99002 Phantom Rudder Effect

02 Jan 1999 MARS

Phantom Rudder Effect
Report No. 99002

A most likely explanation of the "phantom" rudder suddenly going hard over as mentioned in MARS 98019 could have been a "bow cushion take-over" which caused the loaded tanker to swerve across the Suez Canal. The puzzlement of the people on the bridge observing the occurrence is understandable because there was no proper explanation of the phenomenon. "Phantom" indicates that the originator of the report was puzzled at the time, and still is, many years later. It was lucky that there was a sandy patch in the way and not an oncoming vessel, no casualties and no substantial damage were sustained. Are there more "phantom" rudder stories in the Skeleton Cupboard?

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