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Plug ins for cruise ships? #212484
12/30/2019 10:06 AM
12/30/2019 10:06 AM
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Doc Bill Offline OP
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Does the port have facilities for the cruise ships to plug into the local grid? Is there a plan for this in the future? I was very surprised to learn of the amount of pollution coming from generator exhausts while the ships are docked. I believe this is mandatory in California for docked cruise ships and is being considered in NY.

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Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212488
12/30/2019 10:16 AM
12/30/2019 10:16 AM
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SXMWendell Offline
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i would be surprised if SXM had the capacity for 1 cruise ship let alone 9 I have seen in on a Wed. Also the cost of electricity through GEBE vs the ships own generators would be astronomical. You have to remember your not in the USA anymore.

Wendell.

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212498
12/30/2019 10:57 AM
12/30/2019 10:57 AM
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 721
Colorado
sxmbeachlover Offline
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All I know is there have been problems implementing them in New York. I do hope that eventually plugging in becomes the norm, if it reduces the burning of fossil fuel.


Famous Quote from SBHonline: The best moderation is the least moderation.
Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: sxmbeachlover] #212499
12/30/2019 11:07 AM
12/30/2019 11:07 AM
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 13,398
Peaceful Eastern North Carolin...
GaKaye Offline
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GaKaye  Offline
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The electricity in SXM, as well as most places, is generated from fossil fuels.

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212500
12/30/2019 11:32 AM
12/30/2019 11:32 AM
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Posts: 474
Maryland
Jim_Laraine Offline
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Interesting subject. Being an engineer geek, I've done several behind the scenes tours during cruises. I learned that everything on the ship runs off the numerous massive diesel generators, even the propellers are turned by electric motors. Based on this I assumed that the generators ran a constant optimized speed and were quite efficient. Doing a little searching based on this thread, I found that the cruise industry has a long way to go on pollution.

Some ideas are in the works, like running on natural gas while at port or fuel cell technology but these ideas are a long way off.

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212515
12/30/2019 01:41 PM
12/30/2019 01:41 PM
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 112
sxm
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enzosxm Offline
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sxm
At peak time sxm cannot even cope with its own power request from the local grid, let alone the one from the cruiseships. It is already a shame that we collect their garbage and dispose of at the already oversaturated dump

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212519
12/30/2019 02:38 PM
12/30/2019 02:38 PM
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Rhode Island
RonDon Offline
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Good point enzo

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212596
12/31/2019 09:32 AM
12/31/2019 09:32 AM
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Doc Bill Offline OP
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All good points. I would think that the cruise ship companies would share in the costs of infrastructure and also think that the generation of electricity on the island would produce far less pollution than the continuous running of huge generators. Also, if it was mandatory I guess some would just go elsewhere.

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212605
12/31/2019 10:03 AM
12/31/2019 10:03 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,481
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Originally Posted by Doc Bill
……... Also, if it was mandatory I guess some would just go elsewhere.


Ding, ding, ding!!! This is the Caribbean, not the US. Ships would just go elsewhere.


Carol Hill
Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212609
12/31/2019 10:14 AM
12/31/2019 10:14 AM
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Peaceful Eastern North Carolin...
GaKaye Offline
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Originally Posted by Doc Bill
All good points. I would think that the cruise ship companies would share in the costs of infrastructure and also think that the generation of electricity on the island would produce far less pollution than the continuous running of huge generators. Also, if it was mandatory I guess some would just go elsewhere.


Do you not understand that the electricity on the island is produced by the continuous running of huge generators?

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: GaKaye] #212637
12/31/2019 12:09 PM
12/31/2019 12:09 PM
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 721
Colorado
sxmbeachlover Offline
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YES, WE GET THAT! Discussing and hoping for a better future for our planet is a good thing to talk about. There will be many steps to get there and we need to start NOW.


Famous Quote from SBHonline: The best moderation is the least moderation.
Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: sxmbeachlover] #212652
12/31/2019 01:25 PM
12/31/2019 01:25 PM
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Peaceful Eastern North Carolin...
GaKaye Offline
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No reason to shout. And my comment was specifically directed to DocBill, who stated (as I quoted in my post) that "the generation of electricity on the island would produce far less pollution than the continuous running of huge generators."

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: GaKaye] #212656
12/31/2019 01:52 PM
12/31/2019 01:52 PM
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SXMWendell Offline
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This might be a stretch but....maybe the cruise ship generator s are running more efficent than GEBEs. Because of better maintenance..less pollution

Wendell

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: SXMWendell] #212658
12/31/2019 01:57 PM
12/31/2019 01:57 PM
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Peaceful Eastern North Carolin...
GaKaye Offline
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Originally Posted by SXMWendell
This might be a stretch but....maybe the cruise ship generator s are running more efficent than GEBEs. Because of better maintenance..less pollution

Wendell


Wouldn't surprise me! We can smell the diesel fumes from the GEBE ones at La Vista Beach.

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212659
12/31/2019 02:13 PM
12/31/2019 02:13 PM
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Bahston Offline
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It depends in large part on the fuel being burned. If the cruise ships are burning Heavy Oil then they're filthy. Same for GEBE. If they're burning more expensive Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD, same as diesel cars/trucks in the US) then they're much cleaner. The efficiency of the generators (Tiers 1-4 in the US, Stages 1-5 in Europe) is also a factor, but any generators would likely be grandfathered to whatever the regs were on their install date.

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212661
12/31/2019 02:23 PM
12/31/2019 02:23 PM
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Bahston Offline
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Hmm. Tiers/Stages appear to be largely land-based requirements. I'll have a look at what's in MARPOL, which is marine.

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: SXMWendell] #212663
12/31/2019 02:28 PM
12/31/2019 02:28 PM
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 18,568
Auburn, WA
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Originally Posted by SXMWendell
This might be a stretch but....maybe the cruise ship generator s are running more efficent than GEBEs. Because of better maintenance..less pollution

Wendell

I doubt if it's a stretch.

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212702
01/01/2020 09:15 AM
01/01/2020 09:15 AM
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Doc Bill Offline OP
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Look at today's live port cam and maybe you can understand my post. My thought was about long term planning and possibly figuring a way to lower pollution.

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212703
01/01/2020 09:38 AM
01/01/2020 09:38 AM
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Long Island, NY
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GEBE has a difficult enough time trying to keep the lights on on a daily basis. As Georgia pointed out, the electricity gets generated from somewhere using Fossil Fuel.

I am all for saving the planet but I don’t see SXM as being a leader down that path.

I also would be willing to bet that the generators on the Modern Cruise Ships are more efficient. JMHO


Rick and Grace
Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212714
01/01/2020 11:01 AM
01/01/2020 11:01 AM
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Maryland
Jim_Laraine Offline
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The prevailing winds in St Maarten are fairly constant and overwhelmingly from the East so it seem to me that pollution probably does not linger over the island for long. That does not mean that cruise ship pollution is not a global problem. These sources all seem to agree that cruise ship are big polluters. Politically, some are right leaning and some are left leaning.

https://www.transportenvironment.org/press/luxury-cruise-giant-emits-10-times-more-air-pollution-sox-all-europe%E2%80%99s-cars-%E2%80%93-study

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamese...and-environmental-problems/#e3e3a9537db3

https://www.businessinsider.com/cru...l-caribbean-among-worst-polluters-2019-7

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/c...to-pollution-charges-pay-fine-2016-12-01

Jim

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Jim_Laraine] #212720
01/01/2020 11:53 AM
01/01/2020 11:53 AM
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 18,568
Auburn, WA
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Talk to residents that are down wind from the dump when it burns. It doesn't just blow over.

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212742
01/01/2020 03:15 PM
01/01/2020 03:15 PM
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LBI2SXM Offline
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Cruise Industry are HUGE polluters. They don't worry about pollution, just making big bucks. They pay their fines and off they go again. Ground them and you will see how fast they obey the laws.

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: LBI2SXM] #212744
01/01/2020 03:53 PM
01/01/2020 03:53 PM
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SXMWendell Offline
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Do you have some links on research on this? I'D like to do some reading.

Wendell

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212772
01/01/2020 11:00 PM
01/01/2020 11:00 PM
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LBI2SXM Offline
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Don' t you believe this has been an ongoing problem? Back a few posts to Kim and Laraine, there's some reading material to start. with. Wall Street Journal usually has many articles on the subject. I am sure you are able to find reading material on your own if you are so interested in this subject. I'm aware of where you are going with this LOL

Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: sxmbeachlover] #212791
01/02/2020 09:59 AM
01/02/2020 09:59 AM
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a little right of center
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2fingers Offline
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Originally Posted by sxmbeachlover
YES, WE GET THAT! Discussing and hoping for a better future for our planet is a good thing to talk about. There will be many steps to get there and we need to start NOW.


Fear not. Greta's on the job. She'll save us all.


"It's 5 o'clock somewhere!"

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Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: Doc Bill] #212794
01/02/2020 10:16 AM
01/02/2020 10:16 AM
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a little right of center
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2fingers Offline
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Natural gas combined cycle units are the way to go. Relatively clean and efficient. Just kinda tough to get large quantities of NG to an island without a pipeline.Surprises me is that larger islands, including sxm don't build a garbage burner. Takes care of 2 issues at once. After the initial cost, the fuel is "free".


"It's 5 o'clock somewhere!"

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Re: Plug ins for cruise ships? [Re: LBI2SXM] #212795
01/02/2020 10:19 AM
01/02/2020 10:19 AM
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SXMWendell Offline
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I checked out the links. The one graded all the cruise ship lones 0 for non poluting. Carnival has some ships using LNG. About 50% set up for using on shore power. Also Carnival stated after the $40mil fine in 2016 for the 2013 in fractions on 5 ships (which wasn't using company policy) they did an internal audit and found a couple of other ships were violating company poluyion policy and was corrected. So to me looks biased (every line haf a 0 rating) and the cruise lines are being pro active on being non polluting.


Also what I don't see is the mention of the passengers are not making a polution in their home town..as they moved to a ship to usr lights,flush the toilet, leave food waste on the table.

Back to the origional statement. I don't see how GEBE could supply powet to 1 cruise ship without sacrificing service to SXM customers. Which then many resorts would have to power up their own diesel generator s
Wendell

Last edited by SXMWendell; 01/02/2020 11:02 AM.

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