Pride of Rotterdam & Portoferraio Angel Super Pack BUG!!

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[--tractorman--]

Ballast and Tractorman, how do I correctly berth the Pride of Rotterdam without colliding with the berth?

Skill and practice   

[Ballast]

@MokMok

The momentum created with the main engines compensates the swing caused by the bowthruster.

[MokMok]

I must not set the bow thruster to full power, because then I can't compensate the swing enough by the engines. Or, otherwise, I have to give the engines full throttle.

[MokMok]

@Nathan|C:

How about stopping by the berth, then turning the ship starboard until it is parallel to the berth? Then you can simply sidestep into the berth.

And sidestepping into the berth is a question of balancing between the thrust of the main engines and the bow thruster.

[MokMok]

Is the 1.4 dynamics for the Pride of Rotterdam better than the one supplied with the PoR Superpack?

[MokMok]

But in reality a big ship like the PoR doesn't respond fast. It responds slowly by the big mass of such a ship.

I had berthed the PoR along an other berth on her starboard side. For unberthing her, I swinged my stern to port by setting her right astern and the left one ahead. A soon the stern of the PoR swinged to port, I turned on the bow thruster to port. On the berth by the bow you always have big aircushions as a buffer, which absorbs the swing of the bow to the berth when swinging the stern to port.

[MokMok]

It is more fun when you do the public announcements onboard the PoR. Announcements about safety on board, when the shops, restaurants are opened, the expected time of arrival, the weather during the trip. And when you are berthing, you announce that the public who have their cars parked onto the cardeck, must go to the cardeck.

[MokMok]

I have berthed the PoR at her berth in the Europoort harbour. I went straight into the harbour with her bow at the end of the berth. Then I anchored the vessel and I put the port engine full ahead and the starboard engine full astern. When a had alomost aligned the PoR to the berth, I released the anchors. By adjusting the power between the engines and the bow thruster I aligned her with the berth. You see that you need a lot of patience for berthing such a ship like the PoR.

I used the dynamics supplied with the PoR Superpack.

[MokMok]

I can use the rudder to sidestep the vessel. I am berthing on my starboardside. I put the bowthruster to starboard, I put the starboard engine ahead end the port engine astern to compensate the swing caused by the bowthruster. By means of the rudder I can swing to port or to starboard. You see that for a gentle sidestepping I have to carefully balance the engine powers between the thruster, the port engine and the starboard engine.

[MokMok]

@Ballast:

Set the bowthruster to starboard (to move the bow away from the berth), set the portside engine astern and the starbordside engine ahead. You can also give hard port rudder. Be gentle with the main engines, you need to find a balance to make the Pride go sideways. The power setting of the main engines should be 15% or so, but that's trial and error!

With every twin screw vessel, you can set one engine ahead and the other engine astern to create a 'momentum'. In combination with the bowthruster you can turn her on the spot.

Giving hard port rudder with my engines a little bit ahead to move away my stern from the berth and with the bowthruster moving to starboard, is suitable when leaving the Stena Line berth at Hook of Holland. When I am sufficiently free from the Stena Line berth, I can set the port engine full ahead and the starboard engine full astern for making a sharp turn to starboard in combination with the bowthruster to starboard. At the P&O Berth in the Beneluxhaven setting hard port rudder with the engines a little bit ahead isn't suitable for moving my stern away from the berth, because of the opposite quay with which I can easily collide. There I must set the starboard engine ahead and the port engine astern to move away my stern.

When I want tor berth the PoR at the Stena Line berth on my portside, I must use the bow thruster set to port. The port engine is set ahead and the starbord engine is set astern for compensating the swing caused by the bowthruster. By steering with my rudder I can move the ship sideways to the berth.

Berthing in general: must I moor the bow at firstat the berth and then the stern by means of the engines, or must I moor the stern at first and then the bow? What is better: mooring bow at first, or the stern at fisrt?

[Ballast]

It could be me MokMok, but i don't see any problems. Manoevering isn't rocket science 


Side stepping with bowthruster to starboard, portside engine astern and starboard engine ahead. Rudder hard port


Portside engine ahead, starboard engine astern, rudder hard starboard and bowthruster to starboard

[Ballast]

Unfortunately the rope trick doesn't work on all computers.  

As you can see, there are many ways to do this maneuver. The Master of the Pride of Rotterdam will probally do it slightly different everytime he arrives or departs, depending on the prevailing conditions.