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There was some discussion regarding the dangers posed by cargo
containers. This month's Cruising World Magazine (April 2002)
(www.cruisingworld.com) has an article about this subject - "The
Dangerous Game of Container Roulette". Here are some excerpts from the
article:
----
Despite the squally weather, circumnavigator Loy Joe Bass was a contented
man on the last day of his boat's life. Under double-reefed main and
staysail, Sea Crest, a Brewer 44 set up for single-handing, reached
comfortably in nine-foot seas toward Bonaire in the Lesser Antilles,
about 300 miles to the south-west, and Bass was snug below. Just after
noon, Sea Crest, heeling dramatically, dropped into the trough of large
wave, shuddered as she struck something, and immediately began taking on
water. Bass, who was rescued about six hours later by a commercial
vessel, just before Sea Crest sank, believes she hit a log or a container
floating right beneath the surface.
It's difficult to estimate the frequency of such collisions. We've read
the harrowing accounts of their survivors; Steve Callahan losing his
Mini-Transat boat, Napoleon Solo, in a matter of minutes and scrambling
into the life raft in which he survived for the next 76 days; Ellen
Macarthur's Open 60 Kingfisher slamming into something during the last
Vendee Globe single-handed, nonstop, round-the-world race and seeing
parts of her rudder and daggerboard floating away; Jost Hall losing his
1994-95 BOC Challenge Open 60, Gartmore Investments, to a collision with
a large object presumably lying in semi-suspension off Brazil.
Then there are the cases of boats and their crew that have disappeared
without leaving behind a clue. But even survivors of sinkings caused by
such collisions are seldom certain about what the hit. Callahan, for
instance, didn't know if Napoleon Solo hit a whale, a log, a container,
or some other form of floating debris. You simply don't spend a lot of
time scanning the surrounding sea when seawater is pouring into your
bilges. In fact, Loy Joe Bass specifically regretted having spent
several minutes on deck inspecting the exterior damage. By the time he
went below, so much water was sloshing about the cabin that he was unable
to pinpoint the source of entry.
Two types of drifting objects pose the greatest hazards to sailors: logs
and shipping containers. While the focus of this report is on
containers, logs are far more common. According to Curtis Ebbesmeyer, a
Seattle-based oceanographer who specialized in tracking ocean debris,
tens of thousands of logs per year tumble off log transports, break loose
from log tows, or wash out of Earth's rivers. A 1987-through-1991 count
of North Pacific marine debris by 20 Japanese commercial vessels reported
an average of 38.3 logs per 100 square nautical miles. Ebbesmeyer's
website (www.beachcombers.org) alerts beachcombers to lost cargo that's
expected to fetch up at particular points and shed light on the variety
of debris that's floating around out there and the likely routes it will
take via the ocean wind and currents.
A hardwood log can drift for as long as 10 years at five to 10 miles a
day, enough time for it to make several complete circuits of the North
Atlantic gyre.
Surprisingly, no single government agency, non-profit organization,
marine-insurance underwriter association, or private enterprise tallies
comprehensive container-loss statistics. In fact, in 1994, a U.S. Coast
Guard-commissioned risk analysis of hazardous cargo lost overboard
determined this: "Because of the limited amount of pertinent information,
and the irregular pattern of its reporting, it is recommended the
[analysis of data] not be implemented. It is recommended that the study
be concluded."
Despite this information blackout, marine-debris experts like Ebbesmeyer
and others have combined and extrapolated from various surveillance tools
to estimate that up to 10,000 containers a year go overboard. In the
worst incident on record, in November 1998 Typhooon Babas tore 406
containers off the APL Chine in the wester Pacific. Losses of smaller
numbers are regular features of casualty reports, such as those bulletins
available through Lloyd' Lists (www.llplimited.com/llcasual.shtml) and
other sources.
-----
The article contains a great deal of additional information, including
how the containers are secured to the container-ships, which was already
detailed on this list. The article did make one more interesting
comment...when containers are stacked (sometimes up to 6 high), the
lightest containers are placed on the top. These containers are the ones
that are most likely to be dislodged and are also the ones that are most
likely to float and become a hazard to navigation.
It is also rare that only one container will be dislodged. If the ties
holding the outer containers fail, many containers will become dislodged
and the whole stack will end up in the water.
B.K.
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