Erm. Isn’t there something missing

I noted from the press blurb that it can cut through a metre of ice and makes almost no noise.

Our new ferry, the Loch Seaforth, is also very quiet and leaves almost no wake. As I regularly row in the vicinity of Stornoway harbour this is very noticeable. In fact a passing small trawler leaves much more swell in its wake.

Can one of you learned gentlemen tell me how this is achieved and if it’s possible to replicate this in a model without just running very slowly? Is there a design feature or is it just down to speed?

Steve

Hi All,

Yes that's what I thought

Must be lots of superstructure still to attach I hope , we all know it's real name

Regards Ray

just by pure luck I was down in Liverpool on the day and saw her launch……..was a magnificent sight seeing her take to the waters………….must be lucky………my third ship launch………..most people never see one in their lives except on tv.

Not this time Colin , I found a nice shoe-box in the loft, just the right starting point… Ashley

Technological miracle – marine engineering of the highest degree, but looking at it makes me glad I was born in 1944. I would never have gone to sea if they were all like that. Things like that leave me cold – If I was leaving school today, there is no way I would have wanted to go to sea. Not that I could have anyway – not clever enough to qualify in the skills required to work monstrosities like that (thank goodness)

Give me a Castle any day – Here is the last large passenger steamer – in which I sailed, RMS Edinbugh Castle, 27,000 gross tons. I took the photograph from RMMV Good Hope Castle as we left Southampton and never saw her again, as she sailed for scrap soon after.

Bob

I doubt it very much. The present ships are so short-handed, it can be very lonely aboard as everyone is either asleep or on duty. Can't even enjoy a drink any more! The majority of Post War steamships did not have coal firing, they were oil. Steamships have virtually gone now, being replaced by diesels or diesel electric. Rose-tinted glasses didn't work for me. Having spent 11 years on the old St. Helena (completed in 1963), we all transferred to the new one in 1990. far more comfortable physically, but far more complicated techinically, and after two years, I couldn't stand it any longer and took voluntary redundancy at the age of 48, after 31 years at sea. I don't believe there is much enjoyment at sea nowadays, even British seamen have been dispensed with. The present generation of cruise ships are no more than self-propelled accommodation barges and are far too high. They are perfectly stable, as long as they are in one piece. But get a hole in them, and a bit of water, and over they go. If Costa Concordia had been in the open sea, it would have turned upside down, fortunatey it has some land to lean on. If any of them ever catches fire, I doubt if they will be able to get thousands of people off safely. No doubt that Boaty MacBoatface is a technological miracle, but I would never dream of sailing in it. Neither would I ever risk sailing in one of the big tall cruise ships. If I were leaving school today, I would not even consider going to sea. But if I had my time over, I would still be happy to sail in most of the ships that I did. The worst ones did not even have running water in the cabins and two of them had oil lamps to save money when the generators were turned off in port, but the job was well within all our capabilities, we had no pressure from the office, and were generally just left to get on with things. Apart from anything else, modern certificates of competance are well beyond my mental abilities. Here we are in 1962 aboard the collier Wandswoth – a happy bunch of "simple seamen." I am on the left.

Bob

Edited By Bob Wilson on 02/10/2018 15:00:28

Edited By Bob Wilson on 02/10/2018 15:01:45

Obviously the designers have no idea what it is like at sea. All ships break down from time to time, so what happens if it stops in the middle of the Pacfic or Atlantic. Pirates will love it as well – not going to happen in the near future – engines are not reliable enough to function on their own for days and weeks on end! As for watchkeepers dozing off in the channel on auto pilot, I don't believe it for one moment – the place is too busy for anyone to let that happen. Often hear of single-handed yachts saying they were nearly moved down by big ship that had no-one on watch. How does a little yacht manage to see into the bridge of a big ship that might be 60 or 70 feet wide? I sailed with one captain who left orders that whenever a yacht was sighted, make a point of waving to it and enetering it in the log to counter these common accusations! On my last arrival in cape Town on a passenger liner, I was fast asleep at about 0500 when I was wakened by a frantic banging on my door. I found a hystreical passenger with mad staring eyes screaming that we were heading for the rocks, the wheelhouse was in darkness, and there was no-one there. I told him it was a load of rubbish and set off for the bridge with him in hot pursuit. One entering, we found the chief officer pacing across the wheelhose wide-awake. Of course it was in darkness – always is at night or you couldn't see out. The lights of Cape Town were spread across the horizon, still miles away. Next morning at breakfast the captain remarked with some amusement on the row I was kicking up as I passed his door. I asked him why he didn't come out. He said "you appeared to be dealing with it OK on your own!" I also demanded of the passenger that when he thought we were in grave and imminent danger, why did he pass down a short alleyway with only three cabins doors in it, passing Captain, Chief Officer and then choosing me, the Radio Officer to save us all from imminent destruction!

What we had to put up with – Best of luck with your unmanned ships – Ha Ha Ha.

Bob

I bow to your superior knowledge! but am willing to learn. Give me the name of one of these drone ships, plus details of their size, length, and tonnage and type of cargo carried. How do you get to the broken down ship in 6 hours when it is in the middle of the Pacific, or even Atlantic in a storm force 10? I spent a number of uncomfortable days on a disabled passenger ship off the trade routes following a serious fire on Halloween night, 1984. It was days before the salvage tug found us. We were towed to Dakar, West Africa and that took another week. It took a full month before were were fit for sea again! My last ship, a passenger liner, fresh out from the builders yard, suffered a broken cranshaft toward the end of her maiden voyage. When I joined for voyage two, I spent three months aboard in Falmouth whilst they cut a hole in the side of the ship and put a new engine in!

Bob.

For your interest, I put the following question on Facebook in All At Sea:

What do you all think about the possibilities of unmanned cargo ships going deep sea without a single person aboard? Are modern engines so reliable that they never break down? Are communications via satellites and computers so reliable that they can handle the normal hazards of the sea? Just asking – I don't think they will happen for many years, and certainly do not claim to have any knowledge apart from the fact that it just doesn't seem feasible (or sensible) to me at the moment.

**LINK**

A large proporttion of those who answer will be highly qualified in all aspects of shipping, not only in the past, but in the present.

Bob