You got that right! Pretty sure that line parted, and they are damned fortunate it did so that far back. Wire rope is baad juju when it goes, but nylon will kill you just as dead and just as quick.
It's a tow line. The vessel is an ocean-going tug. The captain pulled tension going far to fast, while the deck hands were trying to throw a snubbing line over the tow rope to constrain it's lateral movement and also as a safety measure. They're very lucky that the line broke so far away, and its tension was released mostly underwater - if it had broken close to the tug's stern, it would have whip-lashed their heads right off.
Starker here, they were attempting to move or tow the other vessel. I couldn't tell if it had run aground. But, really? That close with thousands of tons on the line! NFW, not me!
Don't think it broke, looks like tension finally lifted the tow line out of the water and it straightened out. Current looks to have been pulling the line to the left, until it cleared the water, then pop to straight. Either way, no one should have been on the aft deck.
First thing in my head, and almost yelled it when the crewmen wandered onto the rear deck. "Don't go near that line under load!" Our vessel worked with steel rope. You don't even want to be on deck at all if one of those parts...
I lived through a tow line howser breaking under way while working on the dredges in the Columbia River after My. Saint Helens blew. A hundred yards of inch and a half tow rope came flying into the back of the tug boat like a giant rubber band and tore the shit out of the steel railing and the back of the cabin. I was just quick enough to dive through the open door and watched the steel cabin walls buckling inches from my face. Not something I will ever forget.
As a newly graduated engineer, I was working for a company that designed the reentry system for the MX missile. We were testing a sling that picked up the missile to ensure that the proof load was at least 4 times the working load. We had steel cables connected to the "ring" that attached to the missile. During the test, one of the techs wandered into the test area. I yelled at him to stand behind the strongback in case anything failed. Well, the bolts holding one of the lifting points failed and a steel cable went whoosh-clang as it whipped across where he was standing into the strongback and removed an area of paint where the cable contacted the strongback.
I have not seen water recovery, but with every watching an Army M-88 recovery, I made sure my people were standing far enough and then some steps farther. The 1-inch cable from the front winch could do damage to a stand of big oak trees. At Fort Hood my company's M-578 crew had to lift another company's M-113 to get the TC's body out after a turnover. I was glad to be somewhere else.
Bad skipper, untrained deck hands. Death ship.
ReplyDeleteYou got that right! Pretty sure that line parted, and they are damned fortunate it did so that far back. Wire rope is baad juju when it goes, but nylon will kill you just as dead and just as quick.
DeleteWear your helmet they said! The good news is the helmet still was attached to the head. The head, sadly not.
ReplyDeleteOh Damn!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd the music sucks.....
ReplyDeleteIf that was a steel cable, his days of hat shopping would be over
ReplyDeletejust what was the intended purpose of the line over the stern?
ReplyDeleteIt's a tow line. The vessel is an ocean-going tug. The captain pulled tension going far to fast, while the deck hands were trying to throw a snubbing line over the tow rope to constrain it's lateral movement and also as a safety measure. They're very lucky that the line broke so far away, and its tension was released mostly underwater - if it had broken close to the tug's stern, it would have whip-lashed their heads right off.
DeleteStarker here, they were attempting to move or tow the other vessel. I couldn't tell if it had run aground. But, really? That close with thousands of tons on the line! NFW, not me!
DeleteDon't think it broke, looks like tension finally lifted the tow line out of the water and it straightened out. Current looks to have been pulling the line to the left, until it cleared the water, then pop to straight. Either way, no one should have been on the aft deck.
DeleteFirst thing in my head, and almost yelled it when the crewmen wandered onto the rear deck. "Don't go near that line under load!" Our vessel worked with steel rope. You don't even want to be on deck at all if one of those parts...
ReplyDeleteI lived through a tow line howser breaking under way while working on the dredges in the Columbia River after My. Saint Helens blew.
ReplyDeleteA hundred yards of inch and a half tow rope came flying into the back of the tug boat like a giant rubber band and tore the shit out of the steel railing and the back of the cabin. I was just quick enough to dive through the open door and watched the steel cabin walls buckling inches from my face. Not something I will ever forget.
So was someone killed here? It ended too quickly to tell
ReplyDeleteAs a newly graduated engineer, I was working for a company that designed the reentry system for the MX missile. We were testing a sling that picked up the missile to ensure that the proof load was at least 4 times the working load. We had steel cables connected to the "ring" that attached to the missile. During the test, one of the techs wandered into the test area. I yelled at him to stand behind the strongback in case anything failed. Well, the bolts holding one of the lifting points failed and a steel cable went whoosh-clang as it whipped across where he was standing into the strongback and removed an area of paint where the cable contacted the strongback.
ReplyDeleteAnyone ever see the results of an arresting cable snap?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuIbvX_B7sY
"Watch that line, Chief"
ReplyDeleteI have not seen water recovery, but with every watching an Army M-88 recovery, I made sure my people were standing far enough and then some steps farther. The 1-inch cable from the front winch could do damage to a stand of big oak trees. At Fort Hood my company's M-578 crew had to lift another company's M-113 to get the TC's body out after a turnover. I was glad to be somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteNo one should be on the stern deck with a towline under load. Stupid.
ReplyDelete