While every other ship off the east coast of the United States steaming eastward trying to get the hell out of the way of Hurricane Sandy, the MOL Paramount, a 6400 TEU containership owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, is blazing along at over 22 knots trying to reach Norfolk, Virginia tomorrow evening.
This ship is currently experiencing winds greater than 40 knots and she’s on a collision course with what may be the largest storm ever recorded off the Atlantic coast of the United States.
Here is the ship’s current track as of 1702 on 28 October.
I’m sure the Captain of this ship has a darn good reason to get to port, but I can think of a better reason to turn east and hang out for a 12 hours or so…
UPDATE: The Port of Virginia responded to our tweet this evening:
@gCaptain MOL Paramount will discover @USCG closed the sea lanes at VA Capes. We remain under condition X-Ray; harbor inaccessible from sea.
2120 Update:
Looks like the Paramount has made some good time and if all goes to plan will be on the southern side of the hurricane track fairly soon, along with the cruise ships Aidaluna, Norwegian Jewel, Explorer of the Seas, and the Carnival Miracle.
Hopefully they all brought plenty of seasickness meds…
Looks like they made it… here she is steaming inbound toward Norfolk on 31 October, thanks to Jason Wilson for the image
Scary.
Plus he has to anchor and put shore personnel in harms way to perform these task…
Longshoreman here will refuse to work in these conditions, he may have to anchor out in the harbor until the storm passes, in which case his crew will be like sitting ducks.
yes , his reason is probably a crew change..lol.
Haha, u know it
Death wish
Glad my hubby isn't on that one…
Looks like Captain is trying to be a hero to the company . Get the ship there on time .
You are my hero, Bosun…
Death wish. The lawsuits will be filed tomorrow.
Is the Captain from Richmond?
Oh boy
Looks like quite a line up assembled in Deleware Bay. I would guess that's where he'll end up.
Looks like quite a line up assembled in Deleware Bay. I would guess that's where he'll end up.
What if the USCG does not let him in when he arrives?
I just want a stream to a camera overlooking the bridge of the ship!
Now that's some commercial pressure !
wow, gcaptain – this is a story? at least give the old man the benefit of the doubt. such as: due to the wonders of technology he must already know norfolk is closed and might be trying to outrun the NE quadrant.
Maybe he wants to show those on board what it feels like to be at the bottom of a circular, gold fish bowl, ‘looking up’. Having been through the eye of a hurricane, back in the 60s,that is how it appears. Everyhing is ‘happening’ around and above you but you are in a ‘flat and calm’ sea, ‘down there’. I’m still here, so it is NOT the end of everything if the same does happen to the Paramount.
MOL may be trying their new vessels’ capacity to weather the storm so that in the future some vessels can sail in any weather.
About berthing on arrival, vessel will declare emergency and will be given approval to come in.
Well, if he doesn’t make his schedule we know whose relief will be standing on the pier when the ship ties up. All fits nicely into the age of ISM and MLC 2006.
Cross the expected route of the storm assap in orde to get south of the storm. Otherwise he might end up as a bonus to the beachcombers.
Is there an update? Did they make it alright? If the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay is closed, what then?
There's an anchorage just to the south east of the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel, I bet that's where he's at right now… Or out to sea and just not squawking his AIS.
Looks like he made it. Interesting story, just wnated to see how this turned-out. Why did he take such a risk? What was the motivation?
Good question. I have no idea though. I'm quite certain though that MOL read the article, and fortunately the crew of the MOL Paramount make it out ok. It's easy to second guess their decision when the seemingly correct decision looks obvious when you look at it on a computer, but the fact is, they knew that their ship could do 22 knots without trouble, and the time/distance equation gave them sufficient time to get to the south side of the storm before it made its left hook. Also, driving a ship with a 50 knot tailwind in a following sea sounds a lot nicer than maintaining station far offshore in huge seas waiting for the storm to pass. It's risky though because if ANYTHING happens, the ship is up on the beach in a hurry, or stuck in the middle of the storm. Putting myself in the captain's shoes, I would guess he reached a point of no return at some point where turning around was not the best option. All that being said however, the big question is, why did he not divert south toward Bermuda when he had the chance?
Is there an update? Are they alright? my hubby is on that ship and i have not received their whereabouts.
again, is making a story out of armchair quarterbacking a ship’s captain, based only on a little ais data and zero interviews, something this website is really not above? who told you he was “trying to reach norfolk, virginia tomorrow evening?”