We arrived in Charleston, South Carolina this morning to a very cold northerly wind & 36 degrees. Brrr.
The port stop is strictly to load bunkers, or as some say it, fuel up. The term bunkers comes from the old days of coal fired ships where the solid fuel was shoveled into holds called bunkers, and could be accessed from the engine fire room. Anyway, today we will have a hose given to us from a barge, and once connected, and the piping line up and valves are checked, the barge will start pumping.
We will only load 925 metric tons of fuel - specifically IFO 180 - and it will likely come aboard at about 125 degrees. It is is a stressful evolution for the Chief Engineer and the assistant engineers and cadets, because a mistake can cause an environmental spill. Not a good thing.
Once fueled, we will be on our way toward the Straits of Florida, and hopefully, some warmer weather.
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