Maritime Transportation And Shipping Talk » Bulkers

A major oil spill in Saint Lawrence Seaway

Arild — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 03:55:21 +0000

It has been all over the news these last few days. A ship had an oil spill in the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Looking at the international scene this spill is just a minor little thing. The amount of oil that leaked out into the Seaway was not a lot but as with any oil hitting water surface, it spreads very fast and makes the whole thing look far worse than it really is. When you look at the local scene in the river of Saint Lawrence this is a major spill. It was major enough to shut down the traffic in the Seaway for a few days. The risk was also there for local water filtration plants to be contaminated and that would have affected several local communities water supply. As the Saint Lawrence Seaway have an emergency response team already in place, the response time was fairly quick and the contamination was brought under control fairly quick. The traffic was back up and ship was moving again by 1600hrs local time today Thursday July, 2010.
Looking back at this event we should ask some question, not to put blame but to see if things like his can be avoided in the future.
As in many maritime disasters the first thing that is looked at is the people onboard the ship. Did they react properly and quickly enough? What was the cause of the puncture in the fuel tank? Was this a double hull ship and fuel tank? It the ship lost engine power, what was the reason? If it was engine failure, was this a problem that was recurring or was it simply a new and unforeseen problem? Could it have been avoided with better maintenance?
Understanding that the current owner has recently acquired this ship is there a history of mishaps with the ship that they should be aware of?
I hope that whatever enquiry the authorities have after this is over that measures will be taken for this not to be repeated anytime soon
You can read the latest about Navigation Resumes In Seaway’s South Shore Canal

What Is Green Ship

Arild — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:54:00 +0000

First, some history to bring us up to were we are today.

What does the Green Ship term mean? In International shipping “Green Ship” is mainly associated with the Green Ship Award Program. There is also something that is called Green Ship Initiative established in North America and some others but that is a whole other subject that we might get into another time. So here in these articles we are going to concentrate on “Green Ship Award System”.

In order for us to get an understanding of what it all means I think we should lay a bit of background.
The ships that we are using on the seven oceans have always had a great attention to the safety. The ship owners were always greatly concerned with the safety of the vessel and the cargo that it transported. After all the aim was to make money as a transporter. Onboard the ship, crew was always concerned with the safety and the equipment needed in situations of emergency.
As ship types and technology has changed so has the quality of the ship. The navigational equipment used to navigate safely on the oceans and especially in areas of high traffic has seen a great improvement and made the logistic quality very high. Probably the greatest advancement we have made so far is the GPS and all the technology that became possible due to that technology.
Our Ships, the way they are constructed and the way they operate, are safe. The crew onboard and the management office ashore are all part of making it safe. Today the big word in ship safety is prevention.
Just after the Second World War United Nations founded a body name IMCO overlooking the safety of maritime shipping. This body has since become IMO (International Maritime Organization). Imo have been laying the laws applying to shipping and has bodies in place to enforce those rules. These laws that IMO has set for shipping to follow are basic minimum requirements and to some they are not strict enough. Looking at the ships we could see a large spectrum of ship types and also quality. The age of the ship was also an issue. If we had a quality level of let’s say 1-10, 1 being the top, the gap between 1 and 10 was simply too large. There had to be a second set of higher standards set in place and also incentives to owners for bringing the operation up to those higher standards.
This was the base for the governing body at the Port Of Rotterdam when they took the initiative in 1994 to establish these higher standards. It was all on a voluntary basis and became “Green Ship Award ” standards. It was to be applicable to the whole shipping company both ashore and onboard the vessel. The first ships to get into this higher set of standards were tankers. Since then we have seen the bulkers come along also. Personally, I’m still waiting for the container ships to catch up.
I think that in this first article about the Green Ship Award we have opened up for some interesting subjects and discussions. Where are we heading from here? Come back and visit as we get the next article online soon.

Wire Splice And The Wire Used In Saint Lawrence Seaway

Arild — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 03:12:49 +0000

As most Seafarers know, mechanical splices can slip and your Eye Splice on the wire becomes a choker type eye. If this happens to a mooring wire used in the Seaway you have a problem to get the wire loose from the Bullard and in most cases the wire has to be cut. The new regulation for the Seaway that came into effect a while ago, specified that no more mechanical splice was permitted on the mooring lines. It is still permitted if the eye is of a “Flemish” type. In that case the mechanical splice is just for security lock and are not bearing and significant pressure from the tension on the wire. Scenario that brought this into effect in the Seaway was as follows: Traffic is heavy and the transit time of each vessel is minimized at the maximum possible. Mooring with wires that had a poor mechanical splice and the tension on the wire was just enough to make the splice slip and the eye was tightening around the Bullard. The only way at that time to get it off was to cut the wire. In this case, valuable time was lost and created a problem for lock crew. The wire was finally cut but in meantime a whole chain of events had happened, oncoming vessel had to tie up on the approach wall and vessel behind had to slow down also.

Technorati Tags: Wire, Seaway, Splicing

Communication Equipment

Arild — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 03:06:05 +0000

Using Motorola Transportable Mobile Telephone as a permanent installation onboard ships can be a way of reducing cost of communication through Satellite. The system set up is fairly easy to set-up and following is needed; A) Transportable Mobile Telephone. B) Magnetic Antenna C) Voltage Transformer to fit Power Supply onboard with an output of 12V D) Fax connection adaptor. E) Cigarette lighter output adaptor. As a second option to this, you could also install a regular cordless home telephone and connect to the system. This will give you the mobility onboard so you don’t have to carry the Transportable around with you. The reason for a Transportable Telephone is simple, it is the only Mobile Telephone that has output of 3 watt for transmission and therefore gives you a reach of up to 50 nautical miles from shore, depending of the weather conditions and the placement of the antenna. Installation diagrams are available upon request.

Technorati Tags: Mobile telephone, Shipping talk, communication

Use Of Bowsing Tackle

Arild — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:22:40 +0000

A few newly required people to the marine purchasing scene have no knowledge of what a Bowsing Tackle is nor what the purpose of it is. I will try to enlighten them on the use of it and also explain how it is put together. A Bowsing Tackle is simply two wooden blocks double or triple whatever your preference is. Mostly used is a 2-sheave block in each end. A rope suited for the size of sheaves ties them together. Running freely through the sheaves in loops it becomes a handy and powerful pulling tool. Knowing the law of weight reduction versus pull strength when using this type of a pulley you can understand the handiness of it. As a Bowsing Tackle it is used for holding your lifeboat in place alongside the ship when lowered from the Davit. It simply pulls the lifeboat up close to the shipside so people can enter safely into it while hanging from the Davits. Once all is onboard you simply loosen up the rope and the lifeboat will swing out from the shipside so you can safely lower it down into the water. This way the whole operation becomes safe and you avoid swinging the lifeboat abruptly.

Hatch Cover Tape

Arild — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 23:36:04 +0000

There are a couple of well-known brands names available on the market. One being better over the other in performance is hard to say. It can be a discussion that ends up being whatever you prefer on your ship. Looking at the pricing one versus the other I think that difference is too big to neglect. I will not name any names of the products as that is not the purpose here but it’s safe to say that one lives of the reputable name and the other on pricing. How do you get best performance out of the hatch cover tape? By making sure that the hatch cover is free of any salt deposit from sea-spray and dry before laying the tape down you will have a better stick once the tape is heated with a torch. Applying some pressure in for of a steel roller at the same time as the tape is heated ensures optimum adhesion. There is also important to use the right tape for the application. Koaming-aide goes where it’s supposed to be used only and that is around the hatch koaming. Also if the opening between the hatches is close to 4” you would not use a 4” tape, as it would leave too little left for adhesion. If you use regular insulation foam (the expanding kind on spray bottles) in conjunction with your hatch cover tape you will optimize your chances of keeping the cargo dry during those bad days with lot’s of water spray on deck.

Alternative Fuels

Arild — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 08:35:19 +0000

What is Bio Diesel Bio Diesel is extracted fats and oils from non edible animal by-products. Whatever is not eaten by humans,from pigs,chicken,beef and fish are used for raw material. This methyl diester product is a Boi-Fuel that is a renewable resource. The product burns at 150deg.C. Compared to 50deg.C.for regular diesel. It is less Toxic than salt so therefor the name Bio-Diesel. Some Cruise Boats in Saint Lawrence River did a test run for the season and it showed a reduction in emission of 350 tons less Carbon Dioxide equivalent to 119 vehicles driven for 20,000 kilometer each for one year. According to U.S National Bio Diesel Board this fuel is the most tested alternative fuel on the market. If mixed by regular Diesel this becomes a viable fuel and will certainly help reduce the overall emission of Green House Gases. Added into the Farm Industry also and Getting the Governments on-line should prove that this product has a future and hopefully will be here to stay.

Technorati Tags: Bio-fules, Alternative Fuel

Supply Companies

Arild — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:25:05 +0000

To keep these big cargo ships going around the clock all year a solid back-up organization is needed. The owners or managers need a chain of suppliers lined up for the various requirements from the ship staff. A ship will need provisions for their crew, spare parts for their machinery and other operation consumables. At all times these things ahs to be pre-arranged prior to port arrival and also well in advance so when needed parts are readily available onboard. This has to be well planned so that the ship will not be laying idle due to missing parts. In shipping more than any other industry time is Big Money. You will understand why when you see some of the transport contracts (charter party) that are signed for various cargoes. It can be a substantial amount of money involved and many times there is penalties for delay of cargo. It all depends on the various elements in the contract.

The process of ordering, “Spares” and “Stores” is generally the responsibility of department heads onboard the ship. The Chief Engineer looks after the engine room department, the Steward looks after the accommodation and food and the Chief/First mate together with the Captain looks after deck department and all related to the cargo operations and navigation. After orders has been sent from the ship to the owners or managers office they are in turn processed and sent out to the various suppliers fro price bids or quotations. As most ships are equipped with e-mail it all becomes a simple task really to have this kind of communication. Being a supplier and receiving these kinds of request entails that you have to have some experience within your field. Knowing what the ship is asking for is of the highest priority. Making sure that there is no misunderstanding and if need be communicate with the ship or owners/managers in order to sort it all out. Wrong supply can be a very expensive affair. Not only for supplier but also for ship if it delays the operation.

Saint Lawrence River and Seaway

Arild — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 03:20:53 +0000

We are quickly heading into the winter season on the river and in the Seaway. This means the we will once again get ships tying up in the ports all over eastern Canada. As a foot note to this, I just posted some older articles from the arcives on the original shippinb talk. I wanted to make some references to them here since I am dealing with these new issues of port security again. As you can see from the articles, it’s not a new issue.

Technorati Tags: port security, seaway