Hacker News Reader

Comment by knz | Hacker News Reader

There are comments further down explaining how the containers likely weigh substantially more than the lift capacity of heavy lift helicopters. They'd have to partially unload the contents of each individual container first.

And if you're unloading, the human labor cost to unload the whole container is probably cheaper than the cost of running a fleet of helicopters for weeks to months.

View on HN

The Skycrane helicopter that OP referred to is a true beast. It can lift heavy tanks and intact electricity towers. I won't be surprised if it gets used to lift the containers one-by-one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDQrUiCd61U

That is nowhere close to the biggest. Check out the Mi-26:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW_IxNLNvrY

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mil_Mi-26

Even that is not enough. It can lift 20 tons, and the 40 foot containers on this ship are heavier than that.

Wow, the Chinook looks so tiny in comparison to the Mi-26.

40ft container maximum weight is 67,200 lbs. Skycrane max payload is 20,000 lbs and Mi-26 is 44,000 lbs. But do you think all the containers are at max weight? The ones on top are the lightest and the helicopters might be able to help with them after all, or maybe we can find a way to use two helicopters per container.

http://containertech.com/about-containers/40-standard-vs-40-...

> or maybe we can find a way to use two helicopters per container

Spoken like a true programmer :) That's incredibly difficult and dangerous.

Lol, Can we compose the helicopters?

Split it into many micro-helicopters, each deployed and scaled independently?

I'm picturing a fleet of a few thousand hobbyist drones.

It would sound like a massive angry swarm of bees.

And their batteries would all run out at once and we get the biggest non-nuclear 'splash' in history.

It can lift at least 56.8 to 62.5 tons, depending on your definition of tons. The heavy containers have been placed on the bottom of the ship for better stability, leaving the lightest ones on top.

28 tons of that is the helicopter itself though i think?

Can be heavier than that most won't be the max gross tonage. The biggest hurdle might be knowing which ones they can pick though. In not sure if the shipping company keeps the weights of every container on file somewhere.

Or just blowing it up and push the pieces to the sides I would guess...

I like the way you think.

I'd buy a plane ticket to Suez to see that. Or even pay for a proper 4k stream of the event.

Build a pyramid on top and let scavengers do their thing

I like this scavengers idea. How far is it to Cairo, and what's unemployment like after Corona killed the tourism industy? Unlock all the containers, tell people you're paying them fifteen bucks an hour to come unload, AND they get to keep whatever they can carry off. How many people can you fit on that ship at once?

The containers are typically rated for no more than 40,000 lbs each. Skycrane can lift 20,000, so you'd use two per.

Or three per. Use a triangular spreader/yoke to keep them from having to pull laterally against (away from) each other. Single pivot point in the middle from which the load is suspended, allowing for imperfect coordination during hovering & movement. (The spreader can tilt or rotate.) Let a crawler crane and crew on the bank handle stacking/arrangement. Each container is lifted a second time into its temporary desert resting place. Has never been done before, just like space flight once. Would cost a lot and be dangerous, just like the military-industrial complex. Won't go perfectly, just like everything ever. Is inefficient, similar to but less so than losing the Suez Canal. Would take a long time, so start now. Really want to sarcastically thank all the naysayers and downvoters for policing all the dangerous creativity going on in this helicopter subthread. We must be more careful, especially considering how closely the shipping industry watches the Hacker News comments for ideas!

Yeah, i don't belive two pwe container is nearly enough. 3 or even 5 is a better idea smh, but you likely need 3 or 5 exceptionnal pilot who don't care if they die for science (and internationnal commerce).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com