|
Post by futureferrydriver on Jan 28, 2017 1:15:13 GMT -8
Second time getting up close to the Orca. I didn't make it in time for daylight photos but I had a real camera (ie. not my phone) with me this time so I managed to get some photos where you can actually tell there is a ferry in the picture! Maybe one of these days I will get to see her in the daylight but for now I'll have to live with dark and/or blurry. Salish Orca as seen from the Coastal Renaissance approaching berth 4 at about 10:30pm. Here is one from the terminal side with slightly better lighting. And here is my best attempt at an "interior" shot. I wasn't quite tall enough to see all the way over the fence (even from the roof of my moms minivan) but I still kind of like this one. I'm really excited to see the garage deck in action because when I look at this photo it somewhat blows my mind that theres is a whole other car deck hiding underneath.
|
|
|
Post by futureferrydriver on Jan 25, 2017 10:27:19 GMT -8
So the Orca has been sitting at Tsawwassen for some days now and no one from the forum got pictures of her there yet? We are slacking off....LOL! Pictures of her at Tsawwassen to be clear. I was in Tsawwassen twice this weekend (once on Friday night going to Vancouver and again on Sunday evening coming back) but it was too dark for me to get any decent pictures with my cruddy phone camera (travelling on route one and having the Orca docked the opposite side of the terminal didn't help). I guess I'll have to skip class on Friday to catch an earlier ferry out of SWB when I go this weekend!
|
|
|
Post by futureferrydriver on Jan 11, 2017 9:30:40 GMT -8
Some photographic evidence of the Orca's presence in Canada for those of us who aren't lucky enough to have a chance to see her in the next few days. These were taken from Arbutus Ridge in Saanich (or maybe that's still in Victoria) at around 8:30 this morning. I wish I had brought a better lens with me but I was in a hurry this morning so these less than great photos are the best I could get. This is my first attempt at uploading photos to this forum so I apologize if the sizing was done wrong.
|
|
|
Post by futureferrydriver on Jan 11, 2017 8:54:50 GMT -8
Won't be long until the Orca comes around Turn Point on Stuart Island....at which point I will see her with my own eyes. Should I be embarrassed that I'm kind of excited? No embarrassment necessary! I got up early today to make a detour on my way to class and try to get a look at our newest ferry. I'm happy to say that I was able to catch a glimpse of her from Arbutus Ridge in Saanich! I even managed to snag a couple of (albeit very bad) photos of her which I will attempt to post later today. Welcome to Canada MV Salish Orca!!!
|
|
|
Post by futureferrydriver on Nov 29, 2016 13:09:46 GMT -8
I'm assuming it will probably refuel a couple times along the way, but does anyone know if the Orca has the capacity to make the Atlantic crossing part without carrying extra fuel tanks on the car deck? Up until a few weeks ago I would've thought she'd be able to carry more than enough for a Trans-Atlantic trip but then I was talking to the captian (or maybe it was the Chief Officer) of the Renaissance and he told me that they take a B-Train of fuel every 2 or 3 days. My conclusion is that either the 'gas' tanks on the ferries are a lot smaller than I thought, or that they fill them up way more often than they need to. BCF typically has a policy of bunkering as often as possible. Most major vessels bunker either every day or every other day. The Spirits for example bunker a B train (approx. 60 cubic metres) every day except Sunday, and when the CCel is working as No. 1 it is on a similar schedule. According to the original FSG info sheet, the Coastals are capable of holding about 420m3, which would allow them, in theory, to run for close to two weeks without bunkering. That said, it is not good practice to run the ship empty, from both a practicality standpoint (you pick up a lot more dirt and sediment by drawing the dregs from the bottom of the tanks), and a safety standpoint. As a Chief Engineer, you never want to come even close to running out of fuel. Fuel is also often used as ballast, and having a light load will cause the ship ride and handle terribly. All that to answer your question: I don't know. I'm not sure if they are running LNG or diesel for the delivery. I can't imagine the diesel tanks are all that large, as the expected diesel consumption is expected to be quite low with the vessel in operation. LNG was undoubtedly available in Gdansk for testing, and I'd assume they filled up before departure, but I don't know if it is available in Tenerife or Panama. At the end of the day, I would consider it reckless at best to not bunker fuel before a trans-atlantic crossing. You open doors to all kinds of risk by thinking "we can make it". PS Welcome back to the forum. Thanks for the detailed answer Nick! Now that I think about it, it does seems more logical from a logistics standpoint to bunker daily, or as often as possible. A B train a day is probably a lot easier to coordinate than doing 7 at once once a week. I didn't even consider the LNG vs diesel thing but thats a good point. Supposing that LNG is not available in Tenerife/Panama etc, would it be plausible that they could do the first stretch using LNG from Gdansk and then switch over to diesel when it becomes appropriate? I know the whole point of these new ships is to have the flexibility to run on both, but I'm not sure if changing between the two is as simple as 'flipping a switch' or if any changes have to physically be made down below deck before that can happen.
|
|
|
Post by futureferrydriver on Nov 28, 2016 16:08:13 GMT -8
I'm assuming it will probably refuel a couple times along the way, but does anyone know if the Orca has the capacity to make the Atlantic crossing part without carrying extra fuel tanks on the car deck? Up until a few weeks ago I would've thought she'd be able to carry more than enough for a Trans-Atlantic trip but then I was talking to the captian (or maybe it was the Chief Officer) of the Renaissance and he told me that they take a B-Train of fuel every 2 or 3 days. My conclusion is that either the 'gas' tanks on the ferries are a lot smaller than I thought, or that they fill them up way more often than they need to.
|
|
|
Post by futureferrydriver on Oct 19, 2016 9:41:45 GMT -8
I am still trying to understand why BCFS has opted to spend money in this way at Langdale now. Double decking & upgrading of the secondary berth would seem to make more sense & it would allow berth 1 to remain in full operation. They could then upgrade berth one at a later date. I'm also curious as to why they're choosing to put all this money into berth 1 rather than berth 2. On top of the points already mentioned, I would think in the long run operating route 3 primarily out of berth 2 would improve the efficiency of the route slightly. The current "U turn" that has to be performed to line up with and depart from berth 1 isn't exactly the most efficient process ever. A slight realignment of berth 2 would give a vessel coming from HSB a much more straight in approach and departure than berth 1 and could surely cut at least a couple minutes off of the crossing time, probably not enough to justify altering the schedule but ever minute counts on a route that is delayed more than it's fair share. The only reason I can think of for BCF doing 1 over 2 is that berth 1 is possibly a bit better protected in a storm, but Langdale is already in such a sheltered area I don't imagine that's a huge factor in the decision. (Plus berth 1 would still be there if they ever couldn't dock in 2 for whatever reason.)
|
|