🔍 Key Concepts

• Bank suction and cushion effects when transiting a narrow channel • How excessive rudder angle with little heading response can indicate interaction with the channel edge • The relationship between a ship’s behavior and its position within the channel (center vs outer limits)

💭 Think About

• If you are applying a lot of right rudder, what would you normally expect your bow and stern to do if everything were normal? • How does proximity to a channel bank or shoal water affect the bow and stern of a ship as it moves ahead? Think about which side is being ‘pulled’ or ‘pushed’. • Which of the answer choices is most directly related to the vessel’s position within the channel rather than an equipment malfunction?

✅ Before You Answer

• Compare the symptoms with steering gear or indicator failure – would those failures consistently make the bow fall off in one direction only? • Consider whether propeller damage (like a lost blade) would mainly show up as vibration/propulsion issues or as a steady tendency to sheer toward one side in a channel. • Ask yourself: do the observed effects change with distance from the channel bank? That will point you toward the most likely conclusion.