BLOG 74 - "Marine Musings 20" - New Building - "Nosac Tai Shan" - Tests - Sea Trials - Tempers

Chapter 2 (continued)

Surprisingly, the tests on mechanical items were successful most of the time. Hydraulic items and electrical / electronic items were deficient in one aspect or another, mostly because the technicians did not know what results needed to be produced.

One of the very important aspects on which I vehemently disagreed with the shipyard was the ‘auto start’ of standby machinery on the failure of the running one.

To cite an example, let us take the Main Lubricating Oil Pump. There are two pumps, one running and the other on ‘auto standby’. If the running one fails, the ‘standby’ pump starts automatically. All to the good.

To simplify their layout, the shipyard had designed this ‘auto start’ to take place when the motor of the pump fails, either because of the motor burning out or problems in its starter circuitry. So, if the running motor fails, the ‘standby’ motor starts and normalcy is restored.

My contention was “What if the pump fails and the motor keeps on running?” Then an ‘auto changeover’ will not take place, as per the designed circuitry. I told them “If the pump fails, the pressure will drop and an alarm will be initiated. But the ‘auto start’ of the ‘standby’ motor will not be initiated. Seeing the alarm, the standby will need to be started manually. A good 3 to 4 minutes will pass before this is done, as the Duty Engineer has to respond to the alarm panel in his cabin, go down to the ECR, check what is wrong and start the second pump. Meanwhile, the “Lub Oil Low Pressure” alarm would have initiated a shut down of the engine. ”

They were flummoxed, as all these designs had been vetted and approved by the Classification Society, in this case Nippon Kaiji Kokai or NKK. Today it is known as ClassNK.

The attending NKK Surveyor, attached to the Yard, tried to convince me and failed. Their Chief Surveyor (from Tokyo) came to the Shipyard, along with their Design Team. After a few hours of discussion, they conceded that my logic was correct and came up with design changes that the Shipyard had to implement.

Finally, it comes down to dollars - “Who will bear the cost for such changes?”. Eventually, Wilhelmsen and Sumitomo split the extra costs.

The following week was frustrating, for me and the Yard Managers assigned to my ship, as we clashed over many jobs not being done to my satisfaction. Having had their team meetings, they had established certain parameters which they stuck to, almost to the point of being obstinate. I had to painfully retrace their methodology to show them where they had gone wrong.

It was then that I noticed that most of them had not studied the Manufacturer’s Test Procedures or their Instruction Manuals - they were going on what they had done on previous ships built by the Shipyard. Generally, they did not like being corrected and would just stolidly pursue the path they had decided, with blinkers on.

I refused to get angry. I was gently persuasive. I made them read up the Manuals before a test. Grudgingly, they realised that the tests speeded up with better knowledge. After a couple of weeks, their Quality Control Head came to me and said that he had not seen his Managers pay so much attention to detail during their collective discussions.

Overall quality improved, tempers no longer flared. I knew there had been a perceptive change when, from being called plain “Chief”, I became “Chief Saan”.

Nearly a month later, I received a telephone call, when in the Office. It was from the secretary to the Chairman of Sumitomo Yard. She very politely told me that the Chairman wanted to meet me and when I would have the time. We set up an appointment for the next morning. The appointment had the whole Japanese team buzzing, as they did not know why I had been called.

I always had the habit of carrying some items of Indian handicrafts with me, for presenting to a person whom I liked, when abroad. This time, I was carrying a few sandalwood elephants dragging a log of wood. Two of them were enclosed in a glass case. I got them gift wrapped in a shop in Uraga.

Next morning I went to meet him. He was genuinely happy to see the delicately carved elephant and loved the smell of sandalwood. He had wanted to see me to thank me for taking the trouble of teaching his staff to improve their standards by insisting on correct procedures. I do not know if he was just being courteous, but he asked me to call him directly for any assistance in dealing with any problem.

Along with the interpreter, the Head of Quality Assurance had accompanied me. It was obvious that a high level meeting had taken place, where my run-ins with the Shipyard staff had been discussed and my wanting better standards put in place.

After that meeting, it was smooth sailing for me.

Later, I learnt that it was common practice for some of the other Owners’ Representatives to expect and receive cash bribes for accepting falsified reports. In all the days I had been in the yard, I had not in any manner asked for any money.

This aspect and the meeting with the Chairman, then formed the basis for a mutually respectful relationship with Shipyard staff.

The one thing I did accept though, was a bottle of Suntory Whiskey Black, on condition we all meet after work in the Office and polish it off, which we reverentially did the very next evening.

The ‘peace pipe’ had been smoked.

Chapter 3 - Pizzas

It became a habit to work late every day of the working week, Monday through Friday, reviewing tests and work done, prepare for the next day and write my reports to BSM HongKong, copy to Oslo.

After 5 pm, there would be no one in the Yard. The catering staff would make some sandwiches for me and go home. The Dining Hall in the Hotel in Uraga would close by 10 pm, so I had to reach back before then. So, I would call the Yard Security before 9 pm for transport to the railway station, for the return journey.

There were many days when I would lose track of time and continue working till late into the night. I would, then, inform security and stay the night in the silent Yard. The first time this happened, the Yard catering staff started stocking up the fridge with fruits, milk, juices and also kept sandwiches for a late snack.

Saturdays and Sundays were holidays, but I would still come to the Yard, finish pending reports and prepare for the next week. I would, generally, leave by 1pm.

Both, Uraga and Oppama, were dead towns during the weekends. The Hotel in Uraga would also look like an abandoned building over the weekends, as the Japanese ‘guests’ staying in the Hotel would return to their homes for the weekend.

After a week, I got down from the train nearly midway between Oppama and Uraga at Yokosuka, which is a Naval Base for US warships. Hence, it catered to hundreds of sailors all day and night.

Hardly a 2 minute walk away from Yokosuka Station was a ‘Shakey’s Pizza Parlour’. Saturdays and Sundays were ‘All you can Eat’ days for 1500 Yen. Invariably, I would find myself utilising this business gimmick to fill up the empty spaces left by the working week.

On the ‘All you can Eat’ days, one had to serve oneself at the counter where a sliced 36” pizza would be waiting on a massive tray. The only problem, for me, was that practically each pizza on the tray would be non-vegetarian, so I would repeatedly go to the counter and return with an empty plate, waiting for a Vegetarian Pizza, which was advertised on their menu. I would spend the waiting period reading a book or going over reports that were in my briefcase.

On the first such Saturday at Shakey’s, the Cook inside the kitchen saw me going back empty handed again and again and sent their English speaking waiter to talk to me. When I told him that I was waiting for a Vegetarian Pizza, the Cook immediately served up a 36” one, of which I could eat a maximum of two slices - they were very large slices.

During subsequent visits, practically every Saturday and Sunday, the Cook would make a Vegetarian Pizza available as soon as he saw me walking in. By the second week, they knew what I was here for and where I was staying. Although it was against their rules, they would pack a few slices for me to take back. During those 100 days, I survived and beat the hunger pangs with Shakey’s Pizzas.

During that time, my Indian Passport had come up for renewal. I called up the Indian Embassy in Tokyo and set up an appointment. One of the Consuls greeted me, filled in my Application Form, gave me coffee and chatted with me for an hour, at the end of which the new Passport was ready. Absolutely no hassles, unlike in India - Chennai, to be more precise - where you spent hours in a queue, hustled, jostled, sweating all the time. In those days, you had to make at least three visits to the Passport Office, one visit to the local Police Station for verification and wait for at least 45 days to get a new passport.

I am told that the process has been speeded up these days, with on-line filling of Applications.

A month or so before the Sea Trials, Capt Abraham had joined the ship, along with some of the key personnel who would be sailing with the ship.

Chapter 4 - Poor Quality of Stores - A Heated Argument

Deck Stores, Engine Stores, Catering Stores had all been ordered by the Superintendent sitting in HongKong for supply to the vessel immediately after Sea Trials. We had insisted on a ‘quality’ check before delivery to the ship. So the Ship Chandler arranged for 6 of us, the Captain, Chief Mate, Chief Engineer, 2nd Engineer, Electrician and Chief Cook to be taken to his warehouse to check quantities.

What was supposed to be a 2 hour routine inspection and exercise turned out to be a full day one. We found most of the items to be substandard and had to reject many of them. Most were of poor quality of Chinese origin. Even a 17x19 mm ring spanner was such that it would break by the third use. Had we not insisted on a quality check, the checks would have been made on board under pressure, probably by a harried 2nd Engineer, Chief Mate and Chief Cook and most of the substandard items accepted.

There was, of course, a fracas with the Ship’s Chandler who claimed that he could have supplied good quality items, but it would have cost more, which the Ship’s Superintendent in Hong Kong had rejected and had, subsequently, ordered substandard stores across the board.

Mooring ropes were of poor quality and would not last one mooring operation. There were hundreds of tins with just a sticker from the Ship Chandler, most likely of dubious origin, with contents that were to be used for quality maintenance. An example was pump gland packings of spurious manufacture, having no labels. Another was the tins of different grades of grinding pastes.

Mattresses and pillows that had already been supplied to the ship were of poor quality (which was what had prompted us to ‘quality check’ the stores prior supply, in the first place).

The quality of catering / dining equipment was appalling. Mismatched and poor quality plates, cups, saucers, forks, spoons, serving dishes, vessels, ladles, pans - all of which we rejected.

To put things into context, I had been sailing on Barber ships for 8 years by now. Except for one, all were hand-me-downs from our parent company, Wilh Wilhelmsen of Oslo, all ranging from 6 to 30 years’ old. But the stores on board were always of top quality, which the Norwegians had been using and had been handed down to us, when we took over their ships.

It is not that we were wanting or expecting “Rolls Royce” quality. I had been sailing into Japanese ports for the last 8 years and we had ordered and picked up stores of good quality Japanese manufacture. Good quality items were definitely available in Japan.

I am not certain, but I think the “Nosac Taishan” was the first new building that was being taken over by Barber Ship Management and already we were compromising on the quality of stores that would form the bedrock of items on board for the years to come. All this because we were an Indian crew who would just have to lump it.

The issue of quality of stores went on till the last week before departure and most items were changed for better quality ones. The Superintendent was informed that we would rather sail without those items than have substandard items on board.

The year was now 1986. Barber Ship Management had been in operation for eleven years. Initially, the Office had been staffed by persons who had the seafarer’s and ship’s welfare at heart. We were now starting to deal with 3rd and 4th generation Office staff, who were trying to prove their prowess by cutting costs as much as possible, even if it were to the detriment of the safety of the ship.

It was in this backdrop that the Vessel’s Superintendent came from Hong Kong well before the Sea Trials. A clash was inevitable.

As I was the one most familiar with the ship, the Superintendent asked me to take him around. Reluctantly, I took him around the various decks, the Engine Room and, finally, the accommodation.

I had, till then (on other ships), been very expansive and voluble with a visiting Superintendent, talking to him and explaining things in detail. With this particular Superintendent, I was silent, unless asked a question.

In the accommodation, I pointed out the poor quality of the mattresses, which was already a thorn between us. I pointed out that a sailor would not be allowed to get some peaceful sleep after a hard day’s work, lying on such mattresses.

The Laundry Room ignited the animosity between us. On his sanction, the vessel had been supplied with non-automatic washing machines, which meant that a crew member had to spend at least 45 minutes or so, waiting for each cycle to complete before initiating the next cycle.

I told him that, with an already depleted crew, the workload on each crew member would be more than normal. To expect each crew member to cut into his rest hours just to stand for an hour to wash his clothes showed a lack of empathy for the seafarer’s welfare on the part of the Company, meaning him. I was irritated enough to brusquely tell him that we may as well been provided with bar soaps and washing stones, a’ la’ “Dhobhi Ghats”. Perhaps that is what tipped the pot.

He then became very angry and it went into a full scale argument. It was then that he said “Chief Engineers are a dime a dozen. There are a hundred waiting to take your place”. I, then, walked out.

An hour later, I sent in my resignation letter, effective immediately, to the Hong Kong office by telex, citing the reason as ‘insulting behaviour on the part of the Superintendent’, without going into the details.

Within 15 minutes, a phone call came into my office in the Shipyard, with the BSM General Manager on the line. When asked for details, I responded, adding that I will be citing all the reasons in detail in a letter, even if I lose my job with Barber’s. I told him of the comment of “Chief Engineers are a dime a dozen” and if this were the overall attitude and policy of the Company, I would rather not stay and face further insults. This Superintendent was much junior to me and had very little experience as Chief Engineer.

Later, I came to know that my telex and my dialogue with the General Manager went right to the top and created a furore. The erring Superintendent was called to a telephone, reprimanded and made to apologise to me.

We never got along. This was not the first time that I was treated badly by a Superintendent and I responded equally.

===== Continued in Blog 75 =====