ShipSpotting.com Forum
Shipspotters all over the world => Shipping News and information => Topic started by: Judgie on October 25, 2012, 08:44:09 AM
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:D Just a bit of tongue and cheek with the title, but there have been a couple of photos surfacing of Boston and Brownsville lately (all recent) in ballast, and of the others carrying comparitively small loads and dropping. What with the current downturn in the Container industry, I think it's reasonable to concur that all six will be in lay-up again quite soon. What say you all? maybe it's time they cut them in half and fit a smaller plant, maybe a slightly larger prop with a lower-rpm "long stroke" diesel, similar concept to the Triple-e's. Or maybe with MARAD's Algol's nee SL-7's getting long in the tooth, these may end up taking their place...
Boston
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I was on the newbuild team for the Brownsville, and sailed on 2 of her sisters.
Fantastic boats to work and live on. Such a shame that they were built too late for the market they were designed and ordered for.
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I agree, I was on the Bentonville for it's first 2 years, lovely ships
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i can only imagine that standing on the bridge wing while the ship is making 30+ knots must be quite an experience(although im sure they never get a chance to see that kind of speed nowadays)
these boats just look as if they want to run as fast as they can to the next port and buck heavy seas with glee. :)
although it might be necessary to re-power or otherwise alter their drivetrain to make them last in this market, it will still be a small shame to lose speed demons like these ladies. i mean, dont they top out at something like 36.5 knots??!! thats incredible to me and its amazing that even with 300 tons/day fuel consumption these six ships made it off the drawing boards and into reality.
and now Maersk is stuck with them.
kyle
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Thanks for your replies fellas :)
I'm in the RAN and the highest speed i've done is 27knots on an Anzac. I can only imagine what 32 knots on such tonnage (B class) feels like. I admire the design for what it is, a true greyhound of the seas, modern successor to the SL7's and liners of old, using less horsepower to achieve similar results to boot!. Pity they haven't had the chance to make a name. Still trying to get my drawings right on Delftship....
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Hello All :)
I thought that it was charter vessels and they just could send them back
to owner
Best regards
Ulrik
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Possible, however we are seeing a fair amount of capacity reduction at the moment across the globe. We'll know in the coming months.
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Hey :)
I think we will see quiet a lot of ships go to the boyes on the rivers around EU ....
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Here in the UK we are starting to experience gaps in rotations with no reasons given by the shipping lines.
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You can suspect Them hiding that were is not enough.boxes to fill the slots !
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All of the class had smaller injectors and reprogrammed WEPS systems installed in 2008-2009 to make them more fuel efficient, and more suitable for the slow steaming that was becoming an industry standard.
Always used to be entertaining during my 12-4 afternoon watch, after we had been trundling along at 10kts, to soot blow and go up to 28kts and hurtle past everything. Used to get a few comments over the VHF!
Max sea-trial speed was 32.5kts (on the Buffalo I think). We managed 30kts during ours, but the weather was pretty crappy. Also managed 16kts astern.
They were built for WalMart to be the main customer. The idea was that they could load in China, go through Panama Canal, and discharge on the US East Coast faster than a conventional boxboat could cross Pacific, discharge in LA/SF and trains take the containers to the East Coast.
The theory was sound. At the time they were designed and ordered HFO was around $200 a ton. By the time they started to be built fuel was hitting $600 a ton. And when you burn 300 ton a day at full speed, that's a bloody expensive fuel bill!
Maersk tried all sorts to reduce fuel consumption. We used to sail with a contant head trim. Maersk had commisioned a Danish institute to work out the most efficient trim based on each load condition. Generally it meant a 1.5m trim by the head.
Obviously this complicated fuel uptake, bilge suction, FW suction, closing doors etc.
I have loads of pics of the Brownsville during final stages of construction, and of the Beaumont half way during build (including a few grainy pics of part of the M/E being lowered in) if anyone is interested.
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AM:
i am DEFINETLY interested in those pictures! the B-boats are really something unique and i find them utterly fascinating, both their story and their technology, and finding good info on them is difficult(unless you can manage to get ahold of someone like yourself, haha). please share them.
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Judgie,
I tried standing on the foc'sle of an ex WW2 destroyer making 30 knots round the Cape once. Almost impossible to stand still! It was funny watching the bow wave passing the ship as it was higher than the freeboard and the party of Jenny Wrens sat on deck kept looking at it and throwing up!
The ship was older than me, having been built originally as HMS Wessex and was SAS Jan van Riebeek with the South African navy when I worked on it.
Kelvin
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All of the class had smaller injectors and reprogrammed WEPS systems installed in 2008-2009 to make them more fuel efficient, and more suitable for the slow steaming that was becoming an industry standard.
Always used to be entertaining during my 12-4 afternoon watch, after we had been trundling along at 10kts, to soot blow and go up to 28kts and hurtle past everything. Used to get a few comments over the VHF!
Max sea-trial speed was 32.5kts (on the Buffalo I think). We managed 30kts during ours, but the weather was pretty crappy. Also managed 16kts astern.
They were built for WalMart to be the main customer. The idea was that they could load in China, go through Panama Canal, and discharge on the US East Coast faster than a conventional boxboat could cross Pacific, discharge in LA/SF and trains take the containers to the East Coast.
The theory was sound. At the time they were designed and ordered HFO was around $200 a ton. By the time they started to be built fuel was hitting $600 a ton. And when you burn 300 ton a day at full speed, that's a bloody expensive fuel bill!
Maersk tried all sorts to reduce fuel consumption. We used to sail with a contant head trim. Maersk had commisioned a Danish institute to work out the most efficient trim based on each load condition. Generally it meant a 1.5m trim by the head.
Obviously this complicated fuel uptake, bilge suction, FW suction, closing doors etc.
I have loads of pics of the Brownsville during final stages of construction, and of the Beaumont half way during build (including a few grainy pics of part of the M/E being lowered in) if anyone is interested.
Ancient Mariner - Would love to see you post your B class build pics. Also, we are fortunate to get first hand insight from you on the sea trial experience and also the improvements that APM tried to make on this class of vessel.
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Can confirm what ANCIENT MARINER said
I put the vessel (bulker) 2-3 feet on the head when I want to make more speed and in bad weather. It really works. The pumping of bilges/tanks etc is difficult, special on bulkers if you have cargo which is wet (Pet-Coke, coal for exmple) and the bilges have to be pumped once or more a day and due to the head trim the water runs to the forward of the holds. (FWD in holds are usually no bilges, might be a thinking point for construction engineers!!!)
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Here's a photo bucket link for some pics of the Brownville.
I just took a small selection of the ones I have. They give you an idea. I had forgotten I also had the Official yard pics of the hull build so I have included a few of those.
I have a variety of other pics, so if anyone has a specific request I may be able to help. I don't have any of the bridge as such. Though I do have various ones taken on the bridge during the naming ceremony and the handover event.
Having been to many shipyards over the years, I can honestly say that the 2 and a bit months I spent in Stralsund were some of the best I ever spent in my career.
If anyone else has any queries about the B-Class in general, I will do my best to answer. Although I haven't sailed on them since 2008 when I left Maersk.
Anyways, here is the link
http://s57.photobucket.com/albums/g237/Lexx_dring/B-Class/
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Ancient Mariner.
That's amazing, you've experienced these vessels first hand. Thankyou for the pics mate, definitely a real insight into these beasts.
We now know that the reason several B's were photographed late last year with no cargo is that they headed to Qingdao for new Bulbous bows for a further 5% efficiency gain at low speeds. Better than heading to Alang....
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Five Maersk Line vessels are getting a ’nose job’: having their bulbous bows retrofitted
http://www.maerskline.com/link/?page=news&path=/news/story_page/13/New_ship
Cheers
Lexor