Ship Looses Steering Above Algiers Point !

Thanks, Ted. That could have been a terrible situation. Fortunately that was not a big ship and there were tugs close-by. As far as another day at the office, isn't it funny how things can go from just peachy to "Uh-oh!" or worse in a few seconds?

Bob , " Roger , on that " !!

Bob ,
" Roger , on that " !! One minute things are going SOO WELLL , when boom your whole world is turned uspside down when that nice handling vessel that you were a moment ago , so enjoying going down the river with , is now careening out of control and although your mind is racing , for me at least the events are now in a slow motion mode as you are totally focused and intune with your surroundings as to what is about to either be knocked down , run over or cut into . Sounds fun , huh ?? As I've said before , " just another day at the office " for a river pilot right ?? Infact , some in the local New Orleans marine industry think of ship pilots as " overpaid and glorified bus drivers " ! Now , no disrespect to bus drivers in general but when was the last time a bus driver was involved in hitting the Huey P. Long Bridge , knocking down segments of the River Walk and Hilton Hotel , and running aground on a nine hundred foot loaded tanker ?? Just food for thought folks .
Smoothe Sailing !
Ted Davisson

Bob Reynolds;12299 wrote: Thanks, Ted. That could have been a terrible situation. Fortunately that was not a big ship and there were tugs close-by. As far as another day at the office, isn't it funny how things can go from just peachy to "Uh-oh!" or worse in a few seconds?

Just a Foot Note ........

Greetings From New Orleans ,
Just a Foot Note here , if you look closly in the third picture , in the back ground is the " remains " of the Str. Mississippi Queen . Fortunately , the ill fated container ship that lost its steering when and where it did , collided with a barge fleet and not the Str. Mississippi Queen ! If the ship's steering had not failed when it did and just possibly a few more minutes had elapsed , in all likelyhood it would have careened into the MQ and just no telling as to what very well may have insued from that !! Just food for thought !!
Smoothe Sailing !
Ted Davisson

Ted Davisson;12290 wrote: Greetings From New Orleans ,
Yesterday , Sunday , at approximately 4:00 pm , the M/S Westerhaven , an inbound container ship , lost its steering after making Algiers Point and landed in the Orgulf Fleet on the West Bank of the river . Fortunately , there was no major damage to either the ship or the barge fleet due to the fact that the Crescent Pilot was able to deploy the ship's starb'd anchor which in turn slowed the ship's headway into the barge fleet . He was also able t call four harbor tug boats t help hold him up aganist the current until the ship's steering was regained . Seldom , if ever does a ship loose its steering or engine without doing major damage to either itself or its surroundings . This was a very lucky day for everyone and everything that was involved in this situation . Just another day at the office .
Smoothe Sailing !
Ted Davisson