Looks like they ran out of fuel. I always fuel myself. Can’t trust gauges. Without further information, I suspect the fuel dock short changing.
Worth noting there are lots of drying moorings and everyone was safe, simply inconvenienced.
Wonder what happened to the food?
Sounds a good bet with the owner saying that 420 litres was “missing”.
For Americans, 500 l is about 130 gallons. Looking at the boat and assuming a slow cruise for dinner service I’m thinking about 2 gph (sorry John - I am fine with metric but I think in Imperial) per engine. 4 gph total means about five hours to run out of fuel with a 420 l shortfall.
From the reporting I think the procedures and response of the crew were nothing to be proud of, but most likely it was short changing by the fuel dock. Also possible is a high flow fuel nozzle that backed up in the fuel fill hose and made an inexperienced fuel dock attendant think the tank was full when it was not. That should be easily resolved if the fuel bill was low or the owner was charged for a full load.
I maintain a fuel consumption spreadsheet, even on sailboats. We track engines, generators, and heaters. When I can I make allowance for fuel pickup height in the tanks; otherwise I guess. Call it an educated guess. grin
Hospitality cruises are a special case in the marine industry. People treat them like restaurants and forget there is a lot more going on. Same with cruise ships.
It would be interesting to have insight into the galley. Do they bring hot boxes in? Cook on LPG or diesel or electric (electric being an inefficient way of cooking on diesel)? From the size I bet they have a shore facility at least for dishwashing and linens.
Thanks for the expert insight, Dave. Helps me understand better.
