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Near-catastrophe in New York: "Ship can not be controlled"

2019-12-07T17:19:20.334Z


In the narrow channel under a bridge, the freighter's engine fails, threatening to collide with a gas tanker. Captain Peter Rößler tells of his most sensitive maneuver in New York City.



It was a difficult journey that had started in Bremerhaven. After Rotterdam we had fallen into the foothills of the hurricane "Kyrill", with enormous swells and very high seas. With four days delay we arrived in Halifax. The journey continued along the east coast of the US, through the Panama Canal, then from San Francisco to Japan to the destination port of Hong Kong. The heavy oil that we had stashed there, made us on the return journey problems. The fuel was poor, the filters were constantly closing. The machine crew got the problem under control.

At least I was not worried when we docked on the container freighter "Kobe Express" New York and completed all transhipment work on time. I studied the weather reports for the Atlantic crossing: calm weather, tailwind. We were on schedule, I was looking forward to being at home. It was a quiet Saturday, this March 17, 2007, light snow fell on the roofs of New York.

"Engine clear," reported the Chief Engineer, the pilot came on board. At 9 pm we left our berth in the Global Terminal. What I did not suspect: This started the most exciting hours of my career.

With the help of two tugs we had turned the 294-meter-long "Kobe Express" and took off, in the accented Ambrose Canal. A large gas tanker came to meet us. In order to have enough distance, we kept with the starboard side close to the right buoy line. Very slow ride. At exactly 10:04 pm we passed the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, the suspension bridge connecting the municipalities of Staten Island and Brooklyn.

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Captain Peter Roessler: When the ship got out of hand

Moments later, I saw a huge cloud of steam rising from our chimney and stepped out onto the bridge dock to see what was going on. When I returned to the bridge at 10:14 pm, the machine failed. Without alarm, without any sign. Immediately I tried to start it again.

"Ship can not be controlled anymore," reported the helmsman. "Ship is getting out of hand!" The running water turned the "Kobe Express" to port and directly to the gas tanker, which was already very close. A critical moment, certainly one of the most sensitive in my time at sea.

Down with both anchors

The big gas tanker came closer and closer with no real chance to dodge us on the narrow channel. The pilot, a tall, lean man, perhaps in his early 40s, was screaming wildly over the bridge. But another loss of control did not help us at this moment. I thought about what to do and called the machine control room.

"Can we start the emergency control?" I asked the chief engineer. He tried that, but the machine did not start. On the VHF device, I heard the excited voices of my colleague and the pilot on the gas tanker. The clock showed 22:19 clock. Now it took every second.

"Drop anchor to starboard, five chain lengths!" I ordered. Soon the ship was literally torn to starboard and stopped, but the stern turned at high speed towards the fully loaded gas tanker.

I dropped the port anchor.

The maneuver succeeded, the "Kobe Express" stood. Such decisions can be made in the short term, with many years' experience at sea. I say: You have one at some point in the long-term storage. This is something you do not learn in training, seminars, or the simulator, and none of these Excel spreadsheets, which are considered so modern these days, will help you. Captains need experience to respond properly in crisis situations, I am convinced.

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At a distance of perhaps a hundred meters, the gas tanker passed our stern. What would have happened if there had been a collision and possibly an explosion of the gas tanker? In the immediate vicinity of the busy Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge? I do not like it.

And then we were stuck

I breathed, only briefly, because we were still drifting without a machine and with two anchors off New York and were now lying across the channel. The outgoing current completely pushed us around its own axis. The pilot had calmed down a bit and made contact with four tugs to take us to an anchorage. I had both anchors hoisted; At 23.20, the chief engineer reported that the machine was running again. I gave back "slow ride", the tugs pulled.

But nothing happened. We were stuck, off New York City, off the fairway at ton 19, at 40 ° 34, 2 'N and 074 ° 02.3' W, to be exact.

Running aground with a ship is a problem for every captain. With a ship in front of an American port, where the authorities have been particularly strict and vigilant since September 11, 2001, it is a fiasco. Immediately I dropped all the tanks of ballast water and fuel to see if we had a leak. No change, that was good. Were rudders and propellers free? With a hand solder I let the water depth around the ship measure. Result: The "Kobe Express" lay with the front quarter of the port side on a sandbar.

I made another cautious attempt to get away on my own, but the big ship did not move a meter. The next flood was announced only for the morning hours. We had to wait.

A Coast Guard boat arrived. I adjusted to cursing deputies, but to my surprise, two friendly young ladies came to the bridge. After assuring them that no oil leaked, they helped me to complete various questionnaires and took my statement for record. They abandoned a test for alcohol or drugs as well as questioning other crewmembers. Before they said goodbye, they handed me a letter from the port captain: until the cause of the machine failure had been clarified and the ship was inspected by the classification society, we were not allowed to leave New York.

Not even bumps, just scratches

Shortly after four, there was movement into the ship. It turned slowly on the starboard side into the fairway, about half an hour later I decided that it was time for a new liberation attempt. "Slow ride back!" And indeed: The "Kobe Express" pushed free. At 5.30 clock we reached the Gravesend roadstead and went to anchor. I wanted to lie down for a while before a surveyor of Germanischer Lloyds came aboard, which the agency had ordered during the night. The chief engineer came to the bridge. "The cause of the failure was a water test in the day tank," he said.

A few hours later, the expert confirmed this assessment and also that the machine was fully operational again. There was still some nervousness on the bridge because divers were in the water to inspect the hull. Had the ship suffered damage, was there any cracks?

I was nervous when the men came to the bridge. With good news: they had not even noticed bumps, but just discovered a few scratches. The ship was seaworthy without restrictions. I did not show my relief and started writing, because now it was time to fill in piles of forms.

Once again, Coast Guard officials came aboard, showing that the machine was running smoothly and collecting the papers. Surveyors, divers and officials left the ship. Less than an hour and a half later, the harbor captain was released by fax. We cleared the anchor and headed for Halifax, Nova Scotia.

I've never been so happy to leave New York.

The text is a revised and abridged excerpt of a chapter from the new book "Captains!", Published by Ankerherz-Verlag. In it, 20 sailors tell real adventures from the sea.

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2019-12-07

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