Two Cargo Ships Don’t Flinch as They Collide Head-On in a Canal

Sometimes, we’ve run into days where we just wish that we could go back to sleep. Perhaps, that intuition that struck, telling us to keep our heads rested on the pillow before we pulled the covers back might’ve been right. For those responsible for piloting these cargo ships, perhaps staying in bed was exactly what the doctor ordered.

In a video posted on July 15 from Marine and Offshore Institute on Facebook, we check in with a rather awkward situation. A couple of ships that could have been seen from miles away in the water ended up getting into a tight spot with one another. As they approached each other on Welland Canal, they would eventually strike. The sound that the situation created really shot straight through our spines.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) delivered a statement that the collision occurred near Port Robinson just before 4 PM on Saturday. They say that the collision is under investigation but the navigation conditions were normal.

We aren’t quite sure how something like this could happen. After all, there is seemingly endless technology available to avoid dangerous situations like this. We’re certainly no experts and all of our opinions here are purely from a novice point of view. However, we would think that something as simple as a call on the radio could’ve prevented something like this from happening.

In either scenario, somebody on the shoreline saw this coming and decided to pull out the old camera. Once they started recording, we couldn’t help but cringe inside a little bit as the ships collide with one another. At the end of the day, the banged-up nature of these vessels leads us to believe that they come in contact with something every once in a while. However, it’s hard to say if this damage is substantial enough to put one of the ships out of commission.

The video down below shows off the blunder that these crews would probably like to soon put behind them.

https://www.facebook.com/MaritimeAndOffshoreInstitute/videos/288353382369370