HMCS Yellowknife passing under the Megler Brdige:
And in the mix today off Astoria , our wonderful pilot boat, the Connor Foss. ❤️
Such a fun afternoon on the Astoria waterfront, with the Rose Festival Fleet passing by. Here is one of the Canadian Navy ships and one of the ship assist tugs that helped the USS Montgomery dock in Astoria, passing each other near the Megler Bridge:
Good shipwatching day: the bulk carrier Lowlands Angel coming into Astoria to anchor. Eventually she'll head to Portland to load Potash for export.
USNS Mercy
Today's shipwatching moment: USNS Mercy passing Astoria. ❤️ Rainy out there! 🥰 She's headed to the Swan Island shipyard for maintenance and repairs.
Today's shipwatching moment: the car carrier Indiana Highway on her way to Portland from Japan, carrying Toyotas. These car carriers look a bit ungainly but they are seaworthy, fast ships. They can carry 5-6,000 vehicles. In the maritime industry, this type of ship is called a RO-RO: Roll on, Roll off. ❤️
Holy guacamole... it's snowing in Astoria! ❤️🥰❤️
The Carnival Panorama going under the Megler Bridge. I think.
For your amusement. The Carnival Panorama going under the Megler Bridge. I think. Thank you, river fog. Just so you know I tried. 🥰
Well, here is some admittedly not very good video of the Panorama going under the Megler Bridge. It was still dark, street light glare, my old iPhone. Note to self for 2024: learn more about video and get better equipment.
But here she is, doing what she could not do originally: going under a fixed bridge, minus funnel, with I think a tugboat off her stern.
Ebb current on the Columbia
This short clip shows how deceptive the river can be. From a distance it looks calm. But look closely at the movement of water in this video. The river is moving like a giant flowing mass heading for the sea. The massive power of rivers.
Apologies: the first time I uploaded the video it didn't take. Here it is below: 🥰
Today's shipwatching moment: a container ship passes by the Astoria waterfront on the way to the sea.
Running alongside is the pilot boat, assisting in a crucial maneuver that occurs every time a ship passes: a pilot exchange.
When a ship approches Astoria from either up or downriver, a pilot boards.
There is already a pilot on board taking the ship to Astoria. Both a river pilot and a bar pilot are on board briefly together so they can confer.
Then, in this case, the river pilot climbs down the pilot ladder and the pilot boat takes him or her back to shore. The bar pilot stays with the ship till it exits the mouth of the river, 17 miles downstream.
For an inbound ship, the bar pilot departs, and the river pilot continues upriver.
But the critical area where pilot transfers occur is right here, off Astoria. ❤️
Shipwatching moment: the Star Kilimanjaro passing Astoria on her way to Vancouver, WA, with a delivery of wind turbine parts. ❤️
A video of the outbound MSC Katie taken from the Megler Bridge, sent by Kelsey Beseda Cody:
Here's my video of the MSC Katie passing under the Megler Bridge outbound today. She is so much bigger than the previous ship! If you look at my previous post just before this one, you'll see an standard bulk carrier that was a short distance ahead of the Katie. with the brodge for comparison, it really shows how much bigger this ship is.
I stood out in the drizzle for about half an hour today, waiting for the MSC Katie to come by. As luck would have it, a loaded bulk carrier came by outbound, so I took a video of her going under the bridge. Then I took another video of the Katie in that same spot soon after. I thought it might give you an idea of the relative size of these two ships, which are both large.
I don't think Facebook will allow me to post two videos in one post, so see the post after this one for comparison to the Katie. This is the Emma Oldendorff.
Lindsey Hall shared this video of our giant container ship the MSC Katie, meeting an outbound car carrier in the channel on her way to the Port of Portland.
Jordan Benning sent this video of the MSC Katie.
Video of the MSC Katie from Elizabeth Engel:
MIsha O'Neill sent this video of the MSC Katie:
MSC Katie
MSC Katie passing Astoria!
