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Old 18-10-2013, 17:01   #196
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Re: Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

roverhi said:
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So very few containers will remain afloat to be a danger to a cruising boat.

You are far and away more in danger of running into a stray Boston Whaler or a log.
Is that your gut feel or can you cite a source for your information?
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Old 18-10-2013, 17:14   #197
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Re: Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

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Originally Posted by kellyp08 View Post
This topic will probably become hot again following release of the Robert Redford movie "All is Lost". In the story the single-handed sailor's Cal 39 collides with a metal shipping container that puts a nasty hole in the starboard side from the waterline up. I've too have also worried about slamming into one of these while passage-making single-handed or even with a full crew; they'd be hard to spot on a dark night. And some, I understand, can float a few inches below the surface of the water.

In the movie the singlehanded Redford character puts the boat on a starboard tack and then repairs the hole with epoxy and glass mat while hanging over the side and reinforcing from inside. This may sound good in theory but the more likely point if impact will more likely be at the bow at or below the waterline. This would be a difficult place to effect a fiberglass repair - especially when single-handed.

Collision mats made of canvas with a sealing agent and securing lines at the the corners of the mat can be used to "plug" (overlap) the hole. In a pinch a small jib or storm trysail may work. If one can get to the breach from inside the vessel, the hole or crack can be dealt with. The external water pressure on the collision mat should significantly reduce the influx of water - hopefully to a volume that can be handled by the bilge pump (or raw water intake on the diesel).

It is estimated that there are about 20-30,000 of these containers floating around the earth's oceans that have fallen or washed overboard from the decks off those huge container ships. The outrage is that these containers are floating in international waters and, to my knowledge, no country will assume the responsibility for retrieving them!

All of that said, have I ever seen a floating container? Not yet.
The sad part of this story is it was a metal container from China casued all the problem. China is known to make the worst product in the world, just go the eBay, you can see easily . Now their container almost killed our Hero Robert Redford. I am telling you those communists are up no good.
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Old 18-10-2013, 17:19   #198
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Re: Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

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roverhi said:

Is that your gut feel or can you cite a source for your information?
Yes, I have read that many times. I worry about hitting by the whale or hitting the debris from Japan than hitting a shipping container.

Knock on wood.
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Old 18-10-2013, 17:26   #199
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Re: Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

Noi it's just physics, not alarmist thinking. The containers weigh thousands of pounds, all of which is very negatively buoyant. Anything that's inside will have to be very buoyant and tightly packed enough that water will not fill the cavities around the merchandise. These containers are not sealed so will fill any unoccupied space with water. Only the refrigeration containers have any hope of being water tight and with insulation to create some buoyancy. Even those containers won't be buoyant with the diesel engines and refrigeration systems without trapping considerable air.
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Old 18-10-2013, 19:36   #200
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Re: Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

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Originally Posted by roverhi View Post
Noi it's just physics, not alarmist thinking. The containers weigh thousands of pounds, all of which is very negatively buoyant. Anything that's inside will have to be very buoyant and tightly packed enough that water will not fill the cavities around the merchandise. These containers are not sealed so will fill any unoccupied space with water. Only the refrigeration containers have any hope of being water tight and with insulation to create some buoyancy. Even those containers won't be buoyant with the diesel engines and refrigeration systems without trapping considerable air.
In the April 5, 2012 entry in my wife's blog of our trips to the Bahamas is a photo of a large piece of a shipping container washed up above the high tide line on the Exuma Sound side of Great Guana Cay. It had foam insulation inside the metal wall. No doubt it floated. I would have hated to have hit it.
Irish Eyes to the Bahamas

Containers of potato chips float...
http://hamptonroads.com/node/189201

In fact just Google "container washes up on shore". There are lots of stories.

Many containers do float.
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Old 19-10-2013, 04:52   #201
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Re: Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

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In the April 5, 2012 entry in my wife's blog of our trips to the Bahamas is a photo of a large piece of a shipping container washed up above the high tide line on the Exuma Sound side of Great Guana Cay. It had foam insulation inside the metal wall. No doubt it floated. I would have hated to have hit it.
Irish Eyes to the Bahamas

Containers of potato chips float...
http://hamptonroads.com/node/189201

In fact just Google "container washes up on shore". There are lots of stories.

Many containers do float.
Hey, great blog!
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Old 19-10-2013, 07:17   #202
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The sad part of this story is it was a metal container from China casued all the problem. China is known to make the worst product in the world, just go the eBay, you can see easily . Now their container almost killed our Hero Robert Redford. I am telling you those communists are up no good.
Are they all red containers?😃
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Old 19-10-2013, 11:22   #203
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Re: Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

in my points of view there are some solutions for that:

1. the best for avoid that a lost container hits your boat , is to hit it first, so it goes down first. :-)

2. you can opt to swith to a catamaran, who is positive floating plus a Satphone to call for a delivered pizza while waiting for rescue.

3, stay home waiting for the IRS boys.

cheers,

alex
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Old 19-10-2013, 12:22   #204
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Re: Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

Waterlogged logs in the PNW float vertical.

There was an HC33 that hit something as they approached SF Bay. An emergency haul out reveled a four inch square notch in the leading each of the full keel.
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Old 19-10-2013, 12:34   #205
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Re: Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

Adventure implies risk. High adventure implies high risk. How much victory is there winning a game where there is no result from loss?

To me, one of the joys of sailing has been the independence and satisfaction that comes from successfully overcoming the challenges of nature.

But for the worrywarts, in several decades of crossing oceans on ships, I don't recall SEEING a floating container, let alone HITTING one. Many whales were sighted, but no known collisions. Logs are a greater danger. God help the poor skipper on the Atchafalaya river after a rise.

Also, if you want foam plugs they are easy. Foam rubber cuts easily on a band or table saw. Have at a couple of old couch cushions and cut as many and varied as you wish. Makes good custom padding for delicate objects too.

Many work boats have most pumps plumbed to a manifold that can be connected for use in hull dewatering. Cargo pumps, fire pumps. all pumps become Bilge pumps when the right valves are adjusted. Hydraulic cement that sets well under water is cheap, and I know of it being used for emergency shaft packing in one case, though far from ideal.
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Old 19-10-2013, 12:57   #206
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Re: Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

When we (Norwegian Dream) rammed a barge in the middle of the Montevideo harbor channel, all the SUVs and containers falling overboard from the barge sank to the bottom.
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Old 20-10-2013, 18:18   #207
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Re: Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

You know, I keeping waiting for someone to post about the container they came across at sea, full of valuable stuff they were able to recover...
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Old 20-10-2013, 18:30   #208
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Re: Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

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You know, I keeping waiting for someone to post about the container they came across at sea, full of valuable stuff they were able to recover...
So far I've never even seen a floating container at sea but I used to know a guy that a couple of times a year found valuable stuff washed up on the beaches in the keys.
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Old 20-10-2013, 21:22   #209
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Re: Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

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You know, I keeping waiting for someone to post about the container they came across at sea, full of valuable stuff they were able to recover...
I found this in 30 seconds. I'll keep looking for more

Untitled Document
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Old 21-10-2013, 06:14   #210
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Re: Worst Case Scenario: Hitting A Sunken Container - What To Do!??

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You know, I keeping waiting for someone to post about the container they came across at sea, full of valuable stuff they were able to recover...
After Katrina, I came across hundreds. But, most of them were full of defrosted chickens. Yuck!
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