While lowering the anchor from USS Tarawa (LHA-1) in 2001, the ship’s anchor, plus 13 shots of chain were lost in a plume of rust and fury of sparks and noise.
This incident occurred due to a failure of the windlass brake, which allowed the anchor to flow freely and uncontrolled until the “breakaway link” failed. This link is the last link of chain and attached to the structure of the hull inside the chain locker. It is designed to fail in the case of a runaway anchor chain, rather than cause damage to the structure of the ship’s hull.
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The head of the US Southern Command is visiting key Caribbean nations this week, as President Donald Trump’s administration surges forces into the region in a bid to hem in Venezuela.
Around six weeks after running aground in Canada’s Arctic waters Dutch cargo vessel Thamesborg and its icebreaker and tug escort have left the waters of the Northwest Passage. The convoy is traveling southward in Baffin Bay towards the Davis Strait and will leave Arctic waters in the next few days.
Nearly five weeks after running around in Canada’s Arctic Northwest Passage, Dutch cargo ship Thamesborg appears to have been successfully refloated. The vessel’s operator, Wagenborg, had indicated that it would be attempting a refloat this week. The ice-class cargo vessel was en route from China to eastern Canada via the polar waters when it ran aground atop a shoal on September 6.
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