Is that ship still stuck? • Hacker News Board

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#121

Post by gizmo385 » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:00 PM UTC

blhack wrote: post #107

leesec wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dumb question but what about heavy lift helicopters moving containers off 1 by 1?

There are 20,000 containers on the ship. Assuming you needed to remove 1/4 of those containers to get it to rise far enough to get off of the sand, you need to move 5000 containers. Assume that it takes 5 minute to connect a bridle to a container, hook it to a helicopter, and move it...and then also assume that the helicopters can run 24/7 and never have to refuel, that they can hot swap in pilots, and that there is…

You'd also need a helicopter than can lift containers that heavy, which might be a long shot.

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#122

Post by gm3dmo » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:00 PM UTC

6nf wrote: post #93

leesec wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dumb question but what about heavy lift helicopters moving containers off 1 by 1?

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.

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#123

Post by nabla9 » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:01 PM UTC

ksec wrote: post #8

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

~30% of World container traffic goes trough it.

Many bulk carriers exceed Suezmax limits and can't go trough.

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#124

Post by xbar » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:01 PM UTC

Denvercoder9 wrote: post #46

ksec wrote: post #8

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

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.

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#125

Post by bigfudge » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:01 PM UTC

postingawayonhn wrote: post #98

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…

Unloading is feasible, it would just take a couple of weeks. They just need a floating crane on each side and some barges to take the containers away.

Is there a reason they couldn't have a smaller crane on board and dump them over the side. Surely even losing the cargo would be cheaper than keeping it blocked at this point?

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#126

Post by munk-a » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:01 PM UTC

qbasic_forever wrote: post #104

munk-a wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be amazed if the density of weight on the ship is such that an arbitrarily large fleet of Chinooks could actually safely accomplish this. And helicopters flying in a dense formation under strain is quite likely to result in a lot of really big problems.

The rotor wash beneath it all would be breathtaking.. and might blow all the water out of the canal. :)

Somebody get Randall Munroe on the phone - I think we've found the next What-If topic.

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#127

Post by mcdevilkiller » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:01 PM UTC

postingawayonhn wrote: post #98

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…

Unloading is feasible, it would just take a couple of weeks. They just need a floating crane on each side and some barges to take the containers away.

Plus a couple of weeks to get the cranes there, I guess.

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#128

Post by blhack » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:01 PM UTC

postingawayonhn wrote: post #98

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…

Unloading is feasible, it would just take a couple of weeks. They just need a floating crane on each side and some barges to take the containers away.

Maybe. That's a lot of barges. Remember that you then have to go and unload the barges, and there are 20,000 containers.

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#129

Post by tomc1985 » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:01 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…

The pictures I've seen completely hide the ship's bulbous bow. It juts out seemingly like 50 feet from the front of the bow that you can see. It looks like all of that is wedged in the sand

Re: Is that ship still stuck?

#130

Post by tempestn » Thu, Mar 25, 2021, 10:02 PM UTC

postingawayonhn wrote: post #98

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…

Unloading is feasible, it would just take a couple of weeks. They just need a floating crane on each side and some barges to take the containers away.

I read that there aren't any tall enough cranes in that area to do it, so they're considering unloading some containers by helicopter.