BLOG 79 - An Alien Ghost Ship - Navigating into Aqaba - Meeting the Old INS Vikrant

"NOSAC" Advertisement for our Car Carrier:

NO CAR GOES LIKE OUR CARGOES

We loaded several types of European cars and SUVs. These included Land Rovers from the UK, BMWs and Benz cars from Germany, a couple of Aston Martins and a lone Rolls Royce. There were several other exotic cars also, a treat to the eyes.

The more costly or exotic a car, the more space around it when parked on board. Without doubt, more freight charges too. The more run-of-the-mill and pedestrian cars would be parked like packed sardines.

CAPE FINISTERRE AND THE (ALIEN) GHOST SHIP THAT WANTED TO COLLIDE WITH US :

If I recollect correctly, after finishing with Europe, we were on our way to the Suez Canal. It was daytime but very foggy. The Master had to navigate using electronic aids only - ARPA (Automatic Radar Potting Aids) and Radar.

In this dense fog, suddenly a target was acquired directly in front of us, heading for us on a collision course, at the same speed as ours. Captain Abraham executed a 180 degree turn. During the turn, it was noted that the acquired target disappeared. But it reappeared when the ship was on a steady course, again right in front of us, again on a collision course.

The Captain once again turned the ship around, back to our original course and there it was, directly in front of us. We slowed down and stopped. The target disappeared.

Those were a scary 30 minutes. The fog lifted, the sea was calm and clear.

The ARPA manufacturers later found a fault in the circuits that created a ghost image.

Our lives and our safety hangs by such a thin thread.

SUEZ CANAL AND TRANSIT:

The most dreary canal in the world is the Suez Canal. During transit, there is only desert on either side, with an occasional structure being seen. (I am not aware of present conditions).

About 15 to 20 odd people used to board the ship at either end - starting from the Pilot, Assistant Pilot, line handlers, electricians and the like. Except for the Pilots, the others were needed only at certain crucial periods. The electricians would be in charge of the Suez Canal light forward + massive searchlights on the Bridge Wings, for night transits.

One of the first things that the Pilot would discuss with the Master was how many bottles of Scotch and how many cartons of cigarettes (Marlboros preferred), would the Master give him. Bargaining was allowed. So, from an outrageous number, it would be brought down to 1 or 2 bottles of Scotch and 2 cartons of cigarettes. The rest of the Egyptian staff were also rationed out with some cigarettes and liquor, according to their pecking order, with the Pilot at the top of the pyramid. Marlboro was the favourite cigarette.

Almost all of the other boarders - I mean the Egyptians who boarded the vessel - used to bring several boxes with them, open them up in any space they could find and spread out their wares - many shops would be open on board. Egyptian mementoes, wall hangings of Pharoah’s times, necklaces, clothing, items of daily use, electronic goods and cameras etc. Off duty ship’s personnel would browse through them and buy from them. Bargaining was allowed and enjoyed by both parties.

But not all of them were what they professed to be, as the incident below will reveal. It happened on a ship different from mine, so its authenticity could not be verified.

The 4th Engineer had come off watch and had gone ‘shopping’. One of the shopkeepers was selling a lovely stereo set with audio tape facility. After some hard bargaining, he bought the set, the cost being much cheaper than buying from shops in Japan or Singapore.

In the evening, the 4th Engineer invited many of the Officers and had an impromptu party, to show all his new set.

The Chief Officer had been on continuous watch forward. When he returned, hearing the noise, he also joined the party for a few minutes and went off for his watch. After 8pm, when the Chief Officer returned to his cabin, he realised that his stereo set was missing and he may have been robbed. Having a nagging doubt, he checked with the 4th Engineer - the stereo set was the same brand, make and model. I am not aware of how they resolved this.

Another incident that circulated amongst the seafaring community involved a Super Carrier bound for Europe, where the Master refused to give any ‘bribes’ in any form to the Pilot. He also did not allow any ‘shops’ to be set up. The Pilot calmly told him that “there seems to be some problem with the gyro. First fix it, then call us” and left the ship. For two days, their call for a Pilot was ignored.

When the Ship Owners came to know what transpired, they flew another Captain in. The new Captain arrived by boat, went up to the Bridge, told the old Captain that he is relieved and to leave the ship within an hour.

He then called Port Control, told them that there has been a change of Masters and the entire stores, including Bonded Stores, was open for them.

The Egyptians had a field day. The Pilot arrived with many from the Harbour Master’s Office and took whatever they wanted. The Suez Canal crossing was then made.

The Owners did not support the old Captain, as they were losing millions of $$ every day that the ship was idle. Rather, they gave in to the blackmail by sending a new Captain.

All ships put up with this and much more, so that they cross the Canal quickly. None of the other Canals or Pilotage areas (compulsory or optional) have this kind of problem.

We came through the Suez Canal and into the Gulf of Suez. We were headed to Aqaba, in Jordan. When passing through the Tiran Straits into the Gulf Of Aqaba, I was in total awe of the weight of navigation that the navigators of our ship had to bear. Land on one side, islands on the other, not to mention shallow waters and shoals. My salutations to them. My only prayer at that time was that the Engines should not fail us in those crucial hours.

Before reaching Aqaba, we could see a bit of Israeli country to our portside and Jordanian country to our starboard side. The contrast could not have been starker. I do not know what they were growing, but the Israeli side was lush green. In stark contrast, the Jordanian side was just desert, no signs of vegetation.

Aqaba did not have drivers. So Nosac asked us if we would drive out and discharge the cars meant for Aqaba. We were to be paid at $12/= per hour. I became a bit unpopular with some of my fellow officers for suggesting that Officers should assign this money to the Ship’s Welfare Fund. The crew were to keep their share to themselves.

I had a reason for this. Compared to the previous ships, we had a very dismal amount of Welfare and Entertainment Equipment on board. A parsimonious Indian Superintendent with an attitude of “Indian Seafarers don’t deserve anything better” had made sure we had practically nothing.

So we bought top quality equipment from our own Welfare Fund. All the Officers and crew were very happy, even the disgruntled ones.

Here, I have to mention that when the same Superintendent visited the vessel in HongKong, (although he was not in charge of the ship), I made it a point to show him the latest equipment we had bought with our own money and, in a moment of pique, also asked him “Do you have these in your own home”? To say the least, I was not welcome on the ships that he was Superintendent.

I do not recollect the details, but there were two ports where we had to drive out the cars. One was Aqaba and the other was probably Singapore.

I loved the feel of the Land Rovers that we had to drive out. We had to take it down the ship’s ramp on 2nd gear, but once away, I could shift up to 5th gear. The sound of the engine was a muted purr, turning into a growl. A van would follow us till we parked the car about 4 kilometres away and take us back for the next lot. Having always loved cars and driving, I enjoyed every bit of this experience of driving brand new, top-of-the-line cars and SUVs.

It may come as a surprise to some, but HongKong has the maximum number of Rolls Royces per capita, in the world. We discharged our lone Rolls in Hong Kong.

COMING ACROSS THE INS VIKRANT ON EXERCISES WITH ALL ESCORTS IN THE ARABIAN SEA

We were on passage, in the Arabian Sea. Pleasant day, good seas. We found ourselves suddenly amongst many Naval vessels, with what we recognised as the INS Vikrant, the old war horse aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy, about 5 Nautical Miles away.

We were all watching her through binoculars. I had been called to the Bridge, as I had left word with all Bridge Watch keepers to call me if anything unusual is seen. I was expecting a pod of whales or dolphins. What I saw was INS Vikrant with all her escorts. All of them were maintaining radio silence . It was obvious they were out on exercises. It was a proud moment.

Suddenly she was hailing us on the Daylight Signalling Device. Except for Capt Abraham, none of the others knew how to send out messages on the ‘Aldis Lamp’. The conversation went like this:

V (for Vikrant) : Calling Nosac

Us: Nosac replying

V : What ship are you

Us: Car Carrier

V : What do you carry?

Us : Cars

V : How many?

Us : Six Thousand

V : Wow. Bon Voyage.

They were, likely, interested in the box like structure and massive side walls of the ship.

Due to piracy, we increased lookout and security in the Gulf of Aden and near Somalia till we were well into the Arabian Sea.

I got off the ship on 30th March 1987 at Kobe.

An interesting Post Script to my Tai Shan days:

I cannot put a particular time / date / month label on this.

I remember being called to the phone - I think I was on my next ship - and the Hong Kong office was at the other end of the line.

They had received reports that the Stern Tube bush had burnt out while on passage to the USA. The Chief Engineer was unsure of the cause.

My query to the Office was “Did they have a ‘black out’ at sea?”

They said they were not sure and would find out from the ship. They asked me to elaborate on what a ‘black out’ had to do with the stern bush burning out.

I gave them an oral account of the sequential series of events that take place after a black out.

Black out takes place

All machinery comes to a stop.

The Emergency Generator starts within 15 seconds and supplies lighting.

The standby generator starts within 40 seconds and comes on load automatically in another 30 seconds.

All essentials start sequentially in the next 50 seconds.

In the meanwhile, the engineer can start the 3rd Generator and put it on load.

But the Stern Tube Lub Oil pump would not have started, as it is not linked to the “Essentials” circuit and has to be started manually before re-starting the Main Engine.

Firstly, the Stern Tube Pump would indicate it is “OFF” in the Engine Control Room.

Secondly, there were at least 3 “Warning” notices that I had put up at strategic locations stating that the “Stern Tube Pump must be started manually after a Black Out”, which was, obviously, not done.

They would have realised that the Stern Tube pump had not started after an alarm “Stern Tube Bearing Temperature High” had been initiated.

They would have slowed down and started the Stern Tube Lub Oil pump only to find that the on-line suction filter was getting choked up.

I drew this (verbal) scenario on the phone for those listening at the other end in Hong Kong. They called the ship on Inmarsat’ and confirmed it was indeed so, adding that the Chief Engineer wanted a tow, as he felt that the Main Engine could not be run with a damaged stern tube bush.

When I was asked for my opinion, I told them that the Stern Tube Bush was a synthetic bush, made of sintered fibrous filter-like material. I suggested that the Chief could run on slow speed and keep cleaning the filters which would be getting choked with fibrous particles. I reasoned that, after a while, the fibres will reduce, upon which they can increase speed, keeping the stern tube temperature well below the alarm point and keeping an eye on the "whipping" of the shaft.

They did so successfully and reached Los Angeles where they dry docked, removed the propeller, pulled out the tail shaft, renewed the stern tube bushes which were final-machined to size in LA (being a new ship, spare bushes were available at very short notice), everything put back and she sailed.

The problem was that nobody had read any of the cautionary notices I had put up. I had also highlighted it and mentioned it in my “Chief Engineer’s Handing Over Report”, a copy of which was sent to the Head Office.

Free Surface Effect:

One of the aspects of a Car Carrier’s construction that intrigued and also scared me was the possibility of flooding of even one of the 3 watertight compartments, either due to a collision or the ship’s side getting holed.

Each of these three watertight compartments cover a vast area - I would surmise that the surface area would be at least 4 to 5 times that of a Bulk Carrier hold or compartment.

The larger the surface area , the bigger the Free Surface Effect in the event of any flooding of the particular compartment.

Just to take us back a few decades when we studied the dangerous aspects of Free Surface Effect using formulae and mathematics, I will quote Wikipedia to make it simpler for the non-seafarers who read my blogs.

Quote

“ In a normally loaded vessel any rolling from perpendicular is countered by a righting moment generated from the increased volume of water displaced by the hull on the lowered side. This assumes the centre of gravity of the vessel is relatively constant. If a moving mass inside the vessel moves in the direction of the roll, this counters the righting effect by moving the centre of gravity towards the lowered side. The free surface effect can become a problem in a craft with large partially full bulk cargo compartments, fuel tanks, or water tanks (especially if they span the full breadth of the ship), or from accidental flooding, such as has occurred in several accidents involving roll-on/roll-off ferries.”

Unquote

My response to this inherent weakness of a Car Carrier was to initiate a series of inspections at regular intervals, with emphasis on

A. Pumping out arrangements of the lower sections of these three compartments

B. Ensuring the ‘High Level’ Alarms of the Bilge wells in these spaces were always in working order.

C. That the Bilge Wells were always clean (many a time these bilge wells get choked with rust).

D. Regular bilge pumping tests for these compartments.

E. The introduction of 3 air operated ‘Wilden’ pumps, one in each compartment, with rigid hoses on the suction side and immediately ready-for-use fire hoses for the discharge side, the length of hoses capable of reaching the gangway space on # 7 deck.

Fortunately, we never needed to use them.

But this phobia of mine remained and showed itself on any and every one of the Car Carriers I sailed on in later years, to the bemusement of many.

===== My "Tai Shan" Narrative Ends - "Marine Musings 21" Next =====