3 ms·

Why's it need to pull over? It's in the middle of the ocean. Unless you're a spaceship it's hard to get any more out of the way. Presumably you send out a repa

• nradov 10y ago
  No that's not how it works. Disabled ships don't just sit there. The wind and currents eventually push them into rocks. Disabled ships also present a hazard to other vessels. Repair boats don't move fast enough to get there in time, especially in rough weather.
  • wlesieutre 10y ago
    How does it work currently? So much redundancy that there's never an unfixable failure that would stop the ship?
    • nradov 10y ago
      Unfixable failures are very rare in critical systems. Usually the crew is able to catch incipient failures and take preventative action, or else repair the failure at least well enough to get close to a port. Ships engineers are good at jury rigging temporary solutions. There are a few incidents every year where large merchant vessels lose power and drift onto rocks, or break apart and sink in a storm.
      • dredmorbius 10y ago
        There are about ten major shipwrecks annually -- call it one per month: http://www.outsideonline.com/1922111/monsterwellen http://www.outsideonline.com/1922111/monsterwellen I'd initially turned up that fact whilst considering the implications of nuclear propulsion for merchant shipping. I'm considering it not particularly attractive. https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/3c52ll/shipping_and_safety_the_nuclear_option/ https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/3c52ll/shippin...