Ghost Fleet? Surplus Boats? Where Are They?
i recently stumbled upon this story linked to a twitter post:
dailypress.com
Isle of Wight
Reserve ships pose environmental hazard
By Allison T. Williams
247-4535
June 9, 2009
ISLE OF WIGHT – Potential environmental hazards posed by the James River Reserve Fleet are spurring a third locality to ask Congress to remove the decaying hulks from the river. The Isle of Wight Board of Supervisors is poised to approve a resolution on Thursday urging the federal government to remove the 24 remaining obsolete ships that have been moored in the James River, near Fort Eustis, for decades.
James City County and Newport News passed similar resolutions earlier this year. Other localities that could be impacted by environmental damage from the fleet, including Suffolk and Hampton, are also being asked to consider adopting a similar resolution. The government has estimated that the ghost fleet holds about 7.7 million gallons of oil and fuel, slightly less than the Exxon Valdez spilled off the coast of Alaska in 1989. Local officials worry the fuels stored on the ships could leak and cause significant environmental damage to the James River and surrounding waterways, according to the resolution.
The resolution notes there have been several minor leaks since 1998, creating cleanup costs totaling about $2 million. The U.S. Maritime Administration, in 2002, estimated removing the obsolete fleet would cost about $177 million. "I think we need to move those ships out of there as soon as possible," said James Brown, chairman of the Isle of Board of Supervisors. Brown recalled how the river was unfishable for years after the chemical Kepone was found in the James River in the 1970s.
The government is making progress in trimming down the James River Reserve Fleet, said Susan Clark, public affairs director for the U.S. Maritime Administration. The most recent ship to leave, the Milwaukee, an oiler built in 1969, was sold for scrap metal to a company in Chesapeake in February. The agency has removed 78 ships from the fleet since 2001. Although most were sold for scrap metal, other have been cleaned and sunk off the Florida coast to help rebuild reefs,
Clark said. The government announced Monday that it has sold another ship from the ghost fleet for scrap-metal recycling. The Suribachi was sold to a company in Texas for $20,001. The ship is tentatively to leave the fleet on July 2.
Other than the recent hulk aground in Sooke basin, I've never run into abandoned vessels. I've seen a few very large x-tugs, trawlers etc and they are always owned by someone. the Sooke example was owned until the owner realised the ship was doomed and better to just disappear and let someone else clean it up.
it seems like such a waste to abandon these vessels. i understand it is completely uneconomical to make them seaworthy again, but as floating homes and liveaboards wouldn't they be suitable? Why does this region have so many abandoned vessels while we in BC don't have the same problem? In my experience people seem to want to extend the usefull lives of large vessels long past the point where they are safe for anything beyond a place to live. i would love it to get my hands on a major vessel to use as a liveaboard.
We are back from our trip through the Gulf Islands. It's so pretty in there and the sailing was superb -many times we hit 8.5 knots beating upwind. with just 4 men aboard we could push fainleog hard and see what she would do. even at a 30 degree heel she seemed very happy, although at that point the weather helm became excessive (wheel hard over) and we had to dump the main and tighten the boom vang and backstay adjuster to help her trim.
There's such a terror of heeling for some people and it's so irrational. Gusts of 20 knots with full main and 130 genoa caused a great deal of griping; In a stronger wind we simply would not have been able to prevent her from rounding up. it seems like 30 degrees is the most she will do and allow helm control. Overpowered she would automatically lose power; she's not going over.
I've tried to explain this to my darling wife but it still doesn't aliviate her anxiety. And it's not like she will come with me while we do these acrobatics and learn that she is safe. The smooth power of Fainleog racing along in such situations is actually quite soothing -she is strong and stable.
I enjoyed learning that she needs a reef in at most 20 knots -not from a real "safety" perspective, but from a control one. We've been taught that reefing early is about safety, as if too much sail out will lead to catastrophe ( i think this is part of tracy's anxiety). I have no idea what would happen if we had a full suit out in gale force winds, but she sure as hell wouldn't sail. her ears would be in the water sure enough, but only for a moment as the weather helm would be unstoppably huge and she would immediatly round right up.
It would be interesting to learn the balance between heeling (weather helm) and efficiency. The more sail out the more power you have, but at some point the forces trying to round you up become so strong you have to have your rudder hard across the vessel's flow of water, and that is a loss of power. Someone has told me that 18 degrees of heel is the maximum you should aim for but i think that's too conservative. you will be losing more power with diminished mainsail to maintain that, compared to any losses provided by the rudder; at that point there is almost no weather helm.
it's going to be a fun summer.
dailypress.com
Isle of Wight
Reserve ships pose environmental hazard
By Allison T. Williams
247-4535
June 9, 2009
ISLE OF WIGHT – Potential environmental hazards posed by the James River Reserve Fleet are spurring a third locality to ask Congress to remove the decaying hulks from the river. The Isle of Wight Board of Supervisors is poised to approve a resolution on Thursday urging the federal government to remove the 24 remaining obsolete ships that have been moored in the James River, near Fort Eustis, for decades.
James City County and Newport News passed similar resolutions earlier this year. Other localities that could be impacted by environmental damage from the fleet, including Suffolk and Hampton, are also being asked to consider adopting a similar resolution. The government has estimated that the ghost fleet holds about 7.7 million gallons of oil and fuel, slightly less than the Exxon Valdez spilled off the coast of Alaska in 1989. Local officials worry the fuels stored on the ships could leak and cause significant environmental damage to the James River and surrounding waterways, according to the resolution.
The resolution notes there have been several minor leaks since 1998, creating cleanup costs totaling about $2 million. The U.S. Maritime Administration, in 2002, estimated removing the obsolete fleet would cost about $177 million. "I think we need to move those ships out of there as soon as possible," said James Brown, chairman of the Isle of Board of Supervisors. Brown recalled how the river was unfishable for years after the chemical Kepone was found in the James River in the 1970s.
The government is making progress in trimming down the James River Reserve Fleet, said Susan Clark, public affairs director for the U.S. Maritime Administration. The most recent ship to leave, the Milwaukee, an oiler built in 1969, was sold for scrap metal to a company in Chesapeake in February. The agency has removed 78 ships from the fleet since 2001. Although most were sold for scrap metal, other have been cleaned and sunk off the Florida coast to help rebuild reefs,
Clark said. The government announced Monday that it has sold another ship from the ghost fleet for scrap-metal recycling. The Suribachi was sold to a company in Texas for $20,001. The ship is tentatively to leave the fleet on July 2.
Other than the recent hulk aground in Sooke basin, I've never run into abandoned vessels. I've seen a few very large x-tugs, trawlers etc and they are always owned by someone. the Sooke example was owned until the owner realised the ship was doomed and better to just disappear and let someone else clean it up.
it seems like such a waste to abandon these vessels. i understand it is completely uneconomical to make them seaworthy again, but as floating homes and liveaboards wouldn't they be suitable? Why does this region have so many abandoned vessels while we in BC don't have the same problem? In my experience people seem to want to extend the usefull lives of large vessels long past the point where they are safe for anything beyond a place to live. i would love it to get my hands on a major vessel to use as a liveaboard.
We are back from our trip through the Gulf Islands. It's so pretty in there and the sailing was superb -many times we hit 8.5 knots beating upwind. with just 4 men aboard we could push fainleog hard and see what she would do. even at a 30 degree heel she seemed very happy, although at that point the weather helm became excessive (wheel hard over) and we had to dump the main and tighten the boom vang and backstay adjuster to help her trim.
There's such a terror of heeling for some people and it's so irrational. Gusts of 20 knots with full main and 130 genoa caused a great deal of griping; In a stronger wind we simply would not have been able to prevent her from rounding up. it seems like 30 degrees is the most she will do and allow helm control. Overpowered she would automatically lose power; she's not going over.
I've tried to explain this to my darling wife but it still doesn't aliviate her anxiety. And it's not like she will come with me while we do these acrobatics and learn that she is safe. The smooth power of Fainleog racing along in such situations is actually quite soothing -she is strong and stable.
I enjoyed learning that she needs a reef in at most 20 knots -not from a real "safety" perspective, but from a control one. We've been taught that reefing early is about safety, as if too much sail out will lead to catastrophe ( i think this is part of tracy's anxiety). I have no idea what would happen if we had a full suit out in gale force winds, but she sure as hell wouldn't sail. her ears would be in the water sure enough, but only for a moment as the weather helm would be unstoppably huge and she would immediatly round right up.
It would be interesting to learn the balance between heeling (weather helm) and efficiency. The more sail out the more power you have, but at some point the forces trying to round you up become so strong you have to have your rudder hard across the vessel's flow of water, and that is a loss of power. Someone has told me that 18 degrees of heel is the maximum you should aim for but i think that's too conservative. you will be losing more power with diminished mainsail to maintain that, compared to any losses provided by the rudder; at that point there is almost no weather helm.
it's going to be a fun summer.
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