jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I watched a very interesting video about container ships. Their only job is to get goods from Point A to Point B, but there are lots of decisions to be made. Both the ship and the engine are designed to cruise at a certain speed. Going faster or slower would use more fuel. As fuel prices rise, they tend to cruise at a lower speed, but they can't go too slow, or they'll burn more fuel. Of course, you can't change the design of the ship as fuel prices change, and you don't want to be in a "fast" design when fuel is more expensive.

An average of 568 containers fall off those ships every year. Not only is that a lot of lost goods, but those containers can become navigation hazards until they sink.

If you want to see some interesting videos, look at the ship channels on YouTube. The SS America, after many name changes, ran aground on a beach, and it eventually completely rusted and disappeared. The SS United States, the fastest ocean liner, is still afloat. It's in Philadelphia, waiting for help. The head of the Conservancy is the granddaughter of the ship's architect.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Right now the container ships are just circling around and around the coast of California. Wasting time and fuel. And carrying goods, parts, and Christmas gifts we will not get this year. So much for Just In Time BS.

eshore46

First of all the container ships are NOT circling, they are they are all anchored( not wasting fuel).Maybe you should tell them just what an inconvience this is to you and explain how to correct the problem!

JBRIII

From what I read on the SS United States, it should just be scrapped, nice ship, but built for a different time and design and just does not fit today's wants and difficult to change. Cheaper to build need which is why it sits? Even on newer ships, I am not sure how easily changes could be made, I saw a program on one, the rooms are modules placed into the ship as it is build from the bottom up and inside out, them the hull is placed over it all like a skin. To make big changes you would have to dissemble the entire ship.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Yup, not circling! One of them did drag its anchor and broke an oil pipeline causing a huge oil spill in Huntington Beach/Newport Beach. The problem is the government in California. They have imposed an EPA measure that won't allow tractors older than 2008 on their highways. Those tractors are expensive and the owner operators make payments for years on them and when they are finally paid off, they can start to make some good money. But now they are forced to get rid of their paid off tractors and make payments on a newer tractor. This isn't right. So now there aren't enough trucks and truck drivers to get the containers out of port. It's not the ships fault. It's not the harbors fault. It's the government of California's fault. I know they want to clean up the air, but it takes time to clean up the air.

Actually, some of the fault lies on the harbor and it's unions. They won't let non union drivers into the ship yards to help deliver containers. They could ease up on this and more containers would be moved quicker.

Dannj

My understanding is that unlike other countries, ports in the US are controlled by the municipal governments, not the state or national government. I suspect this could lead to resource issues. Anyway, it’s a problem that’s been building for years that’s finally being recognized.

srt101fan

Ship speed has always been a major consideration in ship design tradeoffs. Sometimes it doesn't go so well. In the early '70s Sea-Land built the SL-7 containerships. These fast cargo ships were not profitable and were later acquired by the Navy. This issue also applies to aircraft like the supersonic transports even though there were other issues besides profitability.

srt101fan

It's sad that the SS United States is rusting away at a pier. You're right, built for another time and a purpose no longer applicable today. Her historic speed achievements would be no adavantage in any post-Atlantic crossing career. I don't think it was ever considered to reactivate her as an operational ship. Some hoped to use her as a hotel and tourist attraction similar to what was done with the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach. That ship has been there for a long time but is in need of repairs. The impact of Covid and financial concerns are a major problem. Unfortunately, hope for an extended life of the SS United States seems to be fading by the day.

Regarding major changes to ships, it's not unusual to do that. Some ships have been cut in half and rebuilt with an added midsection. It's all in what the cost-benefit analyses show.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The builder witnessed a fire at sea, so when he built a ship himself, he wanted it to be as light and fireproof as possible. There are no wooden decks and lots of aluminum. The entire interior was gutted. It just wide open spaces now. They had to get rid of the asbestos. There has been lots of interest ibn buying it over the years, but that's as far as it got. Just cleaning it up would cost millions, and they they would have to build it from the inside out. It would cost hundreds of millions, and then they would have to hope that there was enough interest in sailing.

Still, I prefer the look of the ocean liners to the modern cruise ships. We sailed on the Norway, which was originally the France. That was a beauty, but it's gone now.

SS United States and generic cruise ship below. I'm glad we did all the cruise we did before the ships got big, crowded, and ridiculous.

Bartulius Loc: Bristol, Ct

I keep seeing /hearing the problem is in California; can't some of these ships be sent to Oregon or Washington state?

Richard Engelmann Loc: Boulder, Colorado

Just-In-Time is a concept for local supply chains. The Japanese companies that pioneered its use had local suppliers and transit time was just hours (or minutes), not days or weeks. Extending the concept to international supply chains has been a problem for many years already. Companies hired and promoted managers whose bonuses were based on minimizing inventory and they perverted the concept. The pandemic has only exacerbated the problem.

As far as non-delivery of Christmas gifts go, imagine the post-holiday sales!

dwmoar Loc: Oregon, Willamette Valley

Oregon doesn't have the ports for ships like those.

Dannj

Maybe we should be re-thinking our manufacturing and purchasing methodologies. Local (within the country) manufacturing taking advantage of existing and potential expansion rail and truck routes
could certainly help.

Bull Schmidt

bet it would make a great hospital ship to help people around the world. nice size and it is fast

cbabcock

[quote=jeep_daddy] The problem is the government in California. They have imposed an EPA measure that won't allow tractors older than 2008 on their highways. Those tractors are expensive and the owner operators make payments for years on them and when they are finally paid off, they can start to make some good money. But now they are forced to get rid of their paid off tractors and make payments on a newer tractor. This isn't right. So now there aren't enough trucks and truck drivers to get the containers out of port. It's not the ships fault. It's not the harbors fault. It's the government of California's fault. ]

Hmmmm. I just Googled to find the truth about the backup. Result: It is not due to truck regulations. False social media rumor.