That idea was seriously considered in a SNAME paper presented in 1960.
A nuclear powered tanker submarine full of fossil fuel, a greenie nightmare
Just add a seamount
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Anybody heading to Oz soon, be warned and prepared:
Australia has a choice apparently: Either not have a merchant fleet or have the entire tax-paying public subsidize one. The USA is sort of in the same position except we have the ICW and all the inland rivers and they really donât.
I personally think it is nuts from a national security perspective for Australia to NOT have a fleet, but it isnât my money that they would be spending.
Beats a lot of other stuff we have to subsidise
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I agree, but it can be a hard sell to people with no direct experience of when a merchant fleet was a matter of national survival. If anyplace needs a reliable way to get things here and there, you would think Australia does!
There are loads of similar stories., eg., Dublin dockers looking for âembarrassmentâ money discharging toilet bowls in the days BC (before containers).
Well it looks like the Queensland government is looking to get some coastal shipping reinstated along our 7000km of coastline.
Quote:
The Queensland Government has committed to âBacking Queensland Maritime Jobs.â This commitment aims to revitalise and strengthen coastal shipping and create sustainable maritime jobs in Queensland to contribute to employment growth and economic well-being.
The commitment includes partnering with industry to:
1. Deliver increased maritime employment, potentially through establishing coastal shipping services or other innovative approaches.
2. Create increased maritime employment for the Queensland workforce with existing operators in Queensland.
To achieve these aims the Department of Transport and Main Roads through Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) seeks information from commercial entities about the creation of maritime jobs through the provision of coastal shipping services in Queensland, the creation of maritime jobs within existing maritime operations or the creation of maritime jobs in some other way. This Market Sounding invitation seeks to understand the market capability and potential approaches to achieving the Backing Queensland Maritime Jobs objectives. The information gained through Market Sounding will inform future procurement process and ensure the process is focussed to achieve the service delivery objectives and desired outcomes.
Interestingly the main purpose for the proposal is to back Queenslandâs marine job.
I canât open the actual tender documents and havenât seen anything in the media either. Given how small the number of mariners is in Queensland is the cynic in me wonders how this works out in terms of votes won per dollar.
For the non-aussies the Qld government is labor, the same political flavour as the federal opposition leader who proposed the new commercial fleet as above.
Oh thereâs some more info here:
Looks like the West Australian Government has woken up to the fact that there are navigable waters all around Australia that can be used to transport goods âin an emergencyâ:
https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2022/03/New-taskforce-to-examine-Western-Australian-shipping-industry.aspx
All it took was a flood that cut the rail link to the rest of Oz for them to realize it.
Up until the '70,s the Newcastle/Sydney/Woolongong 70 miler route was a very busy east cost route.
So given current events, does anything think Australia needs their own ships more than say a month ago?