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The local news says: "She missed her turn." Now, anyone who's been in the biz (4.5 years of sea time in the U.S. Navy here) knows that a vessel getting underwa

The local news says: "She missed her turn." Now, anyone who's been in the biz (4.5 years of sea time in the U.S. Navy here) knows that a vessel getting underway has an experienced pilot and a full navigation detail on the bridge while in restricted waters. Looking at the ludicrous funds already spent over the last three weeks (we must be talking hundreds of millions by now, with no end in sight) and the ripple effects of closing the channel (which costs must jump into billions almost immediately), saying "she missed her turn" is almost a middle finger to the audience. Was it a steering casualty? Were the radars operational? Was the crew qualified? Does someone want to craft an unsavory theory? The costs involved were quite literally among the main drivers for creating the idea of insurance[1]. Tell me what caused her to "miss her turn". With stakes that high, such mishaps really need a full-on tsunami behind them for such a simplistic explanation. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_insurance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_insurance

rob74 5y ago
From what I could see (https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1089997406/ever-forward-container-ship-stuck-cheasapeake-bay https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1089997406/ever-forward-conta..., Wikipedia), the channel is not closed? Maybe operating at reduced capacity because of the need to keep a safety distance to the stranded ship, but they still can get around her. BTW "She missed her turn" made me think of something different, it's "she missed a turn", as in going straight forward when she should have turned right or left.
- smitty1e 5y ago
  I do not understand the distinction you're making in the second paragraph.
  - rob74 5y ago
    Maybe it's just me, but "missing your turn" sounds more like a situation from a board game, where players take turns to move and for some reason you missed your turn. While in a navigation channel, it's not "your" turn because the turn in the channel is the same for every ship that passes through. Sorry if I'm too nitpicky ;)
    - jdmichal 5y ago
      Eh, it's pretty analogous to the phrase "I missed my exit." There's temporal and intentional elements in addition to the spacial one you're referencing, which makes it "my exit" as opposed to just "an exit".
      - rob74 5y ago
        Well yeah, but still, "my exit" usually refers to the exit where you live, or at least where you want to go to, while a turn is something everybody driving along the road has to take. Of course, if you fail to take the turn and crash your car, then you may or may not refer to it as "my turn" in the future, but until then, it's usually not that special to you. But now I'm really overthinking it ;)
    - smitty1e 5y ago
      I have not been on the bridge of a merchant vessel. But on a warship, there is a navigation brief, and the people involved in the transit gather to walk thorough the whole evolution. Every single turn is discussed and visualized. No matter how boring and routine the transit. "We are on this course at this speed for this long. We are shooting this navigation aid from the pelorus. We put on this much rudder for this much time to come to this course. We have shoal water off the starboard bow here. The channel does this." And so forth. Even on a merchant vessel, which has an order of magnitude less crew than a warship, the COLREGS[1] will tell you that "Thou Shalt Not Jack It Up". The costs of screwing it up, in an RMF[2] vein, are astronomical. Hence my skepticism at the newsreader glibly stating that the vessel "missed her turn". These media people can spaz out for days over an apparent 9 hour gap on an official phone record with zero real-world effects. Now, how about committing an act of journalism and getting a preliminary reading. Did the helmsman have a seizure and throw the rudder over? What? [1] https://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/Pages/COLREG.aspx https://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/Pages/COLREG.aspx [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_Management_Framework https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_Management_Framework
mandevil 5y ago
The channel is not closed: in fact what happened is that she was supposed to turn tightly into the channel and ... didn't. So she continued on ahead, burying herself an entire boat length into the sandbar. This is why she is stuck so tightly- a ~40 ft drought in ~20 feet of water, but she's so far stuck that she's cleared the channel. As for why, the investigation hasn't completed, there is no official ruling on who's fault it is, and a whole lot of lawyers telling people not to comment because this is big, big money.
- smitty1e 5y ago
  I'm relating what I heard on NBC News 4.

rob74 5y ago

From what I could see (https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1089997406/ever-forward-container-ship-stuck-cheasapeake-bay https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1089997406/ever-forward-conta..., Wikipedia), the channel is not closed? Maybe operating at reduced capacity because of the need to keep a safety distance to the stranded ship, but they still can get around her. BTW "She missed her turn" made me think of something different, it's "she missed a turn", as in going straight forward when she should have turned right or left.

smitty1e 5y ago
I do not understand the distinction you're making in the second paragraph.
- rob74 5y ago
  Maybe it's just me, but "missing your turn" sounds more like a situation from a board game, where players take turns to move and for some reason you missed your turn. While in a navigation channel, it's not "your" turn because the turn in the channel is the same for every ship that passes through. Sorry if I'm too nitpicky ;)
  - jdmichal 5y ago
    Eh, it's pretty analogous to the phrase "I missed my exit." There's temporal and intentional elements in addition to the spacial one you're referencing, which makes it "my exit" as opposed to just "an exit".
    - rob74 5y ago
      Well yeah, but still, "my exit" usually refers to the exit where you live, or at least where you want to go to, while a turn is something everybody driving along the road has to take. Of course, if you fail to take the turn and crash your car, then you may or may not refer to it as "my turn" in the future, but until then, it's usually not that special to you. But now I'm really overthinking it ;)
  - smitty1e 5y ago
    I have not been on the bridge of a merchant vessel. But on a warship, there is a navigation brief, and the people involved in the transit gather to walk thorough the whole evolution. Every single turn is discussed and visualized. No matter how boring and routine the transit. "We are on this course at this speed for this long. We are shooting this navigation aid from the pelorus. We put on this much rudder for this much time to come to this course. We have shoal water off the starboard bow here. The channel does this." And so forth. Even on a merchant vessel, which has an order of magnitude less crew than a warship, the COLREGS[1] will tell you that "Thou Shalt Not Jack It Up". The costs of screwing it up, in an RMF[2] vein, are astronomical. Hence my skepticism at the newsreader glibly stating that the vessel "missed her turn". These media people can spaz out for days over an apparent 9 hour gap on an official phone record with zero real-world effects. Now, how about committing an act of journalism and getting a preliminary reading. Did the helmsman have a seizure and throw the rudder over? What? [1] https://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/Pages/COLREG.aspx https://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/Pages/COLREG.aspx [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_Management_Framework https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_Management_Framework

mandevil 5y ago

The channel is not closed: in fact what happened is that she was supposed to turn tightly into the channel and ... didn't. So she continued on ahead, burying herself an entire boat length into the sandbar. This is why she is stuck so tightly- a ~40 ft drought in ~20 feet of water, but she's so far stuck that she's cleared the channel. As for why, the investigation hasn't completed, there is no official ruling on who's fault it is, and a whole lot of lawyers telling people not to comment because this is big, big money.

smitty1e 5y ago
I'm relating what I heard on NBC News 4.