BLOG 50 - A Cool Job - Engine Crew, Overtime and Their Union 'SOS' - Bull Dog Grips and Safety

Marine Musings 12

Chapter 5 – ‘Fridge Problems and Trying to Keep my Cool

Now that I was seen as someone who will get things done, the Captain and Chief Officer approached me about a lot of problems on the deck machinery. I sorted out as many as possible, using the Engine Room Fitter who was very good, along with the Deck Fitter who was below average. I understood from the Chief Officer that maintenance assistance was deliberately withheld previously with the comment “You have a deck fitter. Why should we help you?” comment from the Chief and previous 2nd. That was the state of inter departmental relations.

One of the problems was the ‘Fridge Meat Room temperatures. For more than 6 months, the meat kept in this room used to rot, so everything was stacked into the Fish Room, which temperature itself was around -10 degrees C instead of -15 degrees C to -20 degrees C. I said I’ll check. I had seen a new evaporator, received about 3 months ago, lying idle in the Engine Room. This had been ordered and received because it was thought the Meat Room Evaporator was faulty.

Courtesy Indiamart

Left side Long Copper Tube is the Distributor, supplying Cold Gas

to the Individual Evaporator Coils

I checked the entire ‘fridge cooling system. The silica gel of the drier was beyond its capacity to soak up moisture, which meant that moisture was present in the system. I learnt, from the Monthly Lubricating Oils Report that the compressor crankcase oil was being topped up often, showing a carry over of oil into the system.

In ‘Fridge systems, moisture and oil are the two main enemies which, when combined, will coagulate and choke the flow of gas at a point where the space becomes narrow. Over a period of the next two days, we kept changing the silica gel to absorb the moisture, cleaned the sea water tubes of the condenser, cleaned the oil separator and made the float valve inside the oil separator work properly.

The distributor of the Evaporator was heated several times over the next few days, using a small heating lamp having a gas canister, to melt the gluey mess that gets formed when the carry over oil combines with the air and dirt in the system , sometimes enough to choke passages.

Freon gas, when it expands in the Expansion Valve, changes state from a liquid to a gas, changes its temperature from condenser temperature to well past - 18 degrees C, pressure reduces considerably and imbues velocity. The pipes after the Expansion Valve gets a coating of mild frost. One of the tell tale signs of a choke point is a chunk of ice on the pipe immediately after the choke point.

Within 3 days, temperatures of the Meat Room was back to normal. The only new spare used was the defrost timer unit, which had not been functioning.

Now we had a new spare meat room evaporator that was not going to be used.

That was one more problem out of the way.

Chapter 6 – Crew and Overtime – How it Helps to be Firm

I have always been of the opinion that one establishes his intent, firmness, no-nonsense attitude and ensuring that others are fully aware of what I expect from each of them – all within a week of my arrival on board. On this ship, I came up against a stone wall from the legacy left behind and the Chief Engineer’s silent approval of the last 2nd Engineer’s actions.

First of all about the crew. A new agreement had come into force recently between Barber Ship Management and Singapore Organisation of Seamen (SOS) for supply of crew to our ships registered in Singapore. With this agreement, 2 ships were crewed by SOS, while the Officers were from India. The crew were mostly Chinese, with a few Malays present. The Engine crew head man was called # 1 Fireman, like the Bosun on deck. As narrated previously, there had been a lot of work going on in the Engine Room and the Engine Crew and Greasers were involved in it, as done on every ship.

The difference was that before the start of any and every job, the # 1 Fireman would come to me and ask “How much overtime will you give us if we agree to do the job?”. This started happening around a week after I joined the ship. It happened after I asked for their overtime note books. I had joined on the 13th of August and I was responsible for their Overtime claims from 14th onwards.

I found that the previous 2nd Engineer had signed his approval of their Overtime till the 13th, which was a Sunday. Next Sunday evening, when I called for their Overtime books, I was not surprised to see them claiming 8 hours overtime for normal working hours and double overtime for working on Saturday afternoons and 16 hours for working 8 hours on Sundays. The 3 Greasers, who were keeping watch, were also claiming Overtime for keeping an 8 hour watch and double Overtime for Saturdays and Sundays. I checked the Crew Agreement, which was with the Captain. In actual fact, their claims were fraudulent.

When I pointed this out to them, they showed me previous records of such claims being accepted by the last 2nd Engineer every week end and approved by the Chief Engineer every month end. I told them firmly “Normal working hours – no overtime pay. Outside normal working hours – only single overtime pay, not double – except on Singaporean National Holidays, if they had to work. I will follow what the Crew Agreement states and not what the previous 2nd Engineer did”.

To put it in perspective, the Engine Crew were being paid for 300 to 340 hours every month in the worst maintained ship that I have ever worked on. The Deck Crew, also from the same Union ‘SOS’ were being paid according to the actual overtime hours being put in, which was around 100 hours per month. The Engine Fitter was the exception, as he put in the correct hours of Overtime in his record. There had been a lot of grumbling from the Deck Crew over this.

Monday morning was a normal working day. The crew came down. I told them the jobs that they would have to do during the day. # 1 Fireman asked me “How much Overtime will you give us?” I said “Normal hours – no overtime”. They refused to do any job. I told them “If you are refusing to work, you can take your crew and go. I don’t want you in the Engine Room” and up went the entire lot of them including the watch keeping Greasers, except the Engine Fitter. (I later learnt that he had a 3rd Engineer’s licence from Singapore, but had to take on the job of Fitter as none were available for his rank).

To put it in simpler terms, # 1 Fireman and Engine Crew demands were

Normal Working Hours - 8 Hours Overtime

Any work outside of Normal Working Hours - Double Overtime

Saturdays till Noon - 4 Hours Overtime

Saturdays after Noon - Double Overtime

Sundays - Double Overtime for complete day

They wanted the freedom of writing as many hours as they liked, as they had done since the arrival of the last Second Engineer.

When I went up, I told the Chief Engineer that there was a near mutiny in progress from the Engine Crew and awaited his reaction.

True to form, he told me “Second, dealing with the crew is your responsibility. Don’t expect any help from me”.

I left it at that and did not argue further. It so happened that, within the week just past, I had gained the trust of the other Engineers. I had a Third Engineer, a Fourth Engineer, 3 Fifth Engineers and the Electrical Officer. Even the Singaporean Fitter, as he refused to join the mutinous crew. I called them all, explained the situation. Nobody can run an Engine Room alone and I needed their cooperation. They were fully cooperative.

Tuesday morning the same circus took place. # 1 Fireman asked “How much overtime?” and I said “No overtime for normal hours”. Up they went to the accommodation, where they relaxed and spent the day. The Chief Engineer, on my reporting to him, said exactly the same thing “Your responsibility”.

I was waiting for the situation to explode.

Wednesday morning the same events took place and they all had trooped up. The difference was I received a call after about 20 minutes from the Captain to immediately come and see him. I went up. He asked me “What is happening in the Engine Room and why are the crew relaxing in the accommodation?” A complaint had been voiced by the Deck Crew to the Chief Officer, that the Engine crew are getting 'off' daily.

I asked him if he had been briefed by the Chief Engineer as, rightfully, he should have been, to which his reply was “No, which is why I am asking you.” I gave him a full run down of events, including Chief Engineer’s comments, as I was unwilling to shield him any further. He said “I will support you all the way. Tell me what action you wish to be taken”. I said “Let us inform the Hong Kong Office and copy Mr. Datta of BSM Singapore about the events”, after which we sat together and drafted out an urgent message, outlining events.

It was a pretty long message - for which Sparks jokingly told me that I owe him a beer - but had been sent out by the Radio Officer by 1000H. We were ahead in terms of time zones, which meant the message would reach them as soon as they came into the Offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Mr. Datta, who was then Manager of the Singapore Office, later told me what transpired. There was a flurry of calls between Hong Kong and Singapore. Mr. Datta immediately called for a meeting with top Singapore Organisation of Seamen (Union) officials, met them, put the message in front of them and told them “If this is the kind of crew that SOS has to offer, then we will go to India or the Philippines”.

There was consternation within the Union circles in Singapore, but there was immediate action. We, on board, received a long message early next morning when the Radio Officer opened his Radio Station.

It read “To No. 1 Fireman, copies to Captain, Chief Engineer, 2nd Engineer, Deck Bosun and all Engine Crew…. Your actions of not working on normal working hours unless you are paid overtime is illegal. Moreover double overtime is only for National Holidays and your demands for that is illegal. Your not obeying the 2nd Engineer’s lawful orders is illegal.

All those involved in this will be signed off and pay his own fare and that of his reliever as well. Their membership to SOS will be terminated. We expect an immediate reply from No. 1 Fireman through the Master and Second Engineer. Signed Director, SOS” – or words to nearly that effect.

Copies were given to all concerned. Sparks came down to the Engine Room to give me my copy.

As I completed reading the message, # 1 Fireman and his gang rushed down to meet me. His first question was “Chief (they used to call the 2nd Engineer ‘Chief’) why you tell SOS? We maybe sort this on board itself”. I said “I gave you a chance for 3 days, you did not take it. Even after 2 days, if you had come for normal work without demanding overtime, I would have said nothing. Now it is between you and SOS”. All of them pleaded with me that they will return to work without any demands and to send a message to SOS on their behalf. I did not do so. They returned to work and were good workers after that. But the die had been cast. They were all relieved, except the Fitter, after nearly a month but under different circumstances.

Another message also came to the ship, this from the Hong Kong Office. “Captain, how is it that you and the 2nd Engineer are sending out messages and not the Chief Engineer. Looking through our Overtime Records, we find that Chief Engineer had approved of Overtime Hours in excess of 300 per month for Engine Crew for the last nine months, whereas Deck Crew’s has been around 100 hours average. 300 hours of work per month means the Engine Crew were working at least 12 hours each Saturday and Sunday and around 18 hours between Mondays and Fridays. It meant a weekly work of around 98 hours, for the last nine months, which is physically impossible. Maintenance Reports for the last 9 months are not compatible with overtime hours of the crew and shows very little routine maintenance carried out. We need an explanation from the Chief Engineer”.

I was not made aware of what the Chief Engineer’s reply was, nor was I interested in finding ot.

Chapter 7 – Flirting with Danger – Engine Room Crane Wire Frayed – Main Engine Stops due to Deprivation of Fuel – A Simple problem on the Fresh Water Generator Nearly becomes a Major One

This was the Barber Blue Sea run. We could reach the first port in the US West Coast easily with days to spare, as per the schedule, as the vessel was capable of doing 22 knots max - in actuality we were doing 20 knots. The schedule had been calculated for 18 knots. We anchored and waited to berth. We were told that the 2 days delay was for the staff of the ship to catch up on maintenance and also rest.

Once we started on the scheduled date and time, we had to strictly adhere to the schedule for the next 18 days, till we went south towards Panama Canal. I did not realize the torturous intensity of the schedule till then. We berthed and unberthed at 17 ports in 16 days. We went up river and tied up at berths that did not have any berth, sometimes tying up to make shift bollards and going to 3 ports in the same river, each in close proximity of each other. They were just wooden jetties jutting out into the river, all for discharging 2 or 3 packing cases. It was the modern day equivalent of door-to-door service, like Amazon or FlipKart. We hardly went out of the Engine Room. Even thinking of exchanging a fuel injector was fraught with danger.

Engine Room Crane Wire Incident

There were a few ports where we were scheduled to stay for longer periods. The Chief had decided that we should overhaul one of the Main Engine units at one of the ports. This would take approximately 8 hours – safe enough, if all goes well. A day before the job, I kept all tools ready and, finally, checked the crane. The crane wire was badly frayed at one point and would be unsafe to use. We had to renew the wire. The Deck staff of those days were all experts in changing wires, as they do so for many a derrick winch wire, on a regular basis.

When I told the Chief Engineer the situation and suggested we change the crane wire rather than overhaul the unit, he said if I am scared of doing the job, I should say so. He said he will do the job himself. He was quite abusive, my parents’ genealogy was brought into the picture and foul language was used by him, all unprovoked. I only told him that I can speak the same language with ease, but will not and restrained myself. I also told him that, using the crane in the present condition is not safe and is likely to endanger lives and damage machinery. I did not want to be involved with the work and told him so, after which he said that he will do the job himself.

We berthed around 0800H the next morning, after which the Chief came down and started work, along with the engineers and, by now, a very docile crew. I went up for breakfast and did not want to come down. 2 or 3 hours passed and my conscience would not let me relax. I went down.

He had cut the crane wire where it was frayed, overlapped one piece against the other and used bull dog grips to clamp one on to the other. The frayed portion which now had bull dog grips was about half way down, because of which the crane hook can now come up only a few metres. To lift out the piston from the cylinder, one required the full height of the crane and wire.

Bulldog Grip

He and the crew were stuck at this point and were struggling, not knowing what to do. At this juncture of the operation, the piston cannot be put back, due to other reasons too lengthy to go into. The situation was dangerous as the bull dog grips could slip on the wire and the 2 ton weight could come crashing down.

The crew were looking to me to provide a solution. Using two 3 ton chain blocks at as much of a vertical angle that we could achieve, we first secured the piston so that it caused no danger and slowly lifted out the piston. All work done, we reversed the order and lowered the piston safely, completing the job just about the time 1 hour notice for engines was given. We had taken 16 hours for an 8 hour job and put lives in danger. The two persons who were the most knowledgeable and helpful were the Singaporean Fitter and # 1 Fireman, the latter having climbed down from his initial belligerent approach.

Next morning, I called the Chief Officer down. With his crew and my crew working together for the first time, we changed the wire. A burr on one of the sheaves had caused the fraying – this was quickly rectified before changing the wire. Now the crane was fully operational.

Incident of Main Engine Starved of Fuel and Stopping Suddenly

It was evening time. We were going upriver to berth for the night. Pilot was on board. I was at the manoeuvring station, responding to the Telegraph movements.

I noticed a slight decrease in Main Engine Fuel Oil Pressure, which could mean one of two things – Fuel Oil Booster Pump failing or filters on line are getting choked. A quick run through the various local gauges showed all were okay. I then noticed that the Fuel Oil Flowmeter was erratic, the rotating indicator starting and stopping, indicating that the flow through had been affected. I suspected that the Sintered conical filter on the line before the Flowmeter was choked. So I bypassed the Flow Meter and the Fuel Oil Pressure Gauge on the Main Engine console came back to normal.

A Similar Flowmeter

We had something similar on our vessel, larger in size, fitted on the inlet side

After about half an hour, the Fuel Oil Pressure started to fall, this time drastically, with a consequent reduction in rpm also. No fuel was going to the engine. This could happen if the Quick Closing Valve on the Fuel Oil Service Tank had dropped and closed of its own volition. I ran up and checked, the Quick Closing valve was okay.

The 5th Engineer then told me he had seen the Chief Engineer taking readings of the Fuel Oil Flow meter, which he normally takes before arrival, in order to give Fuel and Diesel Arrival figures. This flow meter was located 2 decks above the manoeuvring platform (which was the bottom most platform). I ran there and checked and sure enough, he had opened the valves for the oil to flow through the Flow meter and shut off the Bypass valves, all without informing me. I immediately restored things and the rpm went back to normal.

On board ships, there is a protocol to be followed when you want to do something in the Engine Room, whoever you are – you first inform the Duty Engineer of what you intend to do. The Flow Meter was located two decks above where I was manoeuvring and I would not be able to see anyone going there. The Chief Engineer quietly comes, changes over the line valves – not knowing the erratic behaviour of the Flow Meter – without informing me, who was in charge of the watch and more importantly, manoeuvring up river with a pilot on board. If not for the fact that the 5th Engineer and the Greaser, who were both up on the Cylinder Head Platform and, providentially, had seen the Chief Engineer at the Flow Meter, I would have been running around like a headless chicken in trying to get the Fuel Pressure up. With very low rpm, with engine nearly stopping, there would have been no steerage. We were in a narrow channel and could have run aground, hit another ship – so many dangerous incidents could have taken place.

When I confronted him about closing the bypass valves and opening the feed to the Flow Meter, his reply was typical “I am the Chief Engineer, I can do whatever I want. I don’t have to inform you”, along with some choice epithets. My reply to him is not printable. Later, I informed the Captain.

Incident regarding the Fresh Water Generator – A Small Problem Nearly Becomes a Major One

Over the last few days, I had noticed a slight increase in salinity and a slight fall in the vacuum of the Fresh Water Generator (FWG)and, consequently, a lesser production of freshwater. In spite of the abuses and ill treatment from the Chief Engineer, I still made it a point to keep him abreast of the Engine Room situation. I had refused to go to his cabin and stand there to be abused. My in-person contact with him was in the Engine Room, otherwise by telephone. So, I informed him by telephone that there was a problem with the FWG and I will deal with it after I finish my breakfast.

When I went down an hour later, he was already there, stripping the Fresh Water Generator of its component parts, without a specific goal in mind. I diverted his attention to get him away from the spot, tightened up all items that he had got loosened and quickly conducted a pressure test to spot the leaks. The leaks were soon rectified. A holed condenser tube was plugged. Within 3 hours, the Fresh Water Generator was back on line, producing water to near capacity.

===== Blog 51 Continues - My Woes and Worries Continue =====