2/21/2006: Shoe shore
 

http://cellar.org/2006/shoes1.jpg

We Make Money Not Art finds this item, which actually took place on Feb. 10th. A container ship carrying shoes, hamburgers and toys from Asia, lost a bunch of its containers off the coast of the Netherlands. Some of the containers opened. And pretty soon...

http://cellar.org/2006/shoes2.jpg

Dutch articles 1, 2 document the event. From the very rough translations, it seems like people came and took what they wanted; and even though police were around, they only intervened if a fight broke out.

I remember reading of a scientist who studies ocean currents by noting where ships would lose cargo in a storm, and then watching to see what beach the cargo would wash up on. Apparently this sort of thing always makes the news, and so do the insurance claims for cargo ships. He could piece a lot of information together, and started making predictions. Like, "shoes will begin washing up on the beaches of Baja California on March 12th."

Wait. Hamburgers?

maybe those little WhiteCastle frozen jobbies?

Looking at that just makes me want to walk away....

Has anyone told footfootfoot about this....?

So...the cops didn't try to 'shoe' them away? :headshake

I was hoping to find pictures of the actual ship this came from. This Cargo Law webpage has lots of modern shipping disaster images on it. It's a fun place to poke around. I just wish they would learn how to convert GIFs to JPEGs. It takes forever to load.

Here'a a ship that is not connected to the spilled shoes in any way, but it's typical of the images that can be found at this website I linked.

Hundreds of cargo containers get washed overboard ever year. I can't figure out how they get broken open. They aren't air/water tight, so they should just sink and not be crushed by pressure.

They're still waiting for the rubber duckies spilled in the Pacific in 1992, to break out of the artic ice pack and make their way down to New England.

They shouldn't, beachcombing and maritime salvage are time honored traditions.

The hamburgers must be from Australia or New Zealand, I don't think they make burgers from Kobe beef. :headshake

And I still can't find shoes for less than $80....

Must be the containers get ripped open when they go flying off the ship. Container falls to the ocean floor and the floaty bits wash up on shore.

Containers are only strong in the corners. The panels, top and bottom especially, are relatively weak. Concentrated force, say the corner of another container, applied at the right point will open them up like a ginsu knike on a tin can.

Here's a picture of a storm encountered by a container ship, and here's the damage as it arrived in port. You can see at least one container with a failed door latch. Others are tipped over and crushed. Probably split open. I think mitheral is right that they can bash into each other.

Anything that hit the deck or a substantial area on the railing from 40-50 ft. would prolly be extensively damaged. At least enough to breech the closures.

I've seen a container dropped from a container crane at Ga. Ports Authority to emphasize safety hazards years ago while working w/ a local union out of Savannah.

HOCKATAYOW. (hock-a-tie-yow) Like a beer can.

AIRTIGHT? I recall a news article from last summer about a passle of immigrants dying in one of these. I can't find it now for the life of me. (too damn lazy, to be frank). Could have been from heat exhaustion, tho....

I'm so there there there!

finders keepers; losers weepers.

nyah! :lol:

It is cool that the police used their common sense and let the people pick up the "litter."
I have often thought about moving to the Netherlands, this is just one more reason to...


And this of course...:bong: