If a Cruise Ship breaks down in mid Ocean with depths of say 1-2 miles and the sea is very choppy, how does this Ship Anchor, without moving, surely it doesn`t have 1-2 miles of Anchor cable. This question came up, on phone in radio program last night, with No Replies--- Any Sailors out there, know the answer please ? ? ?
The vessel would drift with the wind/current I'm afraid. :o
I think the larger ships carry about half a mile of chain - not enough to reach teh bottom. They could let out what they have and it would partly act as a 'sea anchor', slowing the rate of wind drift.
Surely she would heave to? Turn towards the wind and sit there with the engines turning over gently just to keep steering control. If the engines on a ship go, that's major trouble since they lose all control, and can't anchor unless they're lucky with the weather and the water's shallow. If it was a cruise ship in the open ocean, it wouldn't matter too much though, since they're almost impossible to sink, and there wouldn't be any danger of hitting anything before a tug could get to them.