2/21/2006: Shoe shore

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...



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.

and even thoguh police were around, they only intervened if a fight broke out.

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....

xoxoxoBruce wrote:

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.

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....

Cyclefrance wrote:

Has anyone told footfootfoot about this....?

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:

It'll put your eye out!

Two other examples was that car carrier from Japan that sunk, releasing floating Hondas in the Pacific. And another car carrier that littered the waters off Europe with Volvos, BMWs, and Mercedes. To some, it's only an insurance claim.

tw wrote:

Two other examples was that car carrier from Japan that sunk, releasing floating Hondas in the Pacific. And another car carrier that littered the waters off Europe with Volvos, BMWs, and Mercedes. To some, it's only an insurance claim.

The ship that sank in the English channel was the Tricolor. The company hired to recover the cars so that they can be destroyed (liability issues if those salted parts got on the market) put up a web site showing how the ship was recovered. This page shows pictures from the "cutting" portion of the task.
http://www.tricolorsalvage.com/pages/photo_close.asp?f=02Cutting

Here's a cross-section that includes the engine compartment.

Basically they saw the ship into sections with a steel cable and then lift them up. Neat!

This page has a neat animation of how the process worked.
http://www.tricolorsalvage.com/pages/infographic.asp

We ended up with alot of those plastic bath toys (rubber duckies, etc) back in '92. We actually find a bunch of really weird stuff washed up on our outer shores.

In case anyone is interested, the ship in question was the "P&O Nedlloyd Mondriaan".

Pancake Man wrote:

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

Here you go.

Heh - Reading the article on the rubber ducks, it's obvious the reporter doesn't know the difference between Flotsam and Jetsam. If it FALLS overboard, it's NOT Jetsam - Jetsam is THROWN overboard to lighten your load - aka it's intentional

Flotsam is the stuff that floats after you (or parts of your cargo) sinks - so the ducks are definately flotsam

Don't know of the word for stuff that falls overboard and sinks

Hey, if any of those wash up near the cliffs in England, would it be "Dover sole"?

Just asking...

Chris

Just great. Now all of The Netherlands smells like feet :vomit:

So

Sea shares shoes by the shoe shore?

CharlieG wrote:

...
Don't know of the word for stuff that falls overboard and sinks

Ballast.

BigV wrote:

Ballast.

I thought ballast was used for balance and stabilization...

things thrown overboard?? ~ litter. :right:

bal·last (băl'əst) pronunciation
n.

1. Heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship or the gondola of a balloon to enhance stability.

And when you chuck it overboard, it sinks.

I think that would be jetsam of which you speak. Flotsam being the same stuff which has yet to make it to shore. jetsam<––jetson<––jettison.

dar512 wrote:

Sea shares shoes by the shoe shore?

Aaaaaagh! :eek:

Isn't it the law of the sea that anything that washes up is fair game?

Karenv wrote:

Isn't it the law of the sea that anything that washes up is fair game?

Not always true. See Wikipedia's article on Ambergris:

In the United States, possession of any part of an endangered species — including ambergris that has washed ashore — is a violation of the Endangered Species Act of 1978.

There's probably other exceptions -- I just happened to remember this one.

Ambergris is found in lumps of various shapes and sizes, weighing from ½ oz (14 g) to 100 or more pounds (45 or more kg).

Depending on its quality, raw ambergris fetches approximately USD$20 per gram. In the United States, possession of any part of an endangered species — including ambergris that has washed ashore — is a violation of the Endangered Species Act of 1978.

So if a 1KG lump of Ambergris washes ashore, who gets to keep the $20,000?

footfootfoot wrote:

I think that would be jetsam of which you speak. Flotsam being the same stuff which has yet to make it to shore. jetsam<––jetson<––jettison.

It's JETSOM if you THROW it overboard (jettison it), but I'm not sure what it's called if it falls

Oopsie. ;)

CharlieG wrote:

It's JETSOM if you THROW it overboard (jettison it), but I'm not sure what it's called if it falls

You're right. If it falls, I guess you can call it an insurance claim ;)