3 ms·
Can't they just bring the fuel to the ship using a tanker? Presumably one that is small enough to fit under the bridge, or sails from further away.
by aftbit 3y ago
Can't they just bring the fuel to the ship using a tanker? Presumably one that is small enough to fit under the bridge, or sails from further away.
- intrasight 3y agoOr a very long fuel hose ;)
- irrational 3y agoI wonder if it would be cheaper in the long run to build a new fuel depot and station on the other side of the bridge. Driving back and forth hundreds of extra miles must be tremendously expensive in terms of fuel, salaries, wear and tear, time, supplies, etc.
- RetroTechie 3y agoJust for this ship, essentially? No. Fuel consumption of ships is relatively modest compared to the load carried. Those other factors like time schedules would weigh heavier. But from between the lines, it reads like they'll work things out with some more training & paperwork.
- closewith 3y agoRefuelling underway is an extremely complex and risky undertaking and the cost in maintaining training currency and the actual time spent refuelling underway would almost certainly be more expensive than the longer round-trip (possibly by an order of magnitude).
- Gwypaas 3y agoBunker barges/tankers are standard everwhere, although not underway but docked or at anchor. Docking at a certain place simply to bunker just doesn't happen on larger vessels where utilization factor is everything. https://www.marineinsight.com/guidelines/bunkering-is-dangerous-procedure-for-bunkering-operation-on-a-ship/ https://www.marineinsight.com/guidelines/bunkering-is-danger...
- closewith 3y agoBunkering at anchor is nearly equivalent to bunkering in port, but requires a suitable anchorage. I presume if that was available, this wouldn't be an issue at all.
- hedora 3y agoThey could reduce the risk by mooring the tanker to one of the Tasman Bridge supports.
- RetroTechie 3y agoMooring ships to bridge supports (any ship, any bridge) is generally frowned upon for a whole slew of good reasons. If not outright forbidden (again, for good reasons).
- wolverine876 3y agoI'm aware of that, and that it's a big deal for navies to master it, but do you know why and could you explain it to land-lubbers? Of course, you just pull up along side, toss a long hose over (ok, fly the rope with a drone, pull over the hose), pump. Keep the ships far enough apart to prevent accidents. Easy!
- jcranmer 3y ago> Keep the ships far enough apart to prevent accidents. Easy! In fact, this is the hard part. Generally, the tanker ship and the ship being refueled are different sizes. They have different handling characteristics, keeping them at the same speed at the same heading is not a trivial task. If there's, say, 1 knot of speed differential, after a minute, now they're 100ft further (or closer) away. Furthermore, ships create wakes which means the handling in the real immediate vicinity of a ship is incredibly different from more or less open ocean. Drift too close, and now the water is literally trying to get the two ships to ram each other, with all the disastrous results that implies.