Handling and transporting salt. Corrosion questions.

[Lakercapt]

When I was on Saskatchewan Pioneer we did several tank coatings as well as the coatings that were applied during the construction.
One was a type of float coating.
The ballast tank to be treated was emptied and several 44-gallon drums were emptied into the tank.
Ballast was slowly pumped in and the coating would be floating on top of the ballast water and adhere to the tank sides. It was slowly filled but not allowing the tank to overflow. A few more drums added through the open manhole and the tank slowly pumped out. The tank would then be slowly pumped out and not completely drained allowing any residue to sit in the tank.
It took a lot of patience and many many drums of this stuff to do all the tanks and it did work.
To prove the point she still sails today after many years in salt water !

[Guest]

Is there still no life of the vessel coating for the tanks to protect them from corrosion ?

[guest]

Some years ago when we were discharging a load of salt I walked on the dock. I was approached by a bystander and asked about the cargo. I told him it was salt for the automobile industry.
What do they use it for was his next question? Oh, they don't use it its the highway people that use it on the roads. So how is it for the auto industry he again quired? Because salt on the roads speeds up corrosion on vehicles and you have to replace them sooner !

[Guest]

Carrying salt generates revenue for the company so putting it in a new ship is part of business. They don't want to abuse a new asset, but they are not pampering it either. Even the Agawa Canyon, Algoway, Algorail and Algosoo were carrying salt in their first year of service.

People are forgetting a couple of things in regards to the Canadian vessels operating in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The hip and shoulder of the ships get increased wear due to all the canaling they have to do when going through the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence Seaway locks.

Second is the high humidity in the side tanks in the Summer, which when combined with the hot, salty atmosphere corrodes them. That's why when you see photos of the grounded Canadian Miner in Cape Breton from a few years ago, her side tanks were the first to be destroyed due to the wastage and corrosion in them.

[GuestfromEU]

Salt is a cargo, like any other commodity. What earns money for shipowners? Moving cargo. Salt is corrosive, but there are many new ships trading globally which transport salt. Damage to unloading machinery and the tunnel in self-discharging ships can be mitigated by using proper coatings to protect the steel or using galvanised steel in certain locations. Periodic steel renewal will be inevitable, but hauling salt does not mean a ship will rot away in a short period of time. Older ships that commence service in the salt trade will deteriorate quickly as the machinery and steel are already of advanced age and coatings are likely in poor condition or non-existent.

The new Equinox and Trillium class ships were not designed to trade for 40 years. Even the 1960s built lakers were not designed for 40 years of service. Much has been learned about shipbuilding and design over time, allowing shipyards and owners to build ships with less material, which ultimately correlates to lower construction costs and higher cargo capacity. No matter where a new ship is built, it can "feel" less substantial when comparing to a ship built 30-50 years ago. That does not mean it is cheap or of poor quality. It means it was built to modern specifications with known standards and updated longevity factors of materials. More so, the technology of ships is constantly evolving, so ships 20 years from now will have greater efficiency than the present. Equipment manufacturers obsolete designs after time, making spare parts difficult to obtain. Class rules on enhanced surveys after a ship is 15 years old also become more expensive and burdensome.

[wlbblw]

Is there any information published anywhere that states this new ship will haul salt? If they did have a new contract for salt, why wouldn't they run one of their 60 year old boats in that trade & have the Barker take over whatever the older ones are doing now?
The only way that makes any sense is if they needed her short length & forward boom to reach some dock somewhere restricted in size that nothing else in their fleet can reach but I have trouble believing that because the Jackson & the Pathfinder could both reach anything the Barker can reach.

[Chris M]

[/quote]
Interlake it seems will be breaking this norm for the US fleet when the Mark Barker comes out if she indeed will be carrying salt.[/quote]

That's the main reason they're building a new vessel, salt contract

[Guest]

Traditionally, the US side seems to shy away from running a major amount of salt in their relatively newer boats. They typically used to do it with whatever was the oldest & crispiest boat in the fleet. Canadians seem to run a lot of it since they have a salt mine in Goderich, so they don't have that much reservation about it & I've seen them use their newest ships in their first year to carry it. One thing different about them is that their boats go down into the brackish water of the Gulf of St. Lawrence a lot as part of their trade patterns so they're used to having them wear out quickly. Their oldest ships are from the 70s where on the US side, there's ships (or their converted barges) from as far back as 1906 (St. Mary's Challenger barge).

There is no brackish water in the gulf of saint lawrence , it is salt water 1025 density.The brackish water is around Quebec city sensity between 1000 and 1025. Close east of Quebec city is the demarkation line between fresh and salt water.

[Shipwatcher1]

Traditionally, the US side seems to shy away from running a major amount of salt in their relatively newer boats. They typically used to do it with whatever was the oldest & crispiest boat in the fleet. Canadians seem to run a lot of it since they have a salt mine in Goderich, so they don't have that much reservation about it & I've seen them use their newest ships in their first year to carry it. One thing different about them is that their boats go down into the brackish water of the Gulf of St. Lawrence a lot as part of their trade patterns so they're used to having them wear out quickly. Their oldest ships are from the 70s where on the US side, there's ships (or their converted barges) from as far back as 1906 (St. Mary's Challenger barge).

Interlake it seems will be breaking this norm for the US fleet when the Mark Barker comes out if she indeed will be carrying salt.

[Guest999]

One thing different about them is that their boats go down into the brackish water of the Gulf of St. Lawrence a lot as part of their trade patterns so they're used to having them wear out quickly.

When I took over from a chief engineer as Algosteel shipkeeper in early 2016, he mentioned that it was his belief that Algoma Central Corporation was quite accepting of the fact the lifespan of the newer boats coming online was going to be noticeably shorter than the previous boats in the fleet. Move the cargo, do it as efficiently as possible for the lowest cost, and when the boat is worn out, replace it.

[wlbblw]

Traditionally, the US side seems to shy away from running a major amount of salt in their relatively newer boats. They typically used to do it with whatever was the oldest & crispiest boat in the fleet. Canadians seem to run a lot of it since they have a salt mine in Goderich, so they don't have that much reservation about it & I've seen them use their newest ships in their first year to carry it. One thing different about them is that their boats go down into the brackish water of the Gulf of St. Lawrence a lot as part of their trade patterns so they're used to having them wear out quickly. Their oldest ships are from the 70s where on the US side, there's ships (or their converted barges) from as far back as 1906 (St. Mary's Challenger barge).

[Guest]

I would assume that the freight rates for salt are attractive enough for shipping companies to accept the higher rates of corrosion on their ships. This would be especially true in the US fleet with its reliance upon domestically built ships but probably less so on the Canadian side as it currently has the option of ordering from foreign yards.

[Guest]

Cargo hold linings and paint retard the progression of salt corrosion on boats just like with cars and as you can see with the new Canadian boats (and an expected run for the new Barker when she is launched) the age of the equipment doesn't come into play.

[RCRVRP]

Since salt attracts moisture and is so corrosive I wonder if the boats and equipment that handles it onto and off of the boat is older machinery that is close to the end of it life so its put on salt duty till the end of its days or what?