BLOG 19 - DEBALLASTING OPERATIONS AND OTHER COMPARISONS OLD AND NEW

This particular narrative will, in all probability, be 'old hat' to the experienced seafarer. It is written with the object of showing how a raw Fifth Engineer is thrown in to the 'deep end' without warning - he has to come up without spluttering. (And, after nearly forty years of sailing at sea, I still do not know how to swim).

A few comments have come in about previous blogs.

One was where I had written about how costly the course - or the associated degree - has become, where a cadet now pays about Rs. 20000 a month, compared to the Rs. 300 that we paid in 1966. A colleague commented - and I quote verbatim - "Sorry, Rangan, value of money halves in 7 years, also income normally doubles in 7 years ( Just a Thumb rule, I may be wrong)

So, when we paid Rs. 300/- a month in 1966, it will definitely require Rs. 20000/- per month now." - My thanks to him. I wish I had studied 'Milton Friedman' instead of 'CC Pounder' or 'Theraja'. I might have become rich.

Another comment was on 'ragging', that Dufferin was worse.

My reply - verbatim , but not meant to be flippant in any way was - "Dufferin, DMET, NDA or IIM - all have their 'bragging' rights to 'ragging' bytes.".

Having been an 'accused' in a 'ragging' case, when I was not involved at all, was one of the most stressful part of my time in DMET, more from the increased financial burden on my late Father, for the payment for a (costly) lawyer. Had it not been for the financial support given by my batch mates. I would not have made it. I am totally against 'ragging', per se.

Chapter 4

Familiarisation and Training:

Knowing every pipeline layout was the first step towards familiarisation, especially towards operation. Most of the pipelines ran in the bilges, below the bottom platform of the engine, below the floor plates. In those days, only one set of Drawings and Instructional Manuals were provided to each ship, all of them kept in the Chief Engineer’s cabin, under lock and key. So, to learn the layout of pipelines, one had to crawl and follow each pipeline, mostly starting from the pump, tracing the suction side and delivery side, noting all valves, filters, subsidiary connections and so forth.

Knowledge of Ballast Lines was given prime importance, as each bit of ballast water needed to be pumped out, so that maximum cargo can be loaded – more cargo meant more money. The more ballast remaining on board which could not be pumped out, the lesser the cargo loaded.

Once the Fifth Engineer became familiar with the ballast line, he was given the responsibility of ballast operation, just a couple of weeks from the time he joined ship. After a few glitches, I became adept at pumping out tanks to near empty. As far as the senior staff were concerned, it meant that I had ‘started arriving’ and could be made to shoulder more responsibility.

During the time I spent on SISCO ships, the only hydraulic valves were the ballast tank valves, operated remotely from the Engine Room. All other valves were manually operated. The quantity of valve opening was crucial to maintaining the maximum (and steady) throughput / rate of discharge. I had to learn very quickly how much the valves are to be open – 10%, 50%, 80% etc – in order to ensure maximum efficiency. Wear and tear on the ballast pumps was pretty significant and it was a struggle to get the maximum efficiency out of the pumps. It meant that a very close watch had to be kept during every minute of deballasting. Given the lack of spare parts to replace worn parts, it became a test of skill and ingenuity to ensure what needed to be done was done.

The non seafarer needs to be introduced to a peculiarly nautical term, ‘stripping’, in which ballast tanks are ‘stripped’ dry. The main ballast pumps can empty out a tank at a fast rate, but only to a certain level, with water levels in the tank remaining at 10 cm or less, where the main ballast pumps have lost suction.

To get the maximum amount of water out from a ballast tank, the fastest method is to use the main pumps efficiently. In cooperation with the duty officer and the shore (loading) supervisor, a slight ‘trim by stern’ (where the aft draft is slightly more than the forward draft) and a slight ‘list’ (tilting a ship) to either port or starboard - to allow the water in the tank to flow easily towards the suction bell mouth - to get maximum suction and not allow the pump to suck in air.

(This is akin to a slight slope given to bathroom floors, towards the drain hole. Only difference is - whereas the slope in a bathroom floor is permanent, knowledgeable use of cargo loading results in this 'slope' being artificially created and at will.)

Once the main pumps lose suction, it is a very difficult task to regain suction, as the pumps are placed at a slightly higher level than the tank. The main pump capacities vary from 200 cubic metres per hour to 3000 or more cubic metres per hour, depending on the size of the ship.

‘Stripping’ becomes important as it almost empties out the remnants of water from each ballast tank, which can be as high as 1000 to 2000 cubic metres of water, depending on the efficiency of the pump and its operator. The more the water that remains in the tank, the lesser the cargo carried, lesser earnings for the ship.

Depending on the pipeline layout - if the main ballast line is separate from the 'stripping' line, with appropriately placed valves - both operations can be carried out simultaneously. The main ballast pump will be removing the bulk of the water from one tank and stripping can be carried out on a tank where the main pump has lost suction.

Older ships had this dual provision - newer ships were not built with this provision.

‘Stripping’ is done through an ‘Eductor’, using Bernoulli’s Principle. When a high pressure liquid is sent through a nozzle, the pressure drop is large enough to create a vacuum. The vacuum thus created then sucks out the water from each tank.

The Main Ballast Pumps and the Eductor were the items that underwent the maximum wear on a Bulk Carrier. Due to the paucity of spares, I cannot count the number of times we had to open the the pumps, rebuild worn casings using 'Bronze Devcon' - a metal paste - and file down to a smooth finish. The engine room lathe was too small to accommodate the pump casing for machining.

Likewise the Eductor, which used to get pitted at the diffuser, which caused turbulence, due to which vacuum would not develop, so had to be coated with 'Bronze Devcon' and filed down to smoothness. The nozzle used to erode, so we became experts at machining new nozzles from bronze rods.

These temporary repairs would last for one or two operations and had to be redone.

In later years, when I was with Barber Ship Management, I used to insist on keeping original spares of all the parts that are likely to wear out, for a quick change and return to efficient operation. I also noted that the life span of these wearable parts was about 5 years.

This was one of the most important duties of a 5th Engineer - a huge responsibility was thrust upon him, within just a month after he joins the ship.

Thus, efficient operation all machinery on board became the primary job. This was repeated in all sectors of the ship, so we became used to twisting the tail of all machinery to get maximum efficiency out of them. This experience stood me in good stead throughout my sea career – it was the making of an efficient engineer.

Other pipelines, which were also equally important to the running and operation of the ship, also had to be traced. So, in order to get to know the pipelines, I spent quite a lot of time getting into the bilges and out of them for the better part of a month. In those days, on Indian ships, not much attention was paid to keeping the pipelines and bilges clean, so each visit to the bilges meant that the boiler suit that I was wearing would invariably be dirty, even after several washes.

The state of the bilges on these ships was in stark contrast to some of the (later) foreign vessels that I worked on, especially the Norwegian vessels, during the major part of my sea career.

Even as I was crawling around in the bilges and getting dirty, I was already planning on ensuring that, at a later date when I became 2nd Engineer, the bilges would be kept clean and pipelines painted in different colours for easy identification. Later, when I got promoted to the higher ranks, I had to rethink the idea of painting pipelines – there was no paint supplied because of the parsimonious way the Company was run by the shore management.

In my first Company, it was considered unnecessary and frivolous to use paint in the bilges. Washing the bilges and pipelines was possible, using sea water and a fire hose, the flip side being more corrosion and rusting on an already rusting ship.

This was in sharp contrast to later ships, where I would get the bilges washed with fresh water, wiped down and painted a light grey colour, in order that even the smallest drop of oil manifests itself clearly. It meant a lot of work and man hours, but I would be in the thick of it, working with the others.

A clean and well painted Engine Room and machinery, with no leaks, especially well painted bilges / tank tops, had it's advantages. In later years, as "Port State Control' inspections became more stringent, the PSC Inspector would be swiftly satisfied and would not probe deeper. As is well known, there are many skeletons in every closet, if one were to probe deep enough. Even minor discrepancies become major ones in the eyes of a dissatisfied Inspector.

So, I became familiar with ballast lines, bilge lines, sea water lines, fresh water lines, fuel oil lines, diesel oil lines, air lines, steam lines, fire lines (supplying water to the lines where hoses can be connected for fighting fires) and the like in less than a month. Some of these lines took me far afield, away from the Engine Room, into cargo holds, tunnels and so on. So, it was a holistic approach to familiarisation and, with it, knowledge.

Before one starts a pump, one had to know what happens in the pump when it is started and when it is running. One had to ascertain if the pump is running at capacity and if not, why. One had to open or close valves in a particular sequence, so thorough knowledge of the layout of pipelines. Everything was manual.

Before being allowed to start an air compressor, one had to explain the working of the compressor to the 2nd Engineer and the pipelines that go with it.

Before being allowed to start a generator, one had to explain the working of the generator how it starts, what happens when you admit air to the cylinders, in what order do the cylinders fire, how does the air get cut off once the engine starts gathering speed on fuel, what happens to the fuel inside the cylinder, how does the engine maintain a constant speed (which leads on to different types of governors) and so forth. These were four stroke medium speed engines (for the generators).

The same procedure - studying the system, answering questions put by the 2nd Engineer - was followed before one could start and stop the Main Engine on orders from the Bridge on the telegraph. A much more complex air starting system and fuel system needed to be studied. These were two-stroke engines.

Once you were allowed to start or stop the Main Engine during manoeuvring, you knew you had ‘arrived’ and the 2nd or Chief Engineer had a lot of trust in you. The downside of it was that you started getting loaded with more and more responsibilities, which, to me, was a good thing.

In total and vivid contrast, things started changing in the late ‘80s, due to more and more automation being introduced, one could perform all of the very same tasks from a remote area, like a control room. Mimic diagrams, hydraulic valves, solenoid valves and remote starter panels were coming into widespread use. Right or wrong, it eliminated the need for in-depth knowledge of a system.

In today’s shipping world, ballast systems are completely operated from the Cargo Control Room, with the Chief Officer being in total charge of it. He uses a mimic diagram, containing indicators, solenoid valves, hydraulic lines, start / stop switches, remote level indicators of tanks and so on, completely negating the necessity of going down to the Engine Room.

Air compressors are automatic – if air pressure comes down below a certain amount, it starts automatically and stops when the set pressure is reached. It can be started from the Engine Control Room and from the local station.

Generators could be started locally as well from the Engine Control Room. They also had to be kept on “auto” mode – in case of failure of the running generator, the ‘standby’ engine automatically starts up and comes on load automatically.

Main Engines have ‘Bridge Control’, ‘Engine Control Room Control’ and ‘Local Control’, eliminating the need of manually starting or stopping or setting various speeds – all through the use of pneumatic valves, solenoid valves, feed backs etc.

All this automation – and much, much more – became the prerequisite to the implementation of “Unmanned Machinery Spaces” (or UMS for short), helped shipping companies to reduce manpower on board ships drastically.

To highlight the contrast of manpower, my first ship, in 1970, had a complement of 45 or thereabouts. My last ship, in 2008, had a complement of 19. I have also sailed on ships staffed by 15.

So, a combination of 4 hours ‘on’ and (supposedly) 8 hours ‘off’ at sea and 12 hours of either day duty or night duty in port, kept me busy at all times, without a break. I write ‘supposedly’ about 4 ‘on’ 8 ‘off’ at sea. The fact was you had to put in a minimum of 3 hours after breakfast on maintenance work on any of the machinery which required such maintenance, working with the day time staff of fitters and ‘firemen’. Also, one was expected to come for the watch at least 15 minutes early. Invariably, some job or the other would be in progress when one's watch finishes, so you spent an additional hour or so in the Engine Room.

Emergencies or breakdowns meant that you continued working till the work is over or you are told by the 2nd Engineer to get some sleep.

In all, the working week would be anywhere between 80 to 90 hours, including Sundays. So, one got used to 5 to 6 hours of sleep at sea. If the ship was in port, the chance to go ashore surpassed the need to sleep, so one was always sleep deprived. But youth was on my side and I could take such a routine months on end.

In sharp contrast, the ‘90s saw regulations coming into force, powered by International Agencies, where each sailor had to have a certain guaranteed number of hours of rest period, which effectively reduced the work hour week to around 50 hours. As a consequence, crew overtime hours came down drastically. On-the-run and in-port maintenance was not that badly impacted, as the ‘90s saw a spurt in ships with ‘Unmanned Machinery Spaces’, freeing the watchkeepers of a ‘4 on – 8 off’ schedule at sea. They were, then, working an 0800 – 1700 hrs shift throughout their tenure on board, with holidays on Sundays and ½ day of work on Saturdays.

With technological advancement in electronics, ships were built using more and more of automation, which became the watchdogs of the Engine Room and making possible the advent of ‘Unmanned Machinery Spaces’ or UMS. The shift from ‘analog’ to ‘digital’ was also a major improvement and paved the way for more computerised operations. The Norwegians were more or less the pioneers in this innovative trend, right from the ‘70s. So, it was a pleasure working on Norwegian built or Norwegian owned ships.

For emphasis, when I started working at sea in 1970, we had a total of 6 ‘alarm’ points and 6 ‘indicating lights’ on a panel close to the manoeuvring console. When I left the sea in 2008, there were over 1800 points being monitored.

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