Ever Forward March 20, 2022 Update: We Are Going To Need a Bigger Dredge

Ever Forward March 20, 2022 Update: We Are Going To Need a Bigger Dredge

What's Going on With Shipping
March 20, 2022

On this episode of What's Going on With Shipping, Sal Mercogliano - former merchant mariner and maritime historian at Campbell University - updates the situation regarding the grounding of MV Ever Forward, which departed Baltimore on March 13, 2022 enroute to Norfolk. The video provides the latest information on the grounding of the vessel and the plans released by Evergreen on the proposed salvage of the ship using dredges. We also discussed the previous large marine salvage in Chesapeake Bay when USS Missouri went aground for two weeks in 1950 departing Norfolk. The final element examines the proposed salvage plan, raises issues with the lack of sufficient dredges on place, communication from Evergreen Marine, and the failure to adequately provide sufficient infrastructure in the area of dredging and salvage for US ports.

NOTE: I do MATH in this episode and my degree is in HISTORY so any errors are my own!

#EverForward #Dredge #grounding #Chesapeake #supplychain #container #containership #infrastructure #Evergreen #Baltimore #Norfolk #USSMissouri

00:00 Ever Forward Grounding Recap
04:10 Evergreen Plan to Refloat Ever Forward
09:38 USS Missouri 1950 Grounding in the Chesapeake
11:38 Week 1 Progress on Salvage
12:47 Ramifications due to Ever Forward Grounding
18:07 How Long Will It Take to Dredge and What Damage to Ever Forward

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John Scott-Railton MV Ever Forward AIS Animation Video

Marine Traffic: MV Ever Forward

Evergreen has plan to refloat Ever Forward

Rescue Plan Designed for Ever Forward Ship Stuck in Chesapeake Bay

USS Missouri Salvage Report

Evergreen Line

Ever Forward Aground Status Update #2

Maritime Safety Innovation Lab

Dredge Oyster Bay

Dredge Dale Pyatt

Dredging Contractors of America

Dredging Act of 1904 today
46 U.S. Code 55109

[RusskiCommieBot]

We need some new names for the next class of Ever Ships. Ever Stuck, Ever Grounded, Ever InaPickle, Ever Sideways, Ever Mucked, Ever Beached, Ever Bottomed, Ever Onland.

[lloydprunier]

I think it is important to take weight off the top first. Removing fuel and other ballast will just magnify the top heavy situation and could be a big disaster like the Golden Ray!

[robertf]

Thank you for the update Sal.

I would be very surprised if Ever Forward is refloated and is NOT found to have serious damage to her bottom. Compared to Battleship Missouri, a modern merchantman like E.F. is an eggshell. Missouri grounded on a sand shoal, maybe even more "forgiving" than the mud E.F. buried herself in. I would expect Evergreen Shipping is looking around for a yard capable of getting this ship out of the water to set her bottom to rights.

The report regarding the condition of her propeller (no damage) tells me that someone had the presence of mind to call "All Stop" before she got deep into the mud. I know from experience that prop blades are fairly easy to bang up to the point where they lose efficiency, the prop shaft be bent or twisted and shaft bearings be damaged.

I agree with you 100% about the need to treat our ports infrastructure as a national security issue. I am disappointed that there are so few marine salvage companies with the wherewithal to quickly move on accidents like this. I am reminded of the very fast responses companies like R.J. Corman make when there are major railroad accidents, first major response on scene within six hours and often the wreckage cleared and the tracks rebuilt and reopened within 72 hours. Time is money after all, and a train (or merchant ship) not moving is losing big money.

[tedspradley]

At last, a subject in which I have extensive expertise. I owned and operated several large draglines not unlike the one on the barge. A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. 1, 500, 000 cubic feet / 27 cu ft / cu yard ~= 55, 000 cubic yards. 55, 000 cu yds / 15 cu yds/bucketload = 3700 bucketloads. 3700 bucketloads x 4 minutes / bucketload = 14, 800 minutes / 60 minutes ~= 250 hours ~= 10 days. Four minutes per bucket is a pretty long cycle. Cut it in half, 5 days.

[rickymherbert]

My last command was a marine aggregates dredger with a scraper bucket discharge system and we had two buckets in that set-up bigger than the one on the "dredger" standing by the Ever Forward. 😂 Fully understand your frustration at the lack of anything constructive happening, as you say the lack of containment booms is very questionable and definately agree it's going to take more than just dredging to get her off.

[overwatch]

Great video professor.
In Charleston, SC, there's big vacuum dredges working on the port of Charleston right now. Hopefully, the coast guard is making arrangements now. People need to know that when the government moves, it moves at the speed of government. Which is slower than molasses in the winter, also an important factor to note here. The federal government is dead broke.

[Franklin-pcxd]

Great update. They really should be just offloading containers in any way possible - even just onezie-twozie, whatever - while they are figuring out the salvage strategy. Emergency offloading boxes from these huge container ships while at sea is something they need to be incorporating in future designs. It may be as simple as strengthening vertical framing so that temporary gantries can be inserted.

[tomwaite]

Excellent report....the toxic mud at this location will indeed extend the refloating effort of the ship. You may want to look at the dredge study of the Sparrows Point Basin for full understanding how contaminated the bottom at this location.
Again GREAT reporting

[robertlevine]

Sal,

My career as a naval architect was spent working with tankers. I know little about container ships. My first question would be whether or not the ship has high sea suctions for cooling water? If the ship has only seachests near the bottom of the vessel they are going to suck a lot of mud into their heat exchangers. Loss of cooling would be inevitable. If they have high suctions then cooling may be possible.

I would be interested to know how they are currently getting their power? This would give a clue as to whether or not there is a high suction. If they are using the emergency generator then there is no high suction. If they are using their main generators there's probably a high suction.

You might try contacting Herbert Engineering, they developed HECSALV, a computer program for use in doing stability and damage stability calculations. The USCG used HECSALV for their own analysis in emergencies. The last time I had knowledge of HECSALV was about 10 years ago. Herbert also did a lot of container ship work.

[thomasconley]

Frightening to know how unprepared the country is for anything out of the ordinary. What's more frightening is how minuscule the average American has about what happens on the sea and with ships and shipping.

[JamesMcGillis]

You can sound cranky, Sal, but this time you are right on. This incident should be dealt with as a major health, safety, environmental and security issue. Where is the Secretary of Transportation?

[jdoutdoors]

Thanks for the update, as a Marylander and Bay sportsman I am following this very closely. I agree that they should deploy booms ahead of any inadvertent oil/fuel release, it would take years to mitigate this event, and cause a significant impact to our crab/fish industries. Our Waterman that fish/crab this prized estuary for generations would likely vanish.

[atenas]

Just a lay person here - I really appreciate you explaining the process of these situations - I see the pictures and stories on the general media, but it is shallow compared to the depth you add - Thanks!

[waltergammell]

This highlights a problem, which Sal keeps bring up, and has plagued the US for some time, the Government has gotten away from areas they should be/are responsible for and inserted themselves into areas that are best left to local authorities and the private sector.

[PlanetFrosty]

Wait a minute, Sal! I mentioned trained hard shell crabs, obviously rejected, but what about labs! We’ve had several Labrador Retrievers and a couple were divers and all were diggers! Maybe not! I’m starting to think of very “organic” solutions.

[maxmacdonald]

I am wondering what kind of hurdles the EPA will put in front of this salvage job?

[alexandermckay]

I really don't understand this. It's extremely obvious to Sal what the issues are, why hasn't anyone else said anything? Especially Smitt who would be very expert in all the issues. I would have thought that they, at least, would have leapt into action once they got the contract. Is there some sort of green light process that needs to occur before anything gets done?

[davidgellatly]

P.S. Standard bureaucratic procedure is to never make a decision you don't have to.

[davidgellatly]

The current delay is, at least now, a function of bureaucratic politics and not operational capability. The time required to get a bureaucratic decision, never a fast process, increases exponentially with the number of participants. Everybody has to have a say in the both the process and the decision; and probably everybody has to agree before any action can be taken. Think about how long it took to get the Golden Ray operation started. That is the benchmark.

[champ]

Oh yeah. Everforward. Ha! This is the EVERSTUCK. This thing is going to be there for months. Terrific analysis. So many details. Good luck everybody.