Is that ship still stuck? • Hacker News Board

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#161

Post by eliseumds » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:07 PM UTC

londons_explore wrote: post #89

6nf wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only about the center third of the channel is actually deep enough for this massive ship. Both ends of the ship is stuck in several meters of sand. So far they've only managed get two bulldozers on to try and dig it out but progress is slow.

Kind of amazing that in 48 hours, an event happens that threatens one of Egypts major income streams and political power sources, and the maximum they can spare is 2 bulldozers... Like why not call in the army, rent every bulldozer in the district, and within 12 hours you'll have 30 on site and be able to move a lot of sand quickly to free it?

They know they have a monopoly. There are no viable alternative routes, so they just don't care enough.

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#162

Post by WWWWH » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:07 PM UTC

Tenoke wrote: post #71

_the_inflator wrote: post #54

Looking at how stuck the ship is, this could also be a new terrorist vector to attack the channel via such a „derailed“ ship.

It does legitimately seem like you can do tremendous damage by derailing a few ships in the right spots. Bringing bombs or other small ships or something else seems doable for a terrorist organization on the face of it.

Wasn’t this the plot of an Ian Banks novel? Canal dreams. Imagine die hard, with the Bruce Willis part being a middle-aged, female, Japanese cellist.

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#163

Post by dang » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:07 PM UTC

Recent and related:

Suez canal blocked by a massive ship - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26560319 - March 2021 (419 comments)

Also ongoing:

It 'Might Take Weeks' to Free Ship Stuck in Suez Canal - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26585480 - March 2021 (23 comments)

Suez Canal: How are they trying to free the Ever Given? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26586278 - March 2021 (44 comments)

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#164

Post by nomy99 » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:07 PM UTC

blhack wrote: post #39

I don't think people are giving enough credit to how stuck the ship is. Look at some of the photos of the front of it. Look at how far out of the water it is sitting. The ship might look like that if it were totally empty, but not when it is full of containers like this. Some people saying: just drag it off of the sand. Okay! And what happens when that causes you to rip a hole into the hull of the ship? Now it's real…

People think I'm joking but we should bomb it to smithereens. The crater would probably just fill up with the water flow.

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#165

Post by eCa » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:07 PM UTC

qbasic_forever wrote: post #68

Comedy option, what wacky cold war era aircraft do we have capable of lifting massive loads like a container ship? Perhaps an enormous fleet of Chinook helicopters could take it straight up?

If I understand [1] properly, the Chinook can lift 13 tons[2].

The Evergiven's maximum weight is 200000 tons. So that would be 15000+ Chinooks lifting it. A sight to behold.

Added: Only about 1200 were ever produced, so that won't fly.

[1] https://www.army.mil/article/137584/ch_47_chinook_helicopter

[2] 26000 pounds

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#166

Post by johnchristopher » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:08 PM UTC

xbar wrote: post #124

Denvercoder9 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nine women can't make a baby in a month. Some things just take time, regardless of how much resources you throw at it.

That's not exactly the problem here.

You can dance on your head as hard as you can but nine women won't make a baby in one month.

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#167

Post by smiley1437 » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:08 PM UTC

panzagl wrote: post #17

ksec wrote: post #8

~15% of the World's trade is dependent on it and this is taking much longer than expected. Why?

It's stuck like a couch in a stairwell.

Pivot!

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#168

Post by blhack » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:08 PM UTC

gm3dmo wrote: post #122

6nf wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest choppers in the world can only lift about 20 tonnes. 20 foot containers max gross is 25 tonnes, and 40 foot containers even more.

Typically an empty 20 foot shipping container weighs between 1.8-2.2 metric tonnes (about 3,970 - 4,850 lb) and an empty 40 foot shipping container weighs 3.8 - 4.2 tonne (8,340 - 9,260 lb) depending on what kind of container it is. For example, high cube containers tend to be heavier.

Why would these containers be empty?

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#169

Post by 01100011 » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:08 PM UTC

blhack wrote: post #39

I don't think people are giving enough credit to how stuck the ship is. Look at some of the photos of the front of it. Look at how far out of the water it is sitting. The ship might look like that if it were totally empty, but not when it is full of containers like this. Some people saying: just drag it off of the sand. Okay! And what happens when that causes you to rip a hole into the hull of the ship? Now it's real…

Could you build a temporary barrier around the ship and the section of the canal, bring in some massive pumps, and temporarily raise the water level around the ship?

Edit: Something like this https://www.hydrologicalsolutions.com/aqua-barrier-cofferdam...

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#170

Post by artificial » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:08 PM UTC

electrotype wrote: post #112

Genuine question: why not simply pull its back in the reverse direction it was going, until its front is unstuck?

Both ends are jammed now.