What causes red smoke from ship's funnel

[Irish Rover]

As I was leaving the marina this morning the cruise ship Norwegian Epic was in the port. She had smoke coming from 2 of her funnels. One plume was white or off white as you would expect but the other funnel was spewing out red/scarlet smoke. There are 3 or 4 cruise liners in the port most days and this is the first time I've seen this. Any ideas what causes it?

 

[penfold]

Assuming low sunlight it's probably soot blowing and really a dirty brown colour made more picturesque, they definitely aren't supposed to do that in port though . How long did it last for? A picture might help, although such things rarely work for me when the lighting is funny.

 

[Minerva]

If a new pope being appointed is denoted by white smoke, perhaps the ship has just appointed a new matron for their hospitality ladies?

 

[Irish Rover]

Assuming low sunlight it's probably soot blowing and really a dirty brown colour made more picturesque, they definitely aren't supposed to do that in port though . How long did it last for? A picture might help, although such things rarely work for me when the lighting is funny.

It was around 10.30 and the sun was too high to be having much of an affect. She was tied up and she was in my close view for around 10 minutes from different directions as I passed her stern and the red smoke was constant. I was on the flybridge with other traffic around so no chance to go below for the phone. I had planned to have the phone ready when returning but I see her now in the far distance after leaving port heading for Greece.

 

[Irish Rover]

If a new pope being appointed is denoted by white smoke, perhaps the ship has just appointed a new matron for their hospitality ladies?

Habemus Comoedo.

 

[Bouba]

Is it possible she was incinerating the trash ?

 

[Irish Rover]

Is it possible she was incinerating the trash ?

I assumed the smoke was from the generator.

 

[penfold]

MARPOL prohibits incineration in port and the exhaust from incinerators generally don't exit via the funnel, although I dare say there are exceptions. Generally all you get is a little steam and drips into the drip tray due to the water content.

 

[Neeves]

They were incinerating the out of date smoke flares? Disposal facilities are commonly difficult to find.

I vaguely recall the red colour (I'm happy to be corrected) comes from a salt of Strontium (named after a small locality on the Ardnamurchan peninsular).

Jonathan

 

[Irish Rover]

They were incinerating the out of date smoke flares? Disposal facilities are commonly difficult to find.

I vaguely recall the red colour (I'm happy to be corrected) comes from a salt of Strontium (named after a small locality on the Ardnamurchan peninsular).

Jonathan

Plausible. The colour was very distinctive and very similar to what I see idiots discharging at football matches.

 

[penfold]

Disposal is trivial for ship operators, it's a piece of lifesaving apparatus so it goes back to the supplier along with everything else once out of date; notwithstanding what ought to happen I can imagine irresponsible people putting pyro in the incinerator, you'd have to be very stupid to do it in port in daylight. If you see it again consider videoing it and reporting it to the port police, scumbaggery like this is why environmental rules don't work as they should.

 

[Irish Rover]

Disposal is trivial for ship operators, it's a piece of lifesaving apparatus so it goes back to the supplier along with everything else once out of date; notwithstanding what ought to happen I can imagine irresponsible people putting pyro in the incinerator, you'd have to be very stupid to do it in port in daylight. If you see it again consider videoing it and reporting it to the port police, scumbaggery like this is why environmental rules don't work as they should.

In over 20 years passing in and out it's the first time I saw something like this. That said, some of the black smoke coming from the cruise ships is so thick, at times it hardly rises far above the stack. I'm not entirely sure what laws exist in Türkiye about incineration but, in practice, anything goes. It's not unusual to see scrap collectors burning plastic covered cables to get at the metal, burning of old tyres is a regular occurrence, everyone burns their garden waste, etc.

 

[DFL1010]

They were incinerating the out of date smoke flares? Disposal facilities are commonly difficult to find.

I vaguely recall the red colour (I'm happy to be corrected) comes from a salt of Strontium (named after a small locality on the Ardnamurchan peninsular).

Jonathan

I take it you're joking with this suggestion?

 

[Neeves]

I take it you're joking with this suggestion?

Yes, we need a bit of off the wall humour.

But it does raise a question for me. We find it difficult to dispose of flares what do commercial ships do, including those who service life rafts.

There is an obviously well established route for ships to dispose of flares - why can we not piggy back.

I note from the post above they go to the supplier - for us that is the local chandler - does it work?

Jonathan

 

[Bouba]

Yes, we need a bit of off the wall humour.

But it does raise a question for me. We find it difficult to dispose of flares what do commercial ships do, including those who service life rafts.

There is an obviously well established route for ships to dispose of flares - why can we not piggy back.

I note from the post above they go to the supplier - for us that is the local chandler - does it work?

Jonathan

Our local chandler will accept your old flares...but only if you buy new ones from them

 

[penfold]

Yes, we need a bit of off the wall humour.

But it does raise a question for me. We find it difficult to dispose of flares what do commercial ships do, including those who service life rafts.

There is an obviously well established route for ships to dispose of flares - why can we not piggy back.

I note from the post above they go to the supplier - for us that is the local chandler - does it work?

Jonathan

No idea, but LSA that needs serviced or is out of date is returned to the supplier; my employer has dozens of ships so it's probably a multiyear contract, we file a work order on the maintenance system, someone in the office approves it and sends it to the contractor and a van appears on the quay when we dock.

 

[zoidberg]

I vaguely recall the red colour (I'm happy to be corrected) comes from a salt of Strontium (named after a small locality on the Ardnamurchan peninsular).

Strontian is a particularly beautiful corner, on the southern side of the Ardnamurchan peninsula.

"Strontium forms salts which make a red flame when they burn. They are used in flares for signalling the position of survivors or shipwrecks and to make the red color in fireworks. It is named after the village of Strontian" - Wikipedia

 

[Neeves]

Strontian is a particularly beautiful corner, on the southern side of the Ardnamurchan peninsula.

"Strontium forms salts which make a red flame when they burn. They are used in flares for signalling the position of survivors or shipwrecks and to make the red color in fireworks. It is named after the village of Strontian" - Wikipedia

Its nice to get it right

I'm a frequent visitor I was there in the late '70s and soon after in the early '80s. I was so impressed I went back around 2005. But anyone tempted - go further to the point itself - it is, arguably even more delightful. Each time I went it was under canvas (no trailer . Then it did not have a special name - now its 'WILD' camping.

Jonathan

 

[Irish Rover]

Yes, we need a bit of off the wall humour.

But it does raise a question for me. We find it difficult to dispose of flares what do commercial ships do, including those who service life rafts.

There is an obviously well established route for ships to dispose of flares - why can we not piggy back.

I note from the post above they go to the supplier - for us that is the local chandler - does it work?

Jonathan

Shame on you taking advantage of a poor, naive Paddy

 

[zoidberg]

Not so poor as can afford to keep a stinkpot - as in the avatar - in a far-from-cheap corner of Turkiye.....