Geez. That container ship Really did a number on the Suez Canal.

[speak easy]

Last edited Fri Mar 26, 2021, 01:26 PM - Edit history (1)

[SoCalNative]

1. Can't they just get a really long pole

and push it to one side?

[Eyeball_Kid]

3. How about an easy solution?

Take the damned containers OFF THE SHIP!

The ship will rise, and will lift off the floor of the canal.

[lagomorph777]

7. Not so easy. Need a gigantic crane, parked on sand...

That's kind of a big deal.

[Retrograde]

28. Transporting large cranes is a problem in itself

Back in the early 2000s, the Port of Oakland wanted to install some new large cranes. Now cranes the size they needed to handled modern shipping containers were only made in China, so they had to be brought in. No biggie, takes some time to cross the ocean, but - there were some bridges in the way. The ship carrying the cranes on top could make it under the Golden Gate Bridge, but getting it under the Bay Bridge was a tad more tricky. At extreme low tide it was estimated that it could probably pass under the bridge with about 12" to spare - and if any thing went wrong there was a good chance of damaging the bridge, which is a major traffic artery in the Bay Area. So come the appointed day, local authorities closed the Bay Bridge and the boat with the crane slowly passed under the bridge - with an inspector lying near the top of the crane to make sure there really was enough clearance. They got two cranes through, at different times, but it was a touchy situation.

Clearly bridges won't be an issue here, but (and I'm not familiar with the Suez Canal area) making sure the infrastructure to move and then support a crane may be. I don't think anyone is happy with the current situation, and I'm sure people with more expertise than me are working on it. I'd be impressed if it takes less than a month to re-open the canal.

[soothsayer]

9. Very hard easy solution cuz... usually there are big cranes dockside

So you gotta figure out cranes. Then you need a place to put them, which means several smaller ships (cuz that is one big momma, big as the Empire State Building ).

I mean it’s probably what they’ll have to do but it’s not simple.

They should probably start...

[JHB]

10. That's exactly my thinking...

Get some heavy-lift helicopters to start moving those loads onto shore near the ship. Set up a security perimeter around the offloading area while they wait to be trucked to a port. And charge Evergreen for the whole thing.

The Egyptians don't have to do it themselves, it could be a joint operation between several nations.

[fescuerescue]

16. That's extremely difficult

But it's probably what they will end up doing to some extent.

I don't think there is any equipment designed to move containers from one ship to another ship.

They might end up helicoptering some off. That alone would take weeks and take something like this (of which only 31 were built). And the ship bow and stern will still be aground (just easier to push off)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_S-64_Skycrane

I'm not even sure if has the lift capacity for the heaviest containers, although those are not likely at the top.

[GregariousGroundhog]

20. Egypt may need something closer in size to the Mi-26

Empty shipping containers weigh 4500 or 8200 pounds depending on whether they are 20 foot or 40 foot. The S-64 could probably hoist the 20 foot ones containers, but loaded 40 foot containers would probably exceed its 20,000 payload capacity. The Mi-26 officially has a payload capacity of 44,000 pounds, but was once used to hoist a 25 ton (50,000 lb) block of frozen soil containing a preserved woolly mammoth.

[fescuerescue]

23. Thanks. I just came back to add more detail

Looks like you did the same googling I did. It appears that our ability to unload this ship in place is right at the edge of our capabilities.

Its not uncommon for a ship to have 12,000 containers. That is ALOT of flights.

I'm really interested to see how they engineer a solution to this. It appears to be a daunting problem.

[Kali]

22. takes a certain large amount of infrastructure and equipment to do that

I don't think it is as easy as calling a local crane operator to come unload and stack a few boxes.

[fescuerescue]

24. And these ships don't have ship to ship unload capabilities

Especially for a ship aground.

Upthread we were discussing using choppers, but it appears that there is only one model capable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mil_Mi-26

But moving 10,000+ containers? ooo boy. That would takes months.

[Aristus]

2. That canal needs an enema!

[speak easy]

4. ...

[speak easy]

29. ...

[kimbutgar]

5. There is a documentary series on the Smithsonian channel called the mighty ships

They show these huge container ships navigating these channels and I think the Suez was shown. I could easily see this was bound to happen and I’m surprised it was not a collusion first in the canal.

[bullimiami]

8. i was amazed by the one with the mighty ship splicing the fiber optic cable.

[kimbutgar]

11. I'll look for that one.

We have gotten hooked on that channel and watch all the time. The only ones I won’t watch is the airplane crashes though!

[bullimiami]

13. Its Tyco Resolute.

[kimbutgar]

17. Thanks

MSC Oscar was the one I saw about the Suez Canal.

[Pantagruel]

6. Pump out the ballast,

offload the fuel and the resulting lighter vessel should be maneuverable.
OK, what am I missing-can't be that easy.

[soothsayer]

12. The thinking is that won't be enough weight

And she’s wedged in the sand with that bubble bow or whatever it is.

But I’m sure they’ll try.

[speak easy]

14. How about ... :)

[soothsayer]

15. NOW you're talkin'!

[magicarpet]

27. ....."bubble bow or whatever it is."

The purpose for the bubble at the bow.

[Jerry2144]

21. A couple things to note

The fuel and ballast tanks are low inside the ship. If they were to drain the tanks without removing those cargo containers, the center of gravity of the whole ship will move up. If enough weight from low in the ship were removed such that the center of gravity is above the center of buoyancy, the ship can capsize. They would have to balance it out with removing those cargo boxes.

There are floating, barge-mounted cranes that can be brought in to help off-load those cargo boxes, some even can lift loads from as high as 120 feet. Each cargo box is 8 foot by 8 foot by 20 feet (or 40 feet) and have a max weight of about 40,000 pounds (or 80,000 pounds). This makes it challenging to lift off the boxes since the crane has to reach high up and far out at a long reach without toppling the crane. It could possibly be done with heavy-lift helicopters, but you would need to have people on top of the stack of boxes to help guide the lifting spreader-bar to the proper cargo box, lock it in place, somehow unlock that box from the one underneath it, and guide it free. This is dangerous.

The Egyptians seem to be doing the safest and best option. Remove as much of the sand from under the bulbous bow and under the stern and hopefully the higher tides from Sunday's full moon combined with clearing the sand frees up the ship enough for tugs to pull it straight. They have deployed one or more water dredges that can pump up vast amounts of sand/water much faster than an excavator could move. And the dredge can pull sand out from underwater where it is needed most. The big question is if there has been any damage to the ship's keel due to the uneven stress loading from some load being transferred to the bow/stern and sand, instead of uniformly like it would be when the ship fully floats.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

18. If ever there was a real-life global crisis...

That called for Superman, this is it.

[Backseat Driver]

19. Mariah's (the wind) sure been mouthy lately...

and likely to get even more mouthy if "the wind" is caused by the unequal heating of the Earth...(climate change, anyone?)

"Poor Planning on Your Part Does not Necessarily Constitute an Emergency on Mine" - Bob Carter
Look him up! Here yah go...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._Carter, the paid "climate denier"?
(This link is hinky - just type Robert M Carter into browser for find a good Wiki link) - sorry!

Sure looks like a project to resolve this incident ASAP to resolve economic woe - so, opinions on good/bad Project Management
https://medium.com/@jlyman/poor-planning-on-your-part-does-not-necessarily-constitute-an-emergency-on-mine-cfe45ec14162
by Johnathan Lyman - Jan 6, 2015 or earlier (he's a blogger)
(Again, sorry, this link to Mr. Lyman's rant about Project Management is also hinky - to find type the Poor planning on your part into browser to locate the article on medium.com or maybe on his blog).

https://news.yahoo.com/severe-weather-south-5-dead-120656303.html
That Mariah sure causes a lot of grief and loss!

[DontBelieveEastisEas]

25. Ping Pong Balls could get her loose

I'm pretty sure that the best way to get her going again is by using Ping Pong Balls to get her to float higher.

Either tunnel straps beneath the hull or use the "bulbous" hull to devise a system for containing the Ping Pong Balls.


This really works as was demonstrated by the Mystical MythBusters.




PS I posted this in another thread, but then realized this thread is more about solutions, and I wanted to make sure this idea gets to the proper command center.

[speak easy]

26. Ping Pong balls vs The Kraken

I'll go with the Kraken