BLOG 33 - "Marine Musings 6" - Now a "Theen Sahib" - Short Stint on the 'Perumai' before 'Ookam'

Certified Third Engineer's Epaulettes - These are to be worn with Uniform Shirts Having Flaps on the Shoulder.

Note the Violet (or is it Purple?) Colour between the Golden Stripes, signifying an Engineer

Marine Musings 6 –

On the Chennai Perumai and Chennai Ookam as Third Engineer or ‘Theen Sahib’

Third Engineer's Epaulettes - To be Worn with a Uniform Shirt having appropriate holes at the Shoulder

Chapter 1 – Chennai Perumai from 1st Aug 1973 to 15th Sept 1973

I was on this ship for only 45 days before being transferred to the Chennai Ookam.

The satisfying part was that I joined the ship as 3rd Engineer with a ‘Superior’ Certificate. Maritime Union of India’s agreement with Indian Shipping companies was that if a person has a particular certificate and the Company does not employ him in the rank that he is eligible for, but signs him in a lower rank, they have to give him a higher wage than an uncertificated person who holds that rank. To simplify the rather Wodehousian length of the previous sentence, it goes like this.

I joined the ship with a 2nd Class Part ‘B’ Certificate. This certificate makes me eligible to sail as 2nd Engineer. Since I was sailing as 3rd Engineer. I would have to be given a wage that was between a 2nd Engineer’s wage and 3rd Engineer wage. It was entered into my monthly wage sheet as ‘Certificate Bonus’.

In the 1970s and 1980s, shipboard wages were always more substantial than shore wages in most other jobs. This was to compensate the seafarer for working in an hazardous environment, away from his family for several months at a time, combating loneliness, at times combating severe storms and weather, sometimes not stepping ashore for months together, the Officers working long hours, sometimes 80 to 100 hours a week without any overtime, more often than not on an old or ill maintained ship. Sometimes the Employing Company would not remit wages in time, putting families under stress.

It was not until the 1990s that the International Labour Organisation brought forth measures to regulate the working and rest hours of a seafarer. This was after a series of accidents where the crew were fatigued and made errors of judgement that cost everybody dear.

As the weekly total of man hours put into an Engine Room declined sharply after these regulations were implemented, maintenance levels fell and breakdowns became more frequent. To compensate for reduction in on-board preventive maintenance, workshops were increasingly contracted in many ports, to make up for the lack of maintenance. Classification Societies became stricter in their inspection of ships, which revealed more and more deficiencies, which had to be rectified within a certain time frame.

Meanwhile, the advent of Unmanned Machinery Spaces (or UMS for short), gave a lot of benefit to the Ship Owner, where he could reduce the manning or the working strength of personnel on board. To prevent the Owners from going overboard with reduction of staff, vessels were issued with ‘Minimum Manning Certificates’. These Certificates were more in favour of the Owners than the ship. As a glaring example, I started my career on ships that carried more than 50 people. The last few years of my sea career (2000 to 2008) was on ships that had a crew of 18, 14, 16 and 16.

With lessening on-board maintenance, ship’s staff were mostly confined to being ‘operators’ only, rather than a full fledged Engineer who knew the ins and outs of the machinery at his disposal. With lesser on-board maintenance came a lesser in-depth knowledge of machinery, which led to lesser quality in personnel. Catch 22.

So, wages were relatively high in Indian Shipping Companies. But the Indian Seafarer was paid far lesser than a British or German or Norwegian or American counterpart for doing the same job. This disparity remained till the end of my sea career and is prevalent even now. Asians do not get the same amount for doing the same job. Such is life.

The wages of the Indian Seafarer working in an Indian Shipping Company was about 25% to 30% of what he would be paid if he were to be working in a Foreign Company which, again, was about 50% of what the European or Norwegian would be paid.

The consolation, or the flip side, about the disparity of wages was - if we were paid the same high wages as the European, the European Owner would not register his ship elsewhere and employ Indians. So for us, it was gainful employment, which was far more preferable to remaining unemployed. But all this is for the near future.

I joined the Chennai Perumai at Nagapattinam, having gone by train from Madras. The agents put me up at a small hotel for the rest of the day and night. Early next morning, at high tide, I was taken by a small boat to the ‘Perumai’, whilst she was at anchor a few miles from shore. Why was I taken out at high tide? The boat would have to cross a sand bar on the way out to sea. The boat ran the risk of grounding on the sand bar at lower tides.

After a few days, the Perumai sailed to Tuticorin to discharge her cargo of grain. Nearly a month later, the vessel sailed up the coast of India to load iron ore at Paradip, Orissa.

I was signed off the ship and told to go back to Madras and join the ‘Chennai Ookam’ after a few days at Tuticorin.

Chapter 2 - I Get a Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity of Seeing Konarak

I spent a couple of days in Orissa, with the ship’s agents arranging hotel stay and transport. I visited Puri Jagannath temple and also the famous Sun Temple at Konarak which was built over 700 years ago. This temple, as also Puri Jagannath temple were looted and destroyed by Muslim rulers. The Konarak temple was made mostly out of sandstone. What was left of it after the Muslim invasion was even then sufficient to awe the visitor with some of the erotic sculptures intact or partially restored.

More than 30 years later, when I next visited Konarak, it was a mere shadow of its former glory, after being ravaged by a couple of severe cyclones that hit Orissa in the decades following my first visit. It was a sad sight to see such a monumental work of art destroyed by invaders and then by ferocious weather. Having been built on the sea shore facing east, the structure had to submit to the vagaries of the brutish weather.

The bigger temples in the South, had huge corridors on the outside with each corridor getting smaller and smaller in size till it reached the sanctum sanctorum, massive pillars with carvings, big platforms where devotees can congregate and listen to music recitals or dance programmes or listen to exponents of the Vedas or have a marriage conducted. The purposes of the temples were manifold, apart from worship of the deity.

The Konarak Sun temple was built with similar purposes in mind, that of social binding and bonding. It departed from the austerity of construction of Hindu temples by being built in the form of a huge chariot carrying the Sun God, Surya, pulled by seven massive horses, with 12 massive wheels on each side. Each wheel had intricately carved messages on the spokes and around the circumference, all relating to life, social order, behaviour, habits and a myriad other details that different persons underwent from birth to death. It was a compendium of life, a celebration of life.

Konarak Sun Temple - One of carved Chariot Wheels, surrounded by Erotic Sculpture

Konarak Sun Temple - some of the Sculptures

It had a quite a number of astronomical and technical marvels, two of which I will relate here.

The charioteer was seated behind the 7 horses on a platform which had four pillars supporting a canopy. The four pillars divided the space into three open spaces. The temple was built in such a manner that the first rays of the rising sun would enter through one of the three spaces and, going through a narrow corridor, fall on the main idol. Through which of the three spaces would the first rays enter, was determined by whether the sun was at the Tropic of Cancer, the Equator or the Tropic of Capricorn. Astronomical precision went into building this temple.

The roof of the sanctum sanctorum, which housed the main deity, was a one-piece magnetic stone. It is not there any more. The magnetic power of the stone was so powerful that, legend has it, it was enough to suspend a smaller replica of the main idol, made of an alloy. Legend also has it that this suspended replica would make one rotation of the main idol every 24 hours in that suspended state.

When the British took over India, their ships used to hug the coast while sailing. Their magnetic compasses would go awry for quite awhile when in the vicinity of the Sun Temple. When they investigated, they found that the erratic behaviour of their magnetic compasses was due to this roof made of magnetic stone. They then broke the roof into small pieces and threw the pieces over a wide area much further inland.

There were quite a number of extraordinary information about this temple. Some of it can be found in the website given below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fmZ0VfflRA

Then I took the train from Bubaneshwar to Chennai, spent 2 days at home and took another train to Tuticorin to join the ‘Chennai Ookam’. The ship was already there, discharging at anchorage.

Chapter 3 – I join the ‘Chennai Ookam’ – Find myself at odds with the Chief Engineer, which led to a number of problems.

Tenure from 21st Sept 1973 to 16th May 1974

Chennai Ookam

I joined the ‘Ookam’ on the 21st of September 1973. Being a sister ship of the ‘Perumai’, everything was exactly the same and I immediately plunged into my work, without much further ado. But somehow the vibes on board were different and I was ill at ease. I had never had this kind of feeling even when our lives were in jeopardy on the ‘Perumai’. I was a little more careful in every aspect of life on board and it, later, paid dividends.

After part discharge of the grain at Tuticorin (it had not reverted to its original name of Thoothukudi at that time), we sailed to Kandla to complete the discharge.

After the first few days, I had niggling thoughts that made me feel uncomfortable. I do not know what prompted that instinct but, over the years, I had come to trust that instinct which made me more careful than normal. I could sense that the atmosphere on board was not congenial, although I had nothing concrete to suspect that there was something amiss.

Me being a vegetarian, the quality of food was important for my survival. I then weighed only 96 pounds, hardly 44 kgs. If I went hungry, my health would be at stake. On the ‘Perumai’ the food had been excellent, with well stocked ‘fridges for late night snacks or eggs or milk or juice or sandwiches (take it from me, when you come up from the Engine Room at midnight or 4am, you are ravenous), so I took it for granted that it would be so on the ‘Ookam’ also. But it was not so.

The cooking was indifferent, the dishes served not very palatable. ‘Fridges were bare. There was something wrong. Everything was practically rationed out to the Officers, with very limited quantities being served to those in the Dining Hall. But nobody was complaining.

To my surprise, I found the Captain and Chief Engineer, along with their families, not having their breakfast or lunch or dinner with the other Officers, as was the norm. Instead they would have their meals behind closed doors with special dishes prepared for them.

On the voyage from Tuticorin to Kandla, there was a party with all Officers in attendance. For chairs, we brought our ‘foldable deck chairs’ from our cabins. Being foldable, they could be like normal chairs or extended to recliners, such as would be found at beach resorts. I am specifically mentioning the chairs here, as they subsequently play a huge part in the events to later follow.

Chapter 4 - An Emergency Fire Pump and a Safety Survey

My problems with the Chief Engineer began from prior arrival Kandla. We had been preparing for a Safety Survey that was to take place in Kandla, with an MMD Surveyor making a trip from Bombay to Kandla for this express purpose.

For some reason that I could not then discern, the 2nd Engineer had taken over the responsibility of the trials of the Emergency Fire Pump, which was located in the foc’sle. This Emergency Fire Pump trial and maintenance was supposed to be the responsibility of the 3rd Engineer – that was me. So, a few days before arrival Kandla, I informed the 2nd Engineer when he took over watch at 1600H that I was going forward to try out the Emergency Fire Pump. He said okay but did not tell me anything else.

With a Fireman to assist me in cranking the engine, I went forward, opened the necessary valves, checked diesel oil and lubricating oil (sump) levels and got the Fireman to crank the engine.

The configuration of the Emergency Fire Pump was a little complex. It had a 4 cylindered diesel engine to which were attached a hydraulic pump and a centrifugal pump. This was located in the forepeak store in level with the Main Deck.

This meant that the water level was well below the centrifugal pump level, which meant the pump would be operating at negative suction, making it worse when on ballast, when the draft reduces. So, in order to ensure supply of water to the pump when at low drafts, the diesel engine had an attached hydraulic pump. Deep in the bowels of the ship, accessed by a vertical ladder, was a space that would be well below the water line at any draft. Here a hydraulic motor was fitted to which was attached a water pump taking suction from the sea.

On starting the Diesel Engine, the (clutch) attached hydraulic pump would rotate and send hydraulic oil under pressure to the hydraulic motor located deep down. Once this speeded up, it would rotate the attached pump, which would take suction from the sea and send this water upwards to the suction side of the centrifugal pump that was attached to the engine. On receiving this water, the (clutch attached) centrifugal pump would then pressurise the water and send it into the Fire Line, which had fittings for connecting Fire Hoses.

It was unnecessarily complicated and had too many individual parts.. Only the ‘Chennai’ German built ships had this layout. I did not find a similar configuration on other ships during the rest of my sea career.

Copied from General Cargo Ship.com - above layout was nearly similar to what we had on the “Chennai” ships

SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) regulations of the day stated that the Fire Line should be capable of being pressurized with water from at least two sources, one of which should be totally independent of the ship's Main Power Source. So, we had a General Service / Fire Pump in the Engine Room that was motor driven, which could supply water into the Fire Line under pressure. The second, and independent source, was this pump designated as Emergency Fire Pump on all ships. As per regulations, it can either be driven by a dedicated Diesel Engine or a motor that gets supply from an Emergency Generator.

After opening the necessary valves, the first action is to crank the engine and start it up. Once running, all attached pumps operate and presto! Water issues from the Fire Line with a good pressure, so that fires can be fought.

But the engine did not start and could not be started, much as I tried.

One of the main causes of this type of engine not starting was that fuel was not reaching the fuel injectors, due to air trapped in the fuel line. So, cranking the engine and simultaneously bleeding air (known as ‘priming’ in shipboard parlance) from each fuel line was tried. No result.

I then suspected that the fuel injectors were faulty and wanted to overhaul them. I then asked the Fireman who was assisting me to get the necessary tools from the Engine Room. He asked me what I intended doing. When I told him that I want to overhaul the fuel injectors, he told me something that was startling.

From what he said in Hindi, I understood that he had personally seen that this engine was not starting for the last 6 months that he had been on board. Since he had been helping the engineers throughout in the work involved in diagnosing the fault, he had helped in more or less a complete overhaul of the engine. Pistons had been removed, overhauled and rings renewed. Cylinder heads had been overhauled. Fuel injectors and fuel pump had been overhauled, Fuel system had been cleaned and vented. Practically everything that needed to be done to alleviate a ‘fail to start’ circumstance had been done.

I was able to surmise that this non-functioning of the Emergency Fire Pump had been kept under wraps, with very few people in the know. By regulations, this should have been intimated to MMD, the Company and Classification Society, but the Chief Engineer had not done so, fearing a reprisal from the Company that he had not been able to get an engine to start and run for over six months. Even the Captain had kept silent on this issue.

By this time, it was nearing 6pm, nearing dinner time, so I went back to the Engine Room and, not letting on that I now knew the history of the Emergency Fire Pump, just told the 2nd Engineer that the engine is not starting. I expected him to come clean about the problem and was surprised when he told me that it had been working the previous week and it was probable that I did not know how to start it. He showed me log book entries of the engine being tried out every Saturday. To my mind, there was some ‘golmaal’ going on.

I was cut to the core, as I had been regularly starting this same engine on the ‘Perumai’, even though I had been a 4th Engineer at that time. But I was intrigued enough to further find out what he and the Chief Engineer would do for the Safety Survey that was scheduled two days hence, as the Emergency Fire Pump and the pressure of water it generated was one of several key checks on a Safety Surveyor’s list, the failure of which would mean that the Safety Certificate would not be renewed. No vessel is allowed to sail or trade without a valid Safety Certificate.

At night, I kept my 0000~0400H watch. We were to arrive Kandla next afternoon. I was woken up at 9am and told that an Officer’s meeting was to take place at 10am in the Smoke Room. During this meeting, with Captain, Chief Officer and some of the other Engineers present, the Chief Engineer stated that “this new Third Engineer could not the start the Fire Pump, probably does not know how to do so. It looks like he has fiddled around with it, because of which even the 2nd Engineer could not start it this morning and he informed me so. We are now faced with a serious problem for the Safety Survey scheduled for tomorrow”. I was surprised by the fact that the Captain did not contradict this statement, as he would have been well aware that the engine could not be started.

I realized I was being thrown to the wolves and would probably face the sack soon. But I had done the majority of the preparation for the Survey and so the Chief Engineer, calculatingly, did not want to lose me just before an important Survey. So, the plan to sack me, which had already been decided by the Captain and Chief Engineer, was not disclosed then and there.

Then the ‘conspirators’ made a big error. The Chief Engineer and Captain decided that when the Emergency Fire Pump was to be tested with water pressure on the Fire Line, the Engine Room General Service Pump would be started at the same time to send water into the Fire Line, in other words hoodwink the Surveyor by a sleight of hand. The only probable pitfall to this plan would come from the Surveyor himself, were he to go forward himself to see the engine being started. Plans were made to divert his attention during this period.

Straightaway, I refused to be a party to this plan. I told them that at some stage of the Survey I would have to inform the Surveyor.

A few hours later, I came to know that the Captain and Chief Engineer and their families had known each other for a long time and so would support each other. Both families were sailing on board at that time. I knew that they had decided to blame me for the whole problem.

It so happened that there were two (recently promoted) 4th Engineers on board at that time. One 4th Engineer was keeping the 8~12 watch and the other was keeping the 12~4 watch with me. Both the 4th Engineers were furious that I was being made a scapegoat for a pre-existing problem, but they could not do much about it, without incurring adverse reports at the end of their tenure, which would jeopardise their careers. I told them to stay cool, I did not expect to be harmed in any way.

In the 15 or so days that I had been on board, I found that the 2nd Engineer, although a nice person, was a little dumb and easily misled and in awe of the Chief Engineer. He did not seem to understand the magnitude of the deception that was to be played on the Surveyor. During the last ten days, I had helped him prepare for the Survey in detail, as I had undergone the same survey on the ‘Perumai’ and had made the necessary preparations under the eagle eyes of stalwarts.

After the meeting and the planning of the deception, I quietly took the 2nd Engineer aside and slowly made him visualise the consequences of the support that he was giving to the deception where, if he was to be found to be a party to it, he would likely lose his 2nd Engineer’s Certificate. This made him pause and think. Frankly, I did not want him hurt in any way, as he was basically a good person. He then asked me what we / he should do. I told him to assign me to escort and take the Surveyor around, after he had finished with Bridge checks.

We docked at Kandla.

Next morning the MMD Surveyor boarded the vessel just before noon. We all had lunch together. I was surprised to see the same Surveyor who had given me my 2nd Class Certificate, as was he when he recognized me.

After lunch, he went along to the Bridge for checks. He had his check lists. He completed the Bridge checks early evening and informed us that he would be doing the rest of the checks the next morning.

Morning came and I was with him every inch of the way, mostly along with the 2nd Engineer in operating machinery for checks, like emergency steering gear, quick closing valves, skylight emergency closure, CO2 systems, lifeboat motors, lifeboat launching and retrieval, emergency generator and circuits and a host of other checks.

When it came to the Emergency Fire Pump, suddenly the Captain and Chief Engineer were with him and I was not. They somehow distracted him and all he got to see was water under pressure from two fire hoses. Having seen other items in proper working order, he did not appear suspicious in any way and went on to his next check, which had to do with the Main Engine and Generator safeties.

Looking back over the years, I can only smile about the level of safety on Main Engine and Generators of that period. It was anachronistic compared to later years of sophisticated ships that I sailed on.

During some of the Engine Room checks, the Surveyor asked me why I was not present and where was I when the Emergency Fire Pump was started. I could have saved the day for the Captain and Chief Engineer by saying that I was the one who started the Fire Pump or given some other excuse.

But I felt that it was ethically wrong to deceive and dupe a trusting Surveyor who was, after all, ensuring the ship’s safety to the benefit of those who were sailing on the ship. A hypothetical scenario in which an Engine Room fire occurs and we are not able to use the Engine Room General Service Pump, would necessitate starting the independently driven Emergency Fire Pump. If that cannot be started, we would be unable to fight the fire when at sea. It could lead to loss of lives and, finally, to abandoning the ship.

So, I frankly told him the truth that he had been deliberately deceived, as per the plan drawn up by the Captain and Chief Engineer in which I had refused to cooperate. The Chief Engineer, who was close by, was livid. So was the Surveyor, but for different reasons.

He straightaway left the Engine Room, went to the Smoke Room, changed into his civilian clothes, asked for the Captain, Chief Officer, Chief Engineer, Second Engineer and Third Engineer (me) to meet him there. He then put forward the question ‘Was I deliberately deceived?’. They could not say yes and they did not say no. He then asked me whether the Emergency Fire Pump could be started then and there. If it could be started, he would like to witness the starting of the engine. I told him that it had not been started for over six months as there was a problem which the ship’s staff had been unable to resolve. The Captain and Chief Engineer were looking daggers at me, but I remained undaunted.

The Surveyor then told the Captain and Chief Engineer “I have the authority to cancel your certificates for this act; I will think about it and let you know. Meanwhile, I am not going to waste my time with people who do not understand that Safety Surveys are for the safety of the ship, not the Surveyor. I am going back to Bombay today itself, but will not issue your ship’s Safety Certificate till I get an assurance that the Emergency Fire Pump is working well. That assurance needs to come from the Third Engineer, not from any of you”.

Turning to me he said “I will be more careful in future that I am not hoodwinked by such deceitful people and behaviour. I am glad that I gave you your Certificate, otherwise I would not have met you and learnt about such unscrupulous behaviour. Please continue to stand up to such deceit and continue to be ethical in your career”. With that, he turned around and left the ship.

After the Surveyor left, the Captain and Chief Engineer started berating me. I only told them “If you want to terminate my employment, then do so. I am not going to be shouted at by the likes of you” and left the room to pack.

Late in the same evening, the Kandla Agent came with a message to the Captain and Chief Engineer to call the Office immediately. They had to go to the Agent’s main office in Gandhidam, about 30 or so kilometres away to make a ‘lightning call’ to the Office. I don’t know what transpired during the call, but there was no more talk of sacking me.

I came to know the gist of that conversation after a little more than a month. They had been told by the Senior Superintendent at the other end of the line, in no uncertain terms, that the Chief Engineer had better fix the engine soon and that they should not go on a witch hunt against the 3rd Engineer. They both were ticked off badly by the Company.

We were going to be in Kandla for a month, so we had enough time to get the Emergency Fire Pump engine working and ready.

The next day, the Chief Engineer, the 2nd Engineer, a Motorman and a Fireman went forward and worked on the engine. The following day the 2nd Engineer did not go there. The third day evening, the Chief Engineer gave up and told the Captain and 2nd Engineer that it was a design fault that cannot be rectified by ship’s staff and required the manufacturer’s engineer from Germany. That message was sent to the Office, requesting the manufacturer’s engineer. The reply to that was “Arrangements for Manufacturer’s Engineer under advisement. How can it be a design fault after 7 years in service? Please put 3rd Engineer AR in charge of this job. He is to report after 2 days”.

I was shown the telex message that had come to the Agent.

Chapter 5 - Rectifying a Fault - First Principles

The next day, with a Motorman and a Fireman to help me, I was assigned the job by the Chief Engineer with a smirk on his face, as if to say “Even I was not able to do it. Let’s see you sort this one out, you ------"

But I had been taught by extraordinary people on the ‘Perumai’. One of the adages that I was taught was “If you are unable to sort out a problem, maybe you are searching in the wrong place. Go back to the root and work from ‘first principles’”.

During the 3 days that the Chief Engineer was working on the engine, I had also given a lot of private thought to it. So, when assigned the job, along with the usual tools I also included some precision tools like a depth gauge, a vernier caliper, an accurate (flexible) steel tape measure, some string, some chalk and a marking pen. I also had the 4th Engineer with me, as he wanted to learn about the rectification and what I was going to do.

I suspected that somebody had fiddled around and upset the camshaft timing. This was a single forged camshaft with fixed cams, 3 cams per cylinder. It would have been easy to check and adjust the fuel timing if the flywheel had any markings showing Top Dead Centre of each unit, with notches showing each of the 360 degrees, like normally seen on flywheels of the Main Engine or Generators.

But this engine’s flywheel had none.

Hence, I had to work from First Principles. Normally most engine manufacturers adjust all Four Stroke Engine timing relative to the Firing Stroke of Top Dead Centre of the cylinder closest to the flywheel. I designated this cylinder as Unit # 1.

Slightly digressing, Unit numbers are mostly numbered from forward to aft. In some cases, on the older engines units were numbered from aft to forward. Whichever be the case, Unit # 1 is always taken as reference in adjusting various timings.

I had to remove the centrally placed fuel injector from # 1 unit, used the depth gauge and watched the movement of the piston as it came up, on rotating the flywheel. Next I co-related the # 1 fuel cam to the Top Dead Centre (TDC) of # 1 unit piston. Then I measured the circumference of the flywheel and marked off 10 degree sections. I brought # 1 unit piston to TDC. It was then that I found the camshaft was off by nearly 70 degrees By careful measurements and adjustments, using First Principles only, I loosened the camshaft and slowly and painstakingly adjusted it so that ignition would take place about 12 degrees Before Top Dead Centre (BTDC).

Being a camshaft with fixed cams, all the other units automatically fell into place, once # 1 unit was synchronized. I then made sure the camshaft was secured properly. All fuel components were replaced, fuel lines primed.

On cranking the geared crank and letting in the clutch, we could hear the firing taking place in the engine. A few more such and the engine started. We stopped the engine and went for lunch.

After lunch, we opened the necessary fire line valves and cranked the engine. The engine picked up speed and settled down to a muted hum due to a lower fuel setting. Water started slowly pouring out from the Fire Line valve.

Meanwhile, hearing some machinery start in the foc’sle and seeing smoke from the exhaust pipe that led to the foc’sle deck, the Chief Officer and others on deck came running forward to investigate what was happening. I had, by then, put the engine on full speed. Water was gushing out with full force from the Fire Line.

My job was done. I sent for the 2nd Engineer and showed him a trial run that everything was alright.

The 2nd Engineer, for some inexplicable reason, did not convey this information to the Chief Engineer. Later, I came to know that the Chief Officer had told the Captain that the Emergency Fire Pump was working after the 3rd Engineer had rectified the fault.

Next morning the Chief Engineer came down to the Engine Room at 8am and saw me busy on some other job. He then sneered at me saying “What – you have given up already?” along with some disparaging remarks. I ignored him.

He then took a Motorman and a Fireman and went forward. I came to know later that, during the exclusive lunch of the two families of the Captain and Chief Engineer, he bragged to the Captain that he had made the Fire Pump work an hour ago. The Captain, although his friend, told him “But the 3rd Engineer made it okay yesterday itself”. They had an argument after which the Chief Officer and 2nd Engineer were sent for, to corroborate this. I do not know why, but the Chief Engineer was even more furious with me after this.

I also learnt from the Motorman who had accompanied him forward that, on reaching the room where the Engine and Fire Pump were located, he told the Motorman “I am feeling lucky today. Crank the Engine now” and the Engine started.

The next day the Captain and I were driven to the Agent’s Office in Gandhidam, from where a ’lightning’ call was made to the Surveyor in Bombay. He first wanted to talk to me. I told him the details and that we were now getting good pressure of around 3 kg/sq cm on the line and, as per regulation, two hoses – one at the topmost part of the ship and one at the point furthest away from the Emergency Fire Pump – were now issuing jets of water reaching almost 12 meters.

He then spoke to the Captain. He wanted a letter of apology from the Captain and the Chief Engineer about the deception, which was to be sent by the fastest means available to him at Bombay. No further action would be taken against them. He stated that once the letter was in the Agent’s hand, he would send the updated Safety Certificate.

So, the saga ended. But the animosity towards me continued.

===== Blog 34 continues =====