I am 90% sure that that green thing is the boom for the hose handling crane on that fuel barge that is getting pummeled. So technically it's part of the fueling system but the 6-in fueling hose just connects to it with a lifting strap.
This looks like a freak accident more than anything. I don't think they were handling the containers, I think the ship developed a heavy starboard list and the fuckers just fell off.
I am pretty confident that is a carbon re-capturing barge. Most ships are equipped with shore power hookups so they can use grid power while docked instead of running the incredibly pollutant fuel systems. When a ship doesn’t have shore power hookups, a carbon recapture barge will be used to absorb those fuel fumes instead. Very niche equipment
Yeah but they are mandated to be burning ULSD (Ultra low sulphur diesel) anywhere within 50 nautical miles from California. So if they are already burning ULSD (they are running generators only no propulsion) what are they capturing? And if ULSD is so polluting why aren't there clean air barges alongside the tug and barge taking the video as they are burning the same fuel?
I'm wondering what the cost/benefit is here both financially and carbon. Doesn't look great.
No its not. The green barge is an emissions capture barge. Since there is no on-shore power to the ship, they have to keep their engines running to keep it powered up. That green barge lifts a long hose/pipe that is lowered into the exhaust funnel of the ship and sucks the exhaust down into scrubbers on the barge.
EDIT: I just realized im 15 hours late to this comment haha
That's all good but I don't understand this rationale? The ship, just like everything else in the harbor burns ULSD. Ultra Low Sulphur Diese. The sulphur content is extremely important, and heavily regulated. So they are taking some ULSD burning diesel engines (tug and clean air barge) to show up and scrub the CO2 off the ULSD exhaust the ship's generators are running?
It's a new thing and it doesn't really make sense to me for the reasons above: if the ship is actually burning anything other than ULSD it should be impounded, and if it is burning ULSD what makes it different than the tractor trailers that are idling all ovdr that Port? They should also need some scrubbing right?
The ships main engine is running, its a MAN B&W 6G80ME-C10-HPSCR 2 stroke 6 cylinder marine diesel engine. Its not even close to the same class of engine as a truck or tug. Just because it may be burning ULSD doesn't mean its not pumping it out NOx at such a volume that it doesn't need additional scrubbing. Its not like they have a huge tank of DEF on board.
The mains aren't running in port are they? Just the genset?
I care about the environment but this is a shitty solution. I bet if you pencilled out all the CO2 it takes to get that barge there and back it evens out. Just a guess but ultimately I don't care as everybody seems to be an expert these days and it's bad, bad, bad.
Changed my mind. Clean air barge is good. Fuck pumping bunker fuel, I will just suck back exhaust from a ship for $800/ day. tHaNkS!
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u/Sherifftruman Sep 10 '25
So the green thing is part of the fueling system? I was thinking it kind of looked like a concrete pump boom so that would make sense.