Here’s one more reason, as if you needed it, to stay out of the way of big cargo ships.
The Coast Guard just issued a safety bulletin warning mariners about a growing number of huge bulk carriers arriving in the United States carrying wind turbine parts that are so large they limit visibility from the ship’s bridge.
This brings to mind the already daunting vision of huge cargo ships navigating both Atlantic and Pacific ports filled with recreational boats, from Seattle and San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale and New York. Cruising up or down Delaware Bay has always been a non-favorite of mine, since it seems I end up dodging huge tankers in the channel there whether I’ve been on my 8-knot Grand Banks or an 80-mph Cigarette.
The point is that cargo ships, even in the best of circumstances, pose a potential problem for recreational boaters since they don’t exactly have the ability to stop on a dime or change course like an Olympic mogul skier.
Now, it turns out, the Coast Guard is concerned that many ships carrying wind turbine parts have been given special dispensation that temporarily exempts them from complying with the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea regulation that sets the standards for visibility from the bridge.
In some cases, the Coast Guard says, some ships have received these dispensations “despite the vessel’s intended voyage requiring substantial transit within restricted navigational channels and confined inland waterways with congested maritime traffic.”
The Coast Guard says that any dispensation letters do not exempt vessels from complying with U.S. requirements on navigation bridge visibility found in Title 33 Code of Federal Regulations. But the Captain of the Port can authorize a deviation from the rules if the deviation doesn’t impair the vessel’s safe navigation and the rules for preventing collisions at sea.
What all this means for you is easy: No matter what kind of boat you’re on, big or small, fast or slow, stay out of the way of big ships. They can’t stop very well, they can’t maneuver quickly, and now they may not even see you. Read more:
