Author Topic: Paging all seafarers  (Read 1907 times)

Hawkmoon

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Paging all seafarers
« on: October 26, 2021, 10:49:39 PM »
A question came up in a writers' forum on which I occasionally participate. A new writer wants to set a spooky novel on a freighter. He/she (can't tell which by the screen name) is thinking of a freighter as having "miles and miles of narrow, twisting corridors" below decks.

Are freighters really like that? What's actually below decks on a container ship? Are there any "conventional" freighter ships that still carry cargo in holds below decks? If so, are the passageways that lead from one cargo hold to the next?

Thanks.
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Boomhauer

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2021, 10:13:38 AM »
A great source for this would be to watch some Chief MAKO and JeffHK videos on YouTube.
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dogmush

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2021, 10:45:32 AM »
Obviously ships differ, but generally no there aren't miles and miles of passageways.  Warships tend to actually have more, because they are more committed to compartmentalization.  Freighters will have holds forward, an engine room in the stern, and maybe a couple passageways between those and smaller compartments.  The superstructure will have more, smaller compartments with passageways on each deck.  Remember there is a lot of interior volume taken up with fuel and ballast tanks on any large ship.  And machinery spaces.

So certainly some passageways, that will be kinda narrow, but not twisting really, then a handful of small compartments (storage, boatswains locker, chain lockers, machine shop) and a couple really big compartments (holds, machinery spaces) in the hull, then more smaller compartments (staterooms, galley, crews mess, food storage, day room sometimes) connected by passageways in the superstructure would be "typical".  Of course there are a ton of ships still floating out there some of which or old, have been refit, or both, so almost anything could go.


For "miles and miles of passageways" to, I assume, get lost in or be hunted by the spooky, they might want to find a way to work into the plot it being an ex military ship (like an old LSD or something) or an old cruise liner.  Both of those are going to have way more compartmentalized and confusing interiors then any freighter.

230RN

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2021, 11:00:06 AM »
I'm sure he can "write around" problems like that if it's actually necessary to the plot itself.... just a dark corridor, and let the reader manufacture what is necessary in his head.  Sort of like old time radio scripts, although that was helped along by the sound effects man.

I'm sure all ships have corridors and I'm not sure it would be necessary to mention either "many" or "few" corridors.  So if you need another corridor, OK, so he ran down an other corridor.

This is not to say that coloration is un-necessary to "paint a picture," but if a question of "how many" corridors there are arises, paint the picture with another brush.

"He ducked around a corner and fired a shot in my direction."  You don't have to say whether it was a right-turn corner or a left-turn one unless it was necessary to the plot that the shooter was left handed and had the gun in his left hand.

In which case do some plot-wringing.

I have a vague recollection of one of those "How did they do that" episodes dealing with the loading and unloading of cargo ships which had a lot of "footage" (bytage?) of the spaces below decks as they moved stuff in and out.  Looked pretty roomy to me.  A major concern was how to deal with the fact that taking on loads A, B, C, and D at various ports did not mean the loads would be unloaded in that order as the ship visited the destination ports.  I don't know how it worked on cargo ships (freighters) in the old days.  But the cargo ship shown in that video bytage had lots of room and it seemed most access was big enough for large fork-lift-type handling equipment.  And there were tie-down anchors in the floor every umpteen feet.

Terry, 230RN
« Last Edit: October 27, 2021, 11:42:16 AM by 230RN »
WHATEVER YOUR DEFINITION OF "INFRINGE " IS, YOU SHOULDN'T BE DOING IT.

Ben

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2021, 11:25:30 AM »
It's not all that hard for an idiot to get turned around even on smaller ships. I used to get lost my first day or two on even little 250-300' research vessels all the time.
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kgbsquirrel

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2021, 11:41:24 AM »
Warship, passenger liner, or perhaps a ro-ro.  The last would have miles of cars on board if still loaded.

230RN

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #6 on: October 27, 2021, 11:49:30 AM »
It's not all that hard for an idiot to get turned around even on smaller ships. I used to get lost my first day or two on even little 250-300' research vessels all the time.

What, didn't you have a compass with you?

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WHATEVER YOUR DEFINITION OF "INFRINGE " IS, YOU SHOULDN'T BE DOING IT.

K Frame

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #7 on: October 27, 2021, 11:52:03 AM »
well, depending on what the freighter is carrying and how it's loaded, I could see it having miles of narrow and somewhat twisting passages between elements of a palletized load...

Otherwise, though, the few freighters I've been on, small ones, have been pretty wide open internally because, you know, they haul freight, and passageways just aren't really all that good for freight storage.
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Hawkmoon

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #8 on: October 27, 2021, 02:44:09 PM »
Thanks, folks. I have passed along your comments. That's all I can do. I have a feeling this person is already committed to a story line and that the fact ships don't fit into his/her preconceived notion probably won't make much difference.
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Hawkmoon

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2021, 02:45:20 PM »
A great source for this would be to watch some Chief MAKO and JeffHK videos on YouTube.

 :facepalm: Completely forgot about Chief MAKO. Thanks!
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Hawkmoon

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2021, 06:09:04 PM »
New question -- for my own curiosity:

What's beneath the main deck of a container ship? Do they carry containers below the main deck? Smaller cargo? Bulk materials?

Or just fuel and crew quarters.
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Ben

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2021, 06:19:36 PM »
New question -- for my own curiosity:

What's beneath the main deck of a container ship? Do they carry containers below the main deck? Smaller cargo? Bulk materials?

Or just fuel and crew quarters.

If it's a RoRo, then:

https://youtu.be/JAGCjRgat90
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K Frame

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #12 on: October 27, 2021, 06:24:45 PM »
"What's beneath the main deck of a container ship?"

Seamen.

Lots and lots of seamen.

Someone had to say it. You all were thinking it, you pervs! :rofl:
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230RN

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #13 on: October 27, 2021, 07:34:44 PM »
Great video, in tune with what I saw on TV --and I think they may have used some of that guy's bytage.

Thanks!

Ro-ro = "roll on, roll off."  Hadda look it up.  If you can use ro-ro, I can use bytage. =D

Makes me wonder about ventilation with all those cars moving around.

Terry, 230RN
« Last Edit: October 28, 2021, 01:08:00 AM by 230RN »
WHATEVER YOUR DEFINITION OF "INFRINGE " IS, YOU SHOULDN'T BE DOING IT.

dogmush

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #14 on: October 28, 2021, 08:08:44 AM »
New question -- for my own curiosity:

What's beneath the main deck of a container ship? Do they carry containers below the main deck? Smaller cargo? Bulk materials?

Or just fuel and crew quarters.

The container holds.  The boxes you see above decks are probably half(ish) of the boxes on board. They are often sitting on the hatches to the holds.


French G.

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #15 on: October 28, 2021, 08:35:19 AM »
I would imagine that on a cargo ship a lot of point a to point b is vertical. Come up out of a hole transit a main deck or weather deck and pop down another hole. Even on an aircraft carrier there were only two levels you could truck from one end to the other in passageways. Everything else you had to go up, down or around. Amphib was worse, well deck and vehicle storage in addition to an aircraft hangar meant everything else was crammed wherever or underneath. Ladders(inclined) or vertical ladders in trunks is my defining memory of getting anywhere out of the way on a ship. That and the carrier O-3 level hurdles when running the length of the ship in an emergency. Knee know every fifty feet, jump and duck at the same time.
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MechAg94

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #16 on: October 28, 2021, 10:03:01 AM »
The container holds.  The boxes you see above decks are probably half(ish) of the boxes on board. They are often sitting on the hatches to the holds.


Sounds like even if the holds are wide open, there are lots and lots of spaces between cargo containers that might feel pretty tight.  Not a likely place to get lost unless you have no sense of direction.  Never been there so I don't know.
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dogmush

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #17 on: October 28, 2021, 10:05:56 AM »
Those containers are locked in about 3" apart.

cordex

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #18 on: October 28, 2021, 11:18:13 AM »
Those containers are locked in about 3" apart.
Maybe after the killer gets done with them they can fit through there.

charby

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #19 on: October 28, 2021, 11:29:10 AM »
Is she trying to mimic "Ghostship"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Ship_(2002_film)
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K Frame

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #20 on: October 28, 2021, 11:53:51 AM »
Is she trying to mimic "Ghostship"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Ship_(2002_film)

wow... What a crap festival that was....

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charby

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #21 on: October 28, 2021, 11:56:18 AM »
wow... What a crap festival that was....

well there was nudity, so it had that going.
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K Frame

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #22 on: October 28, 2021, 12:09:13 PM »
well there was nudity, so it had that going.

And not even that could salvage it.
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MechAg94

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #23 on: October 28, 2021, 02:20:06 PM »
Those containers are locked in about 3" apart.
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Hawkmoon

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Re: Paging all seafarers
« Reply #24 on: October 28, 2021, 06:57:25 PM »
Is she trying to mimic "Ghostship"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Ship_(2002_film)

Dunno. It's quite possible, but that hasn't been announced. It's also possible that this fledgling author is entirely unaware of that movie, but has come up with a similar idea independently.
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