Backing Down Heina

“Backing down” is a term I’ve heard used to describe a ship assist in which the tugboats control the sternwise movement of a vessel away from a dock.  Most of the work here seems to be tide current driven, if I saw it right.

Let’s pick this up at 16:28 hrs.

The evolution waits for incoming traffic, in this case Seoul Express, which I watched getting backed down half a decade ago here and here.  Margaret Moran was involved that time as well.

At 16:49, Seoul Express, accompanied by Kirby Moran, is passing and Margaret throttles up, catching

the attention of a crew member on the superstructure of Seoul Express.

 

 

By 16:51, Heina is well away from the dock, and now

James D.Moran needs to get the stern out, but I’m not well placed to capture that.

Margaret moves around to the bulb.  I love how the load markings mimic the tug profile.

By 16:58, Heina is at least two ship lengths east of the salt dock, and

by 17:07, Heina has begun to rotate counterclockwise in preparation to head under the VZ Bridge out to sea.  By now, she’s south of the Bahamas.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, to whose untrained eyes this all seemed to evolve with masterful control.

As to the meaning of “heina,” try this.