Safe Boating

Give commercial vessels their space

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“Wow! What’s that, Dad?” your son asks as you cruise down the bay. Heading up to the Port of Providence you see a huge tanker. Where is it coming from and what is it carrying? Oil tankers are about 900-feet long and draw about 25 to 35 feet. They must stay in the channel, since just outside the channel it is only about 20-feet deep. That is why they have the right of way – even over sailboats – in the channel heading up to Providence. If they were forced out even a little they would be aground. The channel is only about 200-feet wide in some places, but some of the tankers are 80 to over 100-feet wide, so there is not much wiggle room. Where are these big ships coming from? They often come from Venezuela, the North Sea, or even the Mid-East. Quite an adventure for their crews with weeks at sea through good weather and bad. An oil tanker may carry a crew of 25, always busy with chipping, painting, maintenance, repairs, paperwork, etc. while underway. For their few off-hours, there is a crew lounge where they watch movies etc. When they reach their destination, it’s time to offload the oil. First, paperwork must be done. They are required to verify that the amount of oil that was loaded in Venezuela is the same as the amount they are now carrying. Often, oil sampling is done to make sure there are no contaminants. The lines have to be constantly adjusted as the ship becomes lighter with the transfer of oil, and the load must be kept balanced as they empty the various tanks. Every operation is closely monitored and logs are kept. Offloading may take 12 hours, and some of the crew stocks up on groceries and water, so no time is wasted before they are off for their next load. They are away from home for many months.

Besides tankers, you are likely to catch a glimpse of some tugs pulling barges, also loaded with thousands of gallons of fuel oil bound for Providence. The tug may be 70 to 200 feet, pulling a 400 to 800-foot barge behind it, perhaps with a 100-foot towline. In rough offshore water, the towline is lengthened to many hundred feet, but as the tug approaches the bay, it is shortened and as it enters calmer waters of the lower bay, the tug drops the line and maneuvers “into the notch” in the stern of the barge. It lines up big pistons with holes in the notch and becomes one with the barge for better control going up the bay in the channel.

New style tugs, called ATB’s (articulated tugboats), remain in the notch most of the time unless there are extreme seas. Tugs run from Galveston to New York, up the Hudson River, or to Providence, Maine, etc. Their crews generally are two weeks on and two weeks off, and work seven days a week, six hours on and six hours off, alternately. There are also “assist tugs” whose job it is to help large vessels to maneuver. To become a tugboat or barge crew, you have to show 365 days of sea time and have an able bodied seaman license.

These vessels we share the bay with are hard-working commercial vessels with special maneuverability needs. An oil tanker may take over 2000 feet to stop! Enjoy watching them, but make sure you steer clear of them.

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