Alaska ferry plows into dock

**jmad** · May 8th, 2012, 10:22 AM

http://m.adn.com/adn/db_259394/conte...tguid=MuiJTWXY

This should be interesting.

**tradsailor** · May 11th, 2012, 10:18 PM

if i remember correctly, the cannery docks aren't anywhere near the ferry dock. same side of the channel, but quite a bit to the north.

**c.captain** · May 11th, 2012, 11:45 PM

I also recall at Petersburg that the Icicle Dock being well to the NE of the Ferry terminal. Looks like somebody nodding off in the chair again...

Checked Google but no other photos available. Nothing on the USCG District 17 news either! Hmmm...somebody doesn't want the Alaska Ferry Service to get another black eye after the LECONTE grounding?

**rshrew** · May 12th, 2012, 07:22 AM

A friend of mine at AMH said he had heard they got caught in the current when maneuvering off the dock avoiding a fishboat. He also said the boat is the least maneuverable in the fleet. I guess the VDR will tell the truth.

**c.captain** · May 12th, 2012, 07:46 PM

Originally Posted by rshrew

A friend of mine at AMH said he had heard they got caught in the current when maneuvering off the dock avoiding a fishboat. He also said the boat is the least maneuverable in the fleet. I guess the VDR will tell the truth.

Doesn't explain away a "t-boning" allision...there had to be both control of the heading and the speed at some point before impact. Also being the least maneuverable vessel in the fleet excuses nothing. It was like with all the Washington State Ferry's vessels taking out docks because they came in too hot and then would say that the controls failed at the last second so they couldn't take the way off in time. A vessel must be under full control at all times and propulsion controls tested before coming in for a landing. Notice how they aren't taking out two or more docks every year anymore. Over high speed is the cause of the majority of maneuvering accidents. That and inattentiveness (situational awareness).

**rshrew** · May 13th, 2012, 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by c.captain

Doesn't explain away a "t-boning" allision...there had to be both control of the heading and the speed at some point before impact. Also being the least maneuverable vessel in the fleet excuses nothing. It was like with all the Washington State Ferry's vessels taking out docks because they came in too hot and then would say that the controls failed at the last second so they couldn't take the way off in time. A vessel must be under full control at all times and propulsion controls tested before coming in for a landing. Notice how they aren't taking out two or more docks every year anymore. Over high speed is the cause of the majority of maneuvering accidents. That and inattentiveness (situational awareness).

The Ferry guys still plow into docks we have just rebuilt them to withstand battle blows lol. I was just repeating what I heard from up north, I do know the current is a running there in Petersburg off the amh dock.

**c.captain** · May 22nd, 2012, 04:30 PM

This just handed to me...we have video now folks!

**Mikey** · May 22nd, 2012, 09:04 PM

Instant classic right there. When is the warehouse surveillance video coming out?

**c.captain** · May 22nd, 2012, 11:21 PM

Very early in my career I was mate on an Alaskan seafood processing ship and just before heading north for the season, we were in the process of coming alongside Pier 91 in Seattle and as mate I was typically up on the bow for the landing. The engine controls failed at the last minute and we t-boned the pier doing a couple of knots. I was literally right there on the very stem looking straight down watching the bow cleave a nice little wedge out of timber, steel and asphalt... Amazingly we did not open up the shell and after a day of USCG and insurance investigation we proceeded on our merry way but it was a learning experience for me. Engine controls have a way of failing at just the worst possible time and place.

**SeaSick** · May 23rd, 2012, 12:35 AM

Originally Posted by rshrew

A friend of mine at AMH said he had heard they got caught in the current when maneuvering off the dock avoiding a fishboat. He also said the boat is the least maneuverable in the fleet. I guess the VDR will tell the truth.

I heard something similar, that the small boat was caught in some sort of current, and the ferry had the choice of running the boat over, or an allision with the building.