they definitely got the IMO # wrong as well as flag, etc… but that is the right vessel

[QUOTE=c.captain;70275] Lesson learned, get out of a danger area before the weather turns to shit or just don’t go in there in the first place.
.[/QUOTE]

Agreed, but easier said then done. This was what Halsey learned as well:

the time for taking all measures for a ship’s safety is while still able to do so. Nothing is more dangerous for a seaman to be grudging in taking precautions lest they turn out to have been unnecessary. Safety at sea for a thousand years has depended on exactly the opposite philosophy.

                                                                - Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz

Don’t think you’re not going to catch heat you incur expenses or cause delays that later turn out not to be required. I don’ think it is fully appreciated what a fine line it is in some sectors.

K.C.

[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;70296]Agreed, but easier said then done.

Don’t think you’re not going to catch heat you incur expenses or cause delays that later turn out not to be required. I don’ think it is fully appreciated what a fine line it is in some sectors
[/QUOTE]

I don’t know if a master has yet been able to successfully sue a shipowner for wrongful termination in the event the man was punished for exercising his authorized duties per ISM Code section 5 but I would think that there would be a good case to make the claim. Obviously, a master can become too cautious and that is where having a sea experienced port captain is valuable. Too many companies have eliminated that position from their management in favor of technical superintendents and port engineers who do not know of the decisions a master must make.

[QUOTE=c.captain;70309]I don’t know if a master has yet been able to successfully sue a shipowner for wrongful termination in the event the man was punished for exercising his authorized duties per ISM Code section 5 but I would think that there would be a good case to make the claim. Obviously, a master can become too cautious and that is where having a sea experienced port captain is valuable. Too many companies have eliminated that position from their management in favor of technical superintendents and port engineers who do not know of the decisions a master must make.[/QUOTE]

I agree but that’s not what I had in mind. On the Snowbird we had a simple strategy with regards to operations and weather. When it got too rough, we would cut loose. We knew it was too rough when our gear started smashing into the other vessel.

A large ship with a not so experienced crew like the All Alaskan on the other hand required a slightly more sophisticated approach. You had to move before you were forced to, it was too risky trying to heave anchor that close to the beach in bad conditions, but you can do this based upon the weather forecast. As long as you have the forecast you can justify moving and even if the forecast is in error it’s not going to be an issue.

My point is that staying safe is not just a matter of being “safer” in a crude sense. You have to have a smart approach. This is more true in some sectors then in other. It wasn’t true on the Snowbird but it was true, in an extreme way, on the DW Horizon for example.

K.C.