Submarine, Ship and Treasures

What a PAWSOME day at the beach - there we were walking along collecting some wonderful treasures that King Neptune had left on the beach and HE was VERY generous today. We got some large cockle shells, smaller pretty clam shells, angel wings some small fighting conches and 2 star fish!

Then we heard a loud honking noise and turned around to see what it was and there it be - a submarine entering the river - WOW. Mom sure wished we were closer to the breakwater so we could of got some better pics - but alas we weren't. By time we did reach the breakwater it had already entered the Navy base.

We then waited because right behind the submarine along came the Isla Bella AND we found a couple of very interesting things about this ship. Isla Bella is the world’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered containership and was built and launched in San Diego in 2015. The ships’ owner TOTE, in partnership with General Dynamics NASSCO, celebrated the completion of the first of two Marlin Class containerships which will do the USA to Puerto Rico run on a regular basis. The use of LNG as a marine fuel in the U.S. defines a major shift for the industry. By switching to LNG, TOTE is reducing NOx emissions by 98 percent, SOx by 97 percent, carbon dioxide by 72 and particulate matter by 60 percent. Isla Bella is currently sailing under the flag of USA - it is  233m (764 feet) The ship’s name, Isla Bella, was selected from a contest hosted in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Puerto Rico. (You can see the submarine better if you click on the photo to see it bigger)