On ships like this the propulsion is separate from the steering. There is a separate rudder that is close to, but not attached to the prop and propshaft. The propshaft is fixed. The rudder doesn't just "restart in a random position" it would remain in the previous position unless there was a physical piece that broke in the rudder gear.
The fact that ship was able to reverse hard ( as evidenced by the slowdown), indicates to me that the prop was most likely still attached to the propshaft and hadn't flown off to mangle the rudder.
We still don't know exactly what happened on board, but it is interesting to work through possible scenarios.
Pilots certainly have experience with ship handling of 100,000 ton ships, that's their job. Pilots coordinate the moves of multiple tugs to assist with docking regularly.
The fact that ship was able to reverse hard ( as evidenced by the slowdown), indicates to me that the prop was most likely still attached to the propshaft and hadn't flown off to mangle the rudder.
We still don't know exactly what happened on board, but it is interesting to work through possible scenarios.
Pilots certainly have experience with ship handling of 100,000 ton ships, that's their job. Pilots coordinate the moves of multiple tugs to assist with docking regularly.