MarkC

Propulsion power - yes - and if they have azimuth pods rather than traditional propeller/rudder, then yes again However, yes, windage is a huge issue, even with large bow thrusters, & stern thrusters if not azimuth equipped. If it's windy then either extra tugs would be required for berthing/unberthing, or port call might be cancelled. FWIW, the same problem is to be had with the huge container ships that operate these days. Mark

Excellent. I hope to be there on the Saturday, agw... Mark

Yep. Especially the almost daily blocking of dozens of chancers, mainly from, shall we say, east of Suez, who try to join one particular FB group with almost 20k members...

One might suggest that taking more water with it would be prudent... 😜

I guess that the closest I've ever been to the "tankeritis" that the VLCC lads (and lasses these days) would go on about will have been the early March 2020 (departed Vlissingen) to 25th June 2020 period, when I finally got off my ship. Was due off at San Juan, but everything shut down, the day before we got there, and we weren't allowed off the ship, very few folk boarded - (the USCG & then pilots) - and all we did after San Juan was load off a VLGC just west of Kingston & discharge in Montego Bay. Backwards & forwards... Mark

What the actual... 😲

Michael Palin's experiences in his "Around the World in 80 Days" trip were probably pretty near the truth of the time, tbh Mark

The two oil tankers I sailed on, the StaT55 Panamax product tankers Scottish Lion and Scottish Eagle, also had steam plant for the cargo pumps - a Babcock M11 watertube boiler & 4x Stal-Laval turbines. The steam plant was more powerful than quite a few steamships, but it didn't count for steam time, as it wasn't for propulsion. Oh, the memories of playing the Bailey Board, especially whilst the Mate was winding up the turbines for discharging... Mark

Given the adverse publicity over the last couple of years, one is VERY tempted to suspect that a large number of chickens may be inbound to park up... Mark

From memory, that's spot on. He did indeed. Mark

Indeed so. I read it in my first year at college as a Cadet (1979). Never been on a VLCC in my career 😎 Mark

I'm suddenly heading down that road myself... Mark

As things stand, even with no IG available, the atmosphere in those tanks will be safe, as it'll be too rich. (Rich as in outside the flammable envelope by having too high percentage of hydrocarbons measured against oxygen levels). So yes, IG will be supplied as the oil is pumped out; probably from the receiving tanker, although portable IG or nitrogen plants can also be used. Salvors use that technique regularly. The really tricky part might be getting the ship gas free after discharging, even for the scrapping run, which is almost certainly what will happen to her. Mark

No reason why it won't be. OK, the very volatile fractions will likely as not have evaporated over the years, but the bulk of it will be just fine. Given how little, by comparison with today's prices, that it will have cost when first purchased, whoever takes possession stands to be well rewarded financially, even after the recovery costs are taken into account. Mark

Oh, I don't know... 😎

Cheers, John. That's interesting. As I said, I manually bid - manual sniping, if you will - and wondered if I'd missed out due to losing internet signal at the crucial moment, which has happened before ☹️ Mark

Just picked up 3 sets of sealed Gibson driving wheels for under a tenner, plus reasonable postage. I thought I'd missed out, because having (manually) sniped, a few seconds before the end, the program seemed to 'hang', and there was no almost instantaneous "You've won. Now cough up" email, so I was resigned to having to keep looking. So, I was very pleased to get the winner email a few minutes later. Happy days 😎 Mark

As jjb alludes to (I think), the actual mantra is "It's better to have tried and failed, than to have never tried at all". Mark

Well... https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/08/woman-cut-ate-mr-nibbles-pet-hamster/

There is a plot at the end of my garden that had planning permission for 35 houses, but there have been no takers. Why? Because there's at least half a metre thickness of concrete plus hardcore to remove first - it was originally part of the local colliery, then a plant hire business. That business still owns it, & has started to use it for storage again. I'm not complaining - any new houses would look into my house & garden. Local developers, though, have been busy, covering surrounding open fields with houses. No extra shops or facilities for residents though - and as for upgraded infrastructure? Don't be silly... Mark

The British & Commonwealth group (Union Castle, Clan Line, King Line, Bowaters etc) also required superior tickets for a very long time. As you say, Maersk would promote folk before the ink was dry on new licences - as indeed do many other Companies these days. My own employer might well be an exception - they'll promote, but only when a candidate has received sufficient recommendations from Masters/Chiefs, except in VERY exceptional circumstances & only as a last resort. I remember an Engineer Cadet sailing with me when I was 2/E with Maersk. He was just getting a few weeks' sea time before going back to college for his Class 4. I asked him, one evening, if he was looking forward to coming back to sea once he passed his Class 4. Oh yes, says he. I then suggested he understudy the Third for the remainder of his time on board. This prompted the question "Um, why's that, Sec?" Because, says I, you'll be coming back as Third. That's ****** stupid, says he. Why is that? I asked. Because I know nothing, was the reply. Now that lad "got it" - sadly as I was climbing the greasy pole, the pole seemed to be being cropped from under me as I climbed, but at least I got experience under my belt, as Junior & then up the ladder. I never heard from him again, as I left for pastures new (and a Chief's job) shortly afterwards, but I expected that he would do well - he had the makings... Unfortunately he, and others, now get thrown in at the deep end - it's not fair on them, or the rest of the ship's company, who have to make up the shortfall in knowledge until the newbie finds their feet, as it were. 'tis the modern way; we are supposed to embrace it... Mark

I'm presently spending a lot of time in the region of the Straits of Gibraltar, and the weather here is definitely not what is normal for this time of year - cooler, overcast & sometimes quite rainy too. A friend of mine was one of the support crew for a Paris-Dakar Rally competitor a few weeks ago - he couldn't believe how cool it was, even at the southern end of Morocco. So, no wonder there's a tomato shortage - conditions aren't good. Mark

A Merkin - 'nuff said...

Those wheelsets are very nice, and very easy to change. They make a huge difference in both running and appearance. Mark

There are indeed Things like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143934791128?hash=item21832e9dd8:g:VdEAAOSwOGtgFW~~&var=443857230686 and this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363489153187?hash=item54a1a450a3:g:ghMAAOSwTfNhBrlp