BLOG 64 - Independence Day, a Second Engineer and a "Terasaki" Switchboard

15th August

Independence Day

75 Years Ago we threw away the yoke and broke the shackles of colonialism, ending a 200 year streak of stripping the riches of India which was borne away to a small island, the loot now estimated to be in the region of $45 Trillion.

Millions had died through inflicted famine, loss in livelihood, slaughter and cold blooded murder. Irrespective, the plunder went on.

Post Independence we imposed economic shackles on ourselves and had to go begging around the world for largesse. Maybe it was the right thing to do at that time as a very vulnerable economy would have come under the economic shackles of foreign corporate powers, had we opened the doors too soon.

50 Years ago was probably the unkindest cut of all, as we fought a war with China on our borders. In the 1950s, we trusted the Chinese enough to chorus a "Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai" and proclaim a "Panchsheel" agreement - the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.

i. Mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,

ii. Mutual non-aggression,

iii. Mutual non-interference,

iv. Equality and mutual benefit, and

v. Peaceful co-existence.

In 1962, we lived to regret the trust that we put in the Chinese and fought a hopeless war.

Hopeless because we were

Totally out fought - we were defenceless - we did not expect the Chinese to invade - we did not have the weaponry to confront them.

Totally outnumbered - we did not have sufficient numbers to hold them off.

Totally unequipped - our soldiers fought with knives and bayonets in the bitter cold, with no warm clothing nor any proper back up. The politicians of the day consumed the majority of our defence(less) budget, with the infighting in military circles not making things any better.

47 Years Ago, in 1975, we confronted a vicious threat to our democratic values in the form of a "Declaration of Emergency", just to maintain one family's hold on power. We showed the world that we can protect our democracy, even with threats from within.

31 Years Ago we reached the nadir of our economic existence, where there were none to help and lend us money.

We, then, pledged most of our gold for less than a billion dollars, to kick start a failing economy.

At that time, sense prevailed and, through some amazing economic reforms, we started climbing out of the hole we had dug for ourselves. The architects of this economic reform were the then Prime Minister, Mr PV Narasimha Rao and the Finance Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Thanks to them, we never looked back.

Come 2022 and we are still fighting the colossus of economics but have managed to come out of the hole.

Our democracy is as vibrant as a metronome and beats to a different pulse every few years - but it vibrates and has kept vibrating, even when its roots were threatened in 1975 through a declaration of Emergency.

Our economy is getting better, with a two-steps-forward and one-and-a-half-steps-back movement. That the populace is, now, coming out of poverty is articulated by the loud voices that is sounding from all corners of society. In my own understanding of sociological behaviour, the poor do not have the strength, either vocal or political or the platform, to voice their concerns, unless an enlightened political system supports and advances them or they benefit from socio-economic reforms and educational schemes.

The fabric of our social order is seeing small tears coming into the folds of cloth, with radical element minority taking control of the majority of their kind and bending them to their will. Religious divides, caste factors, were all nurtured by politicians for their personal and party gains and are now turning into hydra headed monsters. Appeasement will only make things worse.

We fought for our independence, sometimes through aggression but mostly through non-violent, civil disobedience movements. We have always assumed that our freedom fighters were the only ones that sent the colonisers out of India.

Just to go back down that same historical lane, in the aftermath of the Second World War, tens of thousands of Indian soldiers, pilots and sailors came back to India and were being decommissioned. At the same time, in 1946, thousands of Indian soldiers who had served under Subash Chandra Bose in the Indian National Army that was inimical to the British Army, were tried and sentenced by the British courts, the trials known as Red Fort Trials.

This sparked a protest first with the Indians serving in the Royal Indian Navy, who were already seething in anger at their British masters, due to inhumane treatment. The revolt quickly spread across all sections of the Armed Forces, but was quelled after a few weeks.

Many of these Indian Servicemen were court martialled and sent out of the Armed Forces, without pension. Their pleas to the post Independence masters of India, for reinstation of their ranks and wages have all fallen on deaf ears.

1947 - India finally obtained its independence. Clement Attlee was then the Prime Minister of Great Britain.

1956 - Clement Attlee paid a visit to India. He was, then, a private citizen. In Calcutta, he was the guest of the then Acting Governor of West Bengal, PB Charaborthy, who discussed the events that finally led to India's independence.

Clement Attlee has been quoted as saying that the non-violent struggle of Ahimsa and Satyagraha had 'minimal' impact on their Cabinet's decision to grant India independence.

It was the implicit and implied threat from the Indians serving in the Armed Forces and the shock that they received from what they called the "Naval Mutiny" in 1946 that forced them to think about saving the 50,000 odd Britishers from a possible slaughter at a later date, which situation was surely likely to erupt in the following years, given the atmosphere becoming more and more intolerant of the Britishers. The militancy of the Bose's INA also had a massive impact on their final decision.

Coming back to the present day, more specifically the present fortnight, I was rooted to the screen watching the Chess Olympiad games at Mahabalipuram - about 40 kilometres from my Chennai residence - and trying to keep up with the cerebral activity of many a player - and failing.

Ukraine was the initial choice for holding this Olympiad, but the conflict got in the way. It was, then, awarded to India.

The Indian Government awarded the tournament to Tamil Nadu.

The Tamil Nadu government surpassed itself in making all the arrangements for 2000 chess players from 182 countries in just a hundred days. Kudos to them.

The Commonwealth Games in Birmingham was also in my focus.

All 12 wrestlers in the contingent received medals, with 6 gold.

In my favourite game, Table Tennis, the Indian team won three golds, total six medals.

In another favourite game, Badminton, to win gold in both, men's and women's singles was a tremendous achievement, followed by gold in the men's doubles. All these games were edge-of-the-seat games.

The surprise package were the medals from track and field events.

For the first time

A silver in Steeple Chase.

A Gold and Silver in the Triple Jump

A 2 and 3 finish (silver and bronze) in Long Jump.

A bronze in High Jump

A Gold Medal in the Lawn Bowling event, a debut for India.

In fact, I heard one of the British commentators saying "The Indians keep popping up in so many places these days".

Yes, "The Injuns are coming, the Injuns are coming".

Chapter 6 – Problems Faced During my Tenure

THE ENGINE ‘ABSTRACT’ AND THE SUPERINTENDENT

Every month end, a lot of reports and information are sent from the ship to the Office. The Superintendent of the particular ship is supposed to go through all the details and query the vessel on anything untoward.

Some of the important documents sent include

A Monthly Engine Abstract that shows all average daily parameters such as rpm, speed, slip, weather, consumptions, temperatures, pressures, horse power developed etc.

A Monthly Maintenance Report of work done.

A Monthly Spares used and remaining on board report.

A set of requisitions for spares and stores.

Lub oils consumption and remaining on board.

Other information that the Chief Engineer considers to be important enough to advise the Office.

I had already sent out a bunch of requisitions asking for spares and stores that had been consumed in the last six months to be replenished. I was told by the Superintendent that I am too lavish in expenditure compared to the last Chief Engineer, who had not spent any of the allotted or budgeted money for the ship.

I retorted that the Superintendent did not know his job if he thought that a Chief Engineer who does not requisition anything is efficient and economical. He, the Superintendent, should be able to surmise that something was fishy with how logistics were being met and maintenance work being done, all without any spares or stores consumed.

I also told him that Personal Protective Equipment, welding safety equipment were lacking and fire safety equipment spares were all consumed, all without any requisitions made to cover the consumption. Safety was at stake.

He was told that a good engine room will, likely, turn shabby due to the lack of cleaning material, paints, paint brushes, rags, mops, soap, hand cleaners and the like.

All supplies of spares and stores came within a fortnight.

THE NEW SECOND ENGINEER

Around the middle of my tenure, a new 2nd Engineer joined, who was new to the Company. Right from the beginning, he kept reiterating that he was closely related to a Senior Superintendent in the Office and became a pain. I ignored all his talk and gave him a week to settle down.

He made it very clear from the start that he expected to be treated royally. He thought his job in the Engine Room was totally supervisory and came into the Engine Room in sparkling white boiler suits and polished safety shoes. His method of supervision was to stay in the confines of the air conditioned Engine Control Room and others should come in there and consult him. He did not go out into the machinery spaces of the Engine Room for anything and was totally unfamiliar with the layout.

As it is, we were understaffed. For any job, all of us, including the Electrician and myself needed to pitch in. This included the continuous cleaning work that goes on in the Engine Room, where one has to get down and dirty, as in scavenge space cleaning, purifier parts cleaning, bilges’ cleaning, exhaust boiler cleaning, coolers’ cleaning, engine parts cleaning when overhauling a generator or a Main Engine unit. The 2nd Engineer is usually the one to take all precision measurements and record them, such as liner measurements and wear, bearing clearances, crank web deflections and the like for both, the Main Engine and Generators. With him thinking that he could work remotely from the Control Room, things were going south in the Engine Room.

I tried to tell him that his duties are such and such and he cannot just sit in the Control Room the whole day and that was not what he had come here for. Apparently, in his last Company, this was exactly what he had been doing and he expected to be treated like royalty. I warned him that, as it is, we are short staffed and if he does not put his hands to the job, I would take over his job.

This was the only time in my career that I wished we had an ex-DMET engineer, my frustration was that high.

After ten days of his shenanigans, I literally took over his job and started treating him like any other worker in the Engine Room. I started planning the job schedule and, in the “Tool Box” meeting, gave everyone their specific jobs and explained every single aspect of every job to all, including the 2nd Engineer. The 2nd Engineer was forced to go out and work, sometimes alone, sometimes with a helper. He was not combative, but he did not like how he was being treated. Not having done so before, he found it difficult to work independently.

It increased my work load tremendously, but I enjoyed it. I was always an early riser and my first cup of coffee of the day was always on the Bridge and on the Bridge wings, keeping the Chief Officer company in his watch. The planning for the day would start from then on.

Once in 2 months, as per the Willine 6 monthly schedule for the Far East to Middle East Liner Service, we would call Hong Kong. He - the Second Engineer - would ensure that he goes ashore every time in Hong Kong. Later, I came to know that he met and dined with his patron, his relative, who was a Senior Superintendent in the Company’s Hong Kong Office. He would go ashore practically in all ports, not caring if the other staff had the chance to do so.

I had always insisted that only 50% of the Engineers and 50% of the crew could go ashore at any one time. This was to ensure enough number of people were available on board, for any emergency that might arise. If the 2nd Engineer went ashore, it meant that the 3rd Engineer and I could not go ashore. There was a fight brewing between the 2nd and 3rd Engineer on this score, when I bluntly told them to share the shore leave amicably or they can both pack their suitcases – I was that irritated.

Three months down the line, he had grudgingly toed the line to some extent. Before I left the ship, I gave him a good rating in my Confidential Report, because I did not want to spoil his career, which I showed him and talked to him about. But, later, I found the Company did not offer him any further contracts.

His visits to his relative’s house in Hong Kong were to have repercussions on my next ship.

PROBLEMS WITH THE ‘TERASAKI’ MAIN SWITCH BOARD

Courtesy teraski.com.sg

Above picture is nearly similar to what we had on the ‘Tysla’

Suddenly we started having a problem with one of the generators not paralleling with other generators. The engine side, rpm, governor response and such were fine. After starting the engine, the correct voltage and frequency would show. Frequency response was also proper. When taken on parallel with another generator which was already on the main switch board, it would start coming on load and trip. We tried again and again, it would trip.

Then I noted that the trips were taking place exactly after 10 seconds, so our suspicion fell on the timers in the circuit. The Electrical Officer was very good, probably the best I have sailed with. We were pouring over the circuit diagrams, rather he was doing so and I tried to keep pace. I was not good at circuit diagrams and depended heavily on the Electrical Officers.

There are plenty of timers in the circuit. After about 4 hours, we managed to home in on one of the timers – I still remember it was “T3” on the circuit diagram – and renewed it. All was well. It was a dial type timer. We checked the old timer with a multimeter and found it dead. On setting the clock back to zero and resetting to 10 seconds, it became okay. We put this back on the circuit and all was well. The generator remained on load.

I narrate this in detail as this played an important part on my next ship.

===== Continued in Blog 65 =====