StugeronSteve
New member
Just read the YBW news item on shipping emissions. Regardless of your take on the whole climate change issue, it can't be good for this quantity of crap to be pumped into the air that we breathe and, on the face of it, the yanks have got to be commended for imposing a marine low emissions zone.
We had our first x channel trip of the year last week and took friends along -who were making their first ever small boat crossing- and the topic of marine pollution cropped up a few times in conversation. Our friends were amazed by the way that I could pick out ships, that were still beyond our horizon, by their smoke plumes and were staggered to see the brown sulpherous band hanging in the air above the main lanes. My company supplies exhaust insulation products to marine engine manufacturers and the new engines are VERY clean, but some of the beasts roaming our seas are really filthy and as most of us know too well you can't smell a great deal of fresh sea air when you have crossed behind one.
I wonder what effect the exhaust from shipping has on the air quality in heavy shipping areas, such as the Solent? The particulate levels would probably be alarming.
On a more cheery note we did have a dolphin accompany us through the no-mans land between the west and east bound stuff, which was nice. Although swmbo managed to put a bit of a downer on that by worrying that he was lonely!
We had our first x channel trip of the year last week and took friends along -who were making their first ever small boat crossing- and the topic of marine pollution cropped up a few times in conversation. Our friends were amazed by the way that I could pick out ships, that were still beyond our horizon, by their smoke plumes and were staggered to see the brown sulpherous band hanging in the air above the main lanes. My company supplies exhaust insulation products to marine engine manufacturers and the new engines are VERY clean, but some of the beasts roaming our seas are really filthy and as most of us know too well you can't smell a great deal of fresh sea air when you have crossed behind one.
I wonder what effect the exhaust from shipping has on the air quality in heavy shipping areas, such as the Solent? The particulate levels would probably be alarming.
On a more cheery note we did have a dolphin accompany us through the no-mans land between the west and east bound stuff, which was nice. Although swmbo managed to put a bit of a downer on that by worrying that he was lonely!