Big Boats Behaving Badly

[SaucySailoress]

I just stuck this photo with a few others on the tanker slowing down thread, but it occurred to me: "Oh bother, that really was a bit close".

This was actually a situation where the tanker altered course, and deliberately ploughed in front of a small fleet. We were in a restricted zone (Transit only), but pass through as a matter of course, since our marina is also in the restricted zone! This guy left the oil pier, then swung around 120deg, put his throttle down and aimed straight for our bows....

Does anyone else have scary stories of tankers and other big boats behaving so badly? I showed you mine, now show me yours....

[Unicorn Dreams]

Nothing scary there since this was a restricted zone probably for ship traffic as it's a traffic zone. He has to make his turns as traggic advises him..

Did you notify traffic that you were in the restricted zone/

[atoll]

my experiance is that people driving ships will avoid you if they can,but may not be able to if in a draught constrained channel,tss or even in reverse or in neutral an 85000ton plus to ship will carry it way for a long distance........

[John A]

I'm very glad that you're able to tell us the story!

He also must maintain at lest 5 knots to have control of his rudder.

Had he sounded any warning?

[RTB]

I would add - that was close! Maybe you could have changed course a bit sooner?

We deal with ship traffic on the Houston Ship Channel which is very busy most of the time. We did get the 5 toots from a ship once. It wasn't my boat, and I wasn't driving! We never got nearly that close, and made a quick retreat to the edge of the channel. Always look behind, even if you are trimming sails!!!

Also got stuck trying to pass a barge (same boat and skipper) on the ICW, with another barge coming head on. We didn't get the pass done, and passed between the two. Not really much fun....

I can't fault the big guys. It's not like you can't see them, so stand clear - whatever it takes. No reason to die out there.

[SaucySailoress]

The above photo was taken at 10.54am. This photo of the tanker had been taken just 10 minutes earlier at 10.44am.

As you can see, he had just pulled away from the pier, and looked as though he had set a course behind the fleet. We were all already there - the whole fleet close together. No contact had been made with us by either the Port Authorities or the Coastguard. WE have a very good CG who let us know in plenty of time when they don't want us around.

We actually did head up before the boat crossed our bows, but the 'suction' (what's that word?) pulled our bow back round, and pulled us in. By this stage we also had the engine on in full reverse; but he was still pulling us in. I had no idea how strong their 'suction' was.

The second photo is of the fleet at 10.52am. We were racing - this was the final leg back towards the marina. We were keeping our distance from pier out of courtesy. The tanker was not restricted by draft. He had no reason to go in front of us.

[Anjin San]

Law of Gross Tonnage.

[John A]

Sometimes big boats like to scare little boats.

[SaucySailoress]

Originally Posted by RTB

I would add - that was close! Maybe you could have changed course a bit sooner?

I absolutely agree there. This incident changed the dynamics on our boat once and for all..... In return for me agreeing to get back on the boat, I now have the final say in course changes in situations like this. Not surprisingly, another situation hasn't arisen since.... (and not for lack of tankers)

Hey - maybe this could become yet another marriage thread....?

[Chipg]

Way to go captian Ron!

[SaucySailoress]

There has been some off-topic discussion about this on http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...own-53870.html, which is supposed to be about tankers on the high seas slowing down due to fuel prices.... my error for posting there incorrectly... (might need some help from mods to tidy things up )

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Not sure where this action took place,

Kuwait. About 2nm from our marina.

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

If you are suggesting that the ship deliberately was aiming for you and the rest of the race fleet, well, I think you have delusions of grandeur!

Cheers, Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Towlers Bay, NSW, Oz

That's exactly what I'm suggesting. He pulled away from the pier and turned to aim straight at us, then sped up! We had very little time to evade.

Image 2 - the tanker had JUST left the pier, was moving very slowly, and looked as though he intended to go behind us. THEN, this guy turned towards us, then put his foot down. HE altered course (and he was NOT restricted by draught or channel) to point at us. When we started to pass that pier, there was no indication of a tanker leaving the pier.

We did alter course by bearing away to allow him space to overtake on our starboard. The alternatives - tack (not a lot of time to take down spinnaker) or turn 180 (not a lot of time to take down spinnaker) and beat away.

Agreed, the authorities should not allow THREE marinas to be operating in a restricted area adjacent to an oil pier - we have no choice about which marina we can use. The marina authorities put us in that marina.

[SaucySailoress]

Doh.... Couldn't understand why the pic wasn't uploading. It's because I wasn't clicking the 'upload' button......

Really, though, you can see we we clearly in this area before the tanker left the pier.... which the tanker on the left is still attached to!!

No warning. Nothing on channels 8 or 16 (the only channels we are legally allowed to have access to... go figure....). No friendly CG warning (we are 1nm from a permanently stationed CG vessel here).

[Pelagic]

Obviously a communications problem

Have you considered filing a report with the CG, so that they can prevent this from happening again?

[SaucySailoress]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Obviously a communications problem

Have you considered filing a report with the CG, so that they can prevent this from happening again?

It's a difficult call, since we are supposed to keep a clear zone of 3nm, but the marina is only 2nm away fro the pier.

We do have an informal understanding with the CG and they do allow us to sail in the area and monitor our actions. We try to transit the zone directly wherever possible. This is not always possible with the Club Boat when we are doing training courses, since the old Westerly Caravan we use would take the entire duration of the training session to transit! But they give us leeway, and we do our best to stay out of the way.

The Kuwaiti powerboats are given so much leeway that they regularly motor under the shadow of the pier.

[SaucySailoress]

I have attached an extract from the chart of our area, in the hopes that you understand why we were in this area....

1 - Hilton Hotel and former Amir's Marina.
2 - Our Marina.
3 - Rich people's Marina.
4 - The North Pier, where this happened.
5 - Permanently stationed CG.
x - South Pier where we really are not allowed to go, and we NEVER go near there.

As you can see, the whole zone is a sailing nightmare, with the no anchor zone turning into a Restricted zone....