Grounded freighter....

...just south of Baltimore on the Chesapeake Bay.
This is the same company that had one blocked the Suez Canal a year ago.
Not the same ship.

Marine Traffic link.

News Link

Huh. The news report said the shore pilot was on board. I wonder how it happened?

On a somewhat related note, a Norwegian Cruise Line ship went aground yesterday in the Caribbean, supposedly due to high winds. It has been re-floated and they are back in Puerto Plata, assessing damage to the vessel. Link

You cannot move a freighter anywhere on the bay w/o a pilot.
Extra low tides may have contributed.

My wife has been spending a lot of time in Cocoa beach on business.
( I have been forced to come down to keep her company. )
Norwegian Escape is one of the regular cruise ships in and out of there.

OK, I didn't know about that.

Watched ship go past my home and noted that it had almost full load, by number of containers, but didn't seem low in water - perhaps empty containers? The ship channel has several slight doglegs to starboard and, at the last turn between red markers 14 and 16, the ship simply went straight. Speed went from 13 to zero as it ran from 50 feet deep channel into 24 feet, she draws 42! Still hasn't been disclosed whether human error or mechanical. She is outside the channel so traffic not impacted. Tidal change here is not nearly enough to help refloat.

Nolan North

Ever Forward going nowhere.
Still stuck in the unforgiving Chesapeake Bay mud.

Ever Forward

What is sad is there is product on that ship that someone is in desperate need. The week (or more) long delays at the port are bad enough. This is truly awful.

They are off-loading the containers, in the hope that lightening the ship will help get it off the bottom. What a mess!

They lighten the load and got a break with a higher than normal tide and she broke free yesterday.
Towed to holding area near Annapolis to access any damage.

I saw that they finally got her loose. Good news, finally.

Last week the Coast Guard announced their finds on this grounding.
Pilot was found responsible and his license revolved.

Here is a link:
Coast Guard findings.