BLOG 72 - A Stint in Singapore as Manager of the Singapore Office

A Flashback: Opening a Time Capsule that was Forgotten for 50 Years:

My MUI Based Wages as a Fourth Engineer: (Amount in Rupees per Month)

Basic - Rs, 845

Tonnage Allowance @ 8.5% of Basic - Rs. 71.83

Uniform Washing Expenses - Rs. 100.00

Overseas Allowance @ 12.5% of Basic - Rs. 105.63

Total : Rs. 1122.46

Provident Fund 10%

Uniform Allowance Rs. 300 per annum

Superior Certificate Allowance of Rs. 60 - Not Eligible

Combined Certificate Allowance of Rs. 75 - Not Eligible

Noisy Repair Allowance Rs. 10 per day of noisy repairs

Dirty Cargo Allowance @ Rs. 10 per day

Short Hand Wages for shortage of 2nd Officer or Third Engineer - Rs. 2100 per month.

Short Hand Wages for shortage of 3rd Officer or 4th Engineer - Rs. 1880 per month.

Death Compensation - 48 months basic wage

Disability Compensation - 42 months basic wage

Certificate Bonus - Varying from Rs. 4110 to Rs. 500 depending on the Certificate.

Gratuity - 1 Month Basic Wages for every year of service, starting from 15 years.

Compensatory Leave of 120 days per annum, with Basic Wages and Victualing Allowance @ Rs. 10 per day.

In those days, it seemed (almost) like a king's ransom. And, just like a king's ransom, as soon as it reaches the bank, it dissipates in all directions.

Marine Musings 19 - In charge of the Singapore Office from May 1985 to February 1986

One morning, in early May 1985, I received a phone call from Capt Mehra (Bombay Office) asking if I would take over the Singapore office and look after the 5 ships being managed from that office. I came to know that Mr. Datta, who was the GM of that office, was sick and needed to go home for a long period of rest.

Next morning I was on a Chennai ~ Singapore flight. Those were the days when visas were not required. One was given a 3 month stay on entry.

Since the office was located in South Point, Cantonment Road, I was put up in a suite in Maritime House, Cantonment Road, about just a few blocks away from the Office.

I started managing with a little cooking in the small kitchenette provided and took a bus to Serangoon Road in the evening, for dinner. A hired washing machine and VCR, with an iron, completed my household equipment. My wife and son joined me a month later.

Normally, a sailor does not bother with possessing good, formal clothes. I had to embark on an emergency shopping spree for some formal apparel. No suits - only 4 full sleeve shirts, 4 trousers to match, 4 very conservative ties. Thus bedecked, I started my office routine.

Mr. Datta had a severe problem with his eyes - blood vessels in his eyes had begun haemorrhaging because he was under severe stress. He had been advised complete rest. He left for Calcutta.

There were initially four vessels being managed from Singapore, with a fifth added while I was there.

The ‘Willine Taro’ and ‘Willine Toyo’ were container vessels plying between Japan and the Persian Gulf, with stopovers at Hong Kong and Singapore. They were 18 year old ships that required constant support. 'Asoka Nusantara' was another.

FEEDER VESSELS

The other two were ‘feeder’ vessels - Transhav and Transfjord - that operated between Singapore and very small ports in Indonesia and Malaysia, quite a number of times having to go on long river passages in remote areas without a pilot. These were the scary ones.

They had operated as ‘feeder’ vessels in the fjords of Norway and were pretty old and troublesome.

They had a crew of 9, which included the Captain and Chief Engineer.

The only means of communication was through Radio-Telephony, with all details - their position, their cargo, their fuel and (remaining on board or ROB in ship parlance) etc. We used to record the details, play it back, mark their position on a huge chart and make all logistic arrangements for their arrival in Singapore. One round trip would last 3 to 4 days.

I just had to continue what Mr. Datta had already organised. Lacking 'fridge chambers, fresh provisions needed to be supplied practically every call at Singapore. Workshops, ship chandlers needed to be in regular attendance, so that the vessels navigate safely for those four days in areas where practically no support was possible. They were, literally, on their own.

One contingency plan that I introduced was to discuss with a helicopter company and get their services in the event of any emergency.

The two container vessels, “Willine Taro” and “Willine Toyo” also needed a lot of support on a daily basis - more so in the days preceding their arrival and during their stay in Singapore.

Dry Docking of one of the container ships

One of the first major jobs that I had to organise within two weeks of my joining the Singapore office was the dry docking of one of the ships. Repair specifications had already been drawn up and quotations requested. Shipyard ‘A’ was chosen. I am purposely not revealing the name of the yard because of subsequent events. Dates were fixed, the vessel reached Singapore and, after discharging the cargo meant for Singapore, the vessel entered dry dock with quite a bit of cargo still on board - all within the limits prescribed by regulations.

Shipyards have a standard “tariff” for each job. When we send our repair specifications and ask the shipyard to quote, their quotes will be much lesser than their standard “tariff”, in order to get the vessel into their docks, in competition with other shipyards. Their quotes will be considerably higher if the yard is full and they have plenty of work on their hands.

Standardised Shipyard tariffs are based on tangibles such as

1. Standard Labour Rate per person employed on a job.

2. Quality required - example - to what fineness should shipside plates be prepared before application of paint - SA2, SA 2.5, SA 3 and the like.

3. For pipelines - their material. Thickness, length, number of bends, number and size of flanges and the like.

4. Standard services provided, such as power, crane services, cooling water, garbage services etc.

5. Many other tariffs that are required in order to complete the dry docking and other maintenance jobs.

If a strict watch is kept on what the shipyard uses or employs, it is possible to keep track of expenditure to a very large extent.

Using the Chief Engineer and Chief Mate as sentinels, and through regular ship’s staff meetings, I was able to keep track of practically every bit of expenditure. Photographs were taken at every available opportunity to highlight the work being done and the personnel involved.

The ship sailed after the successful completion of dry docking and repairs.

I spent the next two days tabulating the expenses on the basis of my notes and the quotes from the shipyard.

Why I elaborate the above is because of what subsequently followed.

3 days after the vessel had sailed out, the Shipyard Chief Financial Officer called me and said that their final invoice was on the way, which I received an hour later.

I was aghast to note that their invoice amount was nearly 300% more than my estimate. I once again went through each and every item and compared them - my estimate vs their invoice. Apart from a few minor errors on my part, their invoice was still inflated by about 290%.

When I called up their CFO and told him that there are glaring errors in their invoice, he suggested a meeting in the shipyard, to resolve the issues. Two days later, I was sitting at their conference table, with about 7 of them.

Taking item by item, I pointed out the errors in each item, to which they agreed. After around 15 or so items were discussed and agreed on, they suddenly realised that their invoice was reducing rapidly. The usual ploy of a tea / cigarette break was employed , while they discussed the issue between themselves.

After the break, the CFO brushed aside all the papers and suggested their best offer, a 15% rebate on the total of the invoice. But it still did not come anywhere close to my estimates. I suggested that we continue an item by item discussion, even if it took the next three days. We broke for lunch.

During lunch, the CFO quietly called me aside and, very diplomatically, offered me a very large sum of money if I were to take their offer of the 15% discount and signed the invoice. Then and there, I politely refused and told him that whatever salary my Company paid me was sufficient enough for me to not betray their trust.

To cut a long story short, the invoice was finally settled mostly on my terms, with about a 20% increase on my estimated amount. Their final invoice was passed and they received their money within 7 days.

Busy times but very enjoyable. With this incident, many people came to know me in Singapore’s marine circles. Dealing with them became simpler.

Willine Taro’s Anchor

Early one morning, at 2am, I was woken up by a call from the Master of the Willine Taro. They had been having bad weather, during the course of which the port anchor paid out completely and was hanging ‘up-and-down’. However much they tried, they were unable to pick the anchor. I asked a few questions, before I would give them a solution.

1. Is the windlass motor okay or has it burnt out? - Motor okay but had been getting hot.

2. Is the windlass brake okay? - Worn but not burnt.

3. How far were they from land, since they were coasting Japan? - They were coasting around 12 nautical miles from the nearest land.

I then gave them their options.

Best option - go slowly towards land and find relatively shallow waters - once the anchor weight and a bit of chain weight is lessened, , operate windlass motor in 1st gear and slowly pick up the chain, with intervals to cool the motor. It may take hours but will save the anchor, which is hard to procure. Procuring matching chains will be extremely difficult.

Last option - Either cut the chain or release the chain at the ‘bitter end’. The anchor and chain will be lost.

They were able to reach shallow waters and pick up the anchor, without much damage, but it took several hours. The windlass brake had worn out and had to be renewed.

The cause of all this? They had not put the chain stopper in place nor had they lashed the chain / anchor, as normally done after sailing out of a port, especially when bad weather is expected. Sometimes a twist in the chain does not allow the chain stopper to go 'home'. In these instances, I have been witness to the Chief Officer taking extra lashings on the chain. At the first opportunity, at an anchorage, the chain would be slowly lowered and untwisted.

The importance of the 'chain stopper', also called a 'guillotine' cannot be overemphasised.

Willine Toyo’s missing Propeller Blade

It is one of ‘Murphy’s Laws’. All emergency calls from the vessel to the Office or home come between 2am and 4am in the mornings. You go from deep sleep to a state of instant alertness in a few seconds, while you pick up the phone and calmly say “Good morning”.

One such call came from the Chief Engineer of the Willine Toyo.

As a prelude, it needs to be stated here that this vessel was nearly 20 years old and had been built as a vessel with a Controllable Pitch Propeller (CPP). Over the years, the CPP had given a lot of problems, which had delayed the vessel several times. So, the CPP had been converted to a Fixed Pitch, by bolting on four propeller blades on to the boss. Since the main engine was reversible, it was being operated in the conventional way.

The vessel was a few hours away from Singapore, when excessive vibrations were felt from the engine and from the ship, when at full speed. Speed was reduced to the point where the vibrations were tolerable. On board investigations made them suspect that something was wrong with the propeller.

On the phone I suggested that one of the bolted-on propeller blades must have dropped off or broken and may need to be replaced after a diver’s inspection confirms the damage.

The ship’s staff were not aware of the ‘bolted on’ propeller blades. So they scrambled and checked the vessel’s drawings which showed they were indeed so. I also told them that there was a spare blade clamped on to the bulkhead in the funnel area.

By 0330 hrs, I was in the Office. I first called up a known, authorised, diving company and told them to be ready on vessel’s arrival at berth. A telex confirmation followed.

I then sent out telexes to 3 dry dock shipyards in Singapore, asking them to quote for dry docking a ship, without giving out details that it was an emergency dry docking.

At 0800H, the ship berthed for cargo work.

By 0900H, the diver reported that one blade of the propeller was missing. The ship had to be dry docked in order to carry out the repairs.

The vessel was expected to complete cargo work by the next morning.

Now it all depended on the availability of a dry dock. The sooner we procure one, the lesser the delays to the ship.

By 1130 am, the same CFO of the shipyard with whom I had a run-in about inflated invoices, called and said their quote was on the way and to let them know when the dock will be required, as all their docks were empty. He was taken aback when I told him that the Willine Toyo will be docking next morning after cargo work for propeller repairs. If they had known it was an emergency docking, they would have quoted exorbitantly.

Next morning, after completing cargo work, the Willine Toyo proceeded to the shipyard and straight into the dry dock.

The broken studs had to be renewed. The dowel pin holes did not match, hence had to be relocated. New dowel pins were manufactured. The spare blade was fitted. The nuts of the other blades were checked and the caps resealed. The whole propeller was polished.

Leading the shipyard team was an excellent shipyard Engineer, Nelson Yeo. He and I worked through the night and completed the job. For all subsequent dockings, I used to request for Nelson Yeo.

Within 20 hours, the vessel was back on her voyage.

This was the quickest dry docking that I was involved in.

There were six other ships’ drydocking that I had to supervise during my Singapore stay, all of them belonging to Wilhelmsen, Norway.

Asoka Nusantara :

A Steam Turbine vessel - an oil tanker - was given to the Singapore Office to manage. She was to be used as a Storage Tanker off the coast of Indonesia.

First, she had to be converted to be used as a Storage Tanker at a Single Buoy Mooring (SBM) for which an ‘A’ Frame arrangement had to be made forward. Other minor changes also had to be made. All this was done in a Singapore Shipyard.

The Master and several Senior Officers - up to the the rank of Second Mate / Third Engineer - were to be from Barber’s. The rest had to be from Indonesia, as per their laws, as the vessel was to be permanently moored in Indonesian waters.

There were several stipulations.

The Master, Chief Officer and the other Officers must have tanker experience and certificates.

At least three of the Engineers must have Steam Certificates of their rank, along with tanker experience.

They were to be permanently stationed on board, with the same staff returning to the ship. This meant 2 sets of officers on rotation basis.

The most difficult assignment for the Bombay Office was to find 2 sets of Chief Engineers and Second Engineers with Steam Certificates. They were able to find one set of Engineers (Steam). Try as they might, a second (standby) set of Engineers with Steam Certificates were not available.

I had been researching life on a Storage Tanker and was given a very clear picture of long periods of relative inactivity during the slow process of loading oil from the oil rig or well (I am not sure which), followed by a rather intense period of activity, discharging into daughter vessels that come alongside. In Indonesia, I was given to understand that a daughter vessel would come alongside every 45 days or so.

After some thought, I came up with a scenario where only one set of staff would be needed.

The Senior Officers would, after the first four months of everybody being together and having completely familiarised themselves with the ship, then, turn by turn, each could go home for a month or so during the ‘less active’ period, but all would come together at least 7 days in advance of the arrival of a ‘daughter’ vessel alongside for loading.

It required Master’s Certificates from both, the Master and Chief Officer.

It required Chief’s (Steam) Certificates from both, the Chief Engineer and Second Engineer.

The Master and Second Engineer would go home for short periods together. At the next opportunity, the Chief Engineer and Chief Officer would go home.

I negotiated a deal for the top four of 4 flights (company paid) each year and full wages for the year. A near similar deal was done for the 2nd Mate, Third Engineer and Electrician.

Another deal had to be negotiated with the Indonesian Crew Union for all the other categories, for which I had to fly to Jakarta. Very good deals were struck which benefited all the parties. The Indonesians were very good to deal with.

All the staff assembled in Singapore when the ship was at anchor in Singapore. A 3 day delay occurred as the staff were not able to get the turbine going. I spent all 3 days on board trying to help. We found the fault, went on a sea trial, got the necessary Class Certificates.

The vessel then sailed out to Indonesia.

The staff were very happy with their leave arrangements and, am told, they continued for nearly 5 years, sometimes bringing their families with them.

A Deal with a Hotel

During my time as Manager of the Singapore Office, there were at least 3 visitors a day coming into the Office, consisting of Sales Managers of ship chandling firms, workshops, shipyards and hotels. We were pretty well set as far as the first two were concerned and went on the basis of quotes for the shipyards.

Hotels were a different field altogether.

In the first month I found that there were frequent transits of ship’s staff and, many a time, their families, through Singaporean hotels. These were being booked through the Agents and were quite expensive.

Singapore was also a port where the crew changes were most frequent for all Barber ships and so were the hotel stays.

With one of the Sales Managers from Dai-Ichi Hotel, I was able to negotiate a deal at S$30 per night with breakfast for all Barber staff, which I passed on to the Agents and ensured they stuck to this deal. This deal more than halved the hotel expenses for joining or departing crew.

For those who were staying on in Singapore on a private basis, they had to settle their bills using the same discount. It was a win-win situation for all (except the Agents).

9 months - busy times.

The Willine Taro was sent to the breakers - I made the arrangements and was on board when she was beached in China.

The Willine Toyo was sold.

I was asked by Hong Kong to go back to being a Chief Engineer.

During this entire 9 month period, wages were never mentioned. Only later did I realise I was being paid a Chief Engineer's Basic scale.

I bade goodbye to Singapore.

The 'Transhav' and 'Tranfjord' were, then, looked after by a Superintendent from BSM Hong Kong. With this remote handling, problems mounted up. So the Owners expanded their office in Singapore and took back both the vessels and the 'Asoka Nusantara', with Barber's doing only the crewing.

As the Feeder Service trade expanded, those owners brought in more small vessels from Norway and managed those vessels themselves.

===== "Marine Musings 20" Starts Next with Blog 73 =====