Wednesday 09 December - 463 miles to Antigua
About three bells in the morning watch (05:30) still dark, Sterling woke me to check a ship that concerned him. The "Orient Strength" was on the AIS and its lights plainly visible, eight miles directly on our bow. The odd thing was that its speed was 1.2 knots. The AIS gave the following information: Length 837 feet. Speed 1.2 knots. Heading (the direction the ship is pointed) 152 degrees. Course over Ground (the direction the ship is moving) 230 degrees. Rotation ( a measure of the ship turning) 2 degrees per minute. (very slow turn). We wondered. I didn't want to go back to sleep until we figured it out. It is not moving in the direction it is heading, moving and turning very slowly. We decided that it was drifting. Then we went to "notes" on the AIS and it said "Not Under Command". I have never, ever seen a craft officially Not Under Command. The Rules say "The term 'Vessel Not Under Command' means a vessel which through some exceptional circumstance is unable to maneuver and is therefore unable to keep out of the way of other vessels." In other words, it is broke down. I was tempted to call him on the VHF radio and ask if we could be of any assistance. . . We sailed on past.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
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