BLOG 62 - What do You do When You Join an Excellent but Unhappy Ship?

Marine Musings 17 – I join the ‘Willine Tysla’ at Yokohama. Tenure from 24th Sept 1983 to 04th May 1984. One of the Excellent Ships I Sailed On.

Chapter 1 – Hakata to Fukuoka to Yokohama

I left the ‘Ad Astra’ at Hakata, Japan, went by train from Hakata to Fukuoka and took a flight to Yokohama.

At Fukuoka Airport, I was asked by Airport Security to identify my checked-in suitcase. When I did so, I suddenly saw 3 armed soldiers pointing guns at the suitcase. I was told to open the suitcase and they went through the contents of the suitcase again and again. When I asked them what they were looking for, one of them said in halting English that my suitcase had given out a heat bloom when scanned. I was also foxed for a few seconds, but then realized what must have happened.

Over the years, I had found that one of the Personal Protective Equipment items viz Safety Shoes given by the Mumbai Office was of poor quality and would often tear or split and would always be uncomfortable to wear. So, when I joined my last ship ‘Ad Astra’ at Long View, California, I had gone ashore and bought a pair of lovely ankle length, fur lined Caterpillar Safety Shoes that was extremely comfortable to wear, but it cost me quite a bit, $60. While at Mumbai, I had refused to accept the bad quality shoes that were compulsorily given to all joining personnel and had registered a written protest about the quality of the shoes supplied. (It improved later).

I had spent the last three weeks using the Caterpillar safety shoes. As an aside, I carried them with me for the rest of my sea career. I had come straight from the hot Engine Room on the ‘Ad Astra’, packed the shoes and, within half an hour, left the ship. The shoes retained the heat and caused the heat bloom on the scanner. I explained that I had just come out of the ‘ingine roomu’ of a ‘Fune’ ‘Senpaku’ which means ship in Japanese, and that was why the shoes were still hot. There was a lot of amusement amongst the Airport staff about this, the consequence being I was upgraded to Business Class.

Chapter 2 – The “Willine Tysla”

https://skipshistorie.net/Skipsmodeller/Tysla/TYSLA.htm

Above link gives full details of the ship, taken from model of ship.

She started life as “Tysla” and run by our parent organization, Wilh Wilhelmsen of Oslo, from her coming into service in 1977 and, later being transferred to Barber Ship management in 1982 and renamed “Willine Tysla”. The prefix “Willine” was given to all the BSM ships of the parent company that were on a liner service between Far East and Middle East ports. Starting from 1975, abundant oil money stimulated the modernization of the Middle East. We were in the forefront of it, as engine drivers of the boom.

One interesting fact was that 6 Wilhelmsen ships came out of the Tsu Shipyard of Nippon-Kokan Kabushiki Kaisha, one after the other in 1977. Four were ‘Multi Purpose Carriers’, all sisters – the ‘Tysla’, the ‘Thermopylae’, ‘Talisman’, ‘Tsu’ – and two were Bulk Carriers – the ‘Talabot’, not sure of the 2nd bulk carrier.

I joined the ship at Yokohama and she immediately sailed out. The out going Chief Engineer got off at the next port, Hong Kong, 4 days later. There seemed to be an under current of tension in the air, but nobody came forward to say anything to me. Other than that, this take over was like any other. To top it all. the outgoing Chief Engineer was my batch mate, who had already made a dubious reputation for himself.

Chapter 3 – Why was the Last Chief Engineer Sent on Leave? I Find Myself with Personnel Problems

It was only after we reached Hong Kong, and the Superintendent came on board, that I came to know the Chief Engineer was being sent home, ostensibly on leave, due to a request from the Captain, who had stated that he had lost faith in the Chief Engineer. The reason why he had lost faith came to the surface as the days went by.

The Captain was none other than the one I had sailed with on the Trianon when he was Chief Officer. I knew him very well. He had also been the Master of the vessel ‘Artemis’ that sank off Japan in December 1980. There was a lot of difference in the same person who I had seen in 1977 and now, in 1983. He was a pale shadow of the person I had come to know in 1977 and was very jittery. He had not been sleeping properly and seemed to be very nervous. Professionally, he was as sound as he had been, but the daily pressures of sea life were taking its toll.

After HongKong, I understood that the previous Chief Engineer’s actions had made him very nervous.

I also became aware that the 2nd Engineer was totally demoralized and lacking any confidence. His state of mind reminded me of how my former Chief Engineer, Mr. Remedios, used to treat his staff, which would completely make them lose their confidence. I dubbed it the ‘Remedios Syndrome’. The 3rd Engineer was, initially, pretty belligerent. I came to know that he was the only one to stand up to the bullying of the last Chief Engineer.

I saw that the lack of initiative among the Engine staff was definitely caused by the bullying attitude of the former Chief. The 2nd Engineer was not allowed to plan any work schedule and he had to wait to be told what work is to be done. If he used his own initiative, he was shouted at. If he did not use his own initiative, he was shouted at. The 2nd Engineer was in a shambles. None of the engine staff used to listen to him.

The 3rd Engineer was in a shambles in his own way, as he was all tensed up to fight the Chief Engineer every step of the way.

Within a couple of days I found, to my surprise and chagrin, that the Fitter and the Electrical Officer had been ruling the roost when the Chief Engineer was not down in the Engine Room. They also used to shout at the 2nd Engineer and give him work. The Fitter, especially, used to treat him badly. This same 2nd Engineer had been with me for a while as 3rd Engineer on another ship, the ‘Taronga’, before I went on leave.

Meanwhile, I found that the Fitter and Electrician were regular drinking partners with the Captain and they had been carrying tales about how terrified were the Engine Room staff and what went on in the Engine Room, which undermined the confidence the Captain had about the Chief Engineer. Wheels within wheels.

My first step in restoring normalcy on board was to assure the Captain that I will set things right, which I did within a week. The second task was to restore confidence in the 2nd Engineer by treating him well. He already knew me by my reputation on the ‘Trianon’ and ‘Taronga’, hence slowly gained back his self-worth. The 3rd Engineer, seeing the fair and sane treatment being meted out, came back into the fold.

The Fitter and Electrician thought they could not be disciplined or touched, as they were drinking partners with the Captain. I put a stop to that by telling the Captain he has to stop drinking with them, which he did.

When the Fitter and Electrician were given some work by the 2nd Engineer, they started telling him that they would take instructions only from the Chief Engineer. As per norms, the 2nd Engineer is the one who organises and gives out all the work in the Engine Room. I’d had a strong feeling that this would happen, hence I had told the 2nd to give them such-and-such jobs, as if he were the one giving the instructions. When they went against the 2nd Engineer, he rang me up and told me the situation.

I went down to the Engine Room, called them and told them to start packing their belongings as they would be kicked out at the next port.

1983 was the year in which unemployment amongst seafarers had peaked and long queues were outside all agent’s offices in Mumbai. Knowing this, the Fitter and Electrician simply caved in, apologised to the 2nd Engineer.

What was the problem between the Third Engineer and the last Chief Engineer? The fracas between them was amusing as well as frustrating at the same time. It concerned taking fresh oil into the Main Lubricating Oil Sump.

In order to show that he was an efficient, cost conscious and economical Chief Engineer, he would not allow anybody to take fresh oil into any machinery. One of them was the Main Engine Lubricating Oil sump, which level kept going down and down gradually, over a period of months, till it was near the alarm point. He refused permission even then for fresh oil to be taken, to increase the levels.

The vessel ran into some bad weather and, with the rolling, the ‘LO Sump Tank Low Level’ alarm would sound. The repeater in the Duty Engineer’s cabin (during nights, when the Engine Room was unmanned) would sound the alarm, the Duty Engineer would go down to the Engine Room, see that the alarm was ‘LO Sump Tank Low Level’ and acknowledge it. Because of the rolling, this alarm would frequently sound.

The only way to prevent this alarm from sounding was to take some oil into the sump and increase the level. So, the Third Engineer, having been told not to take any oil anywhere without the Chief Engineer’s permission, would wake up the Chief Engineer and ask for permission, again and again - not given. After going up to his cabin and down to the Engine Room several times to attend to the same alarm and, after a few more calls to wake and ask the Chief Engineer, he was told not to take oil and not to disturb the Chief.

The Third Engineer, then, brought a mattress, a pillow and blanket to the Engine Control Room and slept there, in order to avoid running up and down so many times to attend to the same alarm all night. The Chief Engineer found him sleeping in the Engine Control Room early next morning and fired him. A big argument ensued with the Chief Engineer, especially demeaning to the Chief.

It went up to the Captain, who had already lost faith in the Chief Engineer. A message went out to the Office, asking for the Chief Engineer to be replaced.

Within a week, I was taken off the ‘Ad Astra’ and sent to the ‘Tysla’, as the Company could not afford to have a problem on the prestigious "Willine" run.

Within a week of my taking over, all personnel problems had been sorted out and it was now functioning like the well oiled machine that it was.

====== Continued in Blog 63 =====