Stuck In Suez

[Andy2]

Do they have reverse gear

[BR14]

It amazes me that in this day and age the steering of ships that large is not totally computer-controlled, with millisecond timing to maintain course or reverse engines and stop ASAP if a course cannot be maintained, especially in confined spaces like the Suez canal.

you mean the ten mile emergency stop??

[OwlHoot]

Egyptians used water cannons during the Yom Kippur War to breach the earthen ramparts of the Bar Lev Line along the Suez in '73
Wonder if they have any of those still knocking around for re-purposing

Yup, was thinking myself that water jets are obviously the way to go to clear that mud. With the pathetic diggers they are using, which don't even reach the bottom of the mud, they may as well be using tea spoons!

[minestrone]

The bank will just get washed into the canal and another boat will get stuck on that.

[BolshieBastard]

They need tons of Drain Buster, clears all blockages. Apparently.

[d000hg]

It amazes me that in this day and age the steering of ships that large is not totally computer-controlled, with millisecond timing to maintain course or reverse engines and stop ASAP if a course cannot be maintained, especially in confined spaces like the Suez canal.

Given it takes something like a day for them to get up to full speed, I don't think millisecond timing is the issue

[NigelJK]

SOP when beached is to reverse out, something that size will require a good sized tug. I'm guessing they don't want to do any further damage hence the reluctance to pull it out.

[NickFitz]

It amazes me that in this day and age the steering of ships that large is not totally computer-controlled, with millisecond timing to maintain course or reverse engines and stop ASAP if a course cannot be maintained, especially in confined spaces like the Suez canal.

They are heavily automated, but as the FT article I linked upthread explains, it almost certainly happened because of a sudden lull in the wind it was angled against, then a hydrodynamic effect caused by part of it getting closer to the bank as a result of that. The momentum of something as huge as that, in water, means it isn't going to respond to millisecond anything; it wouldn't even react on the order of seconds.

[BR14]

SOP when beached is to reverse out, something that size will require a good sized tug. I'm guessing they don't want to do any further damage hence the reluctance to pull it out.

given that the stern is hard against the other bank, how will that work?

[baen]

The ship is in safe hands, it's hanging around for timepass.

https://www.latestly.com/world/suez-...s-2390500.html