Tracking ships !

[Gonewild]

I see past port was Yokohama so I think we will be good to go for 2nd week of January.

 

[Gonewild]

United Sprite was off the grid for awhile and now it is back about 25 mile out of port.

 

[MaryC]

the UNITED SPIRIT has made it to the dock in Los Angeles. Hope it has some more LEAFs for us.

 

[Gonewild]

Ya I see it been watching it on my laptop in my family room all night. I so hope it on that one or the one before. Although I could wait until late Jan. I will take the extra time to pay down bills.

 

[Azrich]

United Spirit left about an hour ago from the LA port. It was only there about 24 hours. It was headed northwest and then went out of range. I imagine it is headed back to Japan. How many vehicles could they unload in just under 24 hours? The journey from Yokohama, Japan to LA took about 14 days, 24 hours in LA port, and back (another 12-14 days)? That is a lot of miles.

 

[Gonewild]

How many did the unload why all of them! In 22 hrs. I hope mine is one of them.

 

[evnow]

How do they unload ? Do they have a few people who drive the cars out, go back to get more cars ?

 

[garygid]

They unload with several (or many) vans filled with drivers, picking the drivers up in the parking area and quickly shuttling them back on board the transport ship to drive another car out.

They used two ramps, one with cars (and empty shuttle vans) exiting, and another with vans (filled with drivers) entering the ship.

They can unload one car perhaps about every 10 (or less) seconds, or 360 (or more) an hour, it seemed.

So, except for the two hour lunch, they can unload (or load) an entire ship in 12 hours or so, in my estimation.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

People are getting notification of their deliveries and I am not so I guess my car is not on the boat. Bummer

 

[Azrich]

I always imagined the inside of an auto carrier vessel to be a dark, unfinished interior. Here is a short video of someone driving from the bottom level of the ship to the upper level. It's not at all what I imagined. Our LEAFs have pretty good accommodations on their passage to the U.S. (Ignore the music, it will make you nervous!)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7ojqfYlvGw[/youtube]


No wonder there are 8 miles on the odometer!

 

[Randy]

That's a lot of space times $820 per car...

 

[garygid]

What might the bulk shipping fee be, $200 per car?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

well, throw in that 2 million dollar fuel bill and maybe they not making so much after all. if there was a reason to allow nuclear commercial transport, here it is. these ships burn enormous amounts of fuel. the QE2 was said to burn a gallon of diesel every SIX INCHES. but it also generated its own electricity which cut into its "mileage" (or would that be "footage" fpg feet per gallon?)

granted, shipping traffic only burns like 4% of the oil consumption, but hey, it all has to come somewhere. nuclear out in the middle of the sea helps to eliminate a lot of the NIMBY issues.

would be nice to see a video from a full ship but i am guessing they unload from the front to the back. but interesting to see all them cars in there

 

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

Anyone know anything about Triumph (http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shipdetails.aspx?mmsi=235060958&header=true)? It looks like it pulled into LA during the night. It was in San Diego earlier in the week and Tacoma before that.

 

[garygid]

The ship we saw unloading used two ramps: an amidship side ramp (which we could not see) to exit, and the rear-corner ramp to bring vans-of-drivers aboard.

 

[hill]

well, throw in that 2 million dollar fuel bill and maybe they not making so much after all. if there was a reason to allow nuclear commercial transport, here it is. these ships burn enormous amounts of fuel. the QE2 was said to burn a gallon of diesel every SIX INCHES. but it also generated its own electricity which cut into its "mileage" (or would that be "footage" fpg feet per gallon?)

granted, shipping traffic only burns like 4% of the oil consumption, but hey, it all has to come somewhere. nuclear out in the middle of the sea helps to eliminate a lot of the NIMBY issues.

would be nice to see a video from a full ship but i am guessing they unload from the front to the back. but interesting to see all them cars in there

I've read that (especially comparred to the less then 20% efficiency of an auto's ICE) the level of efficiency of these huge ships is WAY up there.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I've read that (especially comparred to the less then 20% efficiency of an auto's ICE) the level of efficiency of these huge ships is WAY up there.

yep, they do a great job of many every drop count and with a few million pounds behind them, momentum is definitely a huge benefit.

ya, cars are a waste, but a nuclear powered car in the hands of some of the drivers i encounter daily would be a bit unsettling

i am guessing the nuclear powered thing is a security issue.

 

[driveleaf]

Inertia works both ways. You only get out what you've already put in.

 

[SeattleBlueLeaf]

Triumph left the Nissan dock in LA tonight and is heading to Yokohama as well although it's southerly course makes me wonder if it is making another stop before it heads East.

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/de...-118.24&centery=33.64542&zoom=10&type_color=7

 

[mwalsh]

Watching for ships with LEAFs is soooo yesterday. All the cool kids are looking for trucks with LEAFs these days. :lol: