March 2021 Current Events

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > March 2021 Current Events

lightpole: Jun 4, 2004; I think that MBAs are useful, in case you are looking for an answer to the question of "Is lightpole a total fucking idiot".

Spoggerific posted:

I've heard comments elsewhere mention that the pilots in the Suez Canal are pretty corrupt and you can find yourself mysteriously losing places in queue if you don't bribe them with cartons of cigarettes or whatever. I don't suppose anyone here could tell their experiences of transiting the canal?

As a secondary question, do warships take on pilots when they transit canals or enter ports? Is the procedure different than it would be with a civilian vessel if they do?

You have to take like 2 pilots, an electrician, and a boat crew or something when you go through. Electrician checks the Suez light. You only let the pilots in the house and make sure to take off any brass fire nozzles and whatever else and stow them cause they will disappear.

Pilots and tugs get Marlboro Reds, its the basic currency for a lot of the world. Some countries, like India or Pakistan, will demand a bribe of some type and really gently caress with you if you don't. You pay a fee for the Suez crossing and I think you can pay up for a higher place in line. The pilots have some limited ability to gently caress with you though. If you gently caress with the tugs they will just go full astern with your $5000 line and snap it, hopefully without killing anyone, so its easier to just toss out a carton or two.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 16:37

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# ? Jun 7, 2024 09:01

LongDarkNight: Oct 25, 2010; It's like watching the collapse of Western civilization in fast forward.; Oven Wrangler

I'm not a boat person but this is an interesting explanation of something else that might have been a factor.

https://twitter.com/bhgreeley/status/1375065063560785923

# ? Mar 25, 2021 16:47

fknlo: Jul 6, 2009; Fun Shoe

I�m just picturing the car parts I ordered in November but still haven�t gotten being in one of the containers on that ship.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 16:55

RFC2324: Jun 7, 2012; http 418

fknlo posted:

I’m just picturing the car parts I ordered in November but still haven’t gotten being in one of the containers on that ship.

My first thought was to mentally check if I might have anything being shipped from China

# ? Mar 25, 2021 16:59

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

LongDarkNight posted:

I'm not a boat person but this is an interesting explanation of something else that might have been a factor.

https://twitter.com/bhgreeley/status/1375065063560785923

Ehhh... he lost me at "this was a walling".

I'm sure FV can offer a more considered opinion, but I just don't see that being as big a factor as the author wants.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:04

Mr. Nice!: Oct 13, 2005; bone shaking.
soul baking.

Bank effect plays a part, but it isn't the sole reason for the issue. It's just part of why the ship would have turned hard to starboard when it lost power. Bank effect is compensated for when driving, but once you lose power there's fuckall you can do.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:08

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

I mean, there were high gusts of wind. I don't see any reason to think that's not the primary cause at this point

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:17

boop the snoot: Jun 3, 2016

hobbesmaster posted:

I think the rumor was a blackout on the ship, so it would�ve lost control due to mechanical issues?

Was it connected to the Texas power grid or something

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:18

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

lightpole posted:

You have to take like 2 pilots, an electrician, and a boat crew or something when you go through. Electrician checks the Suez light. You only let the pilots in the house and make sure to take off any brass fire nozzles and whatever else and stow them cause they will disappear.

Pilots and tugs get Marlboro Reds, its the basic currency for a lot of the world. Some countries, like India or Pakistan, will demand a bribe of some type and really gently caress with you if you don't. You pay a fee for the Suez crossing and I think you can pay up for a higher place in line. The pilots have some limited ability to gently caress with you though. If you gently caress with the tugs they will just go full astern with your $5000 line and snap it, hopefully without killing anyone, so its easier to just toss out a carton or two.

Stuff like this is fascinating. Do experienced ships just have a locked trunk of Marlboro cartons somewhere? Wonder what connections a local would need to get a gig as a pilot.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:20

BIG HEADLINE: Jun 13, 2006; "Stand back, Ottawan ruffian, or face my lumens!"

As I recall, the bribes for warships are usually ship hats with "scrambled eggs" on the bill so the pilot gets to wear them and feel all :smug:

. Food, too.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:23

shame on an IGA: Apr 8, 2005

Hyrax Attack! posted:

Wonder what connections a local would need to get a gig as a pilot.

drat good ones, in the US they make around 600k

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:25

Crab Dad: Dec 28, 2002; behold i have tempered and refined thee, but not as silver; as CRAB

BIG HEADLINE posted:

As I recall, the bribes for warships are usually ship hats with "scrambled eggs" on the bill so the pilot gets to wear them and feel all . Food, too.

That�s exactly what we gave the pilots last month. Also those fuckers took their masks off and ignored the signs on places to go on the ship. Filthy fucks.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:26

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Hyrax Attack! posted:

Stuff like this is fascinating. Do experienced ships just have a locked trunk of Marlboro cartons somewhere? Wonder what connections a local would need to get a gig as a pilot.

More of a cupboard or storage locker tbh

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:27

Vincent Van Goatse: Nov 8, 2006; Enjoy every sandwich.; Smellrose

In summary: boats be complicated.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:29

NJersey: Dec 1, 2008

Mr. Nice! posted:

In another timeline this guy just goes full chaos Joker and starts carving holes into the ship with the excavator.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:31

Crab Dad: Dec 28, 2002; behold i have tempered and refined thee, but not as silver; as CRAB

We got a small room with nothing but left over shirts, hats and coins from prior crews. It�s all extra smalls usually.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:34

lightpole: Jun 4, 2004; I think that MBAs are useful, in case you are looking for an answer to the question of "Is lightpole a total fucking idiot".

Hyrax Attack! posted:

Stuff like this is fascinating. Do experienced ships just have a locked trunk of Marlboro cartons somewhere? Wonder what connections a local would need to get a gig as a pilot.

Whatever is in the slop chest. Vessel will carry a lot of cigarettes anyways cause half of the crew will be chain smoking. Booze can also be used but its not as common and is seen as more of an actual bribe while cigarettes are just presents between friends.

In places like Egypt those jobs go to connected people so pissing one off can bring in a lot of hurt if you aren't careful.

The company was trying to push us out of Karachi early before the cleaners could get on board and do any work. The cleaning company guy called his relation at the port and they just said we couldn't sail till they were done.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:34

CommieGIR: Aug 22, 2006; The blue glow is a feature, not a bug; Pillbug

hobbesmaster posted:

I think the rumor was a blackout on the ship, so it would�ve lost control due to mechanical issues?

Also the flow of the canal pushed it further into the dirt. Hydrodynamics are neat.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:40

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

There was an interesting article from 2012 about Puget Sound pilots.

quote:

At the pinnacle of their profession, pilots are the princes of the port, paid far more than captains of tugs, ferries and freighters. And that�s become a problem for shippers who pay the pilots� salaries.

Local pilots say they made about $343,000 last year, leaving them well below the national average of $407,000 and seeking a raise.

Shippers say total compensation was $467,000 per pilot when you include benefits, putting them in the top 1 percent of U.S. income earners. In an unusual bit of class warfare, shippers portray pilots as monopolists trying to pad their lavish wages.

�The rest of the 1 percent doesn�t get up at 3 a.m.,� counters Andy Coe, president of Puget Sound Pilots, �get on a little launch, climb up the side of a ship and take it to dock.�

quote:

In Puget Sound, pilot pay was long determined by a formula tied to inflation. All was calm.

But pilots wanted out in 2006. The economy was rolling, trade booming. Pay in San Francisco soared to nearly $500,000. (When it comes to their earnings, Bay Area pilots have compared themselves during rate hearings to surgeons and ballplayers.)

The Washington state commission granted a 24 percent increase in Puget Sound tariff rates, which pilots say shows just how underpaid they were.

Shippers see the future as a dangerous game of leapfrog. Pilots in Hawaii want Puget Sound wages; Puget Sound wants San Francisco pay, and so on.

To pilots, it�s parity. And, Puget Sound pay should be at, or near, the highest because of the region�s bad weather and large area. In sunny Los Angeles, pilots board ships just three miles from the dock, notes Harry Dudley, chairman of the state commission.

�I want the reputation as the best,� Coe says.

But shippers say there�s already an abundance of aspiring pilots in the local talent pool. Higher pay isn�t needed as a sweetener.

quote:

Commissioner Elsie Hulsizer said it was �disrespectful to the general public, 99 percent of whom don�t begin to get near them� in salary.

We get it, says Coe. �We understand we make a lot of money. We�re very much aware of what is going on in the economy.� Yet pilots still contend higher pay is in the public interest.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/puget-sound-pilots-job-of-risk-reward/

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:41

FrozenVent: May 1, 2009; The Boeing 737-200QC is the undisputed workhorse of the skies.

I doubt bank effect played a significant role, you�d have to be going pretty fast already. Suez Canal authority and the ship�s agents are all talking about high winds, there might also have been a blackout.

I don�t really see how anyone can sue Evergreen for lost ship time on that one, the company that owns the ship would just go bankrupt and move on if that did happen.

Anytime you see a talking head on tv opiniating about this, they�re talking out of their asses. The shipping people aren�t getting on tv because they�re all potentially parties to actions that could occur.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 17:49

CainFortea: Oct 15, 2004

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGXTrcQ5wm8

Here's the video linked to in that article, you can see it starting to hug the port side of the canal and then just turning full starboard.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 18:04

CommieGIR: Aug 22, 2006; The blue glow is a feature, not a bug; Pillbug

FrozenVent posted:

I doubt bank effect played a significant role, you�d have to be going pretty fast already. Suez Canal authority and the ship�s agents are all talking about high winds, there might also have been a blackout.

If you black out and lose the engine, bank effect can very much play a role, especially if you already have the speed. And that's exactly what it looks like happened. Lose engine, try to correct for the loss, gets sucked to the port bank and gets forced hard to starboard.

CommieGIR fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Mar 25, 2021

# ? Mar 25, 2021 18:07

ManMythLegend: Aug 18, 2003; I don't believe in anything, I'm just here for the violence.

Bank suction is for sure a factor. Looking at the reproduction of their track, and reading some other information, my assessment is:

1) They took a sustained gust of wind and set them to port hard.
2) The set wasn't compensated for enough and they got pulled harder to port by bank suction. I wouldn't be surprised if they actually bounced off the bank at this point.
3) They over corrected hard to starboard to try to recover.
4) If they went dark (I'm skeptical) it was here due to loss of seawater suction to their coolers due to clogging their seawater strainers and filters.
5) Due to momentum alone they were never going to recover from an over correction to starboard so they end up t-boning the right bank.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 18:23

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

CommieGIR posted:

If you black out and lose the engine, bank effect can very much play a role, especially if you already have the speed. And that's exactly what it looks like happened. Lose engine, try to correct for the loss, gets sucked to the port bank and gets forced hard to starboard.

I've seen nothing to suggest they lost the main though. Blacking out and loss of propulsion are two different things, and if they lost power and thereby steering while the rudder was already turned, that's much more likely to cause the ship to turn than some weird combination of bank and whatever.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 18:27

PeterCat: Apr 8, 2020; Believe women.

Biden just stated that 5,000 beds will be opened at Ft Bliss for immigrants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNH4Q_FsvSo

# ? Mar 25, 2021 18:43

facialimpediment: Feb 11, 2005; as the world turns

The door keeps getting opened a little bit more.

https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1375142596016807942

https://twitter.com/WindsorMann/status/1375142959839072260

Edit: The press corps is so loving stupid they asked him if he's running for reelection. They whine for months about no presser and they ask dumb bullshit like that?

facialimpediment fucked around with this message at 19:05 on Mar 25, 2021

# ? Mar 25, 2021 18:51

Vincent Van Goatse: Nov 8, 2006; Enjoy every sandwich.; Smellrose

If Biden is serious about emulating FDR, then running for reelection in 2024 is a good step because he's gonna be an octogenarian and FDR died in office.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 19:28

facialimpediment: Feb 11, 2005; as the world turns

Only other thing from the presser is more or less every time he was asked about gunchat, he pretty much pivoted to WHAT ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE JACK, GEORGIA'S LIKELY NEW VOTING LAW MAKES JIM CROW LOOK LIKE JIM EAGLE. So he probably won't let the democrats devolve into gunchat and torpedo other stuff from happening.

Yeah, he really said Jim Eagle.

https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1375147067975303168

He got zero press questions on COVID, by the way. Our media rules.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 19:32

Handsome Ralph: Sep 3, 2004; Oh boy, posting!
That's where I'm a Viking!

https://twitter.com/DEADLINE/status/1375151994365599745

:smith:

RIP to a real one.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 19:39

CRUSTY MINGE: Mar 30, 2011; Peggy Hill
Foot Connoisseur

At least she cracked 80.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 19:41

CommieGIR: Aug 22, 2006; The blue glow is a feature, not a bug; Pillbug

Handsome Ralph posted:

https://twitter.com/DEADLINE/status/1375151994365599745

RIP to a real one.

Archer is gonna be pissed

# ? Mar 25, 2021 19:43

Bored As Fuck: Jan 1, 2006; Fun Shoe

Handsome Ralph posted:

https://twitter.com/DEADLINE/status/1375151994365599745

RIP to a real one.

Aww.

At least she hit 80.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 19:48

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

Vincent Van Goatse posted:

If Biden is serious about emulating FDR, then running for reelection in 2024 is a good step because he's gonna be an octogenarian and FDR died in office.

FDR was 63 when he died. Would be interesting to see charts about advancing gerontocracy trends in the US.

# ? Mar 25, 2021 19:50