January 24, 2008
Ships Collide in Newark Bay and Fluid Leaks
Shortly before 2 this afternoon, three ships collided in Newark Bay, closing the bay to marine traffic. The three-way collision was between two dredging vessels, the 117-foot Melvin Lemmerhirt and the New York, and the 669-Foot Liberian tanker Orange Sun. The Orange Sun is reported to be carrying orange juice as its cargo. Reports also say the New York is taking on water, that there is a fluid leaking from one of the ships (presumably, not orange juice), and there's hydraulic fluid leaving a sheen on the waters nearby. The juice-filled Orange Sun is being brought back to harbor via tugboat.
Newark Bay is about six miles long and one mile wide and is a tidal back bay of New York Harbor. It's bound by the shores of Newark and Elizabeth on the west, Jersey City on the east and Staten Island on its south. Port Newark-Elizabeth, which is in Newark Bay, is the main port of entry for the New York area.
Aerial photo of the Orange Sun by WNBC; rendering of juice spill by Gothamist
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So, our orange juice comes in tankers? Hmm.
I read my Tropicana carton the other day and it said there was a "juice train" direct from Florida. I found that to be kind of awesome.
I'm glad I invested in Frozen Orange Juice futures yesterday.
Pulp or no pulp? I need to know!!
"Areal photo"? Interesting. Areal is a real word, but I don't think I've ever seen it used in this context. Aerial, perhaps?
See, this is why we need to build an orange juice pipeline from Florida. Hey, it worked for the oil companies in Alaska.
How do they get the tanker clean after they ship oil? Or don't they bother?
that picture is hilarious!
Maybe this was how the Cloverfield monster had come about?
Florida's orange juice production isn't enough to meet demand so some of the juice sold in America is imported from Brazil. Tanker ships are the obvious way to transport it.
#6 - almost certainly, the tankers are used solely for juice or other liquid food products such as corn syrup. Oil tankers are specially built, with double hulls.
What is the space between the two hulls used for? Drugs?
Snoopy - Tankers like that, much like the tanker cars they use on the juice train are pretty much single purpose tanks. It's almost impossible to ship volatiles and caustics in them and then re-purpose them for food. Basically, they built it to carry that one product.
The double hulls on oil and other chemical tankers are a safety device. If a ship strikes a rock or other object and the outer hull is punctured, the inner hull will prevent oil from leaking.
Perhaps they should look into the safety advances pioneered by Kramerica Industries.