Commodities 2

Using what’s stowed in this vessel and the one from two days back–Black Seal–you’d have “fixins” for lots of

banana splits.  To ensure these tropical foods arrive in prime condition, stow those bananas properly on this reefer.  All manner of stowing advice comes your way from Stowmasters.

What impressed me, though, since I could observe it, was the quick tie up and turn around:  Albermarle Islandapproaches the dock at 8 a.m. with assistance from Brendan Turecamo and Margaret Moran, who

ease the vessel sideways.  Slowly and

steadily.  Crew on the ship and the dock make lines

fast.

By 8:20, it’s “all fast” and the tugs move to the next job.  Less than 10 hours later, Albermarle Island has headed out the Narrows bound for sea and Europe.

I’m left wondering about the story of these bananas in both the weeks before and after this docking.  Here’s a start.   Bowsprite drew a sister of Albermarle here, and I  wrote about the previous generation of reefer vessels in the sixth boro over three years ago here.  Anyone know what happened to the smaller “Ocean” class, and why the “Island” class calls at Red Hook rather than Howland Hook?

All fotos here by Will Van Dorp, who wrote about shipment of another commodity here.

Bananas, Helens, and Hedons

Unrelated but priority . . . don’t know if this is real:  Colvin schooner on beach for sale for $15000

I quote from gcaptain:  ”According to AP Moller, the parent company of Maersk Lines, a single 20-foot vessel container on average can hold about 48,000 bananas. In theory then, Emma Maersk is capable of holding nearly 528 million bananas [aka 11,000 teu] in a single voyage – enough to give every person in Europe or North America a banana for breakfast.”    So I wondered . . . if Emma and sisters carry that number of bananas, then

CMA CGM White Shark = 243 million bananas,

Ital Lirica – 244.3,

Port Said – 82.03 . . . .   and

MSC Linzie – 242.3

There you have it, a new measure for container ships, the banana.  It’s right out there waiting to catch on  . .  like smoots, donkeypower, helens, and  hedons.

All fotos recently by Will Van Dorp.  Thanks to gcaptain for bringing up the banana idea.  Now would those be Cavendish bananas, plantains, or something else?