container ships

[j.sabourn]

Came out on the icebreaker as far as I can remember, then he steamed ahead of you making a lead for you to follow. When you went up to Port Churchill on the Hudson Bay they used to have a spotter plane gave you the info. by. VHF . Funnily enough when I was up there the spotter was a Geordie and he had the reputation for being always drunk. The season I was across there, there was little ice at all and he was reporting leads everywhere, must have giving the same ones every year. JS

[John Arton]

As a matter of interest did anyone traverse the St.Lawrence Seaway during the time it was iced up ??? Just wondering how they got the pilot aboard/ashore.
Regards.
Jim.B.

Jim
Used to go up to Quebec on the old C.P. Ambassador (ex Beaveroak) in winter and Escoumains pilot station was kept ice free by the river currents (aided by an icebreaker if necessary). The pilot boat was ice strengthened to cope with growlers etc.
When C.P. moved from Quebec to Montreal on the old Ambassador, as she was ice strengthen with a mairform bow, we could get up to the Lake just below Laval on our own but the final leg up to Montreal we needed ice breaker assistance. Once stuck there for two days as the icebreaker crew could not get changed due to the freeze up (though the pilot did tell us they were probably nizzed), also the icebreaker could not raise sufficient steam.
Also
Jim, believe your son? works for Canmar and found this on the internet.
Transportation Safety Board of Canada - Marine Investigation Report M99L0099
rgds
JA

[Jim Brady]

John 12# my son would've been Marine Ops/Manager at that time,I did a trip on the Cast Priviledge about July 2000 and he left the company shortly after that.The company CanMar is no more.
I remember getting a tape off my son which a 2nd mate on a CanMar ship had made it showed a pilot coming aboard at Escoumains and he was in a type of cage standing up and being raised from the pilot boat by some type of crane.Did CP have such a method John,I suppose it was an ex CP ship.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[John Arton]

I presume they were using a personnel transfer basket which came from the offshore industry. Excellent method of leaving and joining but you have to aware of all the regulations and testing of them. Not many pilot stations use them though but you can understand the Canada pilots liking them as in cold weather they step into the basket and are hoisted up and deposited on deck so no need to climb slippery ladders with freezing cold hands.
There is still the danger point in the transfer from the pilot boat to the basket and that is why many European pilot authorities use helicopter transfer. One regular port for us in the Bay of Biscay virtually all pilot transfers were done by helicopter, pilot boats only used for back up and in calm conditions.
We never had those baskets in C.P. when I was with them up to 88. In fact C.P. were very conservative in their new buildings and even their new chemical tankers built in the late 70's had ring mains and derricks instead of cranes. The new buildings from the late 60's onwards were just basic ships with hardly any automation.
Unmanned machinery spaces only came in when they brought off the shelf new buildings from Sweden and later Korea.
The geared bulk carriers from Japan had MacGregor hatch covers that were opened and closed using hand jacks and pull wires attached to the cranes normal lifting hook.
rgds
JA

[Ivan Cloherty]

.
The geared bulk carriers from Japan had MacGregor hatch covers that were opened and closed using hand jacks and pull wires attached to the cranes normal lifting hook.
rgds
JA

Never sailed with easy method John, we used to have those wheel bars and if the concentric slot was worn they could slip out and two tons of hatch cover would fall back in its tracks and if you were unlucky you got a belt on the head or shoulder, no helmets in those days. Very difficult to get a leverage sometimes when the coamings were seven foot high and you weren't as most of the crew were not either, so they installed walkways alongside so that you could reach the wheels, very good but not so good in the icy weather experienced in northern Japan and Canada, not only did you get a crack on the head you got thrown off the walkway and onto the deck, but they were so much better than trying to cover large hatches with steel stiff canvas covers and battening down.

Trying to put that 'Ramteck' tape on icy joints on the steel hatches was another experience, but always wise to put it on when traversing the North Pacific in winter, when loaded the ship was acting like a submarine.

[Keith Tindell]

Just watched the recording of the program that I put on post 1, very interesting and centred on Liverpool docks, a look at the docks of today, also the history of the Great Eastern, and where her remains lie on the banks of the Mersey, all in al very nostalgic, kt

[j.sabourn]

Baskets used in the offshore Industry used for personel transfers was a reinforced ring covered in canvas, what was underneath the canvas wouldn't know. ropes or shrouds cant remember the number all lead to one point from the edge to a common point with a big hard eye for the crane hook. There was no going inside this ring and passengers had to stand on the outside holding the ropes. Luggage only was allowed inside the ropes. You would sometimes get a dozen passengers on this what was called as basket transfer. There was also another ring before the crane hook to keep these ropes vertical for clinging to. JS

[John Arton]

Maersk lines second generation triple E class are set to carry 20,000 plus containers. A frightening prospect of 300,000 plus tons of cargo charging around at 25 knots, given todays standards of seamanship.
The biggest and fastest I ever went was on a laden VLCC coming down from the Gulf bound for Europe and we caught the Agulas current off S. Africa and on my 0800-1200 watch we averaged 26 knots. Passing Durban a Union Castle passenger ship departed Durban and a very plummy voice called me up on the VHF and told me he was the Cape town? Castle, a passenger ship on a regular run from S.A. to the U.K.. he was bound for Cape Town doing his "harbour" speed of 18 knots (for scheduling purposes) and that he would keep clear of us. I told him that we were a laden VLCC doing 26 knots so he need not worry about us. Bit of a surprised gulp from the Union Castle ship as we sped past him and he rapidly disappeared into the horizon astern.
Our Captain was an ex. Empress boat Captain and hourly he wandered onto the bridge to check on progress. He was quite impressed when at 0900 I told him we were
doing 20+knots and when later on I told him we had done 27 knots the last hour his response was "faster than an Empress boat, chummy".
Even after midday. although we had lost the strongest part of the current we were still chuntering along at 18 knots, that Castle boat never caught us up.
Rgds
JA
https://gcaptain.com/maersks-second-...Captain.com%29

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[Gulliver]

27 k on a VLCC,John.Incredible,and if I didn't know how exceptionally these things can happen then I wouldn't believe you. Imagine if you were heading north east against that Agulhas current-your day's run would have been very negative indeed ! But then of course you'd be altering course all the time trying to find the optimum track to keep out of the fastest flow,indeed if you were northeastbound you'd be hundreds of miles off the Cape anyway,and even if you'd called in Table Bay you'd then head straight out eastwards to stem the current before making your northing.
I've made some pretty good speeds too there but nothing exceptional,and also up to about 23/4 knots northbound off Florida in the Gulf Stream.
The most adverse current I encountered must have been in a December rain/flood season on a container/cargo carrier whilst heading up to Matadi on the River Congo,about 85 nm from the sea,with pilot of course. The outgoing stream was up to 14 knots in a narrow bit known as the Chaudron d'Enfer (Devil's Cauldron),and with shallow draught we were able to utilise almost seagoing revs (16 knots)to get us up above Boma,where lesser-powered vessels had to anchor ,and some had indeed done so for several days.So up to Matadi at the grand old speed made good of 3 -4 knots. A tug heading back to Matadi for our berthing accompanied us all the way-safety in numbers as well I suppose.
I also remember that the stevedore gangs had been waiting for a ship to make it up to Matadi for several days and prior to commencement of discharge the Old Man was asked by the agent to please feed the sad looking,wet ,thin hungry men.This was done and after many bowls of steaming rice ,vegetables and tinned sardines later,discharge commenced-although knowing that a full warm belly can make a man rather drowsy ,you can be sure myself and the deck team kept a careful eye on the winch driver at each hatch- I mean we don't want a container coming through the Old Man's porthole do we?-well OK, it was mostly discharged by we duty mates and deck crew to, shall we say expedite discharge and thus hasten departure time ! The river was still in flood but had abated somewhat,nevertheless quick progress was made down to Boma,where no doubt envious glances were made from those vessels still anchored awaiting to proceed upriver, then it was off to drop the pilot at Banana-yes the entrance to the Congo is at Banana Pilot Station !, then out into the South Atlantic, where it was good to catch some comparatively cool breezes and wash the decks down of those African bits and bobs.... Banana Pilot Station,Congo.jpg[Banana Pilot Station]
Incidentally I observed on a southbound voyage,the entrance to the Congo was discernible by change of sea colour probably a hundred miles or so out to sea,the outflow being a very muddy colour of course in a grey-green sea.

Just a word like 'current' has triggered off all those memories again. I can still feel that warm incessant rain,smell the African jungle and village campfires along the Congo,see the foliage and the occasional carcass or human body flowing downstream.
I'll never go back there (I would be mad to !,)but it's all there in my mind.

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