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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By tien mao in News on January 24, 2008 4:55 PM

Comments [rss]

Dave Hogarty

Perhaps they should look into the safety advances pioneered by Kramerica Industries.

Peter

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.

Snoopy

What is the space between the two hulls used for? Drugs?

Peter

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.

citybug

Maybe this was how the Cloverfield monster had come about?

nonumentalart

that picture is hilarious!

Snoopy

How do they get the tanker clean after they ship oil? Or don't they bother?

Spirit of 76

"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.