Brendan,
Whereas you are right in regard that requirement to have double bottoms made large fleet of old single bottomed bulk carriers legally unacceptable to carry oil, there are no technical reasons why there cannot be double bottomed bulk carriers fulfilling legal requirements for carrying oil and other cargoes. You cannot see many of them around, because with ships life counted in tens of years, shipping industry has not rotated out old generation of bulk carriers yet. For more detailed explanation about class of ships I am writing about, please follow this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ore-bulk-oil_carrier .
There are those who hold exactly those positions. Of course, none of them are willing to lead by example.
mogul264 What do these protesters REALLY want? If we completely eliminate fossil fuel usage, should we then go back to WHALE oil? After all, there IS a need for illumination at night, or must we give THAT up, as well? Perhaps we should just go back to cave-men days! We would have to live on grass and seeds to satisfy them, as they CERTAINLY would NOT approve eating animals, or burning tree wood! It would DEPLETE the supply of trees, AND animals, STARVING natural carnivores! And the smoke would POLLUTE the air, and cause the oceans to rise, due to the haze causing global warming!
What do these protesters REALLY want? If we completely eliminate fossil fuel usage, should we then go back to WHALE oil? After all, there IS a need for illumination at night, or must we give THAT up, as well? Perhaps we should just go back to cave-men days! We would have to live on grass and seeds to satisfy them, as they CERTAINLY would NOT approve eating animals, or burning tree wood! It would DEPLETE the supply of trees, AND animals, STARVING natural carnivores! And the smoke would POLLUTE the air, and cause the oceans to rise, due to the haze causing global warming!
I would also bet that those same protesters also have no moral dilemmas turning on lights at home, or running their tv's or computers, or heating their ovens....
The irony is amusing.
henry6 Oh, yes, water is used as ballast, not oil...the water is pumped in and pumped out as balance is needed....
Oh, yes, water is used as ballast, not oil...the water is pumped in and pumped out as balance is needed....
Perhaps they are referring the fuel oil which is used in the engines for propulsion.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Ships carry ballast water when sailing in the empty condition for reasons of stability and to ensure that the propeller is immersed as much as possible when in the ship unloaded. Generally speaking ballast tanks are separate from both cargo holds and cargo tanks - there are exceptions but they are not very common nowdays.
To reduce the introduction of invasive species into coastal waters, a number of coastal states (including the US and Canada) require that ballast water must be discharged at sea and replaced with oceanic water (unless an approved ballast water treatment system has been fitted, which will allow the ship to discharge treated ballast water in harbour) hence the requirement to discharge ballast water more than 200 nautical miles off shore. Of course the law makers did not consider the safety aspects of conducting this type of operation off shore when they drafted the law - apparently the lives of seafarers are not so important in their eyes.
The suggestion that ships use oil as ballast is ludicrous given the cost of oil and the problem of where to pump it when the ship needs to be de-ballasted (oil normally is pumped ashore to an oil terminal which rarely, if ever, is located adjacent to a bulk cargo berth).
The location of ballast tanks is determined by the type of ship and the cargo to be carried. Having said that, all cargo ships will have double bottom ballast tanks (which are arranged below the holds and cargo tanks), while tankers and bulk carriers will have additional ballast tanks arranged along the ship's sides, just below the main weather deck.
While older bulk carriers may have fuel tanks fitted against the ship's side shell, newer ships have their fuel tanks set inboard of the ship's shell and thus are at much less risk of being breached and causing an oil spill in the event of a collision or grounding.The same is true for hydraulic and lubricating oil tanks.
While it is true that noise eminating from ships can be heard by marine mammels and fish, the noise level is not yet high enough to cause them to drown. What can kill whales is the high powered sonar used by the world's navys in general and the US Navy in particular.
Presumably the tactics of those in opposition to coal trains are to repeat as many lies as they can get away with, for as long as they can, and eventually the rest of the population will believe the lies to be the truth.
mogul264 What do these protesters REALLY want?
What do these protesters REALLY want?
mogul264
I think many would be termed reactionaries. They need to react. Currently, they've found nourishment with things environmental.
seafarer Presumably the tactics of those in opposition to coal trains are to repeat as many lies as they can get away with, for as long as they can, and eventually the rest of the population will believe the lies to be the truth.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
The powder river has close to 130 loaded trains per day.
Politics in a nutshell.
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