Footer HP question

[Hobieone]

yes, it's due to conflicts at the loader. I rode the Gott to Conneaut and back and on the return, we crossed Superior on one engine due to availability at the shiploader. I guess why burn the fuel at design speed just to "hurry up and wait: at the breakwall.

[oldsparky]

I noticed Monday the Gott cut back to about 6 knots for about 7 hours heading into Two Harbors. This got it there just as the Baie Comeau was leaving. Could this be to save on fuel to do this rather than run 12-13 knots and if so how much might this save?

[hausen]

Why do the Gott and Speer have over 19,000 HP but show a slower speed than the other Footers with 14,400 HP according to "Know Your Ships"?

It should be noted that speeds listed in Know Your Ships might be a top rated speed, which is kind of an arbitrary number and as a ship's power plant ages, becomes more and more of a theoretical bit of notation than anything that has much relation to actual vessel operations.

If you monitor actual open lake cruising speeds on a service like marinetraffic.com for a few days, you'll notice that a ship like the Gott, with higher horsepower and a much newer power plant, typically moves a little faster than, say, the McCarthy or the Indiana Harbor.

[orangeshirt]

I seem to remember it was extra horsepower for getting through the ice.

[Andrew]

I'm no engineer, but I think a good part of that is the cargo. The Speer and Gott were designed for iron ore, while the others were built to handle more mixed commodities, and iron ore is a lot heavier. It could be that the Gott and Speer have more torque, which doesn't always equate speed. But, I could be way off base on this. Just a thought. It is also generally true that ships don't run full power either, because that is not fuel efficient and is bad for the engine.

[DanMD]

Why do the Gott and Speer have over 19,000 HP but show a slower speed than the other Footers with 14,400 HP according to "Know Your Ships"?