Dealing with the tanker or freighter

Learn to sail like a pro when you know the safest way to deal with one of the sea’s great monsters, the tanker or freighter. If you cruise along the coast or offshore, you may encounter these behemoths day and night, in fair weather or foul...

Look straight up at the bow of a large ship moored inside any harbor in the world. Freeboard--or the distance from the water to the bow--can be dozens of feet. As a matter of fact, the distance from the water to the deck of some Navy aircraft carriers will be 90 feet or more!

Beam Aboard and Assume the Watch

Now, let’s do something different. Remember those old Star Trek movies? Imagine that you beam yourself up to the bridge (control center) of one of these sea monsters. Put yourself into a deck officer’s uniform and assume the watch at sea. Look at the illustration above. The ship’s tall bow blocks part of your visibility.

Note how far aft the ship’s superstructure lies relative to the bow. Cargo ships are often built similar to this to keep the forward decks open for freight and storage. Deck watch officers stand watch from the bridge, high up off the deck. The bow blocks their view of targets close aboard.

The ship’s officer will be unable to see any objects inside the ‘blind spot’ (yellow-shaded area) forward of the bow. On ships with extreme freeboard, this can be several hundred yards. The small sailboat crossing the bow would never be seen. And in the event of a collision, the impact might not be felt or heard!

Play Defense to Arrive Alive

“The blind spot ahead of the bow can be thousands of feet in the case of deep draft container ships” -- Houston/Galveston Navigation Safety Advisory Committee

In past newsletters, we have written about the importance of drift bearings and the rate of drift. When you first visually sight a target, take a bearing with a handbearing compass or swing the bow of your boat toward the vessel and take a magnetic bearing.

Write the bearing down. Note the spot along the ship where you shot the bearing (bow, beam, mast, superstructure, stern). Wait two to three minutes and take a second bearing to the same spot along the ship as before. Take a third bearing two to three minutes after the second bearing (if time permits).

Compare the bearings. You want a separation of at least 3 degrees, and all bearings must be increasing or decreasing in the same direction (for example, 010, 014, 017, or 128, 124, 120). More than three degrees of bearing separation indicates a lower risk of collision. Less than three degrees between successive bearings shows a higher risk of collision.

If you show little to no change in bearing drift, take action now to avoid collision. Right now, do not hesitate! At all times, remember that displacement sailboats, with their lower speeds, are the slower boats in almost every potential collision situation.

Take action early and make that action significant (the Rules call this ‘substantial’). Avoid incremental course changes. Remember to keep in mind what the other vessel ‘sees’ on their radar. A substantial course change will leave no doubt in the mind of the officer on watch on the other ship about what you are doing. I cannot over-emphasize this often-forgotten factor enough.

Try to visualize what the skipper on the other boat sees (or does not see). Never assume. The #1 element leading to collisions throughout maritime history is confusion. Nothing else comes close. One or both skippers (licensed or not) were confused as to their understanding of what the other was doing. So, whatever action you take, make sure it is crystal clear to the other vessel so they are not confused.

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Fair Winds...

Captain John

www.skippertips.com