Dear MFAME readers,
Yesterday we saw a video “Mega Delve Into A Mega Ship”, a tour of a mega ship docked at the Port of Long Beach.
The huge container ship CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, measuring 1,310 feet in length can carry 18000 20 foot containers. This vessel is larger than the Empire State Building and wider than an NFL football field. It’s quite interesting to know how much fuel this vessel can carry when a normal sailboat carries 20 gallons of fuel. This big question is answered. It is 4.5 Million gallons.
The next question that comes into our mind is the spill response planning. Any vessel larger than 400 gross tons must have vessel response plans.
Vessel response plans are oil spill response plan requirements that include
- Consistency with the National Contingency Plan (NCP) and area plans
- Identification of a “qualified individual” to implement the plan and to coordinate with the federal on-scene coordinator (FOSC)
- Assurance, by contract or other approved means, of private resources to respond to a worst case spill (defined as loss of the entire cargo during adverse weather conditions)
- Training and drills
- Periodic updates
For non-tank vessels, it is generally defined as 10 percent of the vessel’s total fuel capacity.
Here is the Department of Ecology report on approximate vessel capacities:
Small speedboat (12–20 feet): 6–20 gallons
Sailing yacht (33–45 feet): 30–120 gallons
Motor yacht (40–60 feet): 200–1,200 gallons
Large tanker truck: 5,000–10,000 gallons
Small tugboat (30–60 feet): 1,500–25,000 gallons
Petroleum rail car: 30,000 gallons
Boeing 747 airplane: 50,000–60,000 gallons
Ocean-going tugboat (90–150 feet): 90,000–190,000 gallons
Puget Sound jumbo ferry (440 feet): 130,000 gallons
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s yacht M/V Octopus (416 feet): 224,000 gallons
Bulk carrier of commodities such as grain or coal (500–700 feet): 400,000–800,000 gallons
Large cruise ship (900–1,100 feet): 1–2 million gallons
Inland tank barge (200–300 feet): 400,000–1.2 million gallons
Panamax container ship (960 feet): 1.5–2 million gallons
Container ship Benjamin Franklin (1,310 feet): 4.5 million gallons
Ocean-going tank barge (550–750 feet): 7 million–14 million gallons
Exxon Valdez and similar large oil tankers (987 feet): 55 million gallons
Source: NOAA’s Response and Restoration
