Chapter 719 Breaking Out of the Icefield
"Right twenty."
"Right twenty!"
"Twenty degrees right!"
The helmsman turned the steering wheel with full concentration and great experience.
The searchlights illuminated the earth brightly, and there were constant cheers in the bridge. Captain Harveys raised his voice very high to ensure that every order was executed accurately.
Almost 100% of the ships can reverse, but unfortunately, the route hundreds of meters behind has been frozen. For safety reasons, the Tethis must turn the bow to get out of the ice field and into the sea with the gray whale.
Furthermore, most drivers will not choose to reverse. The maritime collision avoidance rules recommend that drivers slow down and turn around to avoid collisions. They will only think of emergency braking or reversing when encountering an urgent situation or a risk of collision - because this will damage the machine.
A correct but unnecessary decision would result in days and nights of overtime and contempt from the engineering department. If even the engineering department couldn't solve the problem, it would have to be towed to the shipyard for repairs. A prescription of hundreds of thousands of ugly gold would be considered cheap.
The worst case scenario is that if the ship is in the middle of an ocean or an icy area with no village or shop nearby, even a tugboat cannot get in, and the 300 or so people on board will have nothing to do but cry.
This end must be adjusted.
Harves knew very well that turning the bow on the ice was a technical job, and there was a high possibility of capsizing or damage to the hull, so he must not be careless. His pupils were fixed on the dashboard and the ice surface, and a rare sense of nervousness appeared.
From the day he left university, Harves boarded an ocean-going ship and has been drifting on the vast ocean until now, dedicating all his youth to the sea.
From the second mate to the first mate, from the technical level to the management level, and now to the captain, they are all witnesses of the passage of time and hard work.
To outsiders, the profession of seaman seems to be quite glamorous, sailing and traveling around the world. Whenever they return with a lot of harvest and enter the pub, there is always a large group of people sitting around them to listen to their stories about interesting things at sea.
But in fact, the seemingly beautiful sea is full of dangers , especially in the Arctic Ocean.
Icebergs are alive.
Captain Harveys was convinced.
Sometimes it is 99% underwater, with just a tip showing above the surface.
Even a normal person's eyes would get calluses from looking at this picture, but it's no joke when you really encounter it.
At present, the navigation aids on most ships cannot scan things under the water at the bow. Do you think you can pass by the sharp edge?
Secondly, icebergs are not like other coastal reference objects that are fixed; they move!
Both ice sheets and icebergs move, and the main driving force for their movement is wind, followed by ocean currents.
Under the influence of wind speed, some can even reach a movement speed of 44 kilometers per day, which can transport certain objects on land and even living animals and plants from their source areas to thousands of kilometers away.
Scholars who specialize in this field can infer the distribution of glaciers tens of thousands of years ago by simply looking at the sediments in the ocean.
In the dead of night, Captain Harveys often fell into such an illusion in his dreams: the ship was sailing along, and suddenly there were icebergs all around him, completely surrounding him, and they were slowly approaching him. No matter how he reversed or slowed down, it was of no use. He woke up in despair and felt extremely bad.
Later, the Thesis was transformed into an icebreaker, and such nightmares became less common, after all, it had armor, but we still couldn't take it lightly.
All I can say is that there are threats everywhere.
As the captain, Harveys is always walking on thin ice, responsible for the safety of the entire ship, the lives of dozens of crew members and hundreds of passengers and their families.
Bringing his brothers home alive has always been Harvest's only hope.
It’s going to succeed!
Harveys, who is nearly sixty years old, felt his long-lost passion ignited again. His heart was nervous and excited. He picked up the brewed coffee, trying to relieve some of the fatigue caused by long hours of work.
The navigator next to us handed over an ice box and asked if we wanted some ice cubes.
Harvest laughed. "Of course! I like ice cubes. But I only like the ones in the cup, not in the sea."
As an ocean-going sailor, every time you go out to sea, you are entrusting your life to the ocean.
Fighting against wind and waves is full of dangers.
In the struggle between man and nature, man's victory over nature is just a beautiful wish.
Compared with the great nature, human power is too small. But no matter what, only by being respectful to nature, being indomitable, and staying optimistic and strong can we survive in desperate situations and create miracles!
"Captain, we can already see them!"
"Is that the second mate? He's waving at us!"
"Success is just around the corner. Stay focused, turn the boat around, and try one last time!"
"come on!"
The headlights of the Thesis shone directly on the open space, reminding Bifang of the first few days when he arrived in the Arctic. He couldn't help but miss the daytime, as if it had become a very distant word.
One third of the one hundred day mission has passed, and I didn’t expect it to be so exciting.
After collecting his thoughts , Bifang came to his senses and did not continue digging the hole. Instead, he expanded the area of the ice cave on the original basis to make it easier for the whale to breathe.
Generally speaking, the tactical radius of rapid steering turns is less than 5 times the ship's length. If the length-to-width ratio is small, it will be even smaller. However, on the ice field, this tactical radius must be extended a lot to avoid side collisions with the ice.
The overall strength of an icebreaker is much higher than that of an ordinary ship, but the hardest part is still the bow. If something can be knocked open by the bow, try not to use other parts to avoid displacement.
By the time the Thesis had completely crossed over, the distance between the two sides was less than a hundred meters, almost face to face.
At this distance, the gray whale can also directly see the huge exploration ship, and the frequency of breathing increases significantly, which is obviously a manifestation of emotional excitement.
The three big guys are terrifyingly smart.
The Thesis made a big circle and turned quickly while the sea ice behind it had not yet frozen, returning to its original normal course.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the next step was to return the same way!
The original waterway was indeed frozen, but the new ice was not as hard or thick as the old ice. In the pursuit of speed, one naturally had to try to choose the easiest method.
In the early morning, it was a sleepless night for all viewers at the same longitude, because tonight was the day when the gray whales began to follow the Tethis out of the ice!
The collision between steel and ice carved out a way for the three giant beasts to survive.
At ten minutes past one, Thethis returned to its original orbit.
At half past one, the Tethis had advanced one hundred meters, leaving enough space between the ice and the ocean.
The snow on the ice field was cleared, and several small ice caves became signal beacons. Led by Bifang, the three big guys swam slowly under the ice. Their huge, wide tails rolled up dozens of tons of sea water, bringing enough thrust to follow behind the Taisis.
