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- The latest issues: 327
Features
FOG & PILOTAGE
In fog. proceed with caution and obey the COLREGS! Photo: MAIB
Fog has always been one of the elements to cause most concern to the mariner, especially in coastal waters, and in the days before radar the prudent navigator would frequently stop or anchor and wait until the fog cleared before continuing on passage. Similarly, once in pilotage waters, pilots would also anchor and await clearer visibility rather than risk a collision or grounding by continuing on passage. Read the rest of this entry »
MARNIS & POADSS
As you will be aware, the UKMPA have been involved in the European Maritime Navigation Information Services (MarNIS) project for four years and EMPA have been the project leaders for the development of the Portable Operational Approach and Decision Support System (POADSS) which developed from the Innovative Portable Pilot Assistant (IPPA) project which ran from 2000 – 2003.
Our “front man” on the POADSS project has been Southampton pilot, Nigel Allen Read the rest of this entry »
THE PIVOT POINT?
THE PIVOT POINT?
BY HUGUES CAUVIER (QUEBEC PILOT)
Where will she pivot? Photo: JCB
From the day that an officer commences his apprenticeship, the traditional introduction to ship handling instils the concept of a ship’s pivot point into the new recruit. Every navigating officer is therefore aware that a ship pivots around a point approximately 1/3 from the bow when going ahead and 1/4 from the stern when proceeding astern. This knowledge could be proudly revealed to the examiner during the “orals” examination when pushing the battered old wooden ships around books on the examiner’s table. Well, you can now forget those lessons because Canadian pilot Hugues Cauvier has studied the principles involved and the following feature seeks to explain how, in many circumstances, our traditional understanding of the pivot point is incorrect and that an equally important factor is the “Centre of Lateral Resistance” (COLR).
This concept is well illustrated by Hugues using delightfully simple demonstrations involving basic models in a paddling pool on a video stream at the following link
http://ohlinthermotech.com/pivotpoint/
Research centres such as Wallingford and Marin should be afraid!
JCB
PS This article can also be downloaded in pdf format at the following link:
http://www.cpslc.com/understanding_the_pivot_point.pdf
Introduction
The following text brings forward a new understanding of the pivot point’s position shift while handling ships. The proposed method, based on simple physical principles acting in combination, also outlines the limitation of the term “pivot” used to qualify that point. We will start from a basic rule of the thumb, which has been the traditional understanding of the pivot point until recently, and step up to more complex levels giving better explanation of the real-life behaviour of rotating ships. Read the rest of this entry »
119th UKMPA CONFERENCE
In a departure from tradition in order to make attendance more attractive for delegates and their wives, it was decided at the 2006 Conference to move the date of the annual conference from November to May and to find a more central venue. UKMPA Section committee member and Tees pilot Peter Wylie is to be congratulated on finding the Crown Hotel at Harrogate and making all the necessary arrangements for what was a very well supported and successful conference. Having arrived at Harrogate on the eve of the conference the delegates naturally observed merchant navy tradition by merrily socialising and the Hotel catering staff also observed MN tradition by setting off the fire alarms at 0545 the following morning.
Needless to say, your normally fine and dapper representatives were looking decidedly the worse for wear as they shuffled outside to the muster point in the car park!! Of course, as professional seafarers, once fortified by breakfast they were all fully alert and attentive for the conference proceedings. The following is a brief outline of the agenda items discussed. The full minutes are available for members on the UKMPA website.
PROCEEDINGS Read the rest of this entry »
SQUAT: PART 2: MUD NAVIGATION & NEGATIVE UNDER KEEL CLEARANCE
Whilst wading through the various documents to produce the article on squat in the January issue, I came across several references to the linked topic of muddy water navigation and the concept of negative under keel clearance (UKC). Read the rest of this entry »
SHIP SQUAT PART 1:ARE WE OUT OF OUR DEPTH?
A tanker in a restricted channel. According to ship squat tables this tanker should be aground! Photo :JCB
PILOT GIGS OF CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES
THE PILOT GIGS OF CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES
The pilot gigs of the Isles of Scilly and Cornwall are totally unique six oared open boats which were used to ship pilots onto ships arriving of the South West approaches to the United Kingdom. This feature actually started as a review of a fascinating book that I found in the bookshelf of a holiday let in Cornwall. Titled : “Azook: The Story of the Pilot Gigs of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly 1666 – 1994”. Read the rest of this entry »
Crimson Mars Investigation
CRIMSON MARS GROUNDING
Read the full ATSB report www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2006/MAIR/pdf/mair227_001.pdf
One of the first lessons I was taught when training to pilot VLCC’s onto Single Buoy Moorings in Nigeria was the importance of checking that the helmsman put the wheel over as ordered Read the rest of this entry »
MAIB Report: Elbe Collision & Grounding
MAIB Report: Collision on the Elbe off Brunsbuttel Lock.
Vessels: Sunny Blossom, Arctic Ocean, Maritime Lady
Last December the MAIB released a report into a collision, subsequent sinking followed by another collision of the entrance to the Kiel Kanal off Brunsbuttel, all under the Elbe VTS control tower. Read the rest of this entry »
119th Conference 2006
CONFERENCE 2006
2006 saw delegates back in sunny Eastbourne for the 119th annual conference at the T&G centre. The following is a brief account of proceedings but the minutes of the proceedings will shortly be uploaded onto the members’ area of the UKMPA website along with the presentations made. Read the rest of this entry »
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