T&T: Cruise ship docking

[Frank Burrows]

This summer I was on an Alaskan cruise on the Sapphire Princess, a big new 
Princess Ship with 3000 passengers and crew this summer. They had three bow 
and three stern thrusters. They activated them the whole time while 
disconnecting the lines from the pier which could take 15 minutes. They 
were keeping the ship close up to the dock and they and other Princess 
ships did this every time. Never saw a tug. There was a page somewhere that 
stated that if all 6 thrusters were used at the same time the ship could do 
6 knots sideways!!

Frank Burrows


At 09:37 AM 12/13/2008 -0800, you wrote:
>Incidently, due to advanced propulsion technology, cruise ships rarely 
>employ the use of tugs any more.  These new ships are exceptionally 
>maneuverable and can get in and out of some astonishingly tight quarters 
>quite well on their own.