I’d been watching No.11Asomaru for a few days, wondering what the story was. It appeared to coexist with containership MOL Courage, the green symbol surrounding the smaller gray one. It did this screen grab Friday morning . . . yesterday. When I saw there was a Asomaru No.8 and it was a tugboat, I thought possibly there’d be a tugboat riding on the containers, and I made excuses to avoid work and zoomed out to the Narrows.
There I saw MOL Courage anchored, an unusual spot for a container ship.
Several Moran tugs were standing by with it.
When the MOL vessel headed in, I leaped into motion and followed it, hoping to catch a glance of the Japanese tug.
But I saw nothing, except containers.
Later in the day, I checked on MOL Courage in Port Elizabeth, and sure enough, the
gray icon for No.11Asomaru is still there.
Can anyone explain this signal? I saw a similar signal once before last fall . . . supposedly an unspecified vessel on a container ship, also in Port Elizabeth.
I’m puzzled.
Dd you catch my reference to leaping into motion . . . Sorry . . . I couldn’t pass up that opportunity, given today’s date. Previous leap days’ posts are here and here and here.
All photos, captures, leaping imagination here, WVD.
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February 29, 2020 at 3:20 pm
tugster
It’s just past 1500 Feb 29, and No.11Asomaru is the only signal at the SE corner of Port Elizabeth, even though if you search specifically for MOL Courage, it shows up in the same location. Hmm . . .
February 29, 2020 at 5:56 pm
Lucien Van Elsen
Here’s a bit of the mystery – the MMSI in Marinetraffic’s database, 431296000, is associated with No.11Asomaru:
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:662881/mmsi:431296000/vessel:NO.11ASOMARU/_:b3d5ca031dc4e54ef60199c30c2febe3
But in other databases (and, in marinetraffic’s a while back, from search history) MOL Courage has it:
https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/MOL-COURAGE-IMO-9321263-MMSI-431296000
So, I suspect it’s actually just the same AIS reports, but mapped to two different ships (based on the MMSI and IMO). Some bad/corrupted report may have made its way into the martinetraffic database, conflating the two in their web interface.
LVE
March 1, 2020 at 6:33 am
tugster
Thx, Lucien– Interestingly, this morning it shows up as nothing more than “cargo vessel” .
February 29, 2020 at 6:42 pm
Phil Little
Either that or look for a tug 500′ long and 3’wide between the MOL and the wall!! Oops! Shoulda’ been on the STARBOARD side, Cap!
March 1, 2020 at 6:34 am
tugster
Hi Phil– Starboard showed nothing but . . . containers and a lifeboat.
March 2, 2020 at 10:03 am
ws
Today, 3/2/2020, 10:00: No.11 Asomaru, and MOL Courage are East of Virginia Beach..
MOL Courage’s Cargo includes No.11 Asomaru’s AIS transponder?
March 9, 2020 at 7:37 am
tugster
Hunter D, laid up in Philly, is perennially lurking in the sixth boro, according to AIS.