Head On Collision in The Great Lakes on video

WOW!

https://gcaptain.com/head-on-collis...139820873&mc_cid=bce18b85fc&mc_eid=5b70bcca05

Why and how does happen? Mechanical?

Like where vidoer starts backing up.

It looked like the Florence was heading to port into the other. Might has lost steerage as it was running with the river flow.

That could have been a lot worse.

This is hearsay of hearsay (a youtube comment then quoted on gcaptain), but it kind of makes sense to me since there were no "5 blasts" and the black ship ("Florence Spirit") looked oddly angled across the canal before the collision.

The black ship suffered a steering failure and was going to charge into the lock system and cause huge amounts of damage. They instructed the red ship to hit and push the black ship into the shore line to make it stop safely. The damage to the ships would be much cheaper and easier to fix then the entire lock system being damaged and out of order for many boats since it a huge shipping channel

That makes sense, glad no one was hurt.

You would have thought that the black ship if it had lost steering it would have either gone in reverse or dropped anchors or both.

Ramming speed!!!
A little paint will take care of everything. LOL

Watch this. Here hold my beer.

Comodave said:

You would have thought that the black ship if it had lost steering it would have either gone in reverse or dropped anchors or both.

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You would, wouldn't you? So maybe the hearsay was wrong (shocking).

OTOH, I suppose I could imagine if the red ship was already steaming along, then an anchor dropped by the black one could have put it broadside and then a T-bone (if the red one was too late too stop already). I also don't know how quickly they can get an anchor down.

Maybe our own Wayfarer will have some insight.

High Wire said:

That could have been a lot worse.

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Yup, could have taken out the lock for the season.

Comodave said:

You would have thought that the black ship if it had lost steering it would have either gone in reverse or dropped anchors or both.

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Dropping aanchor downstream would likely have caused a full beam collision.
Full reverse would also caused a considerable turn due to prop walk.

Frosty said:

...They instructed the red ship to hit and push the black ship into the shore line to make it stop safely. The damage to the ships would be much cheaper and easier to fix then the entire lock system being damaged and out of order for many boats since it a huge shipping channel[/I]

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While your logic makes sense, who has the authority to "instruct" one private vessel to purposely collide with another private vessel? Who pays the damages and liability claims? What if the collider or collidee says no?

w8n4sun said:

Why and how does happen? Mechanical?

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It could have been any one of a dozen things. It could have been a steering failure, or it could have been a silly left / right rudder mixup by a seasoned and reliable helmsman.

RickyD said:

It looked like the Florence was heading to port into the other. Might has lost steerage as it was running with the river flow.

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Not much current, if any at all, being that there are locks at either end of this point

High Wire said:

That could have been a lot worse.

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Much!

Frosty said:

This is hearsay of hearsay (a youtube comment then quoted on gcaptain), but it kind of makes sense to me since there were no "5 blasts" and the black ship ("Florence Spirit") looked oddly angled across the canal before the collision.

The black ship suffered a steering failure and was going to charge into the lock system and cause huge amounts of damage. They instructed the red ship to hit and push the black ship into the shore line to make it stop safely. The damage to the ships would be much cheaper and easier to fix then the entire lock system being damaged and out of order for many boats since it a huge shipping channel

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The lack of whistle signals doesn't really surprise me. It was reported that the pilots of both ships were in communication on the radio, so whistle signals wouldn't have been needed.

I hadn't considered an intentional collision, but I'd be awfully surprised it was the case. They may have tried to coordinate how best to hit if they had the time and the ability to do so, but I wouldn't assume so. It looked like it happened without much warning.

Comodave said:

You would have thought that the black ship if it had lost steering it would have either gone in reverse or dropped anchors or both.

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That would have been my first few impulses. He may not have had time to drop an anchor.

boatpoker said:

Dropping aanchor downstream would likely have caused a full beam collision.
Full reverse would also caused a considerable turn due to prop walk.

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It doesn't look like there was enough width to the channel that either could have turned fully broadside to the creek, but their sides could have been more exposed than they were. If they had to touch, I think they were lucky to meet at the bow flares.

Also, if Florence had gone full astern and propwalked sideways, she may have stuck her bow into the bank and slowed down that way, possibly reducing the total amount of energy of the collision with the other ship. She might also have stuffed her stern into the other bank, doing much more expensive damage to her family jewels.

Propwalk from reversing could explain why Florence was angled toward the wrong side of the road.

Hard to say, really. It's all speculation and armchair captaining on my part. All I can say with any confidence, is that there was a lot of paperwork and heartburn, and not much sleep to be had, and I feel for the poor bastards.

Comodave said:

You would have thought that the black ship if it had lost steering it would have either gone in reverse or dropped anchors or both.

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St. Lawrence Seaway Control has absolute authority in the canal sysystem and all locks in the system. The entire system is monitored by video and communication between vessels and Seaway Control is frequent

Wayfarer said:

Also, if Florence had gone full astern and propwalked sideways, she may have stuck her bow into the bank and slowed down that way, possibly reducing the total amount of energy of the collision with the other ship. She might also have stuffed her stern into the other bank, doing much more expensive damage to her family jewels.

Propwalk from reversing could explain why Florence was angled toward the wrong side of the road.

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The canal is about 130yds wide at that point. The Florence is 136 meters. Planting her bow would have been a disaster.

ssobol said:

While your logic makes sense, who has the authority to "instruct" one private vessel to purposely collide with another private vessel? Who pays the damages and liability claims? What if the collider or collidee says no?

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Just to clarify, I didn't say that. That's why I mentioned it was "hearsay of hearsay" from a gcaptain poster noting that it was in a youtube comment.

I don't know who or if there is someone who would or could do that.

It all will buff out, maybe....

The idea of an intentional ramming, even to stop a wayward ship seems unlikely. Yes, if he hits the locks it a BIG deal, but if there were loss of life on either ship due to an intentional ramming, just imagine the liability of that. Be tough to explain to relatives.