Cougar Ace

[snopes]

Comment: http://opendomain.blogspot.com/2006/...e-listing.html and http://www.bymnews.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=110 both claim to have photos of a ship, the Cougar Ace. Apparently it was carrying Mazdas? Looks mighty photoshopped to me. Can you confirm or deny this urban legend?

[JoeBentley]

It's true. The ship is the M/V Cougar Ace, a 652 feet long, Singapore flagged, Roll On/Roll Off cargo ship owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines.

On July 23, 2006 while en route from Japan to Vancouver, she suffered a malfunction in her ballast control system and soon developed a severe 80 degree list. The US Coast Guard successfully rescued the 23 crew members the next day.

4,700 vehicles were on the ship, mostly Mazda3s, Mazda CX-7s, Mazda RX-8s, and Mazda MX-5s, with a total value of around 117 million.

Sadly on July 31, 2006 Marty Johnson, an employee of Titan Salvage, which had been hired by Mitsui to aid the Cougar Ace, fell to his death fell during salvage operations on the Cougar Ace.

The ship was towed to nearby Ulalaska Island where it was righted, then to Portland Oregon for inspection and repair.

Mazda reported little to no damage to the vehicles stored in the Cougar Ace, and intititally reported plans to go ahead and sell the vehicles as new, but eventually reported that it would scrap all the vehicles.

The Cougar Ace was eventually repaired, and returned to normal service.

Links:

Seattle Times

Death of Marty Johnson

US Coast Guard Report, includes many pictures of the incident and the salvage operation. In fact the pictures linked in the OP seem to be credited here as Coast Guard Pictures

Titan Salvage page about the Cougar Ace salvage operation

The day-by-day account is in this On line Mag, starts on page 58!

[callee]

For those interested in a slightly fictionalised version, Farley Mowat's book The Serpent's Coil is all about the similar experiences of the liberty ship Leicester as it tried to cross the atlantic in 1948.

[Malruhn]

I have several friends that worked the Cougar Ace case. It was pretty interesting in that it didn't officially "sink".

Originally Posted by Malruhn

I have several friends that worked the Cougar Ace case. It was pretty interesting in that it didn't officially "sink".

I don't follow that last sentence. The Cougar Ace DID NOT sink, so what are you getting at?

[Troberg]

Given the technical problems I've had with Mazdas, my guess is that the captain was trying to be a hero and scuttle his ship and cargo.

What I find interesting about the pictures is how little of a ship that's actually under water. Normally, the water line is between the red line (empty) and the green line (full). That's a lot of steel above the water line and little below.

Huh, I was expecting to see this photo when I opened the thread:




I guess the fact that so little of the Cougar Ace actually went below the water line even when it was turned completely on its side is a testament to the design of these monstrous ships.

[Griffin2020]

Anyone know what the story is behind Gutter Monkey's picture?

[Ravenhull]

Originally Posted by Griffin2020

Anyone know what the story is behind Gutter Monkey's picture?

Looks like a Ferry to me. Not sure if it was a standard carrier, or if it was carrying merchandise. Hard to tell the way they are packed that tight (with the one in the back sideways).

Originally Posted by Troberg

Given the technical problems I've had with Mazdas, my guess is that the captain was trying to be a hero and scuttle his ship and cargo.

What I find interesting about the pictures is how little of a ship that's actually under water. Normally, the water line is between the red line (empty) and the green line (full). That's a lot of steel above the water line and little below.

There is also a lot of air above water. These ships are just big boxes and all the real weight is low down, so they are quite stable even with such a small draft.

[Troberg]

There is also a lot of air above water. These ships are just big boxes and all the real weight is low down, so they are quite stable even with such a small draft.

I know, it just looks wrong.

It's like when I got a box of ten 10-packs of CDs at work, took out all but two at one end, closed the box and went into a room with some collegues. I acted as it was still heavy and put it down on the edge of a table so that three quarters of it stuck out outside the table. I promise, half the room was diving for the box in an attempt to catch it before it fell, which, of course, it didn't. Perfectly logical, but looks wrong.