It depends on the fuel and powerplant used. If its a coal fired steam engine it will be really thick, but a diesel powered engine may not, espeically if its new and/or well maintained. Also slow speeds should allow for less smoke on a diesel powered ship.
A large, relativly new looking tanker like that could very well be a diesel powered ship...and it appeares to be going pretty slow, I'd bet 3-5kts.
So thick plumes of smoke was more likly to be on a merchant, but not required. The old small and medium ships I keep getting have thicker smoke, much more obvious. The problem is the max visibilty cap at only 8km that keeps us from using smoke to see ships over the horizon
|