Rough sea can be a surprise
Cargo securing for the economically minded This is post number 23 in a series of cargo securing advice and useful hints. These are meant for people who think economically. They do not like to waste time, muscle power, risk their health or pay fines.
If you have cargo onboard, rough sea can be a surprise. Last time I wrote about trailers on sea. If we go deeper into the situation onboard a vessel it might give you a picture how things can go wrong. The waves, their speed, length and height, differ certain in sea areas. Therefore, the IMO Rules have different limits for Baltic Sea, North Sea and the unrestricted areas. You can find them in the previous post (nr. 22).
- In Baltic Sea the shallow waters close to shore cause the bigger waves to rise in height, they become short and high instead of long and low. Additionally, the local wind direction might be different than for the waves that have travelled a long distance. It results in that waves in different directions interfere. On board this can be noticed as sudden jumps and excessive rolling. Rolling feels like a sideways movement for the cargo onboard and by far the most important to secure properly.
- When sailing in deeper waters the long waves, swells, are in majority, but they can be rather high. The wavelength might be even bigger than the ship length. This causes surge and heave.
Drive safely,