Interesting details in the Anchorage Daily News:
Lost her starboard anchor,dragged the port. Pilot boarded at some point to shift the ship in closer to Summer Bay.
Photo Courtesy Of Ellis Berry - From KUCB
Photo Courtesy Of Ellis Berry - From KUCB
Not to pick on the reporter’s choice of words, but you know you’re dealing with a non-mariner when they say,
“…The Pan Viva is still missing its starboard anchor …”
as if it’s a lost puppy to be found. Maybe put up some posters in the neighborhood.
The only time that anchor will be retrieved is when the next poor slob who is forced to anchor there fouls it.
“…picking up old fishing gear and debris before securing in place…”
…means dredging up 50 years of big derelict crab pots and pot rigging. Hope they hired the Dunlap guys to come alongside and torch off the stuff with the anchor at the waterline. I spent too much time dangling from a bosun’s chair with a cutting torch doing it at anchor.
I still don’t get this. That’s a terrible place to anchor, unless there was maybe strong easterlies at the time? Did they have both anchors set at the time of losing the starboard, and how did it get lost? Parted chain? Brake slipped? So many questions.
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I agree, not enough information to understand what happened. Presumably the weather conditions limited options.
Weather on scene reported as 30-40 knot winds and 20-foot seas.
If this was the weather where the Pan Viva was anchored I’d think there was a very high probability they’d either drag or part something. They are going to stretch all the chain in the 40 kts winds and not have enough catenary to absorb the energy from a 20 foot sea.
Latest update from gcaptain:
GNSS tracks:
Once the distress call was received, Coast Guard watchstanders immediately dispatched a forward-deployed MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Cold Bay, along with another Jayhawk helicopter and an HC-130 Hercules airplane from Air Station Kodiak. The Coast Guard Cutter Stratton (WMSL 752) was also diverted to assist, but the extreme weather hampered efforts to reach the scene, as sustained winds above 60 mph and low visibility continued to plague the area.
Additionally, the tug vessel Gretchen Dunlap, based out of Dutch Harbor, was on standby to assist but was initially unable to respond due to the storm. However, the tug’s crew staged an Emergency Towing System and made preparations to assist once conditions improved.
On ocean transits I used weather limits of 7 meter seas and 50 knot winds.
It’s usually not specific geographical areas that are avoided but areas of unfavorable weather. These areas are avoided not just to reduce risks but to minimize transit times and costs. Sometimes, even in winter, the best route is north of the Aleutians,
Looks like an E2 straight out of Cape May the the helm.
Always a handy fjord to duck into?
For the typical deep-sea ship capable of good sea speeds and with competent weather routing it’s going to be rare that there would arise a situation where the best option was anchoring.
There’s also the issue of innocent passage vs declaring force majeure and whatever that may entail wrt port and government approvals, requirements, pilotage, clearance and so forth.