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Where junior captains learn not to break down

2021-04-22T20:13:55.040Z


The container freighter "Ever Given" was stuck across the Suez Canal in March 2021. In France, prospective skippers practice how to avoid such accidents - under realistic conditions.


Expand the video transcript area

Once from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf - and back.

Anyone who cannot pass the Suez Canal without an accident has a problem - and so do many others.

At the end of March, the container giant Ever Given, lying across the canal, blocked the important waterway for almost a week.

And to avoid that, there is a tiny copy of the Suez Canal in the training port of Port Revel in the south of France.

Here prospective ship captains and pilots learn to steer under the same conditions as those in Egypt on cute mini-freighters.

At least almost.

François Mayor, head of the training harbor: "One small difference is that you cannot simulate sandstorms here. Otherwise we have strong gusts of wind that make you and your boat rock from one side to the other. The temperatures here influence the system. And then there are technical problems like with the car: with the gearbox, the steering wheel, the engine. Regardless of whether it is the Suez Canal or another, the special thing about a canal is that you have little space for maneuvers. Therefore you have to be particularly concentrated and prepared for everything . "

The navigation through this waterway model is intended to prepare for the most difficult moments in global shipping - such as the real Suez Canal, which is 25 times the size of its replica here on the western foothills of the French Alps.

François Mayor, head of the training harbor: "What is special is that the water depth, the bank and the shape of the canal correspond exactly to the actual, historical canal before its expansion in 2015. The trainees learn under very realistic conditions. They work here in normal situations and those of danger where we take away a few technical aids from them. "

During the training, the teachers simulate steering problems and engine failures to see how the apprentices react.

There's also a tiny San Francisco Bay and an imitation Port Arthur in Texas.

The budding waterway cruisers learn here how to dock and steer cruise ships and tankers in narrow harbors.

Underwater turbines imitate currents and waves.

François Mayor, head of the training port: "After every accident of this kind, new customers come to us. The economic effects have convinced them that the training is worthwhile. Practicing here in Port Revel costs almost nothing compared to blocking such a ship for just a day."

The value of the goods that are transported through the Suez Canal every day has been estimated at around eight billion euros.

And that's not all.

After being liberated by rescue teams, the Ever Given drove independently to the Great Bitter Lake, which is about a third of the way from south to north.

But even though it is seaworthy, the Egyptians chained the ship.

They are now demanding damages of around 900 million euros from the owner.

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2021-04-22

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