Badger Enginess, What if?

[Guest]

Any reason why they're saying the project is $16 million now vs. $12 million a year ago when they asked for money during stimulus #1?

Engineering hiccups or something else?

[Guest]

Why would they want to go with diesel electric? If they were going to go that route, why not buy the power plant from the Viking? I would have assumed they would have gone the diesel reduction and CPP route. I also don't understand why they would leave the old steam pant in her. When the Sloan was repowered the boilers were left in place for heat and such as well as ballast, but the engine was removed.

[deckstir]

The electric propulsion motors will be installed aft of the current engine room, the diesel gen-sets will be forward of the boiler room. The steam plant will be left in place for keel ballast. Could be done in one winter if all the ducks were in a row.
Spartan's upper works are in real rough shape from leaking over the years.That would be a real costly refit.

[Guest]

Last time I checked scrap was at $140.00 a ton. My suggestion was to renovate the Spartan and lay up the Badger. If the only problem with the Badger is shooting ashes in the lake, they can be saved and dumped on shore. It isn't like the Badger is away from port for a week.

[Guest]

Ships are scrapped all the time, either in Canada or towed overseas. They scrapped the Calumet a couple years ago, and as long as you deal with the asbestos correctly, it isn't a problem. The Midland was cut down to a barge and I am sure she had as much asbestos as the Spartin or Badger.

[Guest]

You can't scrap either the SS Badger or the SS Spartan due to the asbestos and other environmental factors. They no longer have scrap value here in the US and international value isn't what it was when the scrappers bid against Conrad on them in the 1991 bankruptcy auction.

[Guest]

Given the time it will take to re-power the Badger, wouldn't it be better to put diesels in the Spartin and do a renovation on her? Once completed, use the Spartin and lay up the Badger. I am not sure of the difference in the hull condition of the two vessels. Given the time to do the engine change, if it was started as soon as Badger was done for the year would is be finished by the start of the next season?

[Guest]

Let's see--given a high scrap price of $600 a ton (only once in the last ten years) you'd get $2.55 million dollars for her. That would leave only $13.5 million to go. At today's scrap prices you'd be better off holding bake sales and car washes.

[Guest]

Wondering what would be the feasibility of scraping the Spartan and using the funds raised to re-power the badger?

John