This time lapse photo of a transit of the Houston Ship Channel is very interesting.

- I think I
watched it 3 or 4 times. You can see from the video that there is not much room for error.

I didn't see an encounter on the video between two big ship but when they meet it's called
"Texas Chicken"

From the Reporter-News Online Texas News back in '02

"HOUSTON (AP) - Texas Chicken isn't for the faint of heart"

But for vessels headed in opposite directions on the Houston Ship Channel, it's the only way to
pass. The trick involves water pressure. The scary part is that ships have to head right at each
other for it to work.

In Texas Chicken, 100-foot-wide ships [30,48 mts] as long as three football fields head straight
at each other down the centre of the 400-foot-wide [121,92 mts] channel. At a distance of about
a half-mile, the pilots signal each other as to which side they plan to pass on.

The water displaced by the bows of the ships moves them away from each other and toward the
sides of the 40-foot-deep [12,19 mts] (sic) channel, then the suction of the displaced water
flowing in behind the ships naturally pulls them back to the centre.

Bow of each ship is even with the other, water pressure is pushing the bows apart

Coast Guard photographer gets a little trigger happy.

 Hard left! Time to swing the stern out of the way.

Running on opposite courses - Time for the "hearty pilot wave"

Pilots each steer to keep the sterns apart as suction at the stern pulls the two ships together
 Centre up in the channel and get straighten out.

Time for the captain to switch to decaf. Houston pilots report the manoeuvre unnerves some captains.

From the Reporter-News Online again:

Pilots say the people most frightened by Texas Chicken are the captains of deep sea ships
docking at the Port of Houston for the first time.

In the deep sea, if you see another ship coming from five miles away, you move far away to
avoid any chance of hitting it. Blue water captains in the Houston Ship Channel for the first
time will say to us, "Captain, do you see that ship a mile out? A half-mile out?' We just say, 'Yes,
sir.' Or sometimes, 'What ship?'"

HOWWE MEET IN OUR CHANNEL

For vessels meeting on the Houston Ship Channel, generally the centre
channel approach is used. This manoeuvre is commonly called The Texas
Chicken.
This manoeuvre is regarded as the safest way to meet two large or deep
draft vessels in a narrow channel.
To begin this manoeuvre vessels initially approach head to head. When they
are approximately 1/2 mile apart the vessels rudders are put to starboard to
move the vessels to their side of the channel.
When the ships bows are approaching abeam, her helm is put to port to
move the sterns away from each other.
Right rudder is used to check the swing of the vessels caused by bank
suction and the vessels interaction.
It is imperative that the ships officer ensure that all rudder orders are
properly followed.
If you have any questions concerning this manoeuvre please ask before the
manoeuvre is begun.