Irene Postmortem

[N4QC]

An interesting report appeared on the Boatered web page this morning (Sun).

It deals with “How the big boys handle a hurricane”


Posted - Sep 03 2011 : 23:31:26
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"Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2011 08:02:28 -0400

As Category 1 Hurricane IRENE started her northerly track up the eastern
seaboard, the Port of Baltimore began to make preparations for her arrival.
On Friday, August 26, 2011 the USCG Capt of the Port declared that the Port
of Baltimore would be closed to movement at 2000 Saturday, August 27. The
Maryland Port Administration decided to clear its berths of ship and barge
traffic before that deadline, and for those of us who work the
ships...pilots, line handlers, tugboats and agents, our weekend with IRENE
was about to begin.

The passenger ship* Carnival Pride *cut short her weekly voyage to the
Caribbean, and returned to Baltimore, arriving at the Virginia Capes at 1830
Friday, August 26. Upon arrival in Baltimore, she discharged all her
passengers, and ordered 2 pilots to sail outbound at 1100, August 27. It
was our job to direct the movements of the ship, while riding IRENE out in
upper Chesapeake Bay. The *Carnival Pride *is 960' in length, 127' in beam,
with a draft of 27' 01''. She is approximately 120' high from the waterline
almost her entire length. *Carnival Pride's *sail area is tremendous. The
wind's effect on her would be significant.

On Saturday morning, with bands of rain beginning to drop buckets of water,
and wind increasing, we two pilots arrived at *Carnival Pride's* gangway and
were escorted up to the bridge. Last line was at 1038, the wind NE at 20
kts. Within the hour we had 35 to 40 kts of wind. We passed under the
Chesapeake Bay Bridge at 1234, and listened to the radio communications
between our pilot launch and the various ships lying at anchor off
Annapolis, MD. I felt fortunate in not being one of the pilots attempting
to board any of these anchored ships in that kind of wind. By orders of the
USCG Captain of the Port, all ships would have a pilot aboard. No ship
would would be permitted closer to the Bay Bridge than 6 nautical miles.
All ships were required to have a CPA (closest point of approach) of at
least one nautical mile from each other. Some of these ships would be
getting underway and moving further south down the bay. Eventually, there
would be 15 ships anchored or holding station in upper Chesapeake Bay. I
wanted to place *Carnival Pride *south of this flotilla, with no vessels to
leeward of us. At 1400 we were approaching CR buoy off Sharps Island,
Choptank River. As I began to reduce speed to bring *Carnival Pride *around
and up into the wind, the Captain gave a verbal warning to the 900 crew
below decks via the ship's intercom. The 50 kts of wind hitting the beam of
this 86,000 ton ship was impressive. She heeled to port noticeably. We
slowed to minimum speed. Because of the force the wind, the Captain was
reluctant to anchor his ship. The decision was made to steam slowly into
the wind. And so, it was here, off Sharps Island, that *Carnival Pride *would
make her stand against IRENE.

The *Carnival Pride* is powered by two Azipods which are essentially
propellers that can be swiveled 360 degrees. These Azipods have 62,370
combined horsepower. She also has a powerful bow thruster. These
propulsion systems enabled us to hold *Carnival Pride *in a fashion that
would be impossible on most traditional ships. The Master and staff captain
split the watches as did we two pilots. They handled the Azipods and we
steered the ship. The bridge team consisted of the captain, pilot, deck
officers, helmsmen, lookouts and cadets. In 50kts of wind we were able to
advance at approximately .2 kt. We could move laterally by putting the wind
slightly on either side of the bow. This was not easy as the wind would
gust through about 20 degrees left or right of its average direction.
During my watch the current was ebbing. We were able to advance back down
our track line stern first while still steering and powering up into the
wind! At 2100 I was relieved by the other pilot, and returned at 0300. At
2100 the average wind speed was in the low 60's from the NE. IRENE was ESE
of our position more than 100 miles away.

As the wind increased, it was necessary to add more power to steer the
ship. This caused *Carnival Pride *to move too far to the north and
approach the southern end of the ships anchored above us. The wind was
gusting into the low 80's. Finally, the bridge team let *Carnival
Pride*fall off the wind and drift south 3 nautical miles...wind on the
beam,
heeled over to port. At approximately 0145 the Captain decided to try and
anchor the ship. This was not an easy decision as *Carnival Pride's *anchors
are not as robust as one might find on a merchant cargo ship. They are made
to be dropped and heaved in relatively calm conditions. Also, because of
space constraints, her two windlasses are somewhat lacking in power.
However, if the anchor held, it would relieve some of the stress placed upon
those standing watch on the bridge. The anchor was dropped at 0210...it
held ...until 0550.

The wind was then blowing from the NW in the mid to upper 50's and we began
to move to the SE at about 1.2kts. We had anchored in 42 feet of water with
8 shots (720') of chain out. To the SE of us lay the deepwater channel on
the eastern side of the Bay. Years ago I watched a ship drag anchor into
the deep water cut off Cape Charles and its anchor pulled free, sending it
aground. Needless to say, I was uneasy about dragging into the deep water.
Again, the Azipods and bow thruster took some of the pressure off the
anchor, and we were able to hold the ship in position, 300 yards from the
drop off, until the wind began to abate around 1000.

At 1600, after a survey of the Baltimore appoach channels, USCG Captain of
the Port opened the Port of Baltimore to returning traffic. We were quite
pleased that *Carnival Pride *was invited to come first. At 1640 we were
underway for Baltimore, and "finished with engines" 3 hours and 20 minutes
later at South Locust Point.

The professionalism of the Captain and his crew is well worth noting.
That's my story. It was quite a night.

Bill Band"


Stay dry – Lee and Katia may make it wet for some…