Suez Canal blocked by container ship 36

[verymadmac]

It might not be an engineering issue that started it, but I bet is going to change a few specifications.
BBC piece here Link



It looks like the bow is hard aground, refloating will be an interesting exercise given the time pressure.



Canal profile is here

https://www.suezcanal.gov.eg/English/About/SuezCanal/Pages/CanalCharacteristics.aspx

 

[dik]

Thanks...

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[LittleInch]

A pity the BBC article didn't do the cross sections to scale....

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[TugboatEng]

This is the best picture of a flat bar type stem that I have.

 

[dgallup]

The ships name is the EVER GIVEN which you can see on the bow (and I think on the stern but it's a little fuzzy in the photos I've seen) but the photos show EVERGREEN painted in huge block letters on the sides of the ship. Why is that?

----------------------------------------

The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.

 

[SwinnyGG]

Evergreen Marine is the O&O of the vessel. I believe the names of all their commissioned vessels are the word 'Ever' followed by some other word

Ever Given, Ever Glory, Ever Golden, Ever Grade, Ever Globe, etc etc etc are all ships in their fleet.

 

[zeusfaber]

The ships are just part of the brand. They also own a lot of the containers, some of the terminals where they're unloaded, a couple of airlines (forcing other users to abandon the EVERGREEN callsign as they expanded their activities across the globe), assorted aviation services, a chain of hotels - oh, and a symphony orchestra.

A.

 

[FacEngrPE]

BBC: Suez Canal: How are they trying to free the Ever Given?
Some good photographs here. This ship is well embedded into both banks of the canal. I think Tugboat is correct in that this work will amount to a huge amount of digging.

https://www.space.com/stuck-ship-suez-canal-satellite-photos

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/25/9811...ship-stuck-in-suez-canal-salvage-company-says

 

[Comcokid]

The Ever Given ship made some strange maneuvers in the Red Sea before entering the canal. The link below is a tweet from the site 'Vessel Finder' that tracks ships and shipping.

https://twitter.com/VesselFinder/status/1374716424522977286

This New York Post title states it clearly. . . . . . .

https://nypost.com/2021/03/24/cargo-ship-drew-penis-before-getting-stuck-in-suez-canal/

 

[dik]

Could part of the problem be lack of maintenance on the canal? I'd try to use hydrodemolition of the soils at the rear of the boat and try to swing the rear out first, since it was likely the last part to become grounded.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[TugboatEng]

Dick, the ship got itself perpendicular to the canal. This is a ship's problem. It did so at speed (13 knots) so it's also a salvor's problem as it got pushed in to the sand with a great deal of kinetic energy. In surprised there are no breached tanks but then again nearly every story we have heard has been lie.

Nothing was unusual about the maneuvers prior to entering the canal. Ships can't just park so they run their engine for a bit and drift for a bit. It's unfortunate that they created a pattern.

Digging may be reqired but offloading the stern of the ship will be a priority so it can be pivoted to open the canal for one way traffic at a minimum.

Sunday will be the highest tide in a while so if it can't be rotated by then it will be stuck for a long time. I don't have high hopes.

Lloyd Register estimates the daily cost including daily charter rates for delayed ships at $400 million per hour. This is literally bigger than COVID.

 

[georgeverghese]

The biggest tugboat the Suez Canal Authority have is a 160ton power vessel - not sure what the tons here really means.

The most powerful tugboat out there Far Samson at 400ton power appears to be tied up with some work in the Baltic Sea (and by its location, maybe some where close to the landing on the German side for NordStream II pipeline ??). Another 300ton tugboat Alp Striker appears to be occupied with some work off Aberdeen.

 

[Retrograde]

Lloyd Register estimates the daily cost including daily charter rates for delayed ships at $400 million per hour. This is literally bigger than COVID.

Hardly. IMF estimate of the impact of COVID on Europe was about $6 trillion. At the rate of $400M/hour the ship will need to be stuck for nearly 2 years to be bigger than COVID. And that is only considering the impact on Europe.

 

[1503-44]

At 400 MM$ph It won't be long before someone starts thinking about nuclear options.

 

[Tomfh]

What’s involved in navigating big ships down those canals? How are they steered/controlled?

 

[1503-44]

Under their own power, unless entering locks, where they are pulled into position by diesel traction engines. Suez is a sea level crossing, so there are no locks there. I think it is normal to have a port captain responsible for steerage through the canal, but not sure about actual Suez procedures.

 

[FacEngrPE]

Far Samson at 400ton power is probably Bollard Line Pull, as this vessel has 35900BHP available to the propellers, 400 Ton bollard line pull is possible.

It is also not much compared to the force required to move a ship the size of the Ever Given once you consider that it not only embedded itself into the sandy bank, but is likely pushed up, and resting on the sand rather than completely floating.

Coastal Emergency Risks Assessment now does tidal modeling world wide. High Tide in this location looks rather stable here for the next few days. Tidal range is increasing, so at low tide there will be thousands of additional tons resting on the grounded parts of the hull. This places a huge bending load on the hull.

Screen shot is from Suez, the model does not extend into the canal. Caution - this is probably a misuse of the tool, the salvors will be using better tools.

Both ends of the ship grounded, support midships removed (low tide) creates the worst case sag. A similar design case is maximum wave height, with the distance between crests just a bit shorter than hull length.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogging_and_sagging

Fred

 

[itsmoked]

Removing the Ever Given by Itsmoked March 26, 2021

Consider this method:

Drop both the ship's anchors.

Onto barges.

Take the barges across the canal to the other side.

Off load the anchors onto shore.

Take them as far as possible onto shore.

Keep them angled as close to the ship's hull as possible

Excavate BIG holes.

Drop the anchors in the holes.

Fill them both in.

Drive two of the largest available bulldozers between the chains to as close as you can to the middle of the chain runs.

In a coordinated manner push both chains outward.

Taking advantage of the vector results of such a maneuver the forces applied to by the dozers are multiplied by about 100 times. A 100ton push would translate to pull on the Ever Given of 100T x 100 or 10,000T. That would be for each chain.


This gets the pull onto the Ever Given avoiding all the weak bollard limits by instead using the two points on the ship with the highest pull strength.

It pulls from the front.

It's a straightforward concept once the math is understood.

It uses already on-site equipment. (Anchors & chains)

It's frequently used when stuck off road with uncanny success. It has never failed me.

90% of the effort is shore based and not water/floating difficult.

It lends itself very well for unsticking because as the stuck item unsticks the right-angle cable pulling or pushing motion can continue to exert a continuous but rapidly lessening force (due to the vector changing) on the tension member, keeping the extrication in motion and the cable(s) from being run over.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[FacEngrPE]

The salvors might off load the anchors and anchor chain just due to the weight. The Bow where the anchor and chain are stored is the end that rammed the shore, and is deeply embedded in sand.

I do not think anyone has mentioned that in addition to the ship being grounded, with it partly being supported by the sand it's ends are embedded into there is a significant flow of water along the length of the canal which is pushing on the side of the ship. Possible several thousands of tons of force against the side of the hull. This force reverses with the tide cycle.
It is not clear if this helps or hurts the salvage effort.

 

[davefitz]

Judging form the pictures of the grounding, and the above listed proposed fixes, it might be timely for someone to list what the magnitude of the forces involved are. I could only laugh at the size of the "giant" bulldozer pushing up against the hull of the ship, it is the equivalent of a flea pushing a 300 lb sumo wrestler off a chair.Short of unloading the ship , the only non destructive fix I can imagine is the jet washing of sand to form a new canal bank 30 ft outboard of the original bank.

With a shipping loss of $400 million USD/day, one may wonder if destructive methods are also being considered. One bombing run might take a few minutes.

"...when logic, and proportion, have fallen, sloppy dead..." Grace Slick

 

[bones206]

I heard with the polar ice cap melting, a new northern route may open up that is shorter than using the Suez. Perhaps we just wait. Shouldn't be much longer now...