Why Do MASSIVE Ships Play Chicken?

-------------------ABOUT THIS VIDEO-------------------
In this video, we investigate the shipping manoeuvre used in the Houston Ship Channel, the Texas Chicken.

The Texas Chicken uses the interaction forces between two vessels and the banks of the channel to allow large ships to safely pass.

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[PaulFisher]

0:18: “they will collide and annihilate each other” I think this specific outcome only happens if you have one car and one antimatter car.

[netsailor]

There is some reason special channel pilots are required in places like the Kiel Kanal.

[predator]

I've seen this first hand as a deck cadet on a container ship. It was scary first time I saw it, but then I learned its standard procedure.

[mikeflowerdew]

The same thing can happen with narrowboats in canals (this is in the UK), and this would be an extremely useful tutorial for that. It was quite a shock the first time the bow started to pull out after passing another boat, and I wasn't expecting it 😄 Thankfully the stakes are a bit lower when your boat is "only" 60 feet long and moving dead slow, it's all part of the fun really

[tireballastserviceofflorid]

It's funny to see this video title. I lived on St. Thomas for 11 years. Used to listen to my marine radio for fun. You would hear the same argument weekly between some Russian capitan and another say Philippineo. The Russian guy would start by being stupidly rude informing the other ship to move or else. The other ship would say I have the right of way. Then usually the Russian would go full speed while cusing in Russian screaming on the radio. Eventually the coast guard would chime in and inform them both to adjust course and to shut up. This was weekly if not more often.

[wrenchdoozer]

Is this done by pilots from the local authorities who know the channel, or are individual ships expected to have personnel able to do this?

[rando]

I never knew that this was a maneuver that ships took. The more you know I guess.

[Michaelonyoutub]

I actually expected from the title for this video to mention the Halifax explosion in 1917 where two ships in halifax tried to use the narrow channel, one leaving the port, one entering, at the same time, which lead to both playing chicken and inevitably crashing into each other. One of the ships was packed full of explosive to be shipped to France for WW1 so when the ship crashed and exploded it leveled the city.

[avramnovorra]

I never knew about this careful, coordinated dance but damn it is impressive to know that everyone involved in a Texas Chicken is participating in a calculated move.. now i can look and sound clever in front of my peers in thee vent we see 2 ships pulling this off

[Bill_N_ATX]

I remember seeing this as a kid growing up along the Ship Channel. It’s only 550 feet wide and watching these tanks go at each other was amazing. One note how ever. They do screw up occasionally. It doesn’t happen often though. The Houston Pilots are very, very good. Especially those that take ships up The Buffalo Bayou past the Lynchburg Ferry and into the area of the Turning basin. It’s twenty miles of refineries and chemical plants, with a few car carriers thrown in for good luck. The majority of the container traffic goes to one of two large container facilities that are off the Trinity Bay and not so far up the channel.

[stevebeamer]

My wife's uncle was a pilot in NY harbor. He had told me about this maneuver and also stated that it would increase the depth of the canal enough for both ships to pass each other even if either side of the channel wasn't quite deep enough for them to get out of the channel.

[TomClarke]

I learned this stuff at the Great Lakes maritime academy, so it was interesting seeing a video talking about these hydrodynamic forces.

[womble]

It's the same for going under Potter heigham Bridge. You gun the engine and water pressure keeps you straight. You can't steer because the stern needs to move in the opposite direction and would hit the bridge. In a cross wind speed is essential.

[chuckhood]

I performed the Texas Chicken once as the OOD on USS SAN JACINTO (CG 56) while visiting Houston. While we regularly deal with some of these effects during underway replenishments, it is not something naval vessels would normally practice. We did simulator training on the maneuver prior to the visit. Briefed the maneuver during the entering and exiting Nav Briefs and discussed with the pilots in both instances. On the outbound we did encounter another vessel in the channel and had to perform the Chicken. While a little unnerving for those new to it, it obviously worked as intended.

[matthewjohnson]

Me, a Houstonian seeing CasNav talk about our ship channel. "YEEHAAWWW!!!"

[RupertFoulmouth]

Does it make a significant difference if one ship is particularly longer than the other?

[danielguy]

This reminds me that one notable winner of a prize going to the oddest published book title of the year was 'How to Avoid Huge Ships'.
This is probably puzzling to this channel's creator, for whom it would seem a perfectly sensible subject and title.

[lingSpeed]

Night driving on unlit 1.5 way roads (barely enough for 2 cars to pass each other) kind of works the same. There is a force pulling the cars together - natural human tendency to steer toward a reference point if no other points are visible (related to tunnelvision). So making way "the last second" works out better.

Not advising playing chicken here, that's bad ofc. But if you make room too early it can make the other driver take more road, even if he did not intend it.

[montikore]

I don't even like the ocean in person and I'm here learning about bank effect at midnight on a Saturday. How did I get here? No one will ever know, but I can't leave now!

[Chelo]

This is the best, most informative and easiest to understand explanation of "ships go turny turny in channels" I've ever had the pleasure of receiving.
Thank you so much for the vídeo! You've earned my subscription <3