Some Tense Moments at Agua Clara Locks

[BillB48]

A northbound ship in the upper level of Agua Clara Locks had difficulty coming to a stop and narrowly missed striking the gate ahead of the ship.  While tug assisting on the bow of the ship did contact the gate there have not been any reports of damage to the tug or the gate.  The tug was able to let the ship's port bow slip by and avoid being caught between the ship's bulbous bow and the gate.

 

No details yet  on the cause of the incident.

 

[Turtles06]

Wow, pretty scary photo re that tug!   Glad no one was hurt!

[BillB48]

A short video of the incident.

 

https://www.facebook.com/33613982/videos/591983229488299/

[chengkp75]

Apparently, the pilot decided to proceed without the after tug, which acts as the "brakes" when entering the lock.

[BillB48]

I had just read the article from gCaptain last night (linked below) and that matches up with the scuttlebutt I first heard that there was a "problem" with the delta tug.  A little background, four tugs are used to get these NeoPanamax ships into the new locks.  From bow to stern they are identified as "Alpha", bow tug, "Beta", positioned on the beam of the ship forward, "Charlie", on the beam towards aft and "Delta" on the stern.  The Beta and Charlie tugs are released as the ship enters the first chamber, while Alpha and Delta tugs normally stay lashed to the ship for the entire lockage.

 

The overall tone of the report was reasonable except I think they were dumping on the pilot a little by saying there are no procedures or regulations and the pilot can do whatever they want.  The article also pointed out that the pilots want to finish fast in order to get more assignments, ultimately make more money and any fault could not have been attributed to the ship.  Not so sure how that is known with any certainty without acknowledging the possibility of communication problems or machinery failure.  To be sure the pilot's name is pretty high on the blame list and in electing to proceed without the Delta tugs had some risks.

 

What the article doesn't tell you is that in addition to the pilots wanting to finish so they can be in line for another assignment, the Canal does watch pilot performance very closely and does use assignments as a tool against pilots who they feel may be under performing in their times in their estimation.  So there is always the pressure to get the job done.

 

The reference that the Canal does not have the capability to lift the gates presently... they have never had that capability... ever.  Their first two heavy lift cranes from 1914 only had a capacity of 250 tons.  The crane purchased from Long Beach Shipyard in the 90s has a capacity of 350 tons.  The original miter gates have weights from 400 to 700 tons and the gates at the new locks weigh about 3000 tons.  The Canal has purchased a new heavy lift crane with a capacity of around 600 tons, however it is not in service yet the last I heard.

 

  https://gcaptain.com/close-call-in-panama-canal-locks-raises-safety-concerns/

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, BillB48 said:

To be sure the pilot's name is pretty high on the blame list and in electing to proceed without the Delta tugs had some risks.

Yes.  Unless the pilot is intimately familiar with the ship's handling characteristics, garnered from many docking evolutions with that particular ship, using propulsion to enter a lock like this, and then using only ship's propulsion to try to stop is going to be problematic.  While a Captain that has docked his ship hundreds of times, in many different environmental conditions, can "feel" for when to stop the forward propulsion, and when to reverse the engine, the pilot has only a general idea of how ships of that size handle, and relies heavily on the tugs (or the mules in the old locks), to provide a far quicker response than a ship's engine and propeller can.  After all, that is what the tugs are there for.

 

I've worked with Captains that were able to literally walk ships along the dock, a couple of feet per minute, and stop the ship exactly where it needs to be, simply by changing the propeller rpm one or two rpm at a time.  But, as I say, this comes with a lengthy relationship with that particular ship, as even sister ships do not always maneuver exactly the same.

[BillB48]

Came across a much better video of what could have been a major catsasstrophe at the new Agua Clara Locks.  The loud intermittent sound that is heard on the video is the warning for the gate operation.  A friend told me the only "injuries" were a bent mast on the tug and some badly bruised egos.

 

 

 

 

 

[Turtles06]

😮😲😮