Diesel from barge

[PhilPB]

Today, I decided to fuel up and pulled up to a floating fuel barge that was just inside the Port of Palm Beach Inlet. It has a rather nice setup with hydraulic pilings that hold it in place for when they are there which makes it a very stable platform to pull up to. Fueling went fast and they were great to deal with. Very good experience. I was surprised when he told me they hold 3000 gallons of diesel! Their name is Imfueling.com and can either be called via phone or vhf. I was impressed

 

[guy with a boat]

How was the pricing, compared to the area fuel docks?

 

[twistedtree]

3,000 gal, or 30,000?

 

[psneeld]

In South Florida I believe there a few fuel barges that are really not that big to accommodate the overcrowding.

Last one I was near was Ft Lauderdale.

 

[Bmarler]

3,000 gal, or 30,000?

Must be at least 30k. One boat could drain 3k gallons.

 

[psneeld]

Some are pretty small.....

 

[sunchaser]

Where do these fuel carts get their fuel and what filtering system do they have on the barge?

Since our vessel was new the only fuel put in the tanks, excepting the few hundred gallons in Taiwan, came from a known sign with visible spin on filters.

Anal about marine fuel? You bet.

 

[CaptTom]

I've bought from fuel barges. No different from the pumps (and filters) on shore. I think Liberty Landing in NY harbor does this. Pretty efficient use of space. And they sell such high volumes I'd never worry about the quality of the fuel.

In Maine, Potts Harbor has a DIY pump-out barge. Again, a great solution. Pull up, pump out, and leave, any time. No hogging the fuel dock, waiting for staff, etc.

 

[Hippocampus]

Cheapest fuel I’ve gotten on US east coast is from distributors tank trucks. They’re emptied daily so quality is excellent. May need to get another boat to fuel with you as distributor wants the truck to return empty.
Some marinas now offer pump out at each slip.run the pipe down the length of the finger with outlets able to service all the slips.

 

[Osprey69]

How was the pricing, compared to the area fuel docks?

Recently was in Palm Beach and saw the barge. $3.99 a gallon which is the same as Doctors Lake in NE Florida. Good price.

 

[PhilPB]

Recently was in Palm Beach and saw the barge. $3.99 a gallon which is the same as Doctors Lake in NE Florida. Good price.

That was the price I paid yesterday

 

[PhilPB]

Must be at least 30k. One boat could drain 3k gallons.

3000. They can refill as needed at the port or where they dock it.

 

[PhilPB]

Where do these fuel carts get their fuel and what filtering system do they have on the barge?

Since our vessel was new the only fuel put in the tanks, excepting the few hundred gallons in Taiwan, came from a known sign with visible spin on filters.

Anal about marine fuel? You bet.

It's from the same tankers that fill the tanks at the marinas. I would trust this fuel more than some from underground tanks where the marinas occasionally get flooded from king tides as well as being much older tanks

 

[Comodave]

We paid from $4.05 to $4.19 in the last week here on Lake Huron. Way better than last year around $6.00.

 

[Bmarler]

3000. They can refill as needed at the port or where they dock it.

i see, small barge so it has good turnaround on the fuel and easy to maneuver into small spaces. we don't have that sort of thing out here but it would be nice. the price too, we're still paying between 4.50 and 5.00/gal.

 

[PhilPB]

i see, small barge so it has good turnaround on the fuel and easy to maneuver into small spaces. we don't have that sort of thing out here but it would be nice. the price too, we're still paying between 4.50 and 5.00/gal.

I was impressed also with how stable it was to tie up to. I didn't ask how deep their pilings go but we were in 14 ft of water

 

[Bmarler]

I was impressed also with how stable it was to tie up to. I didn't ask how deep their pilings go but we were in 14 ft of water

we have a couple of bulkhead builder companies in the waterfront lot by my home slip. they use the same piling system to hold their barges in place while they load huge boulders and gravel on and off with loaders and excavators. those barges are super stable as they roll on and off of them. great design imo.
the only difference is that these guys use an excavator to grab the piling and pull it up to it's locked position for travel.

 

[psneeld]

Back East, cranes, excavators, A-frames, and self lowering/raining mules all handle the spuds on barges that do construction work. There may be more but that's all I ever worked with.

 

[jgwinks]

Some spud barges can lift completely out of the water on the spuds. Super stable, they don't move at all. Up here where it freezes they sit all winter 6 feet above the ice.

 

[Deckape]

Peterson Fuel is the barge in Ft Lauderdale . They do a lot of the bigger boats when they are in the yards upriver or they will meet them on the ICW before they dock or before going out . Good price and they get filled from tanker truck that bring the fuel to the barge . I had used Anchor Fuel as they would come to the dock with a mimium of 100 gallons Either one was cheaper than any fuel station / marina on the water .

 

[O C Diver]

$3.13 per gallon with a 200 gallon minimum at Port Consolidated in Fernandina Beach, FL. I prefer high volume commercial fuel docks.

Ted

 

[La Sirena]

I bought 1100 gallons at Port Consolidated in Fernandina Beach a couple months ago for $2.90 (I signed the state tax waiver since I was leaving FL). I thought that was a good price until the guy at the dock said on (Joe Biden's, not Abraham Lincoln's) inauguration day it was $1.44.

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

Some spud barges can lift completely out of the water on the spuds. Super stable, they don't move at all. Up here where it freezes they sit all winter 6 feet above the ice.

Those are called "Jackup rigs" or "lift boats"....hardly super stable..."Seacor Power" incident....

 

[rslifkin]

Those are called "Jackup rigs" or "lift boats"....hardly super stable..."Seacor Power" incident....

I think the stability comment here was referring to the lifted state, not the underway state (where it's a different story, as you pointed out).

 

[psneeld]

Worked with both "spud barges" where the spuds were driven up/down by permanent gear on the barge and those where construction equipment (cranes/loaders/etc) set/picked the spuds. Most of these were not designed to lift themselves out of the water.... none I ever saw but I guess possible or if they were empty.....maybe.

The company I worked for bought 2 lift boats that are essentially self propelled and designed to do light construction work with accommodations onboard to stay in one spot and be stable. Yes there are giant lift boats but still not anywhere near the heaviest of "heavy lift barges".

Not exactly info on fuel barges except a lot of these barges have fuel tanks that do supply the tugs and workboats working the same project. Sometime the fuel looks like it just came out of the refinery and sometimes the only place it should go is back in the ground to start all over again....

 

[jimfrens]

I've bought from fuel barges. No different from the pumps (and filters) on shore. I think Liberty Landing in NY harbor does this. Pretty efficient use of space. And they sell such high volumes I'd never worry about the quality of the fuel.

Liberty Landing has a traditional floating fuel dock with self-serve via a pay station at the dockmaster’s office.