Black smoke and listing - Normal?

[Joeychgo]

We were on the Glory in January. When leaving cayman, we noticed the Legand pushing thick black smoke and listing a little. Didnt think too much of it at the time, but took a few photos.

 

Was this normal does anyone know?

[MrPete]

You would think that would be noticible.

 

And interesting that this is the ship limping back to port.

 

We had a problem with the Miracle the year she was new, but only noticed the missing "line" from the wake. No speed problems.

 

In fact, we made such good time, they wanted to check something, and announced we were going to be dead in the water for about ten minutes. And shut down we did.

 

It was quite eerie.

[thatsonofa]

[Joeychgo]

Yeah, but this was in January....

[Tutankhamen]

And interesting that this is the ship limping back to port.

 

 

Some posters here could probably get jobs as reporters.

[cruisinfanatic]

Some posters here could probably get jobs as reporters.

Yes!

CNN

[Joeychgo]

And some could learn to actually READ the post instead of running off at the mouth.. Maybe you could take a moment to notice I asked a question: "Was this normal does anyone know? "

[NS-Cruiser]

We were on the Glory in January. When leaving cayman, we noticed the Legand pushing thick black smoke and listing a little. Didnt think too much of it at the time, but took a few photos.

 

Was this normal does anyone know?

 

 

Black smoke? Just means that they hadn't elected a new pope yet...

 

Listing? Just means that all the Cardinals were on the same side of the ship...

[Tutankhamen]

And some could learn to actually READ the post instead of running off at the mouth.. Maybe you could take a moment to notice I asked a question: "Was this normal does anyone know? "

 

 

My post was not directed at you. Sorry for the confusion.

[Joeychgo]

My post was not directed at you. Sorry for the confusion.

 

Fair enough. Sorry I snapped back.

[MDSue]

Looking at the wake, it looks like the ship is turning at a sharp angle which might account for the slight list (Just my opinion, of course)

 

As for the black smoke, I'm not sure. I've noticed a few ships discharge black smoke on occasion while sitting in port-usually the older ships.

[GHDPeter]

Do you think the listing might be due to the wind direction? Black smoke might have something to with burning trash?

[Joeychgo]

I dont know much about it, but I cant imagine they would be burning trash as they are just leaving port.

[Tutankhamen]

Black smoke coming from a diesel engine is usually a result of incomplete combustion.

 

Not sure if this was the case, or something else.

[che5904]

Since I really don't know much about the workings of ships, I can't say any information in this thread is correct or not. But according to this thread, yes, black smoke from the funnel can be normal.

 

Here's the thread for anyone interested.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1790715&highlight=black+smoke

 

As for the listing, sorry I don't see much of a list in those photos. Could it not just be movement of a wave sideways?

[Indytraveler83]

We were on the Glory in January. When leaving cayman, we noticed the Legand pushing thick black smoke and listing a little. Didnt think too much of it at the time, but took a few photos.

 

Was this normal does anyone know?

 

There's another thread that mentioned the black smoke. That thread mentioned that it is due to the type of fuel (oil) that is burned by the motors. It is usually only noticeable when the ship is getting underway, but also can be noticed when the wind is completely dead.

[Tutankhamen]

Now that is some smoke!!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1754923

[Jeffro1972]

We were on the Glory in January. When leaving cayman, we noticed the Legand pushing thick black smoke and listing a little. Didnt think too much of it at the time, but took a few photos.

 

Was this normal does anyone know?

The ship appears to be making a turn, so that could account for the list. Also, if the wind was blowing, the side of the ship can act like a sail and catch the wind, making it list. As for the smoke, that is common when a ship increases speed. I have seen it frequently while I was in the Navy, and while I was working at a shipyard. It usually happens when they bring another engine online.

[2Ports]

To actually answer the OP's question...

 

Yes, both are normal. Every ship I've been on has black smoke leaving port. It's a combination of the deisel engines warming up and a heavier fuel that is used at sea. That VERY slight list (which the pax probably didn't even notice) was due to the ship turning. Simple physics.

 

Sorry folks, nothing to see here...

 

Edit: Well, I see several folks answered while I was typing...

[chengkp75]

Looking at the wake, it looks like the ship is turning at a sharp angle which might account for the slight list (Just my opinion, of course)

 

As for the black smoke, I'm not sure. I've noticed a few ships discharge black smoke on occasion while sitting in port-usually the older ships.

 

From the wake, the ship is executing a fairly sharp turn, which will induce some list, which is more noticable to those looking from outside than those onboard. The ship may not be up to speed sufficiently to deploy the stabilizers, or to get maximum effect from them.

 

As you said the ship was leaving port, I would assume the black smoke is from starting another generator to get the ship up to speed for sea. In port, the ship will run one generator, and use two for docking/undocking. Depending on the speed required to get to the next port at the scheduled time, they may need from 3 generators up to the max number onboard. There is a power management system onboard that will automatically start additional generators when the load approaches 80% of online capacity. This is a fuel and emissions control feature. So, as the Captain "floors it" leaving port, additional generators will be started, and they nearly always put out some black smoke until the engine is up to full speed.

 

Another source of black smoke is "blowing tubes" on the ship's boilers. This is using steam to clean the soot from the heat transfer surfaces of the boiler to increase efficiency. Blowing tubes cannot be done in port, so if the ship was in port for a couple of days, they may be doing it at the first possible time. This is normally done at night, so the guests don't see the soot.

 

It may also be the Council of Cardinals, but I don't think they cruise.