AlgoTitan Upbound at Lock 7 May 20 2024

All three of us managed to get in the best camera positions for the AlgoTitan as it crossed the basin from Lock 6 to Lock 7. If you are a regular viewer you will be familiar with the maneuver shown where the ship slides (scrapes) along the west side of the canal as it enters the Lock.
Todays chasers were Dan, Natasha and Emily.

[@gregmctevia5087]

Very nice piece.

[@ontarioshipchasers]

We're glad you enjoyed it! And thank you for your continued support!

[@RitzBitz96]

I don't know if they still do this, but I've heard that there used to be huge beams of wood attached to the sides of the canal for ships to slide against while doing this maneuver. My Opa used to work for the Seaway and when the beams would get worn down too much so that the nails were poking out, and they had to replace them, he'd bring the old ones home in a big truck and use them to make retaining walls in his garden.

[@ontarioshipchasers]

It's hard to see but in most of these areas where sliding (scraping) takes place there are long rubber blocks (maybe 8 ft long) mounted at the top edge. They take a beating because there are some missing. Thanks for watching!

[@Sarah-JaneR32]

Is the screeching loud ?
I now know why the ship is so battered with steering like that :) can’t do the bank any good, thanks for sharing

[@ontarioshipchasers]

It can be, sometimes its more of a low rumble or just a vibration. The Canadian lakers
have a reputation for being rustbuckets but each transit of the Welland Canal is 8 sets of scrapes, 16 for each round trip. The paint gets destroyed much faster than for a ship that only transits the Sault Lock between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. One of these days I hope to interview a Canal Pilot to find out why they almost always scrape even when the approach is funnel shaped like here. Thanks for watching!

[@edgar5608]

Thats really interesting to see. Never seen it done like that. It kinda makes sense. But if I were a crew member on a ship there, I´d be a bit upset. It really destroys the paint job. And to me it seems to be unnecessary, since the ship apparently got a Bow Thruster and two Screws, and its not that big. So it should be possible to avoid most of that scraping. I mean some is inevitable, but in most places in the world its only on the last meters inside the lock, and not for such a distance. But who knows maybe its one of those ships that just handle terrible because of design flaws, and they dont have a choice.

[@ontarioshipchasers]

I think the issue is for most of the freighters is that they are almost seaway-max in terms of width. They only have a foot or so on each side compared to the inside width of the locks. On most of the Welland Canal Locks there is one canal wall which aligns with the side of the Lock, the other canal wall is substantially out of alignment and there is a blunt structure. Even if you are a really good helmsman all it takes is one encounter with the blunt side of the lock entrance to ruin your day (and your bow!). Therefore most ships that are close to the maximum width choose to sacrifice some paint to ensure they won't contact the blunt side. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching!

[@edgar5608]

@@ontarioshipchasersthat makes sence. Ive watched some other Videos of yours and I also noted the lack of fendering on the other side, and also that the locks are basically maxed out. So after all it seems to be a good Solution.