942 mb Low

ZIM Kingston Cargo Fire Stabilized, Canadian Coast Guard Says https://gcaptain.com/zim-kingston-cargo-fire-stabilized-canadian-coast-guard/

 

That storm hit us about a week ago.... it was a wild one. Didn't realize the low was such record breaking. The leading edge was pretty intense, had to babysit a few big boats In couple days of 60s.... it was fun.

 

Local news in Seattle also said it was a record low. But this storm is definitely not the worst seen here. October 1962, Columbus Day. 60 mph++ winds, millions of board feet of timber went down, 50 people killed. https://www.historylink.org/File/5325 About ten years ago we had a 35 day rain. It only let up for a few hours on the 30th day. Then rained for 5 more, and not the usual Northwest drizzle. This was torrential. Some like to say "Biblical." RV park where I was staying flooded. we had to wade through the water to get out.

That business with that ship is bizarre. Talk about a string of events. It can get really rough off the Washington Coast. The Coast Guard ship I was stationed on in 1975 was called out from Port Angeles to assist a ship off the coast during a big storm, We had to turn back because we split a seam and were taking water on the mess deck. Every time we would go down in the trough water would squirt through the crack. Fortunately another cutter got to the ship and towed them in. It gets very rough out there.

 

I have satellite images from the 21st of the storm headed to the coast after it moved across the Alaska peninsula, it stretched from Petersburg to San Diego. It was a pretty spectacular storm. Not much of a high in front of it, stacked storms since September.

 

Worst seas I've ever seen anywhere on the west coast of Canada over 30 years.
60 knot winds, snow, and 25 - 30 foot waves, 0200 hrs, in a 32 foot rescue RHIB.
Ike, the Dolphin out of Port Angeles often helps us out as our Cormorants are hours away in Comox, Vancouver Island, BC.
The hazmat team went on board that ship today...

 

I'm guessing with 90% of everything having chinses built lithium batteries it's a miracle we don't lose more?

 

So the boat is spewing out carbon disulfide because some industrial chemicals got wet and evolve CS2 when wet. It is toxic, causing your heart to stop, and is flammable above -22F, and can be explosive in certain concentrations. And since water is the problem, you can't put it out with water as long as there are more chemicals to evolve more CS2. And you can't foam it because that seals the gas in making it more explosive. Oh, it's terribly corrosive., so they will be lucky to salvage much of the internal cargo or ship. And it's kind of heavy, so it will fill the ship hold, and it will be hard to get rid of any that doesn't burn. Not sure if ship's pumps can be operated safely in that mixture. Don't want to cycle them on and off, that's for sure.

Report says there are still five crew aboard. Who made that call? Bet they haven't been told what they are dealing with.