Ships collide in North Sea.

The arrested captain is a Russian national as are other crew members.

potentially an act of war against US and UK

No. If the event was deliberate the ship would have done it in a way that meant the captain did not get arrested.This kind of event is close to a daily event in the Channel and North Sea. Most are near misses.

M0nica

No. If the event was deliberate the ship would have done it in a way that meant the captain did not get arrested.This kind of event is close to a daily event in the Channel and North Sea. Most are near misses.

The Soviets were notorious for behaving provocatively towards British warships; there were many near misses and I do remember one collision where the Soviet warship cut across in front of the bigger British ship. The swift actions of the British captain and crew avoided immense damage and possible further loss of life.

Of course, the Cold War is over now.
🤔

M0nica

No. If the event was deliberate the ship would have done it in a way that meant the captain did not get arrested.This kind of event is close to a daily event in the Channel and North Sea. Most are near misses.

I agree. I suspect poor if not failing systems, grossly understaffed, inadequate care and failures to monitor both equipment and simple visual alertness. Container ships are notorious for this.

It also depends which company owns the ship - it was flying under a Portuguese flag, but companies are often multinationals and crews international.

Russian Captain, ship with multiple ‘fails’ including steering gear, on recent inspections USA military supplies ship at anchor off British Coast just in the midst of the current geopolitical situation since Trump. One man dead which escalates from an insurance legal issue to manslaughter.

Too much vodka I reckon. Hope he never gets to be in charge of a ship again.

I seem to remember a lot of controversy about ‘floating rust buckets’ a few years back. I would have hoped that regulations had been tightened up since then.

Wyllow3

M0nica

No. If the event was deliberate the ship would have done it in a way that meant the captain did not get arrested.This kind of event is close to a daily event in the Channel and North Sea. Most are near misses.

I agree. I suspect poor if not failing systems, grossly understaffed, inadequate care and failures to monitor both equipment and simple visual alertness. Container ships are notorious for this.

I thought it was reported that the ship was on auto-pilot at the time? Even so, one would think that someone would be on the bridge.

I cant find answer to the question "who checks on safety on containerships!"

(In an aside, it's ironical that it should involve a US ship as the US have become increasingly concerned that most new containerships are now made in China. To the extent that
"To penalize ocean carriers using Chinese-made vessels to move trade, the U.S. government has proposed steep levies on Chinese-made ships arriving at U.S. ports. For Chinese-owned operators (such as COSCO), a service fee of up to $1 million could be charged on each vessel. For non-Chinese owned ocean carriers with fleets containing Chinese-built vessels, the service fee would be up to $1.5 million for each U.S. port of call")

Just read this www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/grimsby-news/arrested-north-sea-vessel-captain-10016034?int_source=nba

"The MV Solong had recently failed steering-related safety checks and there was reportedly thick fog on the day of the crash. Martyn Boyers, the chief executive of the port of Grimsby East, told Sky News the area had been "very foggy" likely creating visibility issues.

Port state control inspection documents from July last year also show Irish officials deemed Solong’s “emergency steering position communications/compass reading” was “not readable”, among a further 10 deficiencies highlighted during the inspection of the Portuguese vessel in Dublin. Other issues included alarms being “inadequate”, survival craft “not properly maintained”, and fire doors “not as required”.

Allira

M0nica

No. If the event was deliberate the ship would have done it in a way that meant the captain did not get arrested.This kind of event is close to a daily event in the Channel and North Sea. Most are near misses.

The Soviets were notorious for behaving provocatively towards British warships; there were many near misses and I do remember one collision where the Soviet warship cut across in front of the bigger British ship. The swift actions of the British captain and crew avoided immense damage and possible further loss of life.

Of course, the Cold War is over now.
🤔

Putin is upping the ante, he claimed yesterday that the UK was the main instigator of global conflict.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/number-10-hits-back-at-russias-claim-uk-is-main-instigator-of-global-conflict_uk_67cefc08e4b0204ff2dad2ec

I am afraid that if Putin wants to 'make an example' - he will pick the UK. for easy access, geographical and political isolation from the rest of Europe.

Allira

Wyllow3

M0nica

No. If the event was deliberate the ship would have done it in a way that meant the captain did not get arrested.This kind of event is close to a daily event in the Channel and North Sea. Most are near misses.

I agree. I suspect poor if not failing systems, grossly understaffed, inadequate care and failures to monitor both equipment and simple visual alertness. Container ships are notorious for this.

I thought it was reported that the ship was on auto-pilot at the time? Even so, one would think that someone would be on the bridge.

Yes, it probably was, but the captain was probably sleeping or drinking down below. DH tells graphic stories of incompetence and gross dereliction of duty of Captains and officers on these ships in busy waters. It is a daily occurence. The miracle is that there are not more incidents like this.

"If it's been put on autopilot and there's no one on the bridge, which could happen, then it'd just go straight on.
"Autopilot just steers a course, they don't deviate, there's no bend in the sea. They just go straight for miles, hundreds of miles, and it would've gone in a straight
direction
"It's difficult to understand what happened, or why it happened."
He added there would have been alarms on the bridge, which raised even more questions about how the collision unfolded.

Which makes dereliction of duty all the more likely.

DH has pointed out that there are very strong tides in the area, so that even if on autopilot, was moving the ship forward on a predetermined path, the tide would be carrying tt sideways.off course.

Obviously, if there had been someone on the bridge and responsive, this would be rectified, but unfortunately, quite often there is not.

Could the tide actually push something the size and tonnage of an oil tanker or a shipping container off course ?

That is a very good question. But surely, even if on autopilot- there must be a radar warning system that would alert Captain immediately when other ship in vicinity, in time for avoidance.

RosieandherMaw

Could the tide actually push something the size and tonnage of an oil tanker or a shipping container off course ?

Not normally when it is underway but it is possible.

Claremont

I am afraid that if Putin wants to 'make an example' - he will pick the UK. for easy access, geographical and political isolation from the rest of Europe.

This concerns me too. We need to rejoin the EU ASAP.

RosieandherMaw

Could the tide actually push something the size and tonnage of an oil tanker or a shipping container off course ?

According to my Marine and Shipping surveyor DH - yes.

At one point these collisions were his bread and butter.

Everyone here is assuming efficient alert crews that respond to all the alarms. Of course all the safety systems were there, well some of the ships have them, and working, sort of, if they have not been turned off

A lot of these ships fly under foreign flags whose maritime rules are either virtually non-existent or not enforced.

Any size ship will drift according to tide and wind

Why havn’t they got it on tow

Obvious question - who enforces safety? When the Irish team found all the faults, who is supposed to regulate or stop these ships/force repairs instead of just reporting them?

Who pays for the clean up? who claims insurance?