by Diver Dan » August 7, 2017, 1:15 pm
Yes, freighters anchor in the Straits to wait on weather, but not in the area of the pipelines. The electrical cable that was once pulled up was a cable going to Mackinac Island from St Ignace, nowhere near the pipelines. A phone cable was once broken in the same manner. These were done in the old days when captains had to rely on paper charts and their own best guess as to their exact location, and they were taking shelter in the area between St Ignace and the Island. And the foreign ships that caught the cables did not have knowledgeable Great Lakes pilots aboard, as they do today.
Modern navigational equipment includes GPS chart plotters so the ships know precisely where they are when they go to anchor, and the pipelines and cables are clearly marked on the charts. The pipelines are also in the narrowest part of the Straits, and not in the better protected areas for anchoring, so I've never seen a large vessel anchor that close to the bridge.
For many wind directions, vessels anchor off St Ignace and to the north towards Rabbit Back Point, or east of Mackinaw City either near the mainland shore, or close to Bois Blanc Island, depending on wind direction. For strong south winds some vessels anchor west of McGulpin Point along the south shore. We sometimes have vessels hugging the north shore west of St Helena Island, to duck the north winds.
Where they anchor all depends on the ship's intended destination, and the wind forecast. If they choose the right location, they don't need to shift around with a change in wind direction. Otherwise, a vessel might start out anchored in one location, and then decide to move a few miles for better protection as the weather front blows by and the wind direction changes.
Today, the only way a ship could conceivably drop anchor on the pipeline is through incredible incompetence, possibly after a collision or other incident. We have Great Lakes pilots on board all foreign ships, and they know the proper places to anchor and the places to avoid, and they communicate by radio well in advance of passage through these restricted waters, to avoid meeting other ships in the tighter navigational areas.
Yes, freighters anchor in the Straits to wait on weather, but not in the area of the pipelines. The electrical cable that was once pulled up was a cable going to Mackinac Island from St Ignace, nowhere near the pipelines. A phone cable was once broken in the same manner. These were done in the old days when captains had to rely on paper charts and their own best guess as to their exact location, and they were taking shelter in the area between St Ignace and the Island. And the foreign ships that caught the cables did not have knowledgeable Great Lakes pilots aboard, as they do today.
Modern navigational equipment includes GPS chart plotters so the ships know precisely where they are when they go to anchor, and the pipelines and cables are clearly marked on the charts. The pipelines are also in the narrowest part of the Straits, and not in the better protected areas for anchoring, so I've never seen a large vessel anchor that close to the bridge.
For many wind directions, vessels anchor off St Ignace and to the north towards Rabbit Back Point, or east of Mackinaw City either near the mainland shore, or close to Bois Blanc Island, depending on wind direction. For strong south winds some vessels anchor west of McGulpin Point along the south shore. We sometimes have vessels hugging the north shore west of St Helena Island, to duck the north winds.
Where they anchor all depends on the ship's intended destination, and the wind forecast. If they choose the right location, they don't need to shift around with a change in wind direction. Otherwise, a vessel might start out anchored in one location, and then decide to move a few miles for better protection as the weather front blows by and the wind direction changes.
Today, the only way a ship could conceivably drop anchor on the pipeline is through incredible incompetence, possibly after a collision or other incident. We have Great Lakes pilots on board all foreign ships, and they know the proper places to anchor and the places to avoid, and they communicate by radio well in advance of passage through these restricted waters, to avoid meeting other ships in the tighter navigational areas.