Container Ship Prevents Near Collision with Navy Tugboats

Early yesterday, an APL container ship dropped anchor in the Thimble Shoals shipping channel – near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel – just in time to avoid colliding with two Navy tugboats that were in the middle of a training exercise.

Coast Guard investigators found no damage after a thorough inspection of the vessels. The APL Oman [pictured in thumb image] crew was subsequently commended, along with an onboard harbor pilot, for successfully avoiding an accident. Again, there were no reported injuries or damage.

The tugs were towing a roll-on/roll-off ship and were crossing the bow of the Oman. According to the Coast Guard, the crew made the appropriate, instinctive decision to drop anchor, which ensured that the ship would stop faster.

The 902-foot Oman was transiting the 1,000-foot wide Thimble Shoals Channel for foreign trade purposes, which automatically requires the vessel to have a pilot onboard as they enter port. The Virginia Pilots Association is expected to guide ships into ports in the area.

The investigation into this near-miss is currently ongoing.

A separate APL container carrier was docked this week at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal, but it wasn't loading or unloading cargo. The company, last week, notified customers that the APL Pearl suffered an engine problem on departure from Port of Norfolk on August 15th, according to Virginia’s Daily Press. The ship is without main engine power and has to rely temporarily on the vessel's emergency generator. Apologizing for shipment delays, APL originally estimated that repairs would take about five days. The Pearl left Portsmouth on Tuesday, a day later than anticipated.