Tuesday evening, the tanker Overseas Cleliamar lost all power while exiting San Francisco Bay just west of the Golden Gate Bridge. The 741-ft tanker, on its way to its next port of call in Ecuador, was carrying no cargo at the time of the incident. Despite initial conflicting reports, the tanker did not hit any rocks and credit is being given to the quick actions of the pilot and crew for preventing any major catastrophe. The San Francisco Chronicle has the dramatic details:
Capt. Dave McCloy, a bar pilot for about a year, had just minutes to stop the tanker from crashing into the steep rockbound cliffs of the Marin Headlands just outside the Golden Gate.
McCloy had just ordered the ship’s helm put slightly to the right. So when the Overseas Cleliamar lost power, it was headed for the rocks.
McCloy acted fast. He directed the crew of the tanker to lower the starboard anchor, one of two massive anchors carried on the bow. He had the anchor lowered only partially, so that it would take hold in shallower water close to the shore. [Continue Reading →]
Being technologically oriented ship drivers we are easily excited by new web sites that combine these interests. Having worked closely with web based AIS (Digital Seas, EarthNC, ActiveCaptain, VslTrax… to name a few) providers during the Cosco Busan incident we are also increasingly becoming interested in digital ship tracking technology so to say we were excited to learn about the new and innovative AIS site Hi-Def San Francisco would be, well, an understatement. We will be sure to bring you more information on this site as details emerge but till that time enjoy the above image titled “30 Days of SF bay traffic“.
While sailing on San Francisco Bay we had a close encounter with a container ship. The container ship honked at the other sailboat. We had space to turn…but when we tried the container ship blocked our wind. That captain was a hell of a driver! He threaded between our two little sailboats.
I don’t think I need to comment on these boaters but I will say if you’re a boater and sail in an area of heavy ship traffic head over to the Bitterend End blog an soak up some collision avoidance knowledge. You can start here: VTS – Working with large vessels
Above are images of the Cosco Busan and San Francisco Bay Oil Spill Clean-up courtesy of Flickr photographers in the Bay Area. The Official USCG photo slideshow can be found HERE.
In covering the recent San Francisco Bay Bridge incident I have noticed most (but not all) of the news articles have made a small error in terminology. In describing the incident where the Cosco Busan hit the Bay Bridge many prominent news organizations referred to event as a collision when in fact it was an allision.
For clarification: A vessel collides with another moving vessel…. A vessel allides with a fixed object (unless it is submerged) and is presumed at fault.
“At 8:30 am this morning, the Cosco Busan, an 810-foot container ship, collided with the base of one of the towers of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge while the ship was under the control of a Bar Pilot. The crash created a huge gash in the side of the ship and triggered an oil leak that created an environmental mess in San Francisco Bay.” More to come but Telstar Logistics has the full story from a local perspective LINK.
In related news New York’s Ambrose Light experienced an allision earlier this week but this one seems to be part of a trend. I don’t have specifics on this particular incident but the previous ones we’ve heard of were due to failed crash astern tests, a requirement of the port, that were conducted too close to the pilot station. Gothamist has the details on this one LINK.
If you have the inside scoop or would like an experts opinion for your article or post please contact us;
Estimated to cost billions of dollars and six more years of construction this project will huge in scope and a topic likely to be discussed often in the maritime community. Read his full story HERE and be sure to click on the photo links.
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