Diving in a shipping lane

[Skydiver1]

Hi all,

Was talking to a friend who was diving about 400m from a shipping lane.

If one navigates incorrectly and finds themselves in the shipping lane, I was wondering what is the range of "suction" from large props? Is the prop or the deep hull more likely to kill you?

 

[flyandive]

I'm curious too although, having been nearly run over by a cruise ship (long story for some other time). I think your ears will be bleeding before you get near the screws.

 

[RickyF]

A lot depends on the draft of the ship and the speed it is traveling. A large tanker probably draws 30+ feet of draft fully loaded. If you move that much mass at 5 kts in a 60' deep channel, you are going to pull a lot of water with it. Not a good idea to be anywhere close.

 

[clownfishsydney]

A friend was once diving the wreck of the SS Currajong in Sydney Harbour. This is right in the main incoming shipping channel. To do this dive, we normally do from the shore very early Saturday or Sunday morning and check that there are no incoming ships. He did not check and when down, a huge container ship went overhead. The top of the wreck is about 17 metres (say 56 feet) and the bottom about 27 metres (say 90 feet). He said that the noise and vibration (thump) was unbelievable. They dropped to the side of the wreck and hung on for dear life. He said there was some water movement but they managed to stay in place. Luckily the ship was only travelling slow as it is a narrow channel and there is a turn right at this spot.

 

[KD8NPB]

I've looked into diving Lake St. Clair near Detroit, which is a heavy shipping lane for ore vessels.

Drift hooks are a must ​for safety reasons.

 

[SnorkelLA]

A friend was once diving the wreck of the SS Currajong in Sydney Harbour. This is right in the main incoming shipping channel. To do this dive, we normally do from the shore very early Saturday or Sunday morning and check that there are no incoming ships. He did not check and when down, a huge container ship went overhead. The top of the wreck is about 17 metres (say 56 feet) and the bottom about 27 metres (say 90 feet). He said that the noise and vibration (thump) was unbelievable. They dropped to the side of the wreck and hung on for dear life. He said there was some water movement but they managed to stay in place. Luckily the ship was only travelling slow as it is a narrow channel and there is a turn right at this spot.

I can't imagine how terrifying that would be


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Skydiver1]

If you skip to the 2.00 in this video, you get an idea of the sound.

[video=youtube;z8__ve6QzGU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8__ve6QzGU[/video]

 

[flyandive]

If you skip to the 2.00 in this video, you get an idea of the sound.

[video=youtube;z8__ve6QzGU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8__ve6QzGU[/video]

Oh yeah, thats about right. Although it does not do the feeling justice; having your entire body repetitively pounded over and over again, the sand shaking, the ringing in your ears.

 

[Skydiver1]

Oh yeah, thats about right. Although it does not do the feeling justice; having your entire body repetitively pounded over and over again, the sand shaking, the ringing in your ears.

How did you end up under a cruise ship? At least the hulls aren't too deep on those, some hulls are around 20 meters deep.

 

[rongoodman]

I talked with a diver once on the St. Lawrence who liked to surf along the bottom of the river on the pressure wave generated by the big ore boats passing above. He said he got the idea from watching the fish being pushed around. We just missed having one pass over while we were on the barge America, which was disappointing. The big boats there can only draft 26', so they're quite a ways above you.