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From: "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid>
Newsgroups: sci.electronics.design
Subject: Re: Full video of ship hitting and destroying the Francis Scott Key
 bridge in Baltimore
Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2024 14:45:34 +0100
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On 2024-03-29 15:24, Don Y wrote:
> On 3/29/2024 5:59 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> On 2024-03-29 12:50, Don Y wrote:
>>
>>> That.  Esp when it comes to commercial vessels, the "rules of the road"
>>> (river?) implicitly acknowledge this in that the stand on vessel is 
>>> almost
>>> always the one that is least able to make quick changes to its course or
>>> progress.
>>
>> Why was the operation done without tow boats, was that customary?
> 
> Most likely, cost.  Unless required, you'd not opt to add to your
> costs unless it was to offset a "significant" financial risk to YOUR
> investment.
> 
>> Where I live, we barely avoided a sea oil catastrophe about a month 
>> ago. A sea tanker ship (Front Siena) was approaching harbour without 
>> requesting a pilot, not contacting, and not responding to radio. And 
>> on a collision course to the rocks.
>>
>> The pilot made haste, boarded the ship unaided and in the dark, all 
>> deck lights off. When he reached the bridge, there were 7 people there 
>> just chatting. He was offered a coffee; instead he started roaring 
>> orders. Reverse engines top speed, two tow boats pushing, anchor 
>> dropped. Stopped one mile from the rocks (more or less, from memory).
>>
>> Ship fined.
>>
>> Spanish link with AIS route map
>> <https://www.naucher.com/la-penosa-historia-del-petrolero-front-siena-y-su-tripulacion-negligente/>
> 
> In most cases, the people making the decisions "on-the-spot" are not likely
> going to be held accountable (at least not to the extent of the resources
> they are risking).
> 
> "They don't pay me enough for this shit..."
> 
> Wasn't there a cruise ship run up on the rocks a few years back?  Because
> the captain wanted to give the passengers a "good view"?

Yes, a passenger cruiser.

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

On 13 January 2012 at 21:45, Costa Concordia struck a rock in the 
Tyrrhenian Sea just off the eastern shore of Isola del Giglio. This tore 
open a 50 m (160 ft) gash on the port side of her hull, which soon 
flooded parts of the engine room, cutting power from the engines and 
ship services. As water flooded in and the ship listed, she drifted back 
towards the island and grounded near shore, then rolled onto her 
starboard side, lying in an unsteady position on a rocky underwater ledge.

The evacuation of Costa Concordia took over six hours, and of the 3,229 
passengers and 1,023 crew known to have been aboard, 32 died. Francesco 
Schettino, the ship's captain at that time, was tried and found guilty 
of manslaughter, causing a maritime accident, and abandoning his ship. 
He was sentenced to sixteen years in prison in 2015.[3] The wreck was 
salvaged three years after the incident and then towed to the port of 
Genoa, where she was scrapped.[4]


> 
> Did none of his superiors know of PAST episodes like this?  Or, did they
> look the other way because it provided passengers (*customers*) with
> a memorable experience (to share with other POTENTIAL passengers)?
> 
> I designed an autopilot for recreational/small-commercial boats many
> years ago.  You told it where you wanted to go (lat-lon) and it got
> you there.
> 
> But, it only had control over the rudder.  So, couldn't STOP the vessel
> if it noticed it was veering too far off track (e.g., if cross-track error
> exceeds X nautical miles).  Nor could it stop the vessel as it approached
> it's destination (without manual intervention, it would gladly sail
> PAST the destination, discover that the destination was now BEHIND it
> and make a 180 degree turn... and repeat this process until the tanks
> ran dry OR it collided with something).

:-D

> 
> I advocated for an alarm that I could sound to alert the skipper
> that we were approaching the destination so he could either stop
> the vessel or tell me to move on to the NEXT waypoint.  Given that,
> on small commercial vessels, it would be highly likely for such an
> autopilot to be (ab)used to free up an extra pair of arms (the mate
> at the helm) to attend to the OTHER work on the ship (e.g., preparing
> lobster pots, nets, etc.), it seemed highly likely that there would
> be cases where the vessel was under-supervised.
> 
> My boss dismissed this outright.  Any such alarm would add cost as well
> as complicate the installation (because the alarm would have to be
> sited somewhere that the skipper/crew would be GUARANTEED to hear)
> both of which added to effective selling price.  He said, adding
> an alarm would just cause the skipper to cut the wires to the
> alarm (assuming it was ever installed).

Sigh.

Yeah, the Front Siena could be under such an autopilot system and the 
crew confidently waiting for the buzzer to warn to change to manual mode.


> 
> Similarly, giving me control of the throttle would complicate the
> product (as above) AND still leave opportunities for abuse as a
> vessel adrift (not under power) is also a navigational hazzard.
> 
> <shrug>  Shit happens.  Hopefully not often enough to demand cause for
> remedies.

I think other method is for the autopilot to switch off and sound a 
buzzer on arrival.

-- 
Cheers, Carlos.