They are known to be a hazard to sailboats.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
All lost because the ship's captain didn't want to be a few days late.

Well, it's not that simple. This isn't a cruise ship. If the Captain diverted every single time there was bad weather, he wouldn't be Captain for long. And furthermore, if the company simply allowed these diversions on every voyage, they wouldn't be getting these contracts for very long either.

This is more than just bad weather, much more or; the loading crew failed to properly secure the containers topside.

I've been through weather probably heavier than what these guys went through. When waves break over the bow of a carrier and thoroughly soaking everything above the bridge level. It was a fun three days.

Makes me feel good about all the plastic drinking straws that we kept out of the ocean to protect marine creatures. Oops, my sarcasm button was still on.

Crap! All my guns were in those containers.

quote:

Originally posted by Sunset_Va:
Will these containers be floating around in the oceans, or sink ?

What a danger if they are floating.

They can float if they flip over before they fill with water and aren’t filled with really heavy cargo. There are vent holes along the sides near the top of the walls.

Apparently this issue has come to the attention of environmentalists. I saw a video posted by one of the shipping companies showing how the containers make great reefs at the bottom of the ocean, and pose no environmental threat whatsover.

quote:

Originally posted by Sunset_Va:
Will these containers be floating around in the oceans, or sink ?

What a danger if they are floating.

The ocean is a VERY big geographical area. Freighters lose containers on a regular basis. This is nothing new. "1382 shipping containers are lost at sea each and every year" Generally 75% of the containers will sink right away, the other containers will float (depending on the cargo inside and it's buoyancy and how much air is trapped inside) for days to weeks before eventually sinking to the bottom, as the containers are steel. If a commercial ship hits the containers it generally doesn't cause any noteworthy damage to them if any at all 99.5% of the time. Yachts on the other hand it can cause a sinking. I own a Yacht Management business managing and maintaining 10 yachts, and do a lot of yacht deliveries all over this Hemisphere, from the Panama Canal to Canada on the Atlantic side.

The containers are only strapped down on the 4 corners and each one is strapped to the other, so if one or two lashings let go on the bottom container, the entire stack will go over.

I do 15,000 nautical miles per year on average for the past 25 years (375,000 nautical miles, 431,250 statute miles) and in all that time, I've seen exactly 1 container floating. I know of a $15 million, 100' Hatteras MY that hit one and tore out it's running gear and would've sank if the crew didn't plug the 4" hole the running gear left when the container ripped it out of the boat. I also know of a ship that lost a new 94' Sunseeker motoryacht right over the side and never saw it go, and it was never found!

To give you an idea of how many container ships are traveling the ocean at one time, click on this link and look at the map, it's mind boggling.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/.../centery:27.0/zoom:4

https://www.bifa.org/news/arti...t-at-sea-2020-update

Like jimmy123x I've spend a lot of miles on the open ocean racing and delivering sailboats. And I have actually hit one and seen two more close. Luckily without serious damage to the hull on the hit. They are definitely a danger to smaller boats but the ocean is a big place and the probabilities are low.

The first thing I thought about this is insurance scam.

quote:

Originally posted by Paten:
The first thing I thought about this is insurance scam.

Highly unlikely. The cargo in each container is owned by the person that shipped the container. Each container is then insured (or not at all) by the person/business that shipped it. Not the freighter company. Think of it as a UPS cargo airplane crashes.....there are 1,000's of different owners of the goods that were on that plane (or 100's if owners of the cargo in each of those containers on that ship).

I had heard that hazardous material containers are at the top of the stacks. Is this true? Something about that if the shit hits the fan, they let them go to prevent losing the whole ship.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
Like jimmy123x I've spend a lot of miles on the open ocean racing and delivering sailboats. And I have actually hit one and seen two more close. Luckily without serious damage to the hull on the hit. They are definitely a danger to smaller boats but the ocean is a big place and the probabilities are low.

"Aaarrrrrrrgggg matey,

You've never been in open ocean racing till you enter your carrier into the America's Cup."

[/quote]

Aaarrrrrrrgggg matey

Many, many years from now, archaeologist might find these containers like we do when we find amphora and they may wonder why we were so dependent on rubber chickens, etc.

I’ve seen pics and videos of those containers stacked 5 high, or more, and it amazes me that they stay on the ships at all in anything other than fairly calm seas. I guess whatever they use to lock the containers together, and also to the deck of the ships, must be quite strong!

Robert Redford was in a movie called "All is Lost" about him sailing solo in the Pacific and hitting a container. He was in a small sailboat. Very little dialogue but a good movie.
Mike

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
Like jimmy123x I've spend a lot of miles on the open ocean racing and delivering sailboats. And I have actually hit one and seen two more close. Luckily without serious damage to the hull on the hit. They are definitely a danger to smaller boats but the ocean is a big place and the probabilities are low.

Another former ocean racer here. Most of my time was spent in the Gulf of Mexico and the Bahamas. In 1983 while racing in the SORC we almost hit a partially submerged container at about 0200 hours. The helmsman laid the boat over and missed it by about a foot or so. Very scary.. we also saw several bales of pot floating around during that series...

Back on the container story, there was an even larger container loss a few weeks earlier apparently along the same route...1900 containers lost..
https://gcaptain.com/estimated...damaged-on-one-apus/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: smlsig,

Some years ago, a series of documentaries came out regarding one man's epic struggle against a boat-eating and helicopter-eating shark. Jaws 1 through 600, I think, something like that. I determined then that getting in the water was a bad idea. Consequently, if at home, watching Jacques Cousteau or a movie involving more than one pint of sea water, I ready shark repellant, a big knife, and make a point not to bathe, so as to taste bad for sharks. Just when I thought it was safe to get back in the water, they came out with another documentary.

Then the whole meg thing, and of course, sharknado.

Now submerged shipping containers. Good god. I'm not even driving by a harbor, now.

A few years ago I was sent to Australia to dismantle a Shorts Skyvan aircraft and package it on shipping containers to send to the US. The owner felt it would be easier and safer than ferrying it. It would have been ironic to have that fall off the boat. More ironic for it to be eaten by Jaws. What are the odds that Roy Schneider would have showed up to save the day?

This actually happens rather regularly, usually 1-5. I couldn't imagine 750!

Was thinking it would be like an ocean-going version of "storage wars" unless you know for sure whats in the container based on the serial number...

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Just thinking of a new Reality Show that would be more exciting than Oak Island.