Fuel

[Timerover51]

A reasonably efficient Diesel will use about 0.4 pounds of fuel per horsepower-hour produced, or 2.5 horsepower-hours per pound of fuel. They are more efficient at fuel use than most gasoline engines, although the Napier Lion aircraft engine, produced at the end of World War One, could be tuned to use 0.33 pounds of gasoline per horsepower-hour, which is about an efficient as you can get for an internal combustion engine.

[rflduluth]

Those numbers seem very fuel efficient considering to mass being moved. For comparison, I used to fuel aircraft. We'd put about 28000 gallons of jet fuel on a DC-10 to travel from Duluth to Helsinki.

[Guest]

On the Misener Ocean/lakers i.e Canada Marquis and Selkirk Settler, they consumed at full speed approx 25 metric tonnes of heavy fuel oil and approx 1 tonne of diesel for the generators.
They had slow speed Sulzer engines.
Both were equipped with large capacity fuel tanks to enable them to go for many days without fueling when outside.

[guest346]

So who on the ship has the responsibility of keeping an eye on the fuel level and when,where and how much fuel they will take on?

The Master always has the ultimate responsibility. The Chief is responsible to the Master for Engine Room ops. It is usually discussed between the Master and Chief in regards to how low to run the bunkers. It will change depending on the voyage and/or time of year. I will fuel more often when the weather is crappy so delays for weather don't cause a problem with fuel levels. Nice summer sailing... run the bunkers down further.

[guest346]

How does a 1000 footer with EMD engines compare in fuel usage with one that has Pielstik or MAK diesel?

The big advantage comes from the Pielstik and MAK engines consume Heavy oil vs the EMD's running #2 Diesel. 30% more BTUs from IF280 vs #2 Diesel. Mean far fewer gallons burned to get the same power.

[Guest]

How does a 1000 footer with EMD engines compare in fuel usage with one that has Pielstik or MAK diesel?

MaKs have much better fuel economy than EMDs. Not sure where Alcos fit in.

[hugh3]

The Chief Engineer is responsible to have a certain percent over and above the expected fuel usage for the current voyage. You must also understand that the intended use of the vessel is to transfer cargo not fuel.

[Bob]

So who on the ship has the responsibility of keeping an eye on the fuel level and when,where and how much fuel they will take on?

[geysir]

How many days can one of these ships run between fuel-ups?

I would think close to two weeks. The ABS website lists the American Century having a fuel capacity of 505 CuM and 485 tons. No gallons listed. I worked on a couple of footers and fuzzily think they had a fuel capacity around 150,000 gallons. Not surprisingly, ocean vessels carry more fuel. I worked on a 906x105 foot tanker that took on 900,000 gallons during one refueling. It had a very thirsty 30,000 hp steam turbine.

[Guest]

How does a 1000 footer with EMD engines compare in fuel usage with one that has Pielstik or MAK diesel?

[Darryl]

How many days can one of these ships run between fuel-ups?

From my experience, the lakers can fuel every six days or so. Rarely do they take on a full tank. If they did, they might not be able to load as much. Or have clearance in certain ports or channels. When and where they fuel can be determined by cost. The got it down to a science.

[Guest]

If I remember correctly we would burn 15-20 ton per day on csl box ship

[GuestfromEU]

The Bay Ship thousand footers with EMD main engines consume approximately 14,000 US Gallons per 24 hours at full sea speed (combined main engines and generators). While docked, fuel consumption is less, of course.

Seawaymax ships range 6000-8000 US Gallon/day at sea (20-25 Metric Tons).

[Custom500]

Is the fuel readily available at a lot of different ports- is this something that is hard to come by once they're out there? And do they all use the same fuel?

[Guest]

I understand a thousand footer consumes somewhere around 7000 gallons of heavy diesel per 24 hours while underway.

No. Diesel boats burn 1 gallon per horsepower per day as a general rule. 14,000 hp = 14,000 gals every 24 hours when underway.

[Pete in Holland MI]

I understand a thousand footer consumes somewhere around 7000 gallons of heavy diesel per 24 hours while underway.

[Charlie]

that depends on the run they are on. most 1,000 footers fuel around every 6 to 7 days at around 80,000 us gallons

charlie

[Custom500]

How many days can one of these ships run between fuel-ups?