Displaced Texan

You sir, should be beaten with a length of fire hose.

Hey, it was a great experience, and as a bonus, I learned how to make REAL gumbo, etoufee, and jambalaya!

When I lived in NJ, that’s how I had my stocks ‘pinned’. It meets the spirit of the law, in the respect that the stock cannot be adjusted. One would have to use tools to take the stock apart and change the LOP.

Or car manufacturers, because they make it easy to drive drunk.. Personal responsibility and accountability is dead in this country.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I used to work on the Mississippi River towboats, all the way from a deckhand to a pilot. A boat with a good sized tow was tough to maneuver, you had to plan well ahead for maneuvering. Stopping….that was another matter. Those big container ships make a towboat look easy. They sure as hell don’t stop, or turn, on a dime. Even with bow/stern thrusters.

Fairly normal. There is a high degree of automation on these ships, including engine room and bridge. Good for when a ship is on a long transit, bad when you have a causality, and things go to shit quickly.

Are we still on this Polynesian Meatloaf abomination?

I very seriously doubt this has anything to do with terrorism. 1) Harbor pilots are VERY seriously vetted, and highly trained. Not to mention extremely well paid. My experience knowing a few of them, and knowing how they are recruited and screened tells me that there is a slim to highly unlikely chance that a harbor pilot would have participated in anything like that. 2) Maintenance of foreign flag ships is well known to be dubious. Especially these days. These were NOT US flag, Jones act sailors. It was (to my understanding) a largely Indian crew on that ship, with a Ukrainian Captain. Indian crews are not exactly known for being stellar. 3) The bunkers (fuel) these ships use is ‘Bunker C’, which is a heavy, dirty fuel oil that can, and usually is, pretty contaminated. This stuff ain’t your car grade gasoline or diesel fuel. It’s nasty. It requires nearly constant filter changes and maintenance to the engine/generators. The ship took on fuel prior to departing port, which would stir up all kinds of shit in the fuel tanks, which would contribute to particulates in the fuel lines/filters. 4) I’d say the posting of the chief engineer for Maserek above was pretty spot on as far as chain of events. This was a shitty accident, with horrible timing and outcome. Not a terror attack.

There is a severe shortage of mud bugs this year.

I understand the tide was going out at the time of the accident. Tide/currents/wind plays a big role against big ships

Yes a pilot was on board, as is required.

I am hearing dirty bunker fuel caused this. Reportedly, the ship took on bunkers prior to leaving port.

I’d like to buy that Sheriff a beer.

Thankfully this didn’t happen during morning rush hour. This just goes to show that there are an incredible number of things that can go wrong, at the wrong time, when it is least expected.

I’ve been over that bridge dozens of times. Wow, scary. I don’t think this is terror related, though.

Kim is just another shitbag Dem, but slightly better than Murphy’s wife.

Howdy, and welcome to the forums!

If I prepayed, it would have been nearly $7/gallon. It’s a business trip so the company pays for it anyway.

You’re right about that…FACTS mean nothing to them. It’s all about the narrative.

Before heading to the airport yesterday, I filled up the rental car in San Jose, Ca….$5.20/gallon for regular, and $5.99/gallon for premium. Wow.