A fully laden bulk carrier was upbound in a tidal river under favourable tidal conditions and with a tug escort. During the initial leg of the transit, pilot A noted that the ship, loaded to 11.7 m draft fore and aft, was difficult to handle and required substantial early rudder to control its swings. The channel had a dredged depth of 12.2 m, which left only 0.5 under keel clearance (UKC) before considering squat. Pilot B boarded the vessel to relieve pilot A. The outgoing pilot advised him that the vessel needed substantial rudder to steer and recommended early initiation and counter rudder for turns. Image for representation purpose only Pilot B found the vessel challenging to manage, noting that it frequently tended to, in his words, ‘dive to port’. He began intentionally manoeuvring the vessel outside the starboard side of the channel, expecting that the flood current north of the next bridge would push the ship toward the port side, where numerous piers protruded close to the channel boundaries. Actual environmental data later revealed that the real-time tide level was less than half of what had been predicted, meaning the actual current pushing the vessel to port, back toward the channel, was likely much weaker than the pilot anticipated. As the vessel passed under the bridge, its centreline drifted about 42 metres outside the channel to starboard. Despite issuing some port rudder commands to correct the course, pilot B also compensated with starboard rudder orders to prevent what he expected to be a sharp port swing. Two and a half minutes later, the vessel’s bow was now some 88 metres outside the channel to starboard when, suddenly, its speed dropped (position 6 below). The crew felt a jerk and heard a rumble; the vessel had touched bottom. The Master pointed out that they were out of the channel. The pilot used a series of aggressive engine and rudder manoeuvres and assistance from the escort tug pushing on the starboard bow to free the vessel and resume m