>This seams a little strange... ocean freighters that
> carry sea containers
> run like clock work and they don't "never make it"
> to a port city they are
> destinated for unless they sink!

Here in Hawaii they ship cars from the mainland US (and other countries I
suppose) to Honolulu.  They then fill barges with containers and put cars on
the decks to transport them between islands.  Often they will tow one, two
or three barges with a one or more tugboats, usually without incident.

Well, several years ago a line broke between one barge and the next, sending
the last barge ashore on the rocky Hamakua coast near Laupahoehoe.  The
ocean can be a bit wild there.  The shipping company (matson or young
brothers, I forget which) was unable to prevent the barge from running
aground, and subsequently unable to retrieve it before all of the contents
were smashed  to smithereens.  Cars on the deck were washed onto the rocks
or beaten to tiny pieces of scrap metal against the railings of the barge.
I shoot video for a living and it was a gruesome sight that I taped for
Honolulu television news.

Within two days the deck had been swept clean of almost all vehicle pieces,
and very little was even left on the rocks nearby.  (we affectionately
referred to the cars washed off as "Chevy on the rocks")  The waves had
pounded the cars to pieces and washed them to a watery grave.  God knows
what the cars inside the barge looked like... they must have been tumbled
into compact pieces of steel and glass and plastic.

The barge was there for a long time... I'm not sure what ever happened to
it.  Maybe it's still there for all I know.  As Bill said... sometimes they
don't make port.  This was one such incident.  Glad my bus wasn't on board!

A Hui Hou!

Mick Kalber
89 Syncro Westy "Daddeo"
Tropical Visions Video, Inc.
62 Halaulani Place    Hilo, Hawaii  96720
ph. 808-935-5557    fax 808-935-0066
hotlava@interpac.net
www.volcanoscapes.com