MV Clansman left Stornoway for its normal run to Stornoway this afternoon, but did a very strange turn-about at around 2.15pm, some 20 minutes after departure. This is the trace on AIS Stornoway. Anyone got any clue as to what went on?
Whale spotting? Maybe someone said 'We've forgotten the sandwiches .... oh, wait a minute, here they are!'
PS. you can get the photo to fit in the frame by editing the post in HTML view and changing the width and height attributes to 75% or so (might have to experiment as I've just guessed this).
I think the sat nav took the ship down a dead end shipping lane and it had to do a three point twisty in order to continue on its way? One hopes no other craft were cut up in the process, unlike many a cute thatched cottage on B roads down south!!!
I agree that it could be avoiding the vessel ahead but the marked alteration of course seems excessive from what can be gained from the trace. Bearing in main that not all vessels carry AIS could there be a smaller vessel (creel boat for instance) between the two displayed traces. The other consideration could be water depths, are there any underwater obstructions to be avoided in addition to the traffic?
Was it foggy? COLREGS for reduced visibility are quite different for COLREGS in visible visibility. And in fog it is all the more necessary to make early and large turns to make sure that the other vessel understands your intentions. There are numerous cases of radar-assisted collisions between vessels on contra-courses becaúse of too little, too late.
I caught sight of a ship coming in at 2.15, which looked like the MV Isle of Lewis, currently away for refit in Denmark. However, when I looked again, she had turned around and was recognisable as the Clansman. I could see no vessels in the vicinity, so my theory is that they couldn't find the fresh frying oil but located it behind the crockery, broken on my last trip 2 weeks ago.
Hyper, just for the record (as it obviously wasn't foggy), but - weeeell, you probably know this better than me, but a course alteration of 20 - 30 degrees is not necessarily going to show up very much on the radar screen, owing to the phenomenon of "relative motion". Maybe its different with aricraft zooming around at x 20 or x 30 the speed of a vessel?
Whale spotting? Maybe someone said 'We've forgotten the sandwiches .... oh, wait a minute, here they are!'
ReplyDeletePS. you can get the photo to fit in the frame by editing the post in HTML view and changing the width and height attributes to 75% or so (might have to experiment as I've just guessed this).
They saw something in the water? (a Goon Show mo')
ReplyDeleteTheir GPS went on the blink... how very strange. When will the usual ferry be back?
ReplyDelete@Les: I changed the width to 475, which fits perfectly.
ReplyDelete@Jill: The MV Isle of Lewis is due back any day now.
Looks okay with this size pic but if you do the trick on larger photos it's best to use percentages in both width and height to maintain proportion.
ReplyDeleteI think the sat nav took the ship down a dead end shipping lane and it had to do a three point twisty in order to continue on its way? One hopes no other craft were cut up in the process, unlike many a cute thatched cottage on B roads down south!!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like they need to avoid the oncoming Minna?
ReplyDeleteI agree that it could be avoiding the vessel ahead but the marked alteration of course seems excessive from what can be gained from the trace. Bearing in main that not all vessels carry AIS could there be a smaller vessel (creel boat for instance) between the two displayed traces. The other consideration could be water depths, are there any underwater obstructions to be avoided in addition to the traffic?
ReplyDeleteShucks, someone felt asleep at the wheel! Of course, it could have spotted a nuclear submarine blithely on a collision course.
ReplyDeleteWas it foggy? COLREGS for reduced visibility are quite different for COLREGS in visible visibility. And in fog it is all the more necessary to make early and large turns to make sure that the other vessel understands your intentions. There are numerous cases of radar-assisted collisions between vessels on contra-courses becaúse of too little, too late.
ReplyDeleteI caught sight of a ship coming in at 2.15, which looked like the MV Isle of Lewis, currently away for refit in Denmark. However, when I looked again, she had turned around and was recognisable as the Clansman. I could see no vessels in the vicinity, so my theory is that they couldn't find the fresh frying oil but located it behind the crockery, broken on my last trip 2 weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteLike I said, Hyperborean, I actually observed MV Clansman doing this loop-de-loop. Just as well we have MV Isle of Lewis back as of today.
ReplyDeleteHyper, just for the record (as it obviously wasn't foggy), but - weeeell, you probably know this better than me, but a course alteration of 20 - 30 degrees is not necessarily going to show up very much on the radar screen, owing to the phenomenon of "relative motion". Maybe its different with aricraft zooming around at x 20 or x 30 the speed of a vessel?
ReplyDelete