Keep on smiling....

Monday, February 18, 2008

INDEPENDENCE OF SEAS.....

:::INDEPENDENCE OF SEAS

(On Construction)

Independence of the Seas is a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Largest cruise ship and passenger vessel ever built.scheduled to enter service in 2008. The 18-deck ship will accommodate 4,370 passengers served by 1,360 crew. She is being built in the Aker Finnyards drydock in Turku, Finland, builder of her sister ships Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas. On Tuesday, December 21, 2006, the official name of the ship was released by Royal Caribbean. At 160,000 gross tons, she will join Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas as the largest cruise ships and passenger vessels ever built. She will be 1,112 feet (339m) long, and will cruise at 21.6 knots (40 km/h). It was announced in February 2007 that the ship will be based in Southampton, England.
Independence of the Seas is the third of the Freedom Class vessels. In 2009, the first in a new Genesis class of ships is slated to displace the Freedom class as the world's largest passenger ships.
Independence of the Seas Statistics
Tonnage: 160,000 gross tons
Length: 1,112 feet (340 meters)
Decks : In 18 total ,15 passenger Decks
Speed: 21.6 knots
Complement: 4,370 passengers (double occupancy), 1,300 crew (average)
Registry: Bahamas

Independence of the Seas is expected to feature, like her sister ships, an interactive water park (including the FlowRider onboard wave generator for surfing), a dedicated sports pool (for volleyball and basketball), and whirlpools which extend from the ship's sides. She will also feature a coffee shop and bookstore, Sorrento's Pizzeria, and a Ben and Jerry's ice cream shop. Other amenities will be a rock climbing wall, ice skating rink, Wi-Fi capabilities throughout the ship, flat screen televisions in all staterooms, and cell phone connectivity. Independence of the Seas is also the first Royal Caribbean ship to feature heated, freshwater pools

Liberty of the Seas

is a Royal Caribbean cruise ship of the Freedom class which entered regular service in May 2007. The 15-deck ship accommodates 4,370 passengers served by 1,360 crew. She was built in 18 months at the Aker Finnyards drydock in Turku, Finland, where her sister ship Freedom of the Seas was also built. At over 154,000 gross tons,At that time she joined her sister ship Freedom of the Seas as the largest cruise ships and passenger vessels ever built. She is 1,112 feet (339m) long, and cruises at 21.6 knots (40 km/h).
On April 19, 2007, she was delivered to parent company Royal Caribbean. On April 22, 2007 she made her first port of call Southampton, on a promotional visit. She arrived at Cape Liberty Cruise Port on May 3, 2007.
Liberty of the Seas is the second of the Freedom Class vessels. A third ship, Independence of the Seas, is scheduled for delivery in 2008. In 2009, the first in a new Genesis class of ships measuring 220,000 gross tons is slated to displace the Freedom class as the world's largest passenger ships.
On one of its first voyages, the Liberty of the Seas was struck with the highly contagious norovirus, or "Norwalk virus" after a passenger brought the virus onboard.
Liberty of the Seas Statistics
Tonnage: 154,407 gross tons
Length: 1,112 feet (339m)
Decks: In 18 total, 15 passenger Ducks
Speed: 21.6 knots
Complement:
4,370 passengers (double occupancy), 1,300 crew (average)
Registry: Bahamas

The Most Powerful Diesel Engine in the World

The Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C turbocharged two-stroke diesel engine is the most powerful and most efficient prime-mover in the world today. The Aioi Works of Japan's Diesel United, Ltd built the first engines

It is available in 6 through 14 cylinder versions, all are inline engines. These engines were designed primarily for very large container ships. Ship owners like a single engine/single propeller design and the new generation of larger container ships needed a bigger engine to propel them.

The cylinder bore is just under 38" and the stroke is just over 98". Each cylinder displaces 111,143 cubic inches (1820 liters) and produces 7780 horsepower. Total displacement comes out to 1,556,002 cubic inches (25,480 liters) for the fourteen cylinder version

Some facts on the 14 cylinder version:
Total engine weight:2300 tons (The crankshaft alone weighs 300 tons.)
Length:89 feet
Height:44 feet
Maximum power:108,920 hp at 102 rpm
Maximum torque:5,608,312 lb/ft at 102rpm

Fuel consumption at maximum power is 0.278 lbs per hp per hour (Brake Specific Fuel Consumption). Fuel consumption at maximum economy is 0.260 lbs/hp/hour. At maximum economy the engine exceeds 50% thermal efficiency. That is, more than 50% of the energy in the fuel in converted to motion. For comparison, most automotive and small aircraft engines have BSFC figures in the 0.40-0.60 lbs/hp/hr range and 25-30% thermal efficiency range.

Even at its most efficient power setting, the big 14 consumes 1,660 gallons of heavy fuel oil per hour.

The internals of this engine are a bit different than most automotive engines. The top of the connecting rod is not attached directly to the piston. The top of the connecting rod attaches to a "crosshead" which rides in guide channels. A long piston rod then connects the crosshead to the piston. I assume this is done so the the sideways forces produced by the connecting rod are absorbed by the crosshead and not by the piston. Those sideways forces are what makes the cylinders in an auto engine get oval-shaped over time.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Largest Crude Carriers.....(VLCC & ULCC)

::BATILLUS CLASS
(First Super Tanker Ever Built)DWT 5550000MT

:: JAHRE VIKINGS
(World Largest Crude Tanker After Re-Built)DWT 564763MT

VLCC:::: Very Large Crude Carrier
ULCC:::: Ultra Large Crude Carrier
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk Petroleum tankers are a particular brand of tanker all their own. This type is sometimes referred to as a tankship.
Tankers can range in size of capacity from several hundred tons, which includes vessels for servicing small harbours and coastal settlements, to several hundred thousand tons, for long-range haulage. A wide range of products are carried by tankers, including:hydrocarbon products such as oil, liquefied petroleum gas(LPG), and liquefied natural gas (LNG) ,chemicals, such as ammonia, chlorine, and styrene monomer,fresh water.
Tankers are a relatively new concept, dating from the later years of the 19th century. Before this, technology had simply not supported the idea of carrying bulk liquids. The market was also not geared towards transporting or selling cargo in bulk, therefore most ships carried a wide range of different products in different holds and traded outside fixed routes. Liquids were usually loaded in casks - hence the term "tonnage", which refers to the volume of the holds in terms of the amount of tuns of wine (casks) that could be carried Carrying bulk liquids.
In the end, the tanker had its beginnings in the oil industry, as oil companies sought cheaper ways to transport their refinery product to their customers. The Oil Tanker was born. Nowadays, most liquids are cheaper to transport in bulk, and dedicated terminals exist for each product. Large storage tanks ashore are used to store the product until it can be subdivided into smaller volumes for delivery to smaller customers.
Among oil tankers, supertankers are designed for transporting oil around the Horn of Africa from the Middle East. The floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) Knock Nevis, formerly the ULCC Jahre Viking, is the largest vessel in the world. The supertanker is 458 metres (1504 feet) in length and 69 m (226 ft) wide.
Supertankers are one of the three preferred methods for transporting large quantities of oil, along with pipeline transport and rail. However such tankers can create environmental disasters from oil spills especially if an accident causes the ship to sink. See Exxon Valdez, Braer, Prestige oil spill, Torrey Canyon, and Erika for examples of coastal accidents.
Tankers used for liquid fuels are classified according to their capacity. In 1954 Shell Oil developed the afra system (average freight rate assessment) for fiscal reasons. Tankers were divided in groups of different sizes. To make it an independent instrument, Shell consulted the London Tanker Brokers’ Panel (LTBP). At first, they divided the groups as General Purpose for tankers under 25,000 deadweight tonnage (dwt); Medium Range for ships between 25,000 and 45,000 dwt; and Large Range for the then-enormous ships that were larger than 45,000 dwt. The ships became larger during the 1970s, and the list was extended, where the tons are long tons
10,000–24,999 dwt:::::::::::::::: General Purpose tanker
25,000–44,999 dwt:::::::::::::::: Medium Range tanker
45,000–79,999 dwt::::::::::::::::: LR1 (Large Range 1)
80,000–159,999 dwt::::::::::::::: LR2 (Large Range 2)
160,000–319,999 dwt::::::::::::::VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier)
320,000–549,999 dwt::::::::::::: ULCC (Ultra Large Crude Carrier)

The following groups of ships are used in the oil market:::::::::::

Class I
SEAWAY MAX--226M Length--24M Beam--7.92M Draft--DWT 60000MT

Class II

PANA MAX--294.1 m Length--32.3M Beam--12M Draft--DWT 80000MT

Class III

AFRAMAX---------------------------------DWT 120000MT

Class IV

SUEZMAX---------------------16M Draft--DWT 200000MT

Class V

VLCC(MALACCAMAX)--470M Length--60M Beam--20M Draft--DWT 550000MT

Based on the 2007 status list of the 500 largest supertankers prepared by Visser. there are almost 380 vessels in the size range 279,000-320,000 dwt(Dead Weight), making this by far the most popular size range among the larger VLCCs. Only 7 vessels are larger than this, and about 90 between 220,000 and 279,000.Jahre Vikking Is the Word Largest Crude Tanker after the Reconstruction at singapore
The biggest ships ever constructed as a class were four Batillus class supertankers built in France at the end of the 1970s, having a 555.000 DWT and 414 meters length. They were launched from the shipyard Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint Nazaire. The only larger ship was the Knock Nevis (ex Jahre Viking, ex Happy Giant, ex Seawise Giant) of 1981, which was originally designed with a smaller tonnage than the Batillus class, but had its length and tonnage increased while still under construction. However, if gross tonnage can be considered as evidence of size, the Batillus and Bellamya had a gross tonnage of 275,276 tons. This is the greatest in history, including the Knock Nevis (about 260,000 gross tons).
Ships of the Batillus class included:
Batillus, built in 1976, scrapped in 1985.[1]
Bellamya, built in 1976, scrapped in 1986.[2]
Pierre Guillaumat, built in 1977, scrapped in 1983.[3]
Prairial, built in 1979, renamed Hellas Fos, renamed Sea Giant, scrapped in 2003[4]

New S.B.M.Facilities at Cochin

Single point mooring means for mooring a ship that is carrying a liquefied gas; (1) means for offloading said liquefied gas into said regasification facilities; and (2) means for transferring gas from said regasification facilities to a gas transport pipeline.

BPCL-KOCHIREFINERY Also Started their new SPM project for Accomodating Very Large Crude Carrier(VLCC) and Redusing Transpotation Cost.Earlier crude was Traspotting through the small carriers(Ship) from the VLCC(which is always located in outer cost) to cochin port.So it increased transpotation cost of the company,inorder to reduse the losses and idle time they started new project.New Project Consisting of the following main facilities:

· A Single Point Mooring (SPM) 19.4 km off the Puthuvypeen lighthouse for handling VLCCs of 300, 000 tonne capacity;
· A submarine pipeline to carry crude oil from the SPM to a Shore Tank Farm (STF);
· An STF for storage of 240,000 kilo litres of crude oil at Puthuvypeen Coast, before it is pumped to the KRL refinery at Ambalamugal; and
· An Onshore Pipeline between the STF and KRL over about 10 km, including backwater crossing of about 4 km.

The SPM project will be the first to commence work at Puthuvypeen, Using Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) would substantially reduce the cost of crude for KRL. It is estimated that the company would save around Rs 200 crore on transportation cost. "To become globally competitive it is essential that KRL makes use of this freight advantage by setting up Crude Oil Receipt Facilities (CRF) on its own.

On 30th january 2008 First Very large crude carrier(VLCC)STAR II berthed at our SPM.approximately 20km in the outer sea off the puthuvypeen cost.The VLCC as big as three football grounds.Carrying an oil parcel of 280000 tones, Parcel include 140000 Al shaheen crude from Qatar and 140000 tones of Iranian mix

S.P.M (Single Point Mooring)......

Offshore facilities and methods are provided to enable the mooring of a ship carrying a liquefied gas to an offshore structure with one or more decks upon which are located (i) regasification facilities; (ii) single point mooring means for mooring a ship that is carrying a liquefied gas; (iii) means for offloading said liquefied gas into said regasification facilities; and (iv) means for transferring gas from said regasification facilities to a gas transport pipeline
It is also known as Single Buoy Mooring .Loading Buoys are anchored offshore and serve as a mooring point for tankers to (off) load gas or fluid products. They are the link between the geostatic subsea manifold connections and the weathervaning tanker. The main purpose of the buoy is to transfer fluids between onshore or offshore facilities and the moored tanker. The main purpose of the buoy is to transfer fluids between onshore or offshore facilities and the moored tanker.

These Buoys are generally referred to as Single Point Mooring systems or “SPMs”. They are also often referred to as Single Buoy Moorings or "SBMs". Buoy moorings normally offer a maximum of three main fluid paths.
The SPM is a floating buoy anchored at a depth of 30 meters for mooring large tankers and for receiving crude through floating hoses, under buoy hoses and the submarine pipeline to the shore tanks.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Secrets of love...... for """valentines"""

Love has many different meanings....., from something that gives a little pleasure ("I loved that meal") to something one would die for (ideals, family). It can describe an intense feeling of affection, an emotion or an emotional state. In ordinary use, it usually refers to interpersonal love. Probably due to its psychological relevance, love is one of the most common themes in art and music.Just as there are many types of lovers, there are many kinds of love.

Though love is inherent in all human cultures, cultural differences make any universal definition difficult to establish.One definition attempting to be universally applicable is

Thomas Jay Oord's: to love is to act intentionally, in sympathetic response to others, to promote overall well-being. This definition applies to the positive connotations of love.Expressions of love may include the love for a "soul" or mind, the love of laws and organizations, love for a body, love for nature, love of food, love of money, love for learning, love of power, love of fame, love for the respect of others, etcetera. Different people place varying degrees of importance on the kinds of love they receive.

According to many philosophers, the only goal of life is to be happy. And there is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved. Love is essentially an abstract concept, much easier to experience than to explain.