Reasons why cruise ships and naval vessels are not on scene yet

[fishnfla]

I spoke with a client who is in USCG. I asked her if she was being sent to NO. She said of course, she's in 'aids to navigation' division, all the channel markers were wiped out and they'd be shipping out soon.

D'uh, then it hit me like a ton of bricks I should know from experience. The waterways after the storm are not safe at all for navigation. The are full of hazzards, flotsom and jetsom (I love those words), entire sandbars disappear, and new ones are made, the channel markers, which are very important for big ships to mark the deeper water are not there.

She had alot to say about her friends that were piloting choppers, but why waste it in a thread that will sink like a rock.

[justabob]

1. Thanks for pointing that out nt

[Bonobo]

2. Boy, you wonder how the world was explored 500 years ago with all those

dangerous sandbars and unknown thingies in the water. I guess you're right.

[acmejack]

4. If you knew anything about marine navigation you wouldn't be so flip

Under the best of conditions, transit to NO was a bear. Without channel navigation aids, any ship would be in danger of running aground.

Once aground, it would be a major evolution getting the channel cleared again. It is much better to get the markers back in place prior to attempting a transit.

As for your remark, you might consider the difference between a 70 foot long ship displacing 300 tons and a modern ship, a small example of which would displace at least 10 times as much and be 400 foot long. It would draw considerably more water too.

Just an old sailor's opinion.

[DinahMoeHum]

3. Bingo! That's what I've been saying for a few posts.

BTW, this is why the Norfolk, Mayport FL and other naval bases along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts order the vessels out to sea in the event of a hurricane threat. Damage in their areas affect commercial shipping as well.

:shrug:

[tjdee]

5. You know what? I'm sick of excuses. I really am.

I can appreciate what you're saying.

However, I'm not sure I care.

This hurricane wasn't a surprise. There have been hurricanes before. This is 2005, not 1941.

They should find a way. These commanders, chiefs, etc. make a lot of money. George Bush makes 400,000 of our dollars yearly. Figure something out and stop giving people excuses. Fuck that. Figure something out.

Geez, they don't even have to bring a ship right into a NO port. Just close enough for helicopters to go in and out.

[fishnfla]

6. Its not an excuse . Its common sense

something which seems to be in short supply in all phases of the situation.

the hurricane was not a surprise, its true they should've known. They have NO WAY of knowing what it did to the waterways besides this: navigation is extremely dangerous

[halobeam]

8. When we navigate waters in foreign countries, like during the war

I would bet they don't have markers. These ships could be in deep waters and send smaller boats for very shallow waters to pick up and drop off people, couldn't they? It just doesn't seem right.

Maybe if we had intelligent and articulate leaders explaining every avenue of consideration during their press conferences instead of just standing there congratulating each other on what a fine job they are doing, we would all have a better understanding (not just the people who have experience in the waterways).

Just a few thoughts.

[fishnfla]

9. The waterways are charted and marked even by GPS world wide

but the storm messes up the bottom, the storm surge pushes water and in shallow water it pushes sand. Ship gets stuck, it needs a rescue mission

and now that I think about it, with the currents, the bottom is unstable for awhile after a storm.

[tjdee]

10. That may be so....

and again, I do understand your point. I'm just frustrated that we keep hearing all of these reasons people weren't being helped, and you know, it doesn't matter.

Maybe they couldn't have gotten the ships there (and I still don't understand why they're even bothering with the ships if the situation is as you say) but they could have done *something*. Which they didn't.

[Aunt Anti-bush]

7. Although it does make sense,

it doesn't make me feel any better. You know, if my neighbor was in her house and it was burning down, it'd be dangerous for me to try to save her, but damn if I wouldn't run right in and do what needed to be done. Our USCG is trained for such things, I would imagine, and at a time like this when everything is so critical, you'd think they would have been dispatched immediately and have already been in there, navigating through the dangerous spots so they could get in where they need to be to save lives.