Runaway Ship

[tbjl24]

Forgive me if this has been asked before, but I am watching a show called Mighty Ships on HDNet and they are covering a ship called Faust.

 

The ship is heading from Southampton to Newark, NJ.

 

They just showed a scene where the ship's crew must confirm the ship's ability to come to a complete stop before entering the port channel into Newark. This is to avoid any possibility of a 'runaway ship'.

 

Do cruise ships do this as well?? I can't remember for the life of me ever experiencing this maneuver. I am almost positive I never seen this heading into Mexico.

 

:confused::confused::confused:

[G'ma]

Ships practice maneuvers all the time.....just like lifeboat drills, fire drills, emergency drills, etc.

 

It's part of life at sea.

[Capt_BJ]

this may be a case of words twisting the meaning when TV tries to translate technical talk into everyone speak ..

 

B4 entering any area of 'restricted waters' a ship will test the brakes so to speak. What is done is verify that the "backing bell" is working....that the ship's propulsion will properly go into reverse....for this is the ship's brakes. Usually one simply shifts to reverse propulsion and watches for the back wash that shown the engines are operating in reverse - in other words the brakes work - and then continues on. Unless you know what to watch for and when you probably won't notice it happening.

 

The ship will also ready the 'emergency brake' by preparing an anchor or anchors for letting go. Some of the safety straps that hold the anchor are released, sometimes the anchor is even lowered a bit to ensure it would run free if dropped and a person is stationed to let the anchor go in an emergency. Dropping an anchor in this way is a real last ditch effort to stop....

 

This is really 'good seamanship' rather than any sort of a law, and the proceedures to be followed by a particular ship would commonly be established by the company. For cruise lines, there are commonly a set of company standing orders and checklists to be followed. And if taking aboard a pilot, one would expect these two things to be on the pilot's checklist b4 entering port as well.

[Sailor2Cruiser]

this may be a case of words twisting the meaning when TV tries to translate technical talk into everyone speak ..

 

B4 entering any area of 'restricted waters' a ship will test the brakes so to speak. What is done is verify that the "backing bell" is working....that the ship's propulsion will properly go into reverse....for this is the ship's brakes. Usually one simply shifts to reverse propulsion and watches for the back wash that shown the engines are operating in reverse - in other words the brakes work - and then continues on. Unless you know what to watch for and when you probably won't notice it happening.

 

The ship will also ready the 'emergency brake' by preparing an anchor or anchors for letting go. Some of the safety straps that hold the anchor are released, sometimes the anchor is even lowered a bit to ensure it would run free if dropped and a person is stationed to let the anchor go in an emergency. Dropping an anchor in this way is a real last ditch effort to stop....

 

This is really 'good seamanship' rather than any sort of a law, and the proceedures to be followed by a particular ship would commonly be established by the company. For cruise lines, there are commonly a set of company standing orders and checklists to be followed. And if taking aboard a pilot, one would expect these two things to be on the pilot's checklist b4 entering port as well.

 

Thanks for the explanation, Cap'n. I do believe this will be the first post that I've seen where someone will not be able to come up and say "you're wrong." :D

 

Salute.

[tbjl24]

Not to take away from what anyone has said but in the program, the ship was brought to a complete stop. One of the ship's officers then stamped and dated the logbook to indicate the manuever was done and successful.

 

This didn't seem like a drill like the fire safety or manning the lifeboats. I understand those processes.

 

They made it seem as though it was a requirement to enter the NY/Newark shipping channel.

 

My main question really was has anyone ever experienced a cruise ship do this? I wonder if it is only required of vessels that have been sailing full steam for a minimum amount of time? The ship had been sailing I think for 5 or 6 days at least.

[Aquahound]

It is correct that this practice is not a drill when entering Newark. The Port Authority requires it.

 

According to Navigational "Rules of the Road," the proper term to a "runaway ship" is Not Under Command. This comes when vessels experience runaway engines, loss of rudder control, etc. All other vessels must stay clear and give way to vessels Not Under Command.

 

As you can imagine, a vessel Not Under Command in a port can be very dangerous.

[tbjl24]

Thanks Aquahound!

 

I just remembered in the program that when the pilot joined the ship the first thing he asked the Captain is if everything was in working order.

 

I imagine he could have requested to check the logbook, etc but seemed satisfied with the Captain's word.

[C U Onboard]

The programme was also aired on UK television earlier this week. It was interesting to see the maneuver to bring the ship to a halt but what sticks more in my mind was the statement that on average 2 large ships are lost every week in stormy seas :eek:.

[Lady Chew]

anyone remember the movie Speed 2 ... horrible movie, but that was a runaway ship for sure!!