"Dam" hospital ships

[Vict0riann]

I just saw this on Facebook.

 

 

[FlaMariner]

They could use the revenue.

[CruiserBruce]

Note the date on the FB page was March 20...10 days ago.

[Vict0riann]

6 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Note the date on the FB page was March 20...10 days ago.

LOL I don't "do" Facebook - you can tell...

[Sir PMP]

59 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

They could use the revenue.

I don't think that this is the correct response.

[Sir PMP]

13 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Note the date on the FB page was March 20...10 days ago.

Yes, but it's true, the Volendam will be one of them

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the information.

 

I don't belong to Facebook either.

[rkacruiser]

Just now, Krazy Kruizers said:

Thank you for the information.

 

I don't belong to Facebook either.

 

Neither am I a member and won't be.  

 

I certainly appreciate learning information that other CC members learn on other sources of social media, though.

[Vict0riann]

I do think it is a good response  to the pandemic.  Although cruise ships are not set up as hospital ships like the US Mercy and Comfort, they certainly would be good for isolating even the health workers who are at risk and don't want to take a chance of contracting the corona virus and taking it  home.  Here in Victoria, one of the hotels in town has said they would take in health workers who are afraid to go home.

[erewhon]

Thank you for the information.

We don't do Facebook.

Edited March 29, 2020 by erewhon

[rafinmd]

It seems like cruise ships need to go to sea every few days to make water and discharge gray water.  I wonder if Comfort and Mercy are specially set up to work around that and how it would be handled with cruise ships.

 

Roy

[Vict0riann]

1 minute ago, rafinmd said:

It seems like cruise ships need to go to sea every few days to make water and discharge gray water.  I wonder if Comfort and Mercy are specially set up to work around that and how it would be handled with cruise ships.

 

Roy

 

Maybe there are ways they could do that attached to hoses in the port, like sometimes they take on water, don't they?  And they can get electricity from land?

[rkacruiser]

Just now, Vict0riann said:

And they can get electricity from land?

 

That is such a modern ability for the new ships to do that I doubt that Mercy and Comfort are able to so connect.

[AncientWanderer]

I hope they can be put to use in this helpful way.  Most hospitals are now separating Covid-19 patients from non Covid-19 patients and it seems like these ships could be useful in that regard.

 

In mariner lingo, it's all hands on deck, and this is one more tool in the tool shed.

[SeaDog-46]

Hi Bob & Roy - most ships at long term anchorage or alongside can be supplied with fresh water by barge - as with bunkers.

Engine room slops,  black water & garbage can all be off loaded into different barges for disposal ashore.

 

Outside the cruise industry the maritime world is still operating with slight disruptions shifting 95% of world trade.

These include - no or difficult crew changes,  lack of containers & too many containers at various ports, floating storage of crude & LNG.

 

[CruiserBruce]

2 hours ago, Sir PMP said:

Yes, but it's true, the Volendam will be one of them

Source? What port/city?

[AL3XCruise]

Hotels, convention centers, and other land based facilities have been the overflow of choice thus far.  Cruise ships offer an interesting benefit in certain natural disaster scenarios: they don't rely on local utilities and infrastructure.  In the current situation that isn't particularly important.  The small rooms, narrow doors, carpeted floors, and other factors make has, thus far, made them less desirable than the alternatives that are being used on land.  Other threads on this board go into more detail on the challenges cruise ship present medical workers with.

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for the info.

[kazu]

Such a good use of resources that aren’t being used and I am sure will be helpful to many!  right now, health care workers and hospitals can take all the help they can get 😥😓

[timbom]

Why would any community use these when Hotels and convention centers are empty.  Seems like a federal Bail out and complete waste of money. 

[chengkp75]

11 hours ago, SeaDog-46 said:

Hi Bob & Roy - most ships at long term anchorage or alongside can be supplied with fresh water by barge - as with bunkers.

Engine room slops,  black water & garbage can all be off loaded into different barges for disposal ashore.

 

Outside the cruise industry the maritime world is still operating with slight disruptions shifting 95% of world trade.

These include - no or difficult crew changes,  lack of containers & too many containers at various ports, floating storage of crude & LNG.

 

While the use of cruise ships as hospitals has been discussed on other forums, and while it would be possible, the technical problems involved would not lend itself to quick conversion to use as hospitals.  As noted, hotels, with larger room sizes, would be preferable.

 

And, thanks, Sea-Dog, for recognizing us who are still out there moving the world's goods.  In the US, maritime workers (shipboard, dock workers, etc) have been categorized as essential, and yes, they are looking at freezing/delaying our crew changes.

 

Fresh water is available from the hydrants at most docks, and many docks will have the facility to connect the ship's gray and black water discharges to the municipal sewer system.  Slops, garbage, fuel, food will come to the ships or be taken away by barges or trucks just as always.  Most shipboard garbage in the US is considered to be "foreign" garbage, and so is treated the same as hospital biohazard waste, and double bagged and sent for special handling anyway.

 

Virtually every ship has the capability to obtain shore power, at least in limited capacity, and have for decades.  What is new, is the ability to power whole ships, but for cargo ships this still is not insurmountable for a long term docking (running special cables and connecting directly into the ship's switchboard).  The problem with cruise ships is that while most ships operate on 480 volt power, the cruise ships require 10,000 volt power, and the infrastructure to supply this is costly and rare.  The Mercy operates on 480 volts, and could get shore power easily, I'm sure they have the capability to power the whole ship.

[JeremyTexas]

48 minutes ago, timbom said:

Why would any community use these when Hotels and convention centers are empty.  Seems like a federal Bail out and complete waste of money. 

 

I don't think hotels have as many rooms in one place as a cruise ship, but they are certainly better option than a convention center.

 

Convention center have bathroom issues; personal safety issue and more.  You cannot make a person recovering from surgery walk a quarter mile to the convention center bathrooms.  You have very limited options to secure your things or your person (i.e New Orleans convention center after Katrina). 

 

I think cruise ships fit this nicely...  lots of rooms, each with a bathroom and security.  Additionally, if they can keep the staff on payroll, it also comes with the size of a  workforce convention centers and hotels cannot match.  That is not to say there will not be challenges with cruise ships, but if I am recovery from a surgery, I know where I would prefer to be housed.

Edited March 30, 2020 by JeremyTexas
typo

[CruiserBruce]

Each of the options mentioned here have their pluses and minuses...Hotels and cruise ships allow for more privacy in a hospital type setting, with bathrooms and showers, but don't have hospital facilities, like labs and XRay facilities. Convention centers work well as evacuation centers, but less well as hospitals, unless all equipment and supplies, including enough bathrooms and showers, and facilities (like lab/Xray) can be brought in. Some convention centers are being used, with everything being brought in as a "mobile hospital".

 

The critical issue that no one is mentioning, and affects all of these locations, is medical staff. The US has been in a nursing shortage for decades. There just isn't an unlimited source of doctors, nurses, lab, respiratory and Xray techs, and the other trained and certified personnel than make a hospital operate. Just saw a story this morning that a flight full of Canadian medical professionals fly into NY yesterday.

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

While the use of cruise ships as hospitals has been discussed on other forums, and while it would be possible, the technical problems involved would not lend itself to quick conversion to use as hospitals.  As noted, hotels, with larger room sizes, would be preferable.

 

And, thanks, Sea-Dog, for recognizing us who are still out there moving the world's goods.  In the US, maritime workers (shipboard, dock workers, etc) have been categorized as essential, and yes, they are looking at freezing/delaying our crew changes.

 

Fresh water is available from the hydrants at most docks, and many docks will have the facility to connect the ship's gray and black water discharges to the municipal sewer system.  Slops, garbage, fuel, food will come to the ships or be taken away by barges or trucks just as always.  Most shipboard garbage in the US is considered to be "foreign" garbage, and so is treated the same as hospital biohazard waste, and double bagged and sent for special handling anyway.

 

Virtually every ship has the capability to obtain shore power, at least in limited capacity, and have for decades.  What is new, is the ability to power whole ships, but for cargo ships this still is not insurmountable for a long term docking (running special cables and connecting directly into the ship's switchboard).  The problem with cruise ships is that while most ships operate on 480 volt power, the cruise ships require 10,000 volt power, and the infrastructure to supply this is costly and rare.  The Mercy operates on 480 volts, and could get shore power easily, I'm sure they have the capability to power the whole ship.

 

Thank you for the information, and for keeping the supply chain moving. 

 

The first time I ever saw the "giant extension cord" connecting our ship to land was in Halifax, NS. 

 

[Aquahound]

16 hours ago, Sir PMP said:

Yes, but it's true, the Volendam will be one of them

 

Where did you hear this?