The Monitor

Slipping into lifeboats

2012-01-23T10:52:00.001-08:00

One day into my wife and I's first vacation in 8 years, and some foolish act results in one of the latest, and largest passenger ships to partially sinks. Having work on cruise ships for four years and like most professionals mariners, I was captivated and stunned. How could have this happened?

Needless to say my wife was probably a little annoyed for my thirst of consuming what little news bit I could get from the various newscast in our "limited internet" hotel; German, English, Spanish and Fox News - yes they speak their own language on that channel.

While she sipped Mojitos, I sat slackjawed at that massive rock firmly embedded into Costa Concordia's hull. A gaping hole clearly visible, white tanktop peeking through, judging from the location, was firmly in engine room area. It is no wonder the ship was doomed, there is little hope to control that kind of flooding from a breach that big.

The media message was shock at first, then turned vile quickly, as Costa's spinner, investigation leaks, fed them more and more disparaging comments about the Master of the vessel, Captain Francesco Schettino. Obviously, in a bid to deflect as much responsibility as possible - at least in the eye of the media and its followers.

Every professional mariner these days, knows that not much gets done on a ship without the say so from shore, no matter what the competence level there appears to be. Costa / Carnival's shameful public distancing of its ship's master from themselves, before the Search and Rescue phase of the disaster is even over, is a clear message to all mariners that you are on your own, all the time - beware. Yet again, we are reminded why there is a shortage of people wanting to work at sea.

Obviously, there would appear to be some mistakes in judgment made by the Master, in my mind the only possible proof of this, found in the transcripts of his exchanges with what I assume was the On Scene Commander for the emergency response. The "chaos" during evacuation, the "bottle of wine", the "slip and trip into a lifeboat", the "mysterious blonde" etc. are all red herrings that have little proof to be accurate.

Clearly, there was a mis-judgement in the execution of their voyage plan. That in itself suggest a major failure of discipline within the Navigational watch, and the bridge team in general. Proper bridge resource management training, if done, would have given the tools to prevent this kind of mistake to occur. Of course only if the individuals on the bridge where provided with the training, or the confidence, from all levels of the company to question a poor choice. Judging from head office's response, one would say the culture was / is one of dominate personality, right from the top. Their response, that the captain has too much power, is laughable in this day and age, and exemplify exactly this disconnected, bully mentality which has been proven to be counter-productive, and resulting in exactly this type of accidents.

Of course the Master is responsible for all that goes on, on his ship, but I could not help commenting (preaching) to my wife, whose eyes were rolling yet again, that so little attention was paid to the "Captains" of industry, when they drove their "ships" into shoals. Yesterday, I was pleasantly surprise to find just such reference, in Rupert Murdoch's own Wall Street Journal (of all places), in the article "O Captain! My Captain!". Michael Grey, of his usual astute observations, writes of the sobering reality that occurs to the Master of a doomed vessel, long before the facts are presented accurately, and fairly accessed.

But if Costa / Carnival are so quick to damn the man so publicly, why they did place him in charge of such a vessel. Perhaps they know that they don't pay their crews well enough, or trained them enough - or have enough of them - to assure high quality in the first place. Perhaps their performance based bonus system, rewards risky behaviour from their crews. Maybe they (are) "slipping into a lifeboat" too.

Regardless of the actions of the Captain during or shortly after the accident, if they felt he was of little character, why don't they decidedly step into the limelight, get on scene and show some backbone. Take charge of the situation - show leadership, and openly assist in the process; communicate with the public. Even BP to some extent, understood this with the Deepwater Horizon. As Chief Engineer, when my Second or Third does not perform adequately, I feel, and it is, my responsibility to step in and take charge - that's how it works.

The facts may never be fully known; I understand the Voyage Data Recorder was not functioning at the time of the accident. The communication by the response authorities are woefully inadequate in this day and age - perhaps its just my Italian. The only communications from anyone in the know, are from the aforementioned Costa web page, which is carefully crafted to provide as little information. I don't blame them necessarily either for this, if watching Fox News was any indication. The ship had barely settled on its side, when these talking heads on US national "news shows" are spouting off about the level of cash involved in lawsuits - what the hell is wrong with us?

I don't expect much from the Italian authorities, from their history they seem to be keenly aware of various special interest groups and how they are involved in all aspect of their judicial, political and social landscape. Carnival is a major consumer of Italian shipbuilding products, and related services, such as Class and heavy equipment. The shipbuilding contracts are also attached to ship's crewing requirements as well. I suppose there will be little appetite to truly find the root cause of the disaster, and even less motivation to fix it. It sells more papers to publicly skewer one man, sweep it under the rug asap, than to have a good look under the hood of this industry.

There been an interesting discussion on The Common Rail. Of course everyone is talking about it, but unfortunately few have proper insight. SMIT is now standing by to move to the pollution abatement stage, once Search and Rescue operations are terminated. The salvage contract has not been awarded. I believe though this will be one of the most costly and massive salvage jobs ever seen. I suspect the damage from both the port and starboard side will be too great for her to be re floated, one can hope, but most likely the residents of Isola del Giglio will have a new tourist attraction for some time to come. It would not surprise me if Carnival / Costa sent them a bill, to collect their share of the "tourist" revenue.

Pictures and videos from various internet sources.

Christmas message confusion

2012-01-01T19:01:00.001-08:00

A Canadian shipping company sent out Christmas cards this year, with a nice picture of one their ships, operating in the arctic. There was a passage inside the card, by Thomas Fuller, the English cleric who lived in the 16th century - I assume.

" he that will not sail till all dangers are over must never put to sea "

Now, I understand the power of quotes to invoke certain feelings; I use them extensively on my website. Being a professional mariner, and my wife hearing my stories of Canadian ships I've work on, we both had a good laugh and a strange look after reading this quote...

Being the positive persons that I am, I believe the company was trying to convey that they operate in harsh environments, and that the job being done is not without risk, and that it takes skills to accomplish it.

My wife was more in the mind that the company was sending out a message - quit your belly aching; its a old ship, and shit happens, now get back to work. But whose to say.

The ship pictured on the Christmas card, built in the 1980s, is a good average indication of the fleet. That one actually changes flag twice a year too - another "Canadian can do" thing. All very interesting really, it will be fun to see what they come up with next year for Christmas card saying - hey, if you don't like it, try starving.

OK, OK, like usual, I am probably breathing too much into it. After all, it's nice that a company sends out individual Christmas card to their employees - not quite as nice as getting that IPod clone that one company gave me for Christmas, but still a nice gesture.

Oh yeah, by the way, Happy New Year. Welcome 2012.

Rustbucket picture, from Dubai's Mission to Seafarer.

Season's Greetings

2011-12-26T12:03:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to wishes you all the very best of the Season. I hope your Christmas was pleasant, safe and fulfilling as it was for us. We spent a quiet Christmas at our home in BC, where the boys enjoyed opening some presents and relaxed with visits to family. The local weather was a typical rainy day with 7 degree celsius - perhaps not a white Christmas, but just fine for us.

I am thoughtful of many of our peers who are out working, away from their families and wish them a safe time at sea. I further send out my well wishes to those seafarers currently imprisoned by pirates and other thieves. These are terribly anxious times for them, and their family, and we can only hope that the situation improves for all involved.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Below is a picture of the USCGC Alder arriving in Chicago, earlier this month, with a cargo of Christmas trees.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Alder, homeported in Duluth, Minn., is escorted by a boat from the Chicago Fire Department as they prepare to moor at Chicago’s Navy Pier, Dec. 2, 2011. Alder’s crew is acting as Chicago’s “Christmas Ship,” bringing more than 1,000 trees from northern Michigan to be distributed by charity groups to Chicago-area families. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class George Degener.

Office party, not for seafarers

2011-12-20T15:40:00.000-08:00

In the last post, I talked about how misleading the stats were on a recent study of Post Secondary Education, and their earning potentials... this week I was sent this video which exemplifies this even more. The video is not of typical weather condition while working at sea, but this is the reality of the job. Having to put up with that, even before spending one once of your energy, praticing your craft - I don't think too many accountants have this kind of workplace.

Of course there is always the ice cold water to deal with as well, with two glaring examples served up this week, involving those hardy cold weather surviving Russians. One in the Pacific Ocean off Sakhalin, where an oil rig under tow, capsized after encountering heavy seas. And the other story in the Antarctic, where the Sparta, a large fishing boat with predominately Russian crew, is teetering on sinking after suffering a gash in its hull, and taking on water.

The rig Kolskaya with a crew of 69 capsized and has taken the lives of 14 men, with another 39 still missing. The Sparta appears to be stabilizing, but the story is nowhere near complete, with 32 crew members fighting to save their ship, in the most desolate area of the world.

Makes me very thankful to be home, warm and safe, and sad to think of the loss and stress borne by the families of those affected.

Marine Engineers = Good earners

2011-12-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year, Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce published a study called “What’s it worth? The economic value of college majors”. It’s a US based study, but probably relates fairly well across to Canada, and some other countries.

The thing that caught my engineering eye in this study, was that Marine Engineering / Naval Architecture was listed in the top ten for earnings. Listed below, are the "majors", and their resulting median income in USD.

Petroleum Engineering - 120,000
Pharmacy Pharmaceutical Sciences and Administration - 105,000
Mathematics and Computer Science - 98,000
Aerospace Engineering - 87,000
Chemical Engineering - 86,000
Electrical Engineering - 85,000
Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering - 82,000
Mechanical Engineering - 80,000
Metallurgical Engineering - 80,000
Mining and Mineral Engineering - 80,000

The top ten least earning degrees were…

Counseling Psychology - 29,000
Early Childhood Education - 36,000
Theology and Religious Vocations - 38,000
Human Services and Community Organization - 38,000
Social Work - 39,000
Drama and Theater Arts - 40,000
Studio Arts - 40,000
Communication Disorders Sciences and Service - 40,000
Visual and Performing Arts - 40,000
Health and Medical Preparatory Programs - 40,000

The median income refers to the average income of the highest 75 percentile income and lowest 25 percentile. In regards to Marine Engineering, there is a much wider margin between “25%” stated as 44,000, and “75%” level income stated as 120,000, as oppose to the other in the top ten list.

The report fails to highlight the fact that although the 75th percentile make an average 120k per year, it takes a long time to get there, due to the licensing system. This would explain the lower 25th percentile earnings of 40k a year. Typically (my rough average from the numbers in the study) most graduates of other programs jump right into a 55k per year job, whereas Marine Engineers start at 40k or below.

Another words, yes, the potential to earn a good wage from the Marine Engineering / Naval Architecture schooling program is good, but getting out of school, is just the beginning of the training. Therefore, caution is in order, to hype these wages. Just looking at the topical earning potential does not give a complete story of the training path and its demands.

This unexplained career training load would probably explain why this major is ranked #4 in the least popular despite these fancy earnings potentials.

The study also reveals some other facts about a major in Marine Engineering / Naval Architecture. It is at the top of the list for concentration of men - 97% of the program participants were men. It also ranks #3 as the top earning major for Caucasians, and ranks #8 as percentage of working full time, with 95% of graduates holding full time jobs.

The study also list Marine Engineers and Naval Architect’s occupation, although once again, I believe these numbers are not quite accurate, due to titles and perceptions of the job. They list as us as working - engineers (?) 31%, management 22%, working on installations 12% - these three could be interpreted as working on ships or offshore structures – typically what Marine Engineers do. An additional 9% are listed working in offices, and 7% working in sales.

Some interesting statistic, but like I believe they don’t paint a clear picture of the full career. Marine Engineers already know, this is a pretty solid job when it comes to returns on your learning investment. You can find the full report here; an interesting read.

Submitted by a www.dieselduck.net visitor - thanks!

On a side note...

Time Magazine did a "Top Ten" list presentation on this topic, and they had a picture associated with each of the top, and bottom earning majors.

8 of the pictures for the “top majors” were generally positive in nature, and depicted men at work - another picture was of machinery. The only woman featured in the associated “positive” pictures, although hard to tell, is standing in lab attire, next to a man.

Meanwhile, eight of the bottom ten occupations predominately featured women in somewhat uninteresting work circumstances. Gotta love that entrenched societal sexism; bit of a sad social commentary.

Time Magazine – been around forever, and still has the attitudes to prove it. The picture is from that website.

Desgagnes Officers on strike... sort of

2011-12-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

MV Sarah Desgagnes in Montreal

Desgagnes Tanker division is under strike action by it's shipboard officers, engineers and navigators.

Desgagnes is a well known Canadian shipping company, based out of Quebec City. They operate a mix fleet of bulkers, roros, general cargo, heavy lift and tankers in the Eastern Arctic trade, down into the Great Lakes, and all point in between.

The tankers division, known as Petronav, and based out of Montreal, operates primarily in the central Canadian market - St Lawrence, the Great Lakes, and Atlantic Canada - although they have one tanker in international trade.

I believe the strike started last week, but you will find very few people aware of the situation, strangely enough. Sources say that the officers represented by the Canadian Merchant Service Guild (aka The Guild) are looking for significant wage increases, while the company is only offering wages increases matching inflation rates. Word on the street, as long been that Desgagnes' wages for engineers are considered low, compared to other operators, so this blogger is not surprise at the demand.

Engineers aboard Desgagnes tankers were, until early 2011, represented by the Canadian Marine Officers Union (CMOU), but they have now moved representations to the Guild.

The tankers in the fleet, and how they are affected...

Vega Desgagnes - Out on scheduled maintenance and not currently affected by strike
Maria Desgagnes - Out on scheduled maintenance and not currently affected by strike
Thalassa Desgagnes - Sailing, using Senior Officers from other vessels to crew
Jana Desgagnes - Still under Rigel management and not affected by strike
Dara Desgagnes - Still under Rigel management and not affected by strike
Esta Desgagnes - Still under Rigel management and not affected by strike
Sarah Desgagnes - Crewed by non Canadians and not affected by strike
McClearys Spirit is under charter from a separate owner and operator, and is not affected

Desgagnes and CMSG's websites are lacking any formal announcements and notices. Emails to the Guilds for clarifications have gone unanswered.

Pictures by M. Leduc, www.dieselduck.net

MV Vega Desgagnes in Montreal

George Bush is full of shi$%

2011-12-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

Some days, I have to do allot of mental exercise, coming up with a catchy title to my posts. But hey, this one was probably the easiest I've ever had to come up with.

Anyways, I came across an interesting article the other day; quite comical really. In my experience working on cruise ships, I estimate we had well over 2000 toilets, and very few problems. But only as long as you had a few good engineers in the engine room, looking after the main components, and a few good Filipino plumbers who knew the layout well, we hardly ever had ran into any major problems, not quickly addressed.

The US Navy guys on the other hand, seem to have their pants... huh, hands, full. All that, some neat gizmos, and a $6.2 billion USD, yes, billion, price tag.

Armed with this story, and these problems, someone clever might be able to make some really good jokes from their nickname, "Avenger" or their motto, "Freedom at work".

The George H. Bush, a US Navy Nimitz class aircraft carier, has recently entered active service, having been built by Northrop Grumman Newport News. Powered by two nuclear reactors, the four propulsion turbines put out, officially, 194 MW of power to the shafts. She's got a 20 year range, at 30 knots; shes also armed to the teeth... and has a slight yellowish navy Gray paint job.

Geez, I can only imagine the plumbers on my old ship "salivating" at that kind of power available, you could really get a fancy vacuum pump for that ! Anyways, below is the story, from The Register, the original story in the Navy Time is here. Here's the Bush's official DOD website.

US nuclear aircraft carrier George Bush crippled by toilet outages
Sailors drenched as bottles of piss emptied into wind
By Lewis Page, 17th November 2011

The US Navy's newest and mightiest nuclear aircraft carrier, the USS George H W Bush*, has been plagued by continual failures in its lavatories, according to reports. Sailors have been forced into increasingly desperate measures to relieve themselves.

Nov 11, 2011: USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) transits the Arabian Gulf in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn.

The Navy Times, following up initial stories of the problems appearing on blogs, quotes members of the 5,000-strong ship's complement as stating that at times there hasn't been a single working head – as lavs are known at sea – anywhere aboard the entire mighty hundred-thousand-ton warship. Reportedly the Bush is fitted with no less than 423 thrones, but it appears that problems with the suction flushing system can easily knock out large numbers of these at once – or even all of them.

According to the NT's unnamed sources, crewpersons aboard the carrier have struggled to cope with the situation. It seems that desperate sailors must often hunt for long periods to find a functioning head, and if they do discover one there may be a lengthy queue. Some of the unfortunate matelots have apparently resorted to urinating in sinks or showers, or in some cases off the towering sides of the ship (parts of it are as high above the waves as a 20-story building). The latter is a risky practice, however, as it is against regulations: at least one sailor has been put under punishment for doing so.

Other Bush crewmen have reportedly taken to the use of bottles in some private location, following which the containers are smuggled to a suitable point for surreptitious tipping overboard. Unfortunately this "can soil the side of the ship or the hangar deck, aircraft or fellow sailors, depending on how it catches the wind", the NT reports.

According to a statement supplied to the naval newspaper, there are breakdowns in the Bush's heads three or four times a day, though many of these only involve a few units and can be fixed relatively swiftly. Nonetheless the ship's engineering personnel have expended no less than 10,000 man-hours on fixing busted bogs during the carrier's current overseas deployment. It was admitted that one ship-wide breakdown required a 35-hour effort to fix, with the relevant technicians working flat out throughout with no rest.
Naval commanders blamed the problems on inappropriate objects such as clothes or feminine hygiene products being flushed down the heads.

The $6.2bn George Bush, when functioning on top line, is perhaps the most powerful warship in the world. Its air group of more than 90 planes and choppers could defeat many national air forces or navies on its own, and it can steam at a speedboat-like 30+ knots for 20 years without refuelling.

However it must be suspected that the mighty vessel's efficiency is somewhat degraded at the moment.

*41, not 43... Named not after the recent US president but his father, also president back in the early '90s, who saw combat as a carrier aviator in World War II.

Pictures from various websites.

Mate still in Jail

2011-11-29T10:10:00.001-08:00

You might recall a blog entry here, a few months back, and beyond, telling a story about a Ship's Mate, Philip Halliday. The Digby, Nova Scotia, man was working aboard the Destiny Empress (ex CCGS Parizeau), when the ship was apprehended by the Spanish navy, while at sea in international waters.

Once the ship was searched by authorities, a large quantity of cocaine was found aboard, stashed there by unknown culprits, and unbeknownst to Mr. Halliday. He is currently incarcerated in Spain, awaiting trial, since his arrest, nearly two years ago.

I've just received an update from friends of the family, highlighting that Phil remains in a Spanish jail, in poor health. They write...

" Philip has had 2 gallbladder surgeries in Spain since his arrest... he had to go through these with no family or translators. We were so hoping on Monday that they would finally release him but as you read the links below that was not to be. We now have to wait an additional 3 weeks to find out what the Judges ruling is.

Philip was first mate. He took a job aboard for a month in 2008, and told them if they ever needed him again... They did, and said the Destiny Empress would sail from the Caribbean to Spain "empty", to be sold to a German buyer. Philip boarded that boat in the Caribbean, on Nov. 16, 2009, and the boat was boarded by the Spanish on Dec. 21, 2009. "

The family, obviously, remains frustrated in their efforts to free Mr. Halliday. The latest court decision, expected to result in a release, has now been delayed another three weeks. You can read more about the latest setback here, and here. The community has rallied around the family, and staged a march in hopes of drawing attention to the case, you can read about here.

Things that go bump

2011-11-26T08:09:00.001-08:00

The Maersk Detector, a Canadian offshore supply ship, based out of St Johns Newfoundland, has sliced open one pontoons of drill rig operating off the East Coast of Canada. The GSF Grand Banks, a semi sub drilling rig, was performing drilling operations at a depth of 4000 meter, in support of Husky's White Rose project, when the ship contacted the rig.

As usual for energy companies, Maersk, Husky or the Oil Board are mum about the incident on their website, but news report state that the rig suffered a 4-5 meter gash above the water line. The rig has been made water tight, and is suspending operations, they will head towards shore to make repairs. Transocean, the owners of the rig, will advanced their planned maintenance outage, scheduled for January to coincide with repairs.

The rig is a Panamanian flagged rig, originally built in St Johns, New Brunswick, in 1984, and is classed by DNV. The Maersk Detector is operated by Maersk Supply Services, of Denmark with offices in St Johns, NF. The ship is a Maersk D-Type vessel, with a 5,470 GT; it is Canadian flagged tug / supply vessel, built in 2006. She is classed by Lloyd's and sports 18,300 hp giving her 218 t bollard pull.

More news here. Husky White Rose project here and here. More specs on the rig here, and the ship. Pictures from various online sources.

Grandiose sense of self-worth

2011-11-18T07:44:00.001-08:00

Back at work now, got back a few days ago, of course the backlog of problems are nagging at me, so I will keep this post short, "like most" you might thinking to yourself. I have been truly busy; busy home, necessary repairs, short on finances, and the kids constant grovelling - and that's just on the boat. I've been working on a new project these last few months, which I hope will interest you, Canadian marine engineers types, possibly, some from other nations too.

The project is called Blue Riband, and it is a proposition for some structural changes to our profession in Canada, which would hopefully alleviate some of the pressing human resources issues facing the industry, here in Canada, and worldwide. I intend to present these ideas in a couple of presentations at the start of the new year, via the technical meetings of the Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering, Vancouver and Vancouver Island branches. I hope to start sharing some insight on this to solicite your responses and input, in order to make the project more viable.

In the mean time, and somewhat related topic, I ran across an article on bosses... which some of you may find of interest. It relates to the corporate world, but I firmly have a clear picture of a few people I have worked with aboard various ships when I read this article...

Psychopaths in the Executive Suite
November 03, 2011 by: Shari Lifland

“Not all psychopaths are in prison. Some are in the boardroom.”—Robert D. Hare, Ph.D.

Judging by the large number of “crazy boss” articles in the mainstream business blogosphere: “How to Deal with an Evil Boss,” “Is Your Boss a Psychopath?” “The Horrible Boss Screening Test,” and so forth, one might surmise that “boss” is a synonym for “nut case.”

Does the preponderance of and fascination with these articles mean that there really are thousands of psycho leaders out there? Well, maybe.

In his latest book, The Psychopath Test, British journalist Jon Ronson investigates what he calls “the madness industry” and, specifically, the world of psychopaths. Within the general population, only 1% are psychopathic, meaning that they are so deficient in empathy and conscience that they pose a serious threat to others. Not surprisingly, among prisoners, the percentage rises to about 25%.

But here’s the really alarming part of the story: the higher up the professional and political ladder you go, the higher the percentage of psychopaths. At the upper levels of business and politics—top corporate officers, for example—nearly 4% score “extremely high” on the official “Psychopath Test.”

Before you label your boss (or congressman) a psychopath, let’s take a look at the criteria for an official diagnosis. Following are the 20 characteristics of a psychopath, taken directly from the Hare PCL-R Checklist. Developed by Canadian psychologist Robert D. Hare, the Checklist (included in Ronson’s book) is used by mental health and law enforcement professionals to diagnose psychopathy. Each item is ranked on a three-point (0-2) scale:

1. Glibness/superficial charm
2. Grandiose sense of self-worth
3. Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
4. Pathological lying
5. Conning/manipulative
6. Lack of remorse or guilt
7. Shallow affect
8. Callous/lack of empathy
9. Parasitic lifestyle
10. Poor behavioral controls
11. Promiscuous sexual behavior
12. Early behavioral problems
13. Lack of realistic long-term goals
14. Impulsivity
15. Irresponsibility
16. Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
17. Many short-term marital relationships
18. Juvenile delinquency
19. Revocation of conditional release
20. Criminal versatility

If you exhibit 15 of the 20 traits on the list and score at least 29 or 30 out of a possible 40 points, congratulations: you’re a bona fide psychopath.

To read more, click here.

Cheap on the bottom line, expensive in lives

2011-11-07T19:32:00.000-08:00

Beware of cheap, and too good to be true replacement parts and servicing. Yet again, it appears counterfeit material has made their way into the shipping industry, this time in the refrigerant used during servicing of shipping containers in Vietnam. The refrigerant reacted in the system making it combust spontaneously in the presence of air.

This type of story is nothing new to those aboard, but is has been slowly making the mainstream media, as three dock workers have been killed in Brazil and Vietnam.

You can read about the cause from Lloyd's List below. Here, here, and here are some media stories on the subject - mostly focusing on the economic impacts of the crisis, estimated to affect 1000 containers, predominately operated by Maersk, and some by CGM CMA. Here's a news report from Seattle discussing the obvious... "hey there's a potential bomb all over the container yards".

Cheap substitute refrigerant could have led to reefer explosions
Monday 07 November 2011, by Sylvia Traganida

Consultant Cambridge Refrigeration Technology is assisting Maersk Line with its investigation.

A COUNTERFEIT refrigerant containing methyl chloride is the most likely cause of the explosions in the reefer containers that killed three men who were carrying out maintenance and repairs, and has forced Maersk Line and CMA CGM to ground their reefer boxes.

According to consultants Cambridge Refrigeration Technology, which is assisting Maersk Line with its investigation, material recovered from the exploded units has been analysed and has been found to be corroded by a chlorinated compound. Traces of alumina were also found at the sites.

The methyl chloride contained in the allegedly counterfeit refrigerant blend, which had been added to the systems, reacted with the aluminium in the compressor forming trimethyl aluminium, a liquid at room temperature which ignites spontaneously on contact with air, water and halogenated hydrocarbons.

“The counterfeit refrigerant is labelled as HFC-134a and is being unwittingly added by repairers to refrigeration systems. In fact it is probably a mixture of cheaper gases blended to give the same vapour pressure,” Cambridge Refrigeration Technology said.

The company added that lines need to make sure that refrigerant comes from certified sources and is tested for the presence of chlorine.

"The envelope please..."

2011-10-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

Unless you've been hiding under a rock this past day, you are surely aware that the Canadian government has announced the results of their search for two Canadian shipyard to build major vessels, military and civilian (Coast Guard), for the Canadian government. The Conservative government in June 2010 announced a strategy to get much needed shipbuilding underway under the auspice of the National Ship Procurement Strategy (NSPS).

The military "work package" consisting of 21 vessels expecting to cost about 25 billion dollars was awarded to Halifax / Irving Shipyards, on the East Coast of Canada. The coast guard work package of 7 ships, expecting to cost 8 billion dollars, was awarded to Seaspan, on the West Coast of Canada.

This deal does not mean that steel cutting starts automatically, but it does means that that these two shipyards can now draw up plans and contract for each of the ships, without having all the hassles of trying to submit "lowest bids" and dealing with many layers of bureaucracy and politics. It is expected that the contracts for the first batch of ships will be drawn up shortly, by Christmas, for the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships and the fisheries research vessels.

The government has also set aside 2 billion dollars, for the other shipyards to compete on, to build 116 other smaller vessels for the Navy and Coast Guard, which Seaspan and Irving will not be able to compete for. The deal does not mean it is set it set in stone, but all parties seem to agree that this strategy is, although being much delayed, is a sound one that hopefully will get steel cut quickly and successfully. The process has been applauded for its fairness, with even the federal NDP shipbuilding critic supporting the process, and applauding the government.

There is an additional expectation of the government to spend about $500 million dollars per year on maintenance of the fleets, which all shipyards can compete for, including Seaspan and Irving.

The media was quick to characterize this as a major blow to central Canada in particular Quebec, but lets be real here, Davie shipyard still has three unfinished ships languishing in its yard resulting from their ongoing bankrupcies. No matter what the outcome was going to be, there was bound to be public "outcry" from one region. But as many pundits point out, the bulk of the ships might be built in Halifax or Vancouver, but a great deal of the hull and what goes inside comes from across Canada and in particular from the central region, so it is a good announcement for Canada.

The cost might seem large, and it is, but considering the absence of so many years of shipbuilding foresight, and new ships, led to a major backlog in need. One must also remember the time line of 25-30 years is considerable - so in perspective this might be the one of the single biggest procurement announcement in Canada, but it is for real assets, over a long period of time. I just hope once and for all, the Navy and Coast Guard will have reliable and realistic timetables for ship replacements.

All in all, great news for all of us in the Canadian marine industry, finally a plan that looks to the future where workers and shipyards can make plans on, and government fleets can be replaced on schedule instead of wasting money making patchwork repairs.

Other post on NSPS, reactions here.

Another day another MSC ship aground

2011-10-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

MSC is, once again, at the centre of a maritime accident, this time the the ship is the MV Rena, off the coast of New Zealand; I am sure you are aware of it by now, its still an interesting story.

The ship is officially owned by Daina Shipping of Greece, part of Costamare. According to the press release...

" The RENA was built in 1990, and has a deadweight of 47,230. At the time of the incident the RENA was carrying 1,351 containers. The operators of the vessel are Costamare Shipping Company S.A. (a dedicated containership operator with over 35 years of experience in the shipping industry), while Ciel Shipmanagement S.A are the technical managers. "

The ship is hard aground and listing precariously, they have lost containers over the side, with many of them washing ashore. The hull has cracked, and authorities report state that 380 tons of heavy fuel has leaked from the ship, and made its way onto nearby beaches, outside Tauranga, New Zealand. There is significant impact on the area's wildlife. Svitzer salvage is on site, according to reports, and drawing up a salvage plan.

It is clear from the various media organization and bloggers in New Zealand, that this is clearly considered a major catastrophe for the island nation. There is report that the Filipino community in the area, is being harassed due the grounding. Typically, on deep sea ships, the Filipino crew are generally all ratings, relatively far removed from navigation decisions, but that is besides the point, and shows how strong the feelings are there following the accident.

The public outrage, rightly so, has led to Costamare issuing a very public apology to the people of the area, see below. The ship was chartered to MSC at the time, and MSC, one of the largest container ship operator in the world, is quick to point out in trade publications that it bears no responsibility - of course they don't...

The MV Rena was classed under ABS, and flew the Liberian flag, it was most recently held in detention in Freemantle, by Australian Port State Control (PSC) inspectors, in July 2011, for no less than 17 deficiencies. The items are far more than just the typical certificate issues, a considerable amount of deficiencies in the engineering spaces, and numerous in the navigation, on top of the usual certificate issues.

All point to a very good job done by the Australian, at identifying a problem ship... unfortunately, we are all to familiar with the quick band aid solutions that are then applied by the company to release its ship. But one could say that the PSC inspector in Australia, called it right, in particular with "safety of navigation" deficiencies. Less than three months later, the ship would run aground at full speed.

Although the detention in Freemantle was the first in the ship's history, it has a long history of deficiencies during PSC inspections. There is a noticeable increase in deficiencies starting 2006, with no less than 39 deficiencies in 11 PSC inspections since then.

Around 2005, the ship was bought by the Offer Brothers of Israel, and run under various names, including Adaman Sea and ZIM America, for ZIM Israel. In late 2010, another name change occurred, with the new owners Daina Shipping of Greece, taking over.

Costamare has issued various Press Releases, regarding the accident, on their website. You can find some great pictures of the calamity here, including the one posted above, by Mike Hewitt of Getty Images. You can visit the Maritime New Zealand's website, for an up to date report of the clean up and salvage efforts.

You can see the first press conference from Maritime New Zealand, which is an interesting study in public relations, knowing how different the situation ended up being quickly after. The ship is now nearly broken in half, and the weather has picked up - there is no obvious easy solution. This will be a major casualty. The Captain, who was celebrating his 44th birthday the day of the grounding, has been criminally charged, as well as the OOW.

You can read previous entries on MSC, made on this blog, surprise, surprise, dealing with similar situations.

MV Rena
Previous names: Andaman Sea, Zim America
IMO Number: 8806802
Flag: Liberia
Owner: Daina Shipping (Costamare of Greece)
Manager: Ciel Ship management Athens, Greece
Chartered to: MSC
Class society: American Bureau Of Shipping
Builder: Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft Kiel, Germany
Speed recorded (Max / Average): 17.7 / 17 knots
Main engine: 8RTA76
Build year: 1990
Vessell type: Container Ship
Hull: Double, Dry Cargo
Maximum TEU capacity: 3351
Gross tonnage: 37,209 tons
Summer Dead Weight: 47,230 tons
Handling equipment: (swl 6,1 Tons)
LOA (Length Overall): 235
Beam: 32

Capt. Seog's actions recognized by IMO

2011-10-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

2011 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea to go to piracy survivor
From the latest IMO News Magazine

The 2011 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea will be awarded to Captain Seog Hae-gyun of the Republic of Korea, Master of the chemical tanker Samho Jewelry. He was nominated by the Government of the Republic of Korea for his heroic actions to keep his vessel and crew safe, while suffering vicious assaults, following a hijack by pirates off the coast of Somalia.

The Council agreed that Captain Seog displayed truly extraordinary bravery and concern for his crew after his ship was hijacked in the Indian Ocean in January 2011, going far beyond the call of duty, at great risk and danger to himself. With the pirates onboard, Captain Seog steered the vessel away from the Somali coast, watered down the fuel to prevent combustion, pretended the steering gear was not working properly and reduced the vessel’s speed. He also managed, surreptitiously, to communicate information to naval forces, which facilitated a dramatic raid by commandos from the Republic of Korea’s destroyer Choi Young. As a result, all 21 crew members were rescued. During the hijack, Captain Seog was subject to a number of assaults, causing fractures to his legs and shoulders. He was later shot twice in the abdomen and once in the upper thigh, required several surgical operations and almost lost his life.

Of the other nominees or groups of nominees, eight will receive Certificates of Commendation and eleven, Letters of Commendation. In addition, special certificates are to be awarded to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCCs) Falmouth (United Kingdom) and Stavanger (Norway) for their contribution, on several occasions, to search and rescue operations unfolding in distant areas, far away from their respective countries’ SAR regions, and for their dedicated performance over many years.

A total of 38 nominations from 14 Member States and one non-governmental organization in consultative status with IMO were received. The award ceremony will be held on Monday 21 November, the first day of IMO’s biennial Assembly meeting.

The events on the Samho Jewelry took place back at the beginning of the year. It would appear that the Captain was shot by the pirates, but, also by the rescuing Naval team sent in for the rescue. The Capt is pictured smiling and recovering, a couple months after his scary ordeal. I wish him all the best, for a full recovery.

Here's a little more about the MV Samho Jewelry. You can read more about the Captain's ordeal here, here and here.

News reports state the Somali Pirates have issued statements that in the future, Korean hostages will be executed, or transferred deep inland, in Somalia. (Gulp...)

Strike averted in Seaway

2011-10-03T05:46:00.002-07:00

The St Lawrence Seaway has just reached a deal with its employees, avoiding a strike by its workers, planned to start by noon today. The Canadian Auto Workers union, CAW, represents 475 workers of the seaway, had issued a 72 hours strike notice to the Seaway authority last Friday. But the CBC is reporting that a deal has been reach, and the strike averted, about four hours before the deadline.

I was just thinking to myself, the other day, how impressive a port operation is. Montreal for instance is massive, and the countless ships that silently come and go, carry massive amounts of cargo. There was so many ships moving in the harbour, we were delayed 4 hours, waiting for a Harbour Pilot the other day.

Ports are major economic engines, and shipping allows a great deal of the countries goods to be moved around efficiently. The seaway extends the capability of ships to reach many other ports, all around the St Lawrence, and all over the Great Lakes, deep into the heart of Canada and the US.

With Canada's conservative government desperately wishing to cozy up to the US's policies, I suspected they would have once again legislate the workers back to work, should they have gone on strike. I realize everyone should have the right to work, but taking away collective bargaining rights is just wrong. I suspect this government's stance was a contributory factor to a limited extent.

Obviously the Union was using the threat of strike as a bargaining tool, as the sides were evidently not too far apart. Probably why the government was oddly quiet. Strange also, the seaway was considerably busy, considering the strike notice.

The CAW is 200,000 members strong, but the maritime component(s), including the Seaway's workers, represents less then 1% of the membership. Here's a little more info on the negotiations.

Pictures form various internet sources.

Earning Heaven, one major appliance at a time !

2011-09-29T12:30:00.003-07:00

This is a letter to my technical superintendent, that I wrote the other day. He did not ask for it, but I assumed he would have, after seeing the bill for three laundry dryers. It exemplifies how the simple things ashore, like doing laundry, are just so much more complicated on a ship.

" Like all things on board this vessel, a seemingly simple, straightforward task, turned out to be a very labour intensive, costly, painful and thoroughly unsatisfying experience. The task was to replace a very noisy and worn out dryer in the officer bathroom, the only one on board.

The day started at about 8 am, with the complete dismantling of the old dryer and removal of it, from the space; no easy feat considering the maximum door and bulkhead clearance of only 22 inches wide by 22 inches long. By the time the space was cleared, Dave, our friendly ship chandler showed up with the dryer the previous crew had ordered. I proceeded to unpack it, and take it apart completely.

Once the components were all apart, they were hauled up to the officer deck, where the welded construction of the basic frame proved problematic. So, chisel in hand, the welds were broken, and the base finally squeezed into the officer bathroom. As I was putting it together, it occurred to me that the dryer appeared bigger than the one that came out. With measuring tape in hand, and many colourful expletive, the awful truth was plain to see, the dryer width was 2 inches too wide, to fit into the tight space available.

So, everything was then taken back down the main deck, the frame was refastened with rivets, the dryer rebuild to its original shape, and a call to our chandler, requesting a smaller 27 inch wide max dryer, was made.

In the mean time, the smaller "high efficiency" washer, ordered for the crew bathroom to replace the broken one there, was also on deck; so we started on that project.. Like the upper deck, the door sizes are maximum 22 inches wide (with the door removed), so the old unit was dismantled in the bathroom, and cart off through the engine room piece by piece and out onto the deck. The new washer was, thankfully, slightly "thinner" and gave us about one inch of play, with only taking the front off and several assemblies; a very fortunate state because these machine are very complicated inside.

Once inside the bathroom, we felt somewhat prideful, "eh! something going our way", relatively easy... for once. Well, that feeling was short lived. After putting the unit back together, and placing it in its proper spot, we spent over one hours trouble shooting why the machine would not work. It would appear that the water temperature sensor would be buggered, and giving an out of range reading, the controls does not allow the machine to work without it.

So with another, "failure to launch" under our belt, we started tackling the second dryer that had, by that time, arrived on the dock. With tape measure in hand, double checking the sizes of the new unit, we felt pretty good that this might actually work.

The new dryer was almost identical in the construction and shape of the one that had come out. So we proceeded to take that dryer apart on the back deck, this dryer was obviously very cheaply built, and after quite a few cuts from the paper thin sheet metal, and many colourful descriptions of Chinese craftsman skills, we finally got the base of the dryer into the officer bathroom upstairs, and rebuilding was underway.

The largest component of the dryer is the drum, and as it turns out, this drum, although being nearly identical to the previous one, was slightly bigger, by about one inch in diameter, and about one inch in length. Try as we might, that piece would not fit through the main door, so the bearing assembly was taken out, then the door, but alas once we got it in the accommodations, it would not fit through the bathroom door. So once again, all the piece were taken back down, and the machine reassembled on the back deck, with the ship chandler already called to pick up to return it. At this point, 8 pm, I am pretty exhausted and thoroughly defeated by this dryer and washer, and much worst off then when we started the day.

I cannot see any way to order a new dryer via normal purchasing channels, all the factors to gauge are, obviously, difficult to communicate - no welded construction, max widths (I thought that was standard at 26-27 inches) and a max drum size, depending on its appendages.

My hope, is to go in person, tape measure in hand, looking for one at our next port, and try to find something that will fit. In the mean time, the ship chandler has two new dryers which look good, and have never been used, but unfortunately have had every piece inside taken apart and moved around, and a bit of blood left on them. How to deal with the monetary aspect, I think is best left to your judgment.

The new washer, I kept on board, because I was burnt out and did not want to take it apart to move again, since we have another washer. I followed up with the Whirlpool people the next day, on their 1 800 customer service phone number, and the chap on the other end vehemently told me that machine does not have a Water Temperature Sensor. The machine though, tells me otherwise, and I can plainly see the sensor, and its failed Ohm reading. I have followed up with another parts supplier, and he assures me a new part is available, actually, 13 in all of North America. I have placed a rush requisition for one of these in our purchasing system.

When this saga ends with a properly working dryer on board, the cost will have probably rivalled a NASA dryer, but be that as it may, it is very difficult to deal with the ship's welded structures. However, with 11 men working aboard and one working washing machine, I doubt NASA will be able to match our ship's interesting interior decor. "

Danger, what danger

2011-09-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

The beauty of working in the maritime field is that there is always something new to learn about. The other day I heard about the German Rescue Tug Nordic; so, nothing new here, its another tug, big deal, you might say. Well this one is pretty technologically advance, because of what it can do, in what situation.

By now, we've learn to built some pretty powerful tugs that can operate in some pretty nasty weather conditions. We've also learned to make sure crews are safe and secure while performing their tasks; and some have even learned that a comfortable crew is also good. - so your saying to yourself, what's the big deal with the Nordic. With a bollard pull of just over 200 tons, and a massive size to handle any seas, the Nordic would be impressive enough if it wasn't for the fact that it can work within an explosive or even toxic atmosphere.

Ever since I heard of the Deepwater Horizon and the engines cutting out, due to the gas rich environment around them, I've been wondering about how they could have prevented that power failure. Why was the rig so vulnerable, even though it is far likely for this condition to occur on a rig, how can it be that engineers had not designed something better.

"Brown, for instance, says he heard a hissing noise, and gas alarms, before the explosion. The rig’s engines, which supplied power for all its operations, had begun to rev out of control."

Comments by Second Engineer, on board the drill rig Deepwater Horizon, from congressional testimony. CSmonitor.com

Having had a steady power supply throughout the the ordeal on board Deepwater Horizon may not have save the disaster from happening, but when you have a steady power supply, you certainly increase your options for response.

The two MTU 8000 propulsion engines, and the two MTU 2000 engines providing electrical power for the Nordic are designed, and tested, to operate in a toxic and explosive environment. The technical specification and systems to make this happen are, in my mind, astounding. I wont repeat what's already written in MTU promotional material, but you can judge for yourself by reading it here, and here. One part of the problem, you have to make sure all your intake, exhaust, surface, etc, etc, temperatures are cooled below 135 degree Celsius - easy to do, eh!

The technology involved in this ship is mind boggling, and not just in the engine room either. The whole accommodation is a safe area, with its own fresh air supply, designed to last 8 hours in a toxic / hostile environment, using a Citadel concept.

When I read the promotional material from the companies involved in this project, you also get a sense of a different attitude towards the crew. You might call it "progressive". For instance have a look at the pictures, not too many gray hairs in there, the master must be all of 35 years old. Have a look at the accommodations stats...

" Accommodation is provided for a crew of 12 and a ‘boarding’ team of four in 16 single cabins and 12 apprentices in six double berth cabins. The cabins for the Captain and Chief Engineer include a lounge and office and are located along with the other officers’ cabins on ‘C’ deck, just below the bridge.

Provision is made for four supernumeraries that may include owner’s representatives, instructors or similar personnel. Separate dayrooms are provided for the officers and crew, and other facilities include mess and dinning areas, a large galley and pantry, a treatment room, hospital, a conference/recreation/classroom, changing rooms and extensive dry and frozen storage arrangements. A dedicated garbage area enables refuse to be stored for disposal ashore. "

This paragraph is just part of an excellent article detailing the many features of Nordic, which can be found here.

Notice anything that seem a bit unusual for a modern shipping company, never mind a tug outfit. Cadet berths, training room, accommodations for instructors, who are these people? and what are they thinking! Granted its a government contract... but still. The managing company, Bugsier based out of Hamburg, Germany (yes, that country with social medicine and other civil measure that treat workers like humans, that are apparently too expensive an too generous to succeed in other jurisdictions) even proclaim that workers are valuable, on their home page! ...and more importantly, go on to back up that statement.

" Easily getting qualified personnel for a towing company can not be taken for granted. Working routines on tugs differ significantly from those on merchant vessels. Towing operations ask for a combination of expertise and experience. Therefore all important functions on our vessels are staffed with in-house trained and educated ratings.

The company’s training department and the training quality is second to none in Germany thus safeguarding Bugsier’s ultimate professional quality for the long term. "

How can this be, a tug company training people, thinking about the future and providing their people with the best tools possible, and in today's "financial world". Heresy, they will crash and burn, the accountants and MBAs will not allow this blasphemy to continue. Oh wait, they've been doing it for the last 145 years.

I digressed a little there, sorry about that. But I get worked up when I see "crap", and we are asked to put up with it because other things are not "possible". Everything is possible, you just have to see more that the next quarter in advance, or your own personal limits. Possible is not always easy. Those committed to strong ideals of personal gain, well, you'll have to go now, your system does not work, and those committed to strong ideals of quality and progression must retake their rightful place in leadership.

You can read more details about this amazing vessel, and its work, here.

MV Nordic

IMO : 9525962
Vessel type : Salvage / Rescue Vessel
Owner : Bugsier, Fairplay Towage and Unterweser – joined by Wiking Helikopter
Under contract to German Government for 10 years
Manager : Bugsier
Flag : Germany
Class : Germanischer Lloyd, 100 A5 IW TUG MC AUT
Build year : 2010
Builder : Ps Werften Wolgast, Wolgast, Germany
Breadth : 16,40 m
Draft : 6,00 m
Gross Tonnage : 3374 t
DWT : 2115
Length overall : 78,00 m
Bollard Pull : 201 t
Speed : 19,90 kn
Bunker Capacity : 1050 m³
Propulsion : 2x MTU 20V8000 M71L GSB (8600kW Normal Operation, 4000kW in gas protected operation)
Propulsion Type : Reduction Gear with 2 Berg CPP
Electrical : 2x shaft generator (2000kVa), 2x MTU 2000 (1350kVa) 1x Harbour Generator (350kVa), 1x Emergency Generator (125kVa)
Thrusters : 2 bow, 1 stern (800kW each)
Plus, plus, plus...

Pictures from various internet sources. More.

Two killed in engine room fire

2011-09-17T17:33:00.001-07:00

The MV Nordly drama continues to unfold in Alesund, Norway. The ship was reported rocked by an explosion, which occurred shortly after 9 am on September 15th, 2011, in the engine room of the 11,204 GT cruise ferry ship. The ship is operated by Norway based Hurtigruten (aka Norwegian Coastal Express), but is owned by Bergen based Kirberg Shipping, a company backed by the Odfjell ship-owning family.

The fire, described by the local fire chief as "big and intense" has killed 2 persons, presumably engine room crew members, and sent another 12 to hospital, two of them with serious injuries. The ship's 207 passengers, and 55 crew members, were evacuated "in an organized and orderly" manner, shortly after the start of the emergency, 100 by lifeboat, the rest when the ship reached the dock in Alesund.

The fire, contained to the engine room, was brought under control, after 12 hrs, by local fire brigade, and specialized firefighting / salvage teams from SMIT in Holland.

A "mysterious hole" was found in behind the stabilizer, apparently unrelated to the fire, flooding two of the ship's hold, causing a severe list to port. News report say the flooding has been brought under control, and the vessel has regained most of its even keel. Police have been aboard and are investigating, and news report state the police are unconvinced that an explosion occurred.

The 12,000 hp, DNV classed Nordlys was built in Germany in 1994, and is powered by twin MaK 6M552 engines on variable pitched propellers. It operates on the Bergen - Kirkenes route, covering nearly the entire western coast of Norway in seven days. It has a capacity for 691 passengers, 55 crew members and 50 cars. The ship is expected to be towed to nearby Fiskerstrand shipyard, for repairs. The ship has two sister ship in operation for the same company.

Video and pictures from various internet sources. The company has posted contact information for those affected by this event here. Here, here and here are more articles on the event. You can see more pics here.

Update - Sept 18, 2011

Dead, are 18-year-old Marine Engineer Apprentice, Steffen Ulvatne, ten days into his apprenticeship, and came from Honningsvag in Finnmark, and 57-year-old Geir Terje Isaksen of Tverlandet outside Bodø, who was Chief Engineer of the MV Nordlys, he leaves three children behind. More.

My sincerest condolences to their family.

Two other men, aged 54 and 28 years old, remain in Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, with severe fire and smoke damage. The ship has been stabilized, recovered from 22 degree list it precariously laid, alongside, in Alesund harbour. Salvage of the contents of the vessel has now begun.

More Pictures on scene.

Fall is here, now get to work !

2011-09-17T15:42:00.005-07:00

Whoooaaa what a long time between posts! A whole month.

Yes, the later part of the summer in BC was absolutely gorgeous, which went very well with all the family activities that occurred during my last time off - weddings, BBQs, birthday parties, road trip, etc. These websites are of course my hobby, so unfortunately for my regular visitors, that meant a lack of new stuff, here especially.

Well, the kids are back in schools now, and I caught the "red eye" flight to Quebec City a few days ago, joining the ship, for a load of Jet Fuel to Montreal. The weather is certainly allot cooler here, then when I left in mid august, which is welcomed and refreshing. I did not neglect the entire site during my last month home. I got a chance to upload a new update on the main site just last week, do have a look, especially if you are a fan a of Detroit Diesel; I uploaded an article of their history in the Historical area.

You might noticed some unusual formatting this time, I recently purchase a new web authoring software and I just learned enough to get the update "out the door". I hope to learn more, soon, and rebuild the site to a modern standard - frames just don't cut it! My old software was just getting too buggy and causing me lots of headaches; unfortunately that means an extra tax on my time to learn the new program, so don't be surprise by the lack of new stuff aboard.

Enjoy the fall season.

Users and dealers

2011-08-16T11:00:00.001-07:00

Lately we've been seeing quite a few reports of incidents caused by improper switching of fuel when entering Emission Control Areas (ECA), which a new one seems to be popping up just about every week now. Mechanical issues are obviously a problem that will come up more frequently, when you are making these types of far reaching decisions. There is bound to be some equipment and people that are not all on the same page.

I read of the various scrubbers and technologies being developed to fit into the various types of ship. Introducing a wide swath of new technology, procedures, chemicals etc, will undoubdetly create even more interesting situations aboard ships, hopefully not too many at inopportune times. Its great to see inovation and progress, but it strikes me as being an awfully silly exercise.

I've thinking about this whole low sulphur fuel push, which I believe is a good step for our collective global health, but I think the whole issue might be a bit misguided, well at least the implementation of change.

As Chief Engineer, I now have to fill several more legal documents such as records of Low Sulphur Fuel received, Switching Over Record, Fuel Sample Tracking and on and on. If the Oil Record Book, and the criminalization of seafarers that followed the ongoing scrutiny authorities have paying to this record is any indication, we can expect one hell of a legal bonanza against seafarers. The sudden multiplication of these types of records, and as a consequence, the potential mistakes made in maintaining these records, and the drastic sanctions they expose us on board are a cause for concern in my mind.

All this points to a silly way to deal with a problem, akin to going after drug user, and not doing anything about the drug dealer. I don't understand why the shipping industry has to bear the brunt of this responsibility to clean up emission. It would seem to me to be more logical to modify the fuel before it makes it onboard. Why do we have to force the marine industry, and about 50,000 ships worldwide, to make major capital investment, creating vast new regulatory bureaucracy, and more opportunity for failure at the shipboard level? It's great that equipment suppliers, the office and enforcement types are getting a great deal out of this, but lets face it, its just so inefficient.

Why not instead treat the fuel at the refinery level; take out the sulphur (etc.) at this level. Seems to me that the research and technology dollar would go the furthest at this level, with a broader impact on the overall environmental goals. There is less than one thousand refineries, probably far less that produce fuel specific for shipping, it would therefore be much simpler step to implement and produce a more predictable result, and a smaller bureaucracy and enforcement overall. We see this philosophy happening with Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD) for vehicle use, and how this is being implemented across the globe now; why not adopt this format for heavier fuel.

Pics from internet sources.

No holiday in Spain

2011-08-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have heard of the name, Phil Halliday. If it seems like that name is familiar, but seems from long ago, you are correct, it has been a long time since the name was first mentioned in the media 18 months ago. Phil was a fisherman from Digby, Nova Scotia, who, after a brief voyage to the Caribbean on the retired Coast Guard ship Parizeau, was asked if he would return to work on the ship, to deliver it to new German owners, across the Atlantic. For $200 bucks a day, and a neat adventure, he happily re-joined for the trans Atlantic trip.

Unfortunately for him, the Spanish Navy intercepted the Destiny Empress far at sea, in December 2009, and found well over $400 million dollars of cocaine aboard. The ship and the drugs were confiscated, and the crew was jailed in Spain. Phil, in addition to dealing with medical problems, has been moved around Spanish jails, and has yet to to see a court date set for his trial.

The family is pleading for the Canadian government's assistance, but lets face it, our government has a tough time respecting the sovereignty of its citizen abroad on a good day, never mind that of a sailors on a "coke boat".

In hopes of influencing some action on the file, the family back in Digby, is asking for your help in raising awareness, and signing a petition to draw attention to this case.

The former captain of the vessel, who was reportedly not on board at the time, but was implicated in the sting, was acquitted of the charges against him. You can read more here, here and here. Here's a little more about the Parizeau and the Destiny Empress, pics and comments on her, on her way to being scrapped. You can sign the petition here.

Welcome home Mariner

2011-08-05T11:02:00.007-07:00

Canada's newest ship, is fully loaded with its first cargo of iron ore, and proceeding up the St Lawrence Seaway onto Hamilton. We passed the Algoma Mariner shortly before lunch today, just upstream of Quebec City.

A new ship is always an impressive sight, especially since it is so rare in these parts. The ship's genesis came about a few years back, when Algoma decided to rebuilt two older ship, using the same stern, but putting on new fore bodies. With the first ship, the Algobay, everything went smooth and as planned. With the Algoport, things went sour, when she sank on her tow to China. With the fore body already built, and waiting at the shipyard, and an subsequent insurance payout, Algoma found it favourable to build a new stern section, and complete a whole new ship.

The new ship was completed by the Chengxi Shipyard Co, situated on the Yangtze River in China, on May 31, 2011. The shipyard located in Jiangyin city, Jiangsu province, built 26 similar ships in 2010.

With a refuelling stop in the Philippines and Panama, the Mariner transited the Panama canal, and made her way to Port Cartier in Quebec, to load her first cargo, iron ore, bound for the steel mills in Hamilton, Ontario. The self unloading bulk carrier is expected in Hamilton, late afternoon of August 8, 2011, where she try her unloading gear for the first time.

Pictured above, by yours truly, taken this morning on the St Lawrence; below, from Algoma Central Corp. You can find the official press release from Algoma here, with interesting comments, boasting the crew accommodations standards - mmmm. Here's another news bit. You can find tons of pictures from the shipyard, and its journey home on Mariner Project blog.

Algoma Mariner
IMO: 9587893
Call Sign: CFN5517
Owner : Algoma Central Corporation
Operator : Seaway Marine Transport
Delivered : May 31, 2011
Shipyard : Chengxi Shipyard Co, Jiangyin, China
Class : Lloyd's Register - SOLAS, UMS
Flag : Canada
Type : Self discharging bulk carrier
Lenght : 740' (225.564 m)
Breadth : 78' (23.7 m)
Depth : 49' (14.9m)
Gross Tonnage : 32,000
Cargo Capacity : six cargo holds, 35,500 DWT
Machinery : (?) 1x 2 stroke slow speed, with CPP
Speed recorded (Max / Average): 16.9 / 16.4 knots

Update, August 09 - Professional Mariner Magazine just released a short story on the final tow of the Algoport and what happened, from the tug's perspective.

Wit = α + βxit + εit.

2011-07-31T08:00:00.002-07:00

I haven't read Time magazine for quite a while. They were (are) just getting a little too rag-like, focusing on celebrities and such. But the other day, I came across an excellent piece from their magazine, which certainly summarize my feelings about the world of business, which shipping certainly is now - big business.

The piece is called "Driven off the road by M.B.A.s" by author Rana Foroohar, written earlier this month. Like most American media "news", the article is selling something, in this case, its a book on the article's subject matter, by ex auto executive Bob Lutz. Regardless of that angle, the article, and I imagine the book, certainly feels mighty right from my point of view. You can find the article here, and the text is below. A definition of what an M.B.A. can be found here.

Driven off the Road by M.B.A.s
By Rana Foroohar, Time Magazine, July 10, 2011

Bob Lutz (pictured right), the former Vice Chairman of General Motors, is the most famous also-ran in the auto business. In the course of his 47-year rampage through the industry, he's been within swiping range of the brass ring at Ford, BMW, Chrysler and, most recently, GM, but he's never landed the top gig. It's because he "made the cars too well," he says. It might also have something to do with the fact that Maximum Bob, who could double as a character on Mad Men, is less an éminence grise than a pithy self-promoter who has a tendency to go off corporate message. That said, his new book, Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business, has a message worth hearing. To get the U.S. economy growing again, Lutz says, we need to fire the M.B.A.s and let engineers run the show.

Lutz's main argument is that companies, shareholders and consumers are best served by product-driven executives. In his book, Lutz wisecracks his way through the 1960s design- and technology-led glory days at GM to the late-1970s takeover by gangs of M.B.A.s. Executives, once largely developed from engineering, began emerging from finance. The results ranged from the sobering (managers signing off on inferior products because customers "had no choice") to the hilarious (Cadillac ashtrays that wouldn't open because of corporate mandates that they be designed to function at -40°F). It's pretty easy to imagine Car Guy Lutz removing his mirrored shades and shouting to the cowering line manager, "Well, customers in North Dakota will be happy. Too bad nobody else will!"

The auto industry is actually a terrific proxy for a trend toward short-term, myopically balance-sheet-driven management that has infected American business. In the first half of the 20th century, industrial giants like Ford, General Electric, AT&T and many others were extremely consumer-focused. They spent most of their time and money using new technologies to create the best possible products and services, regardless of development cost. The idea was, if you build it better, the customers will come. And they did.

The pendulum began to swing in the postwar era, when Harvard Business School grad Robert McNamara and his "whiz kids" became famous for using mathematical modeling, game theory and complex statistical analysis for the Army Air Corps, doing things like improving fuel-transport times and scheduling more-efficient bombing raids. McNamara, who later became president of Ford, brought extreme number crunching to the business world, and soon the idea that "if you can measure it, you can manage it" took hold — and no wonder. By the late 1970s, M.B.A.s were flourishing, and engineers were relegated to the geek back rooms.

This is not to say that the Whiz Kidding of American business yielded no positives; things like the hyperefficient FedEx logistical hubs and the entire consulting industry were born out of it. But ultimately, moving numbers around can do only so much. Over the long haul, you've got to invent or improve real products and services to grow.

In the U.S., the growth of the financial industry has only exacerbated the trend toward balance-sheet-driven management. Companies everywhere, but particularly in the U.S., where the banking sector wields the most power, are under tremendous short-term pressure to make their quarterly numbers. This often leads to planning that's reactive rather than smart: force the highest-paid engineers to retire, even if they are the best, and reduce payroll costs across all divisions rather than invest in the ones that are pushing the New New Thing through the pipeline.

It's interesting to note that the one area of the U.S. economy that's adding jobs and increasing productivity and wealth is also the one that is the most relentlessly product- and consumer-focused: Silicon Valley. The company off Highway 101 that best illustrates this point is, of course, Apple. The only time Apple ever lost the plot was when it put the M.B.A.s in charge. As long as college dropout Steve Jobs is in the driver's seat, customers (and shareholders) are happy. The reason is clearly the one Lutz puts forward in his book: "Shoemakers should be run by shoe guys, and software firms by software guys."

Meanwhile, despite all the post-financial-crisis soul searching within the business community about the value of an M.B.A., schools are still churning them out. There are, and will be for the foreseeable future, a lot more bean counters than engineers in this country. But the same may soon be true in China, where the state plans to open 40 new graduate schools of business in the next few years. As Lutz puts it, "That's the best news I've heard in years."

Read the original article here

Incidentally the author of the above piece, has also written another interesting article for Newsweek magazine, entitled "The Joys of Economics", which introduces "Happiness Economics".

If you read the above you might get the feeling "...of course, that makes sense", which is always a nice feeling. But more importantly, that rejecting this "digging for the bottom of the barrel for the last quarter of cent profit", devoid of any semblance of a moral compass, is not the sole reason for our existence. I take comfort in knowing that others around me, think that having some backbone, and taking pride in providing a real product, mindful of quality and longevity is not a worthless endeavour. Not only is it worthwhile, but also brings happiness, even to lowly engineers aboard ships.

You might be wondering what the title of this post represents, I like to make it catchy, and this one is actually the formula for measuring happiness, or as Wikipedia states it -

"Micro-econometric happiness equations have the standard form:

W it = α + βx it + ε it

.

In this equation

W

is the reported well-being of individual

i

at time

t

, and

x

is a vector of known variables, which include socio-demographic and socioeconomic characteristics."

Graphics from various internet sources.

Your thoughts on MarPol

2011-07-26T08:00:00.004-07:00

The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) is requesting your kind participation in an environmental survey they are currently conducting. They summarize their objectives with the following...

"The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers is a 117 year old professional Society based in the northeast US with 9,000 plus members. We are an international Society with active sections who host a number of events designed to stimulate professional development, technical content, and the interest of our members.

We publish academic and contemporary business works, manage a portfolio of scholarships and research, and are growing a modern web presence to deliver services to members and information to the public.

One of our Technical and Research Panels, EC-7, is studying environmental management in the martime industry. We have developed a survey for the purpose of determining environmental awareness on various issues both within and outside the maritime community.

The aim of the survey is manifold, but hopefully we will be able to answer questions such as:

1. What are environmental perceptions within and outside the maritime community?
2. How much is the public aware of the maritime industry’s environmental practices?
3. Is there sufficient training for operating environmental equipment?
4. Are things getting better or worse?

The survey can be found here.

We would appreciate it if you could take the survey, but even more importantly also send the survey on to people you know within and outside the marine industry and ask them to complete the survey as well. The greater the number and variety of responders we collect, the greater the effectiveness of this effort.

We hope to get responses from people such as high schoolers, teachers, candlestick makers and policy makers from all over the world.

The survey is fully anonymous and cannot match responses with actual people. Thank you in advance and we look forward to providing you with the results of the survey."

Who's the busiest person at the Davie Shipyard...

2011-07-22T15:41:00.011-07:00

...the answer is... its a three way tie between the lawyer's office, bankruptcy court and the sign shop. That's a tough call to make! At this point, one might say the sign shop is now the busiest, with the latest twist in the saga of Davie Shipyard in Quebec City.

While politician, up until very recently, were extolling the populist virtues of promising even more money to that ferret, Gary Bettman, and his merry band of ultra quazillionaires, with the faintest of hope that could bring an NHL franchise to Quebec City. Meanwhile, within sight of the Assemblee National - Quebec's seat of government - the politicians could hear the dying groans of an industrial giant across the river in Levis, where the Davie Shipyard is situated.

After a long drama of bankrupcy(s) which I must admit I did not follow very much (I also don't follow Coronation Street - seemingly similar drama), the shipyard saw some tremble of life, several years back, when all the world's other yards, were too busy. The Norwegian wanted the yard, and started to build three offshore support ships there... alas, the bottom fell out of the economy, and the ships sit unfinished in the yard's dry-dock.

The last couple of years have seen the bankruptcy trustee busy looking for a pulse. Unfortunately not much was to be had, until Davie's defacto entrance into the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy bid competition. During this time, industrial giants salivating at their bottom line, took their turn on the dance card, and after the Italians came and left, the Koreans and SNC Lavalin loaned their names to a purchase of Davie by Upper Lakes Group.

For those Canadians wondering... wasn't Upper Lakes sold to Algoma... well that is a very good question. From what I can tell, Algoma only acquired the ships of Upper Lakes. Upper Lakes Group seems firmly secured ashore with Allied Marine, Canal Marine, Seaway Marine, Lakehead Marine, Hamilton Marine under the groups banner.

Upper Lakes Group was already in the NSPS bid process, with its Seaway Marine Yard (Port Weller) in the race, but rumoured to be targeting the smaller portion of the Two Tier Federal contract (Combat = $$$ and non combat = $). With "only a few hours" before the deadline for the submission of bids, on July 21st, Upper Lakes Group, Daewoo and SNC Lavallin's bid for Davie was accepted (pending many caveats) by the bankruptcy courts.

Now, this is what I would call a juicy political steak, ready for the devouring. Here you have the Conservative Party solidly entrenched in the Canadian west, and looking eastward, with the potential to hand out billions of federal dollars, in not just one, but both of the most important electoral areas in Canada; political areas that are crucial to a government staying or gaining power in Canada; Ontario and Quebec.

The conservative have gone out of their way to say that the process is not a politicized one, but one cannot overlook this massive elephant in the room. Never mind the mind boggling concept of how one organization, made up of three marquee names, including the mighty and powerful Montreal based SNC Lavalin, can submit a cohesive bid, when the entity did not exist, two hours before the bid deadline.

So going back to the busiest guy at Davie, I don't know, but one things for sure the sign shop guy must be wringing his hands in anxiety with the numerous logos that have been painted on the signs over the years, and the many more that might be needed. In the meantime the bid deadline is now past, we should be hearing the results in a few weeks.

Here's a little more about the deal to buy Davie.

I knew I should have been a fireman!

2011-07-15T12:42:00.006-07:00

Just came across some big news...

VShips, my current employer, is reportedly being bough by behemoth pension fund OMERS - Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Scheme. The fund with $53 billion under management, representing the pension of 400,000 Ontario employees is said to be spending $500 million to acquire VShips, one of the world's largest ship managers and ship operations service provider.

OMERS is made up of the pension of 931 public employers in the Province of Ontario - such as transit workers, policemen, firemen, municipal workers, children aid workers, non teaching school workers, and hydro employees.

In Canada, based out of their Montreal Offices, Vships Canada manages the bulk of the Martin family CSL's fleet, along with some vessels for Kirby Corp, Shell, and Intelecom, to name a few. The company, based in Glasgow, and / or Monaco, and / or Isle of Man, has numerous brands such as VManpower, VShips Leisure, Seatec, etc. VShips is the founding brand, with their website listing VGroup as the overarching brand. I am not sure if the Groups is spinning off just the ship management side of things; but based on my observations, I assume it will be the whole group.

According to the VShips website...

"Formed in 1984, V.Ships is the leading supplier of independent ship management and related marine services to the global shipping industry. Currently, it supplies services to a fleet of over 1000 vessels and manages a crew roster of 24,000 staff."

The company has many facets, in numerous offices all over the world, but has a primary UK flavour to its operations. You can find out more about VShips here, VGroup here, OMERS here. Below is the news article from Reuters with (unconfirmed) details of the deal, and transaction.

Ontario pension plans are no stranger to the maritime business. For instance, the Ontario Teacher Pension Plan, managing a massive $107 billion portfolio, has a wholly owned subsidiary called Global Container Terminal - which is the biggest operator in the Port of Vancouver (TSI in Vancouver and Delta) moving 70% of the containers traffic. They also control container port operations in Bayonnes, New Jersey, and Staten Island, along with airports and a $140 stake in Carnival Corporation.

Canadian pension fund OMERS to buy V. Ships
Thu Jul 14, 2011 9:36pm IST, By Claire Ruckin

LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) - Canadian pension fund Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Scheme (OMERS) is set to buy V. Ships, one of the world's biggest ship managers, for about $500 million, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Private equity firm Exponent agreed the sale to OMERS, which could be completed by the end of next week, after talks with Charterhouse Capital Partners broke down, the person said.

OMERS was not immediately available for comment.

The Canadian pension fund was in the original auction for V.ships along with Cinven, Permira and Charterhouse.

Charterhouse and Exponent failed to agree the sale after Charterhouse revised its offer and linked part of the payment to the future performance of V.Ships by adding an 'earn out' clause. Exponent preferred an all-cash offer, the person said.

OMERS' purchase of V.Ships is expected to be financed with leveraged loans. Royal Bank of Canada is close to the deal, banking sources said. Lazard is advising Exponent.

HSBC and Citigroup were leading the financing backing Charterhouse's bid, several sources said.

Exponent bought V.Ships with management in 2007 backed by $267 million of debt according to Thomson Reuters LPC data.

This included a $180 million, eight-year term loan B; a $60 million, seven-year acquisition facility; and a $27 million, seven-year revolving credit facility.

Under Exponent's ownership, V.Ships has completed three acquisitions including Norway-based engineering consultancy business RC Consulting in 2007, Dubai-based International Tanker Management in 2009 and Singapore-based underwater engineering company Maritime Underwater Maintenance and Services in 2010.

Formed in 1984, V.Ships is a leading supplier of independent management and related marine services to the global shipping industry.

The Glasgow-headquartered company supplies services to a fleet of over 1000 vessels and manages a crew roster of 24,000 staff. (Reporting by Claire Ruckin, edited by Tessa Walsh and Erica Billingham)

OMERS Board of director (my new bosses) pictured...

Half Ofer Passes

2011-07-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Few know the "powers that be" behind shipping, but at the beginning of June, a central person in the world shipping, passed on. Below is an article from Cruise Solutions, giving us an glimpse of a shipping empire monarch. A bit more about the Ofer Brothers, and here's another news story about his death.

Sammy Ofer Dies At 89

Sammy Ofer passed away Friday 3rd June, a member of the Royal Navy during the Second World War, and a major shareholder in Royal Caribbean Cruises. Ofer was a businessman, shipping magnate and one of the wealthiest people in Israel. His shipping interests included not only Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd and Zodiac Maritime Agencies Ltd in London, but also a 16.5% interest in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and a 12% stake in South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd.

Born in Galatz, Romania, on February 22, 1922, Sammy Ofer, then known as Samuel Herskovich, immigrated with his family to Palestine in 1924 and settled in Haifa. Starting his career with Haifa-based shipping agency M Dizengoff & Co Ltd, with the outbreak of the Second World War, he enlisted in the Royal Navy and served as a petty officer in a minesweeper based at Alexandria. He later also served as an officer with the Israeli Navy.

Ofer’s first ship purchase was the 460-ton motorship Eyal, named after his eldest son. The Eyal ran for Mediterranean Seaways Ltd, which was founded by Sammy and his brother Yuli, together with Mordechai Mano, in Haifa in 1956 to run services in the Mediterranean, to the Adriatic and to Bulgaria and Romania. Mano left the association ten years later to found Mano Maritime, which today operates the cruise ships Golden Iris and Royal Iris out of Israel.

The Ofer brothers meanwhile expanded into other areas of shipping, amassing a fleet of well over 200 bulk carriers, tankers and container ships, as well as taking an interest in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, and in real estate and banking. Sammy’s son Eyal took his father’s position on the board at Royal Caribbean in May 1995 and Sammy’s wife and Eyal’s mother Aviva sponsored Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas at Miami in 1996.
Six years later, Eyal’s wife Marilyn also sponsored a Royal Caribbean ship when she acted as godmother for the Brilliance of the Seas at Harwich in 2002.

In March 2008, Ofer donated £20 million to the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich as part of a £35 million expansion program. [The National Maritime Museum at Greenwich] He also donated £3.3 million to help complete the restoration of the preserved clipper ship Cutty Sark, also at Greenwich. That November, Ofer was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in recognition of his involvement with maritime heritage in the United Kingdom. The Sammy Ofer Wing of the National Maritime Museum is due to open on July 11.

Contributed by Kevin Griffin. Pictures from various internet sources.

Reaching out to the "public"

2011-07-09T07:57:00.005-07:00

Seaspan recently launched a "Were in it to win it" National Ship Procurement Strategy (NSPS) website. The company aims to get the word out on its advantages, over the other Canadian yards, competing for the federal shipbuilding contracts. The website is very sharp looking and well put together.

Seaspan and Irving both opposed the extension on the bid deadline, requested by the other two competitors, Seaway Marine and Davie. Obviously Seaspan is rearing to go, since the team has enough time to reach out to the public. I think this is a good omen of things to come from them, should they win a share of the program. Check out the website here. I particularly like the "Why the west is best" section.

I am not sure which came first, but Nova Scotia and Irving Shipbuilding also have their own web site, touting the benefits of awarding part of the NSPS program to the region. You can find their website here.

What goes around the world, while remaining in its corner

2011-07-07T08:00:00.001-07:00

My son had a riddle for me the other day...

"What goes around the world, while remaining in its corner...?"
I answered... "a dutiful sailor !?!?!"
"No, silly!", he said, "its a stamp !"

This Month the United States Postal Service will officially unveil four new stamps to highlight the Merchant Marine. They will make the launch on July 28th, and if you are near New York City, you are welcome to attend... below is the press release and a description of the vessels depicted.

The Postal Service will salute the U.S. Merchant Marine on four forever stamps July 28 at the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY. Admission is free and the public is welcome to attend the 11:30 a.m. dedication ceremony that takes place in the Ackerman Auditorium, 300 Steamboat Rd.

Since the founding of the republic, the United States has looked to the commercial maritime industry for much of its growth and security. This issuance pays tribute to the U.S. Merchant Marine, the modern name for the maritime fleet that has played this vital role. The four-stamp design on this pane features types of vessels that have formed an important part of this history: clipper ships, auxiliary steamships, Liberty ships, and container ships.

U.S. Merchant Marine stamp

Since the founding of the republic, the United States has looked to the commercial maritime industry for much of its growth and security. This stamp issuance pays tribute to the U.S. Merchant Marine, the modern name for the maritime fleet that has played this vital role. The four-stamp design on this pane features types of vessels that have formed an important part of this history: clipper ships, auxiliary steamships, Liberty ships, and container ships. The stamps go on sale in July.

Illustrator Dennis Lyall of Norwalk, CT, created the stamps under the art direction of Phil Jordan of Falls Church, VA.

Since colonial times, America’s merchant ships have plied the oceans and other navigable waters conveying goods and passengers. During wartime, they have also helped deliver troops and war materials. This role was formalized shortly before World War II, when legislation empowered the "U.S. Merchant Marine" to serve as a naval auxiliary unit. During World War II, the U.S. Merchant Marine bore the brunt of delivering military supplies overseas to U.S. forces and allies. Today, it continues to help meet the nation’s security needs while also transporting commodities that sustain the American economy.

Clipper ships, ushered in by the California Gold Rush of 1849 and noted for their streamlined shape and majestic cloud of square-rigged sails, set numerous speed records for their time.

Auxiliary steamships—steam-powered ships with back-up sailing rigs— were the ocean liners of their day, competing in the 1850s with clipper and other sailing ships for transatlantic mail and passenger service.

Liberty Ships - During World War II, the United States built more than 2,700 Liberty ships, plain but sturdy cargo vessels that sustained the Allied forces with a steady supply of food and war material.

Container ships, pioneered in the 1950s, are the lifeblood of today’s global economy, carrying nearly all the world’s manufactured goods across the oceans and exemplifying the modern merchant marine.

Source

Marine engineer at the helm...

2011-07-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

In its 106th session, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) elected a Japanese marine engineer, to the post of Secretary General, the head of the IMO. The married father of two, will take over duties from current IMO Secretary-General Mr. Efthimios E. Mitropoulos on January 1st 2012. Below is the official press release from the IMO.

Mr. Koji Sekimizu elected as IMO Secretary-General
27 June to 1 July 2011

Mr. Koji Sekimizu of Japan has been elected as the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), with effect from 1 January 2012, for an initial term of four years.

The vote took place during the 106th session of the 40-Member strong IMO Council, which is meeting from 27 June to 1 July 2011. The decision of the Council will be submitted to the IMO Assembly, which meets for its 27th session from 21 to 30 November 2011, for approval.

Mr. Sekimizu, 58, is currently Director of IMO’s Maritime Safety Division. Mr. Sekimizu studied marine engineering and naval architecture and joined the Ministry of Transport of Japan in 1977, working initially as a ship inspector and moving on to senior positions in both maritime safety and environment related positions within the Ministry. He began attending IMO meetings as part of the Japanese delegation in 1980 and joined the IMO Secretariat in 1989, initially as Technical Officer, Sub-Division for Technology, Maritime Safety Division, becoming Head, Technology Section in 1992, then moving to become Senior Deputy Director, Marine Environment Division in 1997 and Director of that Division in 2000, before moving to his current position in 2004.

Congratulating the winner, IMO Secretary-General Mr. Efthimios E. Mitropoulos said he looked forward to “working closely with Mr. Sekimizu between now and the end of the year to introduce him to the current state of organizational affairs so that the transition of administration from me to him will be as smooth, harmonious and successful as possible.“

“For him to succeed in the hugely demanding and heavy task the Council entrusted him with today, he will need all the understanding, support and co operation of the entire membership and the Secretariat to enable him to provide direction and steer the Organization prudently and wisely in the challenging times that lie ahead. While I have no doubt that the membership will provide all that I just suggested (as they did to me, over the last seven and a half years, for which I am ever so grateful), I can assure him that the Secretariat will stand by him to support him in any way possible and under all circumstances,” Mr. Mitropoulos said.

The other candidates for the post were:

Mr. Lee Sik Chai (Republic of Korea)
Mr. Andreas Chrysostomou (Republic of Cyprus}
Mr. Neil Frank Ferrer (Republic of the Philippines)
Mr. Jeffrey Lantz (United States of America)
Mr. Esteban Pacha Vicente (Kingdom of Spain)

NSPS drumbeats

2011-06-30T14:15:00.005-07:00

Seems the Canadian Government is being very vocal about their intentions for a fair and open bidding process, when it comes to the National Ship Procurement Strategy. The lobbyist are up at arms by the various statements, the most recent one at a military hardware conference in Ottawa, a few weeks ago, where a government minister "scolded" prospective shipyard competitors to forgo the efforts of lobbyist, on their behalf, to win their share of the procurement.

I am encouraged by the candid approach the government is taking towards this project. I am skeptical, after all, it is government, and it is largely a military project; but I must say the upfront candid disdain by the government for the lobbyist, is a welcome attitude by this taxpayer. Read more about it on this newsbit.

Meanwhile the deadline looms for the official announcements of the awarding of the of the ISPS approved shipyard designation. Currently the deadline for bid submission (RFP) is July 7, 2011, although two of the qualified shipyard requested that the deadline be pushed back further, until mid-September; the government has not responded officially to this request. The current time line would mean that a fall decision on the two shipyard would be made. Following that, more precise contracts would be drawn up for Coast Guard's fisheries research vessel and the navy's Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) shortly after, in late 2011.

Couple weeks ago the Quebec government gave "Davie Shipyard" a $150 million contract for two ferries, which allowed the shipyard to show the feds that they have their heads above water. Davies have been flirting with disqualification due to its insolvency - a never ending saga.

Meanwhile over in BC, one cannot help to notice that the new Premier, Christy Clark, is certainly in constant contact with Seaspan and Company. A couple of days ago she was in my home town, arriving in the lead engine of a freight train, to announce funding for upgrades to the rail line. Whats that got to do with Seaspan you ask, well Rail Link is part of the American industrialist Denis Washington's empire to which Seaspan is a sizable chunk. A few days before that, Christy Clark was at my old school, Camosun College announcing half a million dollars project to expands the school's welding program, into a training center for shipyard workers. Seaspan is also seeking $75 millions in tax incentives because they plan to spend $150 million on their shipyard facilities if they win the bid.

By the way, Happy Canada Day! It will be Canada's 144th birthday tomorrow.

UPDATE - July 1st, 2011

Well, looks like I spoke too soon, as Quebec's Davie Yard has managed to delay the bid deadline, albeit not to what they hope for, but a two weeks extension has been granted by the federal government. The new bid deadline is now July 21st.

Monarch in the news

2011-06-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Some years ago a tragic accident occurred on the Monarch of the Seas, a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. At the time, the ship was in Los Angeles on a turn around day, when maintenance being carried out in the engine room, went severely awry.

As a result "three crew members, Boris Dimitrov of Bulgaria; Willie Tirol of The Philippines and Radomilja Frane of Croatia, were killed and 19 others were injured. Reports said that the deaths were almost instantaneous as the crew members were not wearing breathing apparatus at the time" (wikipedia).

The lawyers were involved, and slowly, we are getting a better picture of what happened that day. Below, is a press release from the lawyer, celebrating the presiding judge's decision to allow the jury to consider punitive damages from Royal Caribbean Cruise line; a company worth an estimated 7 billion US dollars. Punitive damages are the headline grabbing monetary awards that companies get judged against them, especially when negligence comes into play.

This story is dramatically different than the initial story I came across, which goes to illustrate at a healthy skepticism of mass media is worthy. A follow up article by the LA Times was more in depth. Read more about this development here, here too, below is the press release from Hickey Law Firm. More "details" on Monarch of the Seas. Pictures, from various internet sources.

JUDGE ALLOWS HICKEY LAW FIRM TO SEEK PUNITIVE DAMAGES AGAINST ROYAL CARIBBEAN IN DEADLY GAS LEAK ON BOARD “MONARCH OF THE SEAS”
Posted under: Cruise Ships — Laurel Chernoby @ 5:11 am, June 20, 2011

MIAMI – June 15, 2011 -Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Marc Schumacher has granted trial attorney John H. “Jack” Hickey’s motion to add a claim for punitive damages to a lawsuit alleging Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCCL) failed to fix a known toxic gas leak on board the “Monarch of the Seas” before it killed three and injured several crew members (Case Number: 08-45343CA05).

The decision comes after Judge Schumacher examined evidence and reviewed deposition testimony during an extensive evidentiary hearing to determine if RCCL’s alleged conduct was either intentional or constituted gross negligence. Punitive damages, which are not awarded in every civil case, are designed to punish a defendant for any wrongdoing and to deter bad conduct said Hickey.

“If we are successful, the jury will determine the amount of the punitive damages following the trial,” said Hickey who is representing former Staff Captain Bjoern Eidissen of Norway in legal action against RCCL. “The jury may take into account the net worth of Royal Caribbean, which according to SEC filings is approximately $7 billion.”

The fatal accident happened while the Monarch of the Seas with more than 3,400 passengers and crew was docked at the Port of Los Angeles in September 2005. According to the complaint, RCCL failed to maintain the permanent ballast tanks onboard the ship. These tanks contain mixtures of various types of water including gray water, pulper water and seawater. This combination creates hydrogen sulfide, a colorless, deadly gas that in the first minutes of inhaling it has a foul odor of rotten eggs. After the first few minutes, the person inhaling it smells nothing. Prolonged exposure can cause severe brain and lung damage while a high concentration can cause death.

The lawsuit claims as result of poor maintenance, one of the ballast tanks became clogged and the mixture inside created hydrogen sulfide gas. Hickey said the Marine Department directed RCCL to reroute the piping to that tank. When the workers assigned to fix the piping opened the tank, lethal hydrogen sulfide gas escaped in a huge cloud killing three of them. Eidissen and other personnel who responded to the emergency were also exposed to the hydrogen sulfide gas.

According to the lawsuit, records show Royal Caribbean never alerted the crew that a worker fixing the same pipe in March 2005 was overcome by the noxious fumes and nearly died and continued to operate the vessel basically as normal even hours after the second accident in September.

The complaint states that a condition of class, an approval of inspection with exception, was issued. The exception required that the subject bilge tank must be vented overboard when the ship was at sea. Hickey claims the recommended procedure was not followed properly, therefore endangering the health of passengers and crewmembers.

The lawsuit claims that the venting of the gas from the location of its origin was accomplished by a jury rig of fire hoses to the exterior of the ship. These hoses would then transfer the toxic gas from the tank to the exterior of the ship. The complaint suggests the accommodation was inadequate, and constituted a situation where the toxic hydrogen sulfide gas was blown back into the air conditioning system, exposing passengers.”

The lawsuit alleges that despite the fact that Royal Caribbean represented on its logs that venting took place only when at speed and at sea, venting actually took place whenever there was a pressure build up sometimes when the ship was not at speed and even in port.

According to the lawsuit, when the ship was drifting, at anchor, or at dock, the noxious gas was sucked back into the vessel and into the passenger areas including cabins, through the air conditioning intakes. This reportedly allowed the methane and hydrogen sulfide gas to leak into habitable areas on the ship including the areas in which Mr. Eidissen worked. Attorneys said the Monarch of the Seas received numerous passenger complaints about a foul smelling gas, in addition to several complaints from a stevedore company, dockside businesses, and the workers who eventually fixed the pipe while the ship was in dry dock.

For More Information Contact:
Charles Jones
cjones@cjonespr.com
305-987-7418

Korean giant gains foothold in Nova Scotia

2011-06-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

In other Shiyard news... sort of... Korean shipyard heavyweight, DSME (Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering) has open a facility in Nova Scotia. Yes, you heard right.

In March 2010, Daewoo, the province of Nova Scotia, and the federal government, entered a partership to transform a defunct rail car manufacturing plant into a modern windmill factory. Daewoo and the government spent $40 million dollars (~20 each) converting the Trenton Works rail car factory, closed in 2007, into a modern tower and blade manufacturing plant for windmills.

The new facility was officially opened June 15, 2011 and DSTN website states they have begun production, and expect production as the new entrant into renewable energy, receive more orders. See here for more news, here here too and info.

Ocean to dredge river

2011-06-20T19:17:00.004-07:00

Progressive and innovative Quebec City based Groupe Ocean has won an important dredging contract from the government, to dredge the St Lawrence River, and maintain parts of its navigational channels.

Dragage St Maurice, a division of Groupe Ocean, won the $30 million dollar contract, which will see two sections of the St Lawrence being cleared of an estimated 70,000 tons of silts annually, from around Ile D'Orleans, just downstream from Quebec, and around Becancourt further upriver. Over 6000 ship movements occur in this area of the St Lawrence every year. This 30 kilometer section of the river represent some of the most challenging navigational conditions due to high wind, tides and strong currents.

A new, 70 meter long trailing suction dredge, similar to the one pictured above, will be built at Isle aux Coudres, at Groupe Ocean's own shipyard, a drive about two hours east of Quebec City. It will be the largest dredge in Eastern Canada and should be ready for service in early 2012. That yard has been very busy over the last few years, delivering a slew of Robert Allan designed ship berthing / icebreaking tugs to Groupe Ocean's operations, principally in Montreal and Quebec.

Along with the newest Canadian tug fleet serving just about all major ports, from Hamilton / Toronto all the way down the St Lawrence, Ocean is a also an extensive provider of marine services in transhipment in the arctic and other isolated areas. They have also recently built a modern machine shop / repair facility in Quebec City, and offer numerous ship repairs services. All in all, a very active and modern company, who does not seem to shy away from investing in modern equipment and facilities, giving its people the tools they need. Good on them.

You can find the official press release here. A bit more about the shipyard, and below is a story from the CBC. Here's some good pictures of their tugs in action.

Main site update

2011-06-15T20:23:00.004-07:00

Well, Johnny Canuck wasn't able to seal the deal tonight, and the Bruins took Lord Stanley's cup. Well at least it will still make several appearances in BC, where some of the Boston players call home.

Martin's Marine Engineering Page website was partly down today, as I uploaded the new version - update of the site. Sorry for the inconvenience, but with some many new files and changes, I end up updating the majority of the site, which works out to be about 1.6 gigabytes, much to the rejoice of my ISP, Shaw Cable, wringing their greedy hands, ready to slap me with extra usage charges. Anyways, I digress; below is a summary of some of the new stuff you will find on the main site...

Its been a very busy winter at work, my usual time to update the site. Then at home I was swamped with several projects, mainly helping out with the CIMarE's very successful Maritech Marine engineering conference and exhibition, and also laying some new flooring in our little house. The result was that my "regular" bi-monthly update, scheduled for April, was skipped. Hopefully you find a trove of new stuff in this update, to make up for the lack of updates. I really enjoy maintaining this site, I get to see so many interesting things so this is a fun hobby for me, just wish sometimes I could do more of it!

In the Ship's Library, is where you will find the biggest haul of new stuff. In one of the most popular areas of the site, Exam Help, you will find a whole new raft of helpful documents, kindly submitted by a long time visitor to the site - thanks for sharing. A set of Questions and Answers for the Second Class Marine Engineering EK General exam. You will also find an extensive set of Questions and Answers - excellent resource - targeted to Millwrights, but as you will see, quite applicable to Marine Engineers with its simple format, and broad spectrum of subjects. These include Couplings, Workshop, and review of welding study material. There is also an all subject in one Millwright / Industrial Mechanic Study resource. These are only a small list of the new things, check out the other 12 documents yourself. This is truly a great contribution, that will assist those of us studying to upgrade our certificates.

Also in the library you'll also find lots of other interesting documents, including accident reports on the Oscar Wild, HMS Endurance. An excellent paper on the history and future of Classification Societies. A power point presentation of the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker under construction, the CCGS John Diefenbaker, a presentation on the USCG's "black fleet" and what the did do. An interesting primer on importing a foreign vessel into Canadian trade; a topic that is sure to be more common everyday.

En francais, tu peut lire apropos des Canadien en mers, principalment avec les bateaux de croissiere, comme Allure of the Seas.

On the Machinery Page, even more stuff to learn from; Electric Motors, consideration for switching from MDO to HFO operations. You all also find a paper on Stirling engines and Ice Navigation, with recommendations for engineering operations in cold weather.

Over in the Historical area, you will find new material as well... A glossary of sailor's terms, circa 1800's Sailors glossary. Denis Grifths has summarizes British Marine Industry and Diesel. Ion Livas has compiled a definitive list of Liberty Ships and a compiled a list of those modified Liberty Ships. Local BC tug company's history is chronicled in The Hodder Tugs Story.

Updated the Fairbanks Morse page, always a popular page, with some new pics, diagrams and comments.

Extensive updating of the Training Page with updated and corrected information based on new regulations - thanks EM for providing the in-depth knowledge. Also added some other tidbits in there.

As always, just look for the "NEW" sign for all the new material uploaded in this update; the above, is just an introduction of some of the new material. This update's header, is a picture of Canada Steamship Line (CSL) Richelieu main engine. Taken in March 2010, while I was aboard doing a couple weeks of refit. The engine is a Burmeister & Wain (B&W) 6K67GFC, burning Heavy fuel oil, rated at 11,600 bhp or 8,531 kW. It was built in 1980.

Johnny Canuck

2011-06-13T11:00:00.001-07:00

Completely unrelated to ships, but certainly quite a focus for many Canadians at sea, or wherever else, is the very distinct possibility that the Vancouver Canucks hockey team might actually win the coveted the Stanley Cup. The first time in their 40 years history.

Here's a short video to get you pumped up for the final games in Boston, where Vancouver will take Tim Thomas for a walk around the park. Even most Greenpeace activist won't mind if we put this Bruin down.

Escape from Hamilton

2011-06-11T05:34:00.005-07:00

The old man was all in a panic, "I need engines now, were going to anchor".

"Relax. What's the rush; were already at anchor" I replied.

Turns out, we had an opportunity to escape from the confines of Hamilton Harbour, where we had been trapped, unable to leave for nearly a week. Hamilton has been the backdrop of few "end of civilization" films without much effort, but its really not that bad. The people who are able to talk to real people are actually pretty nice - Snake Plissken would probably fit in very well.

So get to the point, you say...

Well ok, you see Hamilton Harbour is a bay on the western tip of Lake Ontario, in Central Canada, there is a major highway at its mouth therefore choking it to a narrow channel, spanned by two bridges. The main highway out of Toronto, south, is the QEW and it has its own bridge over the mouth of the bay. Twining it,is an older lift bridge, that when lowered over the narrow entrance of the harbour, makes a pretty nifty blockade tool for any vessel with an air draft more than ten feet.

The most defining aspect of Hamilton Harbour is the massive steel mills; one belonging to ArcelorMittal (formerly Dofasco) and the other, US Steel (formerly Stelco). The employee at the US Steel mill are on strike, and they are not too happy that raw materials from the mill's property are being loaded on foreign ships, bound for US Steel operations in the US deep south.

So, for nearly three days they have been camped on the bridge, preventing the bridge operators from lifting it safely, and therefore blockading the harbour, trapping ships inside, and out. The Harbour Authority requested courts to provide an injunction on the protest, which they were quoted has having cost over one million dollars. The injunction was given on late Friday evening.

Although we were not specifically delayed, since we had no cargo ready for us, the charterer insisted we escape for the steel clutches of the harbour at first opportunity. And so last night around 19:30, we steamed out in procession with other vessels, while several others waited outside their turn to proceed into the harbour.

Never a dull moment at work. That was that day's highlight. Now, we are due to sign off in a few days; my relief will be happy with the short commute, as we will be anchoring at the mouth of the Welland Canal, near St Catherine's, where he lives. I, on the other hand I am hoping a planned labour strike at Air Canada, the only airline serving my home airport, does not materialize.

There's a nymph in my soup

2011-06-08T07:04:00.008-07:00

I had all the right intention of making a post earlier, but like usual small fires, cargo operations, and a lack of internet access, conspired to keep me from making one. We loaded gasoline in Quebec and jauntily headed up the St Lawrence to Hamilton, always a nice trip. The voyage through the locks and past Kingston and all the quaint towns, and all the fancy riverfront homes, is a treat. Especially in the summer time, as the recreational traffic provides a welcome diversion for homesick sailors.
But of course it is not summer. So this is not about the scantily clad recreational boaters, but rather about a pest of near biblical proportions. For those who live in this part of the world, the following will come as no news to them. But for me, I was quite impress with the shear volume of bugs that we encountered on way up. So many bugs that it started being an operational issue.

The bug is know locally as a "shad fly". I had heard of these pest before, but my first experience with them was one of disbelief. Lets just say that these little critters have the potential to cause quite a few headache for us engineers. The pictures will explain more of what I mean...

So you think this is after a day in operation, no sirreee bob, our engine room ventilation fan intake screens had to be cleaned off every ten -fifteen minutes. Good things we actually had screens, the engine room was already a mess with just the "broken" parts of these insects going through. We also had to take precautions for our auxiliary engine on our barge, and their radiator, used to transit the locks.

All I have to say is, thank god they only live less than a day. What a pest! There was so many dead one, I nearly slipped and hurt myself just walking around the ship.

Seaspan might benefit from "Miracle"

2011-05-30T13:36:00.005-07:00

Now, there is something you don't see everyday. I can't remember the last time there was any form of agreement between the two major political parties in British Columbia - or credit given to the opposition in a high profile speech. But it did happen today in Victoria.

Newly elected Premier of BC, Christy Clark, used her inaugural speech to lend her's, and the Liberal Party of BC's support of a New Democrat Party of BC's motion supporting BC's shipbuilding industry bid for a share of the National Ship Procurement Strategy. The "up to now" silent provincial government has shown a significant spotlight on the issue, which I am sure will help Team Seaspan in their bid for part of the CDN$35 billion dollar worth of work.

Following BC Politics, this generally should come as a shock for most, as two political parties working together is usually kept to the dark corners, well away from media spotlight. Bottom line, good on her and the party for working with people for something that will have a net benefit for BC and all of Canada.

The story below is from CFax, and Yahoo News also has this one, and here is another article on the NSPS from a navy perspective.

Christy Clark supports opposition bill on shipbuilding in first legislature speech since becoming Premier
May 30, 2011

Premier Christy Clark used her first speech after being sworn in as a Member of the Legislature to voice support for a BC shipbuilding contract bid. That support came in an odd form -- backing a private member's bill from the opposition New Democrats, which in turn called for provincial backing of the local shipbuilding bid. There is only one west coast contender among five companies competing for a piece of the three decade long, $35-billion federal shipbuilding plan.

Within the west coast bid is the owner of Victoria Shipyards. Only two of the five will get contracts. "This national ship procurement strategy... represents the single greatest opportunity to create a long term, sustainable ship repair environment in this province's history," NDP member Mike Farnworth said in the house Monday morning during debate on his party's bill, "yet what we've seen, I think, has been virtual silence on this issue."

Premier Clark supported the motion, "So I stand today in my first speech in this Legislature as Premier, to say to you, if you are looking for commitment you have it here.... to the members of this house, I say, I am delighted that we have a chance to work together on something where we do truly have common cause."

The bill passed a vote following her Clark's comments. Private member's often fail to gain support from the governing party.

--Ryan Price

Draggin' up an expensive cod end

2011-05-25T08:00:00.003-07:00

A little over four month into full operation, a fisherman took a chunk out of Neptune. Neptune is the $100 millions dollar, publicly funded, scientific underwater observatory, off the coast of Vancouver Island BC, in the Pacific Ocean. The high tech underwater observatory was primarily installed by Alcatel, of France, to study the deep sea environment.

According to news reports, the highly sensitive, and expensive, scientific equipment logged seismic data, to accurately determined that a fishing trawl damaged the equipment. Unfortunately, the said, highly precise and expensive equipment was promptly ripped off the array.

Fishermen were advise to steer clear of the area, and the cable is buried, with the scientific nodes designed to withstand this kind of abuse. But unfortunately the trawl carried off nearly 2 millions dollars worth of scientific equipment. This damage according to Neptune Canada, represents about a 10% capacity of the observatory - the rest of the observatory is running normally.

There is no mention if Neptune Canada has a "no question asked return policy", but perhaps they should. Having worked on trawlers in that area, there is no question that some fishermen has got some nifty piece of expensive looking hardware sitting on his living room table, next to the empty beer bottles. Might be good for stories and discussions, as was the garbage we trawled up when I was fishing, which according to the senior guys aboard, was routine garbage from US submarines, but in this case, UVic might disagree on the garbage comment.

In the mean time, UVic mentioned hiring a ship, with a day rate of $60k, to search for the missing equipment, which they figure is nearby, on the sea floor. I wonder if they will again resolve to using public money to hire foreign ship to do this work as well. More on the story here and here.

You tubes finds...

2011-05-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a neat little video on some rescues of seafarers from their predicaments.

The same user also posted this short clip on various cool shots of ships and sailors at work on the seas.

Shaky oversight...

2011-05-19T13:08:00.004-07:00

If you follow this blog for any length of time, you'll probably agree that I watch a fair bit of movies. The wife and I watch the other day, Inside Job, in hindsight, not the best movie to watch before leaving to work, all those other pressure are enough strain on the whole affair as it is.

The Inside Job is a documentary on the economic meltdown. The authors meticulously details the players and their reckless action which caused, and continue to cause, so much hardship for the larger majority. While these reckless gamblers got bailed out, and still collected obscene amounts of money, the rest of the world continues to suffer, with skyrocketing food and fuel prices and no jobs to pay for these.

Of course one could dwell, at length, on the sheer stupidity of these arrogant assholes, but that's not the point of this post. One of the things that really stuck in my head was the complicity of the industry oversight agencies, into this great train wreck that is the economy.

The credit rating agencies is what I am talking about, who although not directly related to the financial companies, and the products they rate, as a measure of "safety" as an investment product, obviously failed miserably. Even on the days Bears and Sterns and Lehman Brothers failed, the credit rating companies were listing these companies with the best possible credit scores.

The shipping industry, in my humble opinion, might also mirror the financial industry, albeit it is unlikely that it poses such a threat to nations - then again, tell that to a coastal nation where a super sized tanker has run aground. "Arms length" agencies, on their good name alone, are now responsible for the bulk of safety evaluation of a ship, and therefore, also for the most part, the enforcer. I am of course referring to classification societies.

I am, and always have been puzzled by the strange relationship between "Class", the ship, the shipowner and the regulators. To me, it would seem logical that an entity who competes for business from a shipowner, yet may obligate that shipowner to stop cutting corners, is in a direct conflict of interest. Eventually the shipowner will just change class, and after a while that class will be forced to bring down standards, or be withered to oblivion.

I am sure this is not news to anyone, but I think it is a very serious predicament deserving of second look. This "meltdown" has truly exposed some major gaps in reality, and our views of things; perhaps the marine industry ought to see if we are as exposed to serious consequences, as the business models appears to be near carbon copies.

With government regulators unable, or unwilling, to tackle these issues, how are we to make sure ships and shipping is safe. To what point do we continue to repeat the capitalist mantra, "let the market sort it out". It certainly did in the US, rippling around the world like a financial tsunami, unfortunately the third class passengers on the SS Greed are left paying a heavy price.

With a similar industry structure, is it inevitable that this behaviour lead to a calamities to call our own. Or perhaps it already has, but with only a handful of sailors dying, or the environment contaminated for years, there are few people getting worked up.

Family can be "drowned" by lawyers; environmentalist are just nut jobs anyways. The rest, well, the insurance paid out because the ship was classed, and therefore "safe". The shipping company's bottom line probably even looked better for the quarter resulting from the insurance proceeds.... Can you say BONUS time!!! After all, the investors love to hear that "earnings beat expectations"!

I actually wrote this entry quite a while back, but got so busy with work, family and Maritech that I did not get around to posting it until today. During Maritech, a couple of weeks ago, Jeff Smith, National Council Chair of the CIMarE, gave a presentation of Classification societies and their future roles. The paper is excellent in laying out the history and future of class. You can download the paper here.

In the mean time, the documentary trailer for Inside Job is below, the official website is here.

Pictures from Mari Tech 2011

2011-05-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

Additional pictures of Mari Tech 2011 can be found here.

Successful Maritech

2011-05-08T21:28:00.014-07:00

By all indications, Mari Tech 2011 in Victoria, this past Friday and Thursday, was a definite success, if not an overwhelming success. The papers were enlightening, the exhibitors were making good leads, from the several I approached, and the whole conference was a gold mine for interaction with peers, and networking was excellent, with all levels of the industry being represented.

Picture above - Audience member asks a question of BC Ferries' Greg Peterson.

The overarching backdrop of the conference was of course, the National Ship Procurement Strategy, the Canadian federal government plan to invest about $30 billion dollars in new ships to refurbish the dilapidated ranks of the naval, and civilian government fleet. The technical papers also touch on real uses of LNG at sea, and hybrid designs for ship propulsion, among others.

The weather was mostly cooperating, the venues was perfect, the food good and plenty. I believe the organizing committee is still a bit stunned how well things went, although we have not had our wrap up meetings yet. No scheduling hiccups or other malfunctions and disasters occurred.

Picture right - Techsol's display in the lobby of the conference area.

I was probably most impressed by Day Two’s Lunch Time speaker, Assistant Commissioner Vija Poruks, who gave a well thought out overview of the challenges that the Coast Guard is dealing with and its proposed solutions. I don’t often give Coast Guard credit, but I believe that it certainly merits it as they appear to have a good grasp of their apparent challenges, but more importantly a willingness to change their processes and adopt a different attitude to surmount these. I was expecting the usual bureaucratic dry and evasive “blurbage”, but she was frank and passionate, so I was pleasantly surprise, and wish her the best in representing the Coast Guards goals to the politicians.

Pictured right - A good turnout at the Church and State winery tour and dinner, with a special presentation by Babcock Canada, on the HMCS Chicoutimi transit to Victoria.

Another obviously passionate and knowledgeable individual was Ron Burchett from Corvus Energy. He gave a good presentation on some very dramatic changes in battery technology, and the possibilities this now presents. The potential is illustrated in a later technical presentation by Paul Jammer’s, of AKA, on the Dorothy Foss, the “green tug” in the Port of Los Angeles.

Over in the exhibition area, the best swag prize, was a three way tie, between M AN, Wartsila and Thordon Bearings. But definitely, the most interesting, in our house, with the boys playing with it constantly, was a bouncing widget given out by Babcock Canada.

I actually also found some solutions that I will be following up for my own ship, there as well, so I am looking forward to getting that underway when I get back to work next week. I also met up with one of our supplier’s top dog, Claude of Techsol, in Quebec City. I am pleased to learn that this relatively recent and “local” upstart, and its constant performance, is making great inroads in various markets, on our shores, but also significantly abroad too.

Picture right - At the end of the technical paper presentation on day one, a reception was held, and a great opportunity to mingle with peers.

Jane McIvor was presenting her new magazine, BC Shipping News, filling in the void left by the retirement of BC’s Harbour & Shipping magazine. She has published two editions so far and they look great, full of relevant content. Over at Thordon, Axel was the maestro; and Peter from Belgium was presenting their rugged ABC Diesel engines. Thank you Paul at Viega for the wine, and the numerous colourful stories. And those guys at Young and Cunningham, some of the first participants at Mari Tech 2011, were certainly colourful – good on you.

Personally I was pretty involved in the “delivery” of the event, so I did not get a big chance to interact at will, but certainly appreciated meeting long time visitors and contributors to www.dieselduck.net, like "JK". After almost 7 years of chatting online, we finally met. Good seeing you!

Picture right - George Coman, a fourth year BCIT engineering program student give an overview of his experiences.

I must also give a big “shout out” to Kamen of MAN, Daryl of Memorial Institute, Byron and Glenn at ABB, Andrew at DMSI, Riseley at Wartsila, and Paul at AKA to name a few. Thanks for seeking me out, much appreciated your comments and input. I must also give a shout out to the “usual suspects” I seek out and interact with on routine a basis - always good to see you. Matthias, Russel, etc.

I am also encouraged by CIMarE National Council Chairman Jeffrey Smith (pictured right), who appears to have a good grasp of the challenges the Institute and the industry faces. I feel that he will do a good job advancing some of the issues Marine Engineers face, here in Canada. I am sure the same could also be said of Glenn Walters of Babcock, who is also quite involved with SNAME, especially with their Young Professional mentoring program. I was also excited to hear of MAN’s expanding presence in Canada, thanks Katharina.

All in all, it was a very hectic time leading up to the conference, so I do apologize to my family, for being a bit of a bear during that time. I personally enjoyed this professional experience very much, and gained much from it. I encourage you to attend the next one, to be held next year, in Ottawa, by the Ottawa Branch. Check the main CIMarE website for updates.

From an organizer’s perspective, I encourage those wishing to present a technical papers, or have a booth in the exhibition area, to plan early and express your interest ASAP to the organizing committee. Many companies and presenters felt left out because the event sold out / booked up, so fast.

By the way, if you are interested, the power point presentation utilized in the technical papers presentations, are available online for download, from the main Mari Tech 2011 websit e. The previous year’s papers are also available, from the main CIMarE website. I will be uploading some pictures as well, shortly.

Thanks also to John, the organizing committee chairman, and the other dedicated volunteer who put in allot of time and energy, putting this event together; Bert, Alicja, Phil, Mike, Tony, David, Roger and Chris. I ended up working alongside Mark Collins quite a bit as well; he did a great job as Master of Ceremonies - Pictured right, thanking Ron Burchett, of Corvus Energy, after his technical presentation.

Thanks all for putting up with me. Hope to see you next time, but of course you're always welcome to send me an email.

A Mari Twog

2011-05-05T10:17:00.004-07:00

So I am not big on the latest gadgets the kids use these days, but since I don't have a Tweet Account, but I do have a Blog, so we call this a Twog.

The day has finally come, and Mari Tech 2011 is now underway. Three speakers have just wrapped up and we are taking a coffee break. The exhibition is looking good with a good interaction from all attendees. I guess the long planning is paying off.

I will be uploading the papers after they are presented, and pictures, on the official Mari Tech 2011 website.

Free admission to marine engineering exhibitors at Maritech

2011-04-26T21:00:00.005-07:00

Just came back from Victoria, taking a break from my husband and father duties while on my days off the ship. I am attempting to complete laying new flooring in our little house, easy enough to do, but you have to budget a considerable amount of time chasing the piece and tools from the three little helpers. ehehehe, its a whole different story.

The bulk of my "work brain time" has been dedicated to the organizing committee of the Maritech conference. In our weekly Victoria meeting today, the committee learned that the conference is nearly sold out and pretty much all the major details are sorted out. So thats a great development. There is always worry, for unknown reasons, that things may not work out, but it looks like it's going to be a very popular and exciting event.

We are opening the exhibition space to all maritime related visitors, free of charge. So please take advantage of this offer, and come visit the exhibition space of the Maritech 2011, marine engineering conference in Victoria, late next week. You wont be able to see the technical papers being presented, or attend the various catered meals but hey, there is no better way to connect to the movers and shakers in industry than at these events.

Hope to see you then. ...and oh yeah. Go Canucks, GO !

Maritech 2011 - Marine Engineering conference and exhibition

2011-04-11T08:00:00.004-07:00

Just announced a few days ago...

Agenda for MARI-TECH 2011
Canada’s National Marine Exhibition & Conference
20/20 LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
A Vision of Canada's Marine Industry in the year 2020

Presented by the Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering (CIMarE), Vancouver Island Branch
May 5th and 6th, at the Ocean Point Resort in downtown Victoria, BC, Canada

Sponsored by

Lloyd's Register
BC Ferries
BMT Fleet Technologies
Babcock Canada
Marine & Offshore Canada
Western Mariner Magazine
Martin's Marine Engineering Page - www.dieselduck.net

DAY 1 - Thursday, May 5th, 2011

0800 - Registration – Coffee & Pastries
Master of Ceremonies - Mark Collins – Vice President Engineering – BC Ferries
0830 - Mari-Tech Chairman John Marrack – Welcome
0845 - Opening Address from Vice Admiral [retired] Peter Cairns – Honourary President CIMarE, President Shipbuilding Association of Canada
0915 - Paper #1 – Future Marine – Jack Cornett - Defence Research & Development Canada - A visionary analysis of marine engineering and science in the future.
1000 - Coffee Break in Exhibition Rooms
1030 - Paper #2 – Canadian Coast Guard Vessel Procurement
1115 - Paper #3 - MAN Diesel & Turbo – Dr. Dirk Thum - The Sulphur Challenge – Technology for Energy
1200 - Lunch in Harbour Room – Lunchtime speaker Rear Admiral Nigel Greenwood – Commander Maritime Forces Pacific
1300 - Paper #4 – Jeff Smith - Emerging role and increasing responsibilities of classification societies in Canada’s maritime industry.
1345 - Paper #5 – BC Ferries – Greg Peterson - A strategic approach to operating a marine transportation company within the environmental boundaries of 2020 and beyond.
1430 - Coffee in Exhibition Rooms
1500 - Paper #6 - Converteam - Gene Joelson – Inovelis Pump Jet Pod.
1545 - Reception with No-Host Bar
1800 - Bus departs for special event – wine tasting and dinner at the Church and State Winery in Brentwood Bay – After dinner, Babcock Canada will be giving a presentation on the moving of a submarine, by heavy lift ship, from the East Coast, to the West Coast.

DAY 2 - Friday, May 6th, 2011

0800 - Coffee and light breakfast
0830 - Paper #8 - STX - Tony Vollmers and Dan McGreer - A comparison study between propulsion options from conventional to alternative, green propulsion systems.
0915 - Two short papers by students from BCIT Marine Campus
1000 - Coffee in Exhibition Rooms
1030 - Paper #9 - Corvus Energy - Ron Burchett - Hybrid Ferry Concepts.
1115 - Paper #10 - Wartsila North America - Mark Keneford – The Hercules Project.
1200 - Buffet Lunch in Conference Room – lunchtime speaker Assistant Commissioner Vija Poruks - Canadian Coast Guard Pacific Region
1300 - Annual General Meeting Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering
1400 - Paper #11 - BMT Fleet Technology - David Stocks - Hybrid Propulsion incorporating Fuel Cells.
1445 - Paper #12 - Turmot Inc. - Bernd Graffunder – Lasting solutions fighting rust, lime, scale and microbiological problems in water bearing systems using methods developed by MERUS GmbH
1530 - Coffee in Exhibition Rooms
1600 - Paper #13 - AKA - Paul Jamer - The “ECO-nomics” of Modern Propulsion Systems (Hybrid Propulsion).
1645 - Closing Remarks followed by a Reception with No-Host Bar

In the Exhibition Hall, the following companies will be there to meet you, and introduce their products and services...

Young and Cunningham Canada Inc
Babcock Canada
Seaspan
Schottel
Jastram Technologies Ltd.
Wartsila Canada
Viega
MAN Diesel & Turbo Canada
QBM
Alfa Laval Inc.
Roper Resources Ltd.
Konsberg Maritime
ABB Canada
Sperry Marine Canada
Pol-E-Mar Inc.
BC Shipping News
Thordon Bearings Inc.
ABC Diesel NV

Please visit the official Maritech 2011 website for further details, registration, and sponsorship information.

E is for "damn, thats big"

2011-04-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is not news anymore, but it is still pretty darn awe inspiring. Maersk placed an order for 10 copies of their new class of ships, the Triple E. The ships are massive cargo movers; with a capacity for 18,000 teu. The biggest cargo ships afloat; bigger ships have been built, namely tankers, but very few are still in service.

With twin propulsion plants, they are designed for slow steaming, using two 43,000 HP slow speed MAN engines. The new ship will significantly dwarf Maersk's previous ship class, the E Class, with its class leader, the famous Emma Maersk.

The ships are to be built by Korean builder, Daewoo. The triple E title stands for Efficiency, Economy of scales, Environmentally friendly, of course at 1.9 billion contract, you may add a fourth "E" for Expensive - or perhaps an "O" for ouch ! Sure they are a really big ship, but still, that's a hell of check to write. The ABS classed ships are predicted to enter service, the first in 2013, with the tenth in 2015.

You can visit Maersk official site on the ship here. Wikipedia's article is here.

Got ORB issues?

2011-04-04T08:00:00.002-07:00

Well, we are now operational, marauding the brown waters of the St Lawrence, after the usual rough start, to be expected after a long and clingy winter, we expect to load our first cargo of the season, tonight at the refinery. So it is now time to settle into the operational routine. One of those operational things is the maintenance of the oil record book (ORB).

We are all familiar with the criminalization of seafarers, all over the world, in particular with respect of this fine shipboard document, known as the Oil Record Book (ORB). For many years now, headlines read how this “hero caught this guy dumping oil into the sea” and such... What it usually means, is that a discrepancy exists in the ORB, which would suggest a possible pollution incident; not necessarily the action of dumping a pollutants overboard. Another words, successful prosecution are based on the Oil Record Book, and how it was falsified, in the assumed dumping of oily waste overboard.

Therefore seafarers, generally engineers, are parade as villains and hazards to humanity. With the resulting heavy handed penalties levied to the seafarer, and the ship owners - detentions, prison, probation, fines, and so on and so forth. Well of course, this depends on where you’re from, and whom you work for…

There is obviously a fair bit of monkey business going on, there is no denying that. The economic pressures are ever present, and some people somehow feel it necessary to pollute, and this is not acceptable as a society.

I felt compelled to write this entry, after reading one of our company's newest directive, and let out a sizable groan. Then there is also Transport Canada's new ORB instructions, all based on the guidance issued by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) – the worldwide regulating body of the marine industry - in their MEPC 1/Circ 736 bulletin, dated November 8th, 2010. This guidance bulletin is about the adopted changes in regulations, to the way shipboard operation with oil, and its by-products, are recorded vis a vis MARPOL.

The directive discusses the new changes adopted in October 2010, coming into force January 2011. Yes, bureaucracy suddenly moves pretty quick, so quick in fact that Transport Canada has not had a chance to print up new, official ORB, so the office tells me. In its place, they asked me to print some pages off my printer, and start using it as official logbook. Yes, can you imagine the look I would get, presenting a bunch of loose pages with scribble on it concerning oily waste, hell; I may as well just walk down to the gas chamber right now, and make it easy on everyone.

But I digress; I am not sure who came up with this stuff and the reason or background for this, but as I see it, they may as well print up a bulls eye on the neat "Year of the Seafarer" logo, because with all these tedious entry requirements, and the numerous possibilities for a mistake to be made, it is almost certainly akin to presenting a nice big chunk of juicy steak to a rabid hungry dog.

You know these rabid dogs, no, no, not the border people, the other cowboys, harmed to the teeth looking to be "hero", who already don’t hesitate to capitalize on simple mistakes. Hell, our internal auditors give me shit for the way the date was written: “not "March 28, 2011" but rather "28-Mar-2011" he tells me”.

I stand behind what I do and I have a reputation of being a little "earthly" to start with, you know us, "West Coasters" and our tree hugging reputation - which I don’t mind. Nevertheless, I am always uncomfortable dealing with this document, because history shows it's a nice easy way for "regulators" to get "trophies". Luckily for me, on this boat, we actually have very few processes, since we are a small boat, and land our waste. But I feel sorry for the poor schmuck, trying to explain his error in the official ORB, and having to understand these tedious regs, with a limited grasp of the English language to start with. With these new requirements, now in force, the inspector's job is getting easier to exercise their authority at whim; so I suggest you take special care when filling out the ORB. In some shady ports, already plague by deceitful regulator practices, you'd better request some extra cash or ample supply of Johnny Walker, because these things are going to push the thorn in our side a lot deeper.

I feel a bit jaded about these added regulations upon regulations on the shipping industry, more evident if you sail muddy waters like I am currently doing – competing with other forms of transportation. If governments are really concern about pollution, and they should be, please be balanced with the whole transportation sector.

While we watch our every move on board, fearing for incarceration and legal action at every turn, do you think the train engineer worries about the water running off his train. Does he walk the entire train, taking rain water samples for testing, after capturing it (VGP) and filling out a logbook weekly, does he catch all the drips of oil, record it every week and safely dispose of it at an approved facility. Are pilots held responsible for the handling of the fuel they take on, keeping samples on board and logging every drop into which tank (apart from the need to know your capability of getting there) they in the end, are the most prolific air polluters by ton of cargo moved. Same goes for the truckers.

Stringent regulation with a meaningful purpose, equally applied across sectors, is to be championed. I realize that ships move the large majority of the world’s cargo, remarkably, safely and by far the most efficient way, and therefore already with the lowest environmental footprint, so I guess that’s why its an easy target.

But we must have some common sense already! If there is such a fear of oil getting loose in the environment, then why not make it easy for ships to discharge their sludge or slops ashore. Ports were mandated to beef up all kinds of security measures, why can’t they be mandated to supply basic necessities of ships operations, clean potable water, solid and liquid waste infrastructure. It always ends up to the ship owner, and they in turn drill down on the crew; then everybody shrugs their shoulders when trying to explain the worldwide shortage of competent crew.

Happy Year of the seafarer to you; thanks for the new gifts, IMO. Anyways, I will step down from my soapbox now, but please have a look at the IMO bulletin for your own good.

Engineers get vocal

2011-03-28T19:10:00.008-07:00

Ship's Engineers are generally not the boastful, talk for the talk sake types, so generally when a group of them speaks up, it is probably worth a listen. After all, marine engineers are major partners in the pursuit of a ship's ability to perform safely, with optimum quality and efficiency.

Today, the West Coast Ship's Officer Association release a pointed press release, highlighting a simmering situation at BC Ferries, the company that runs a large fleet of vessels on British Columbia's coast, and is an intrinsic part of life in Western Canada. It's been awhile since I visited the association's website, its been around for over 10 years now, starting as a forum, drawing together the grassroots of BC Ferries officers corp.

Although I am not intimate with its genesis, the forum as always been a loosely organized stewing pot of ideas and gripes within the officer corp of the company. Several years ago, the hot topic was the Ferry and Marine Workers Union, predominately made up of ratings and hotel staff, "leading the discussion", leaving the union's officer component feeling "left out in the cold".

I think it is safe to say that this is a shot across the bow of the company's management team. For some time, BC Ferries appears to be adopting a divide and conquer approach to the union. In September they were provided with the ammunition to carry this out. The murkiness of the whole situation, has evidently led to a considerable vocal opposition, leading to this press release, by an entity not affiliated with their official union.

Below is the full press release, and you can find more information, here, on the association who described itself as "...marine engineers, not journalists; ships’ officers, not writers, or editors". They also have a media area that frames their point of view, you can find that here. Local media CKNW's blurb is here. Here's another slightly BC Ferries related newsbit...

Media Release -March 28, 2011
BC Ferries Engineers Sound Alarm

Senior ships’ officers aboard BC Ferries (BCF) are increasingly wary and frustrated about current high pressure management initiatives to exclude them from long-standing membership in the BC Ferry and Marine Workers Union.

More than 80% of senior ships' engineers are believed to have refused offers of excluded positions, with salaries and promises of bonuses well above their existing union pay scale. They say it isn't about money.

They fear that losing the protection of collective representation will constrain highly trained, certified and experienced employees from voicing professional concerns about important matters, most notably: public safety and environmental issues.

Engineers’ officers were excluded from the protections of the Labour Relations Code by the decision of a single arbitrator in September, 2010. They are asking the corporation to halt implementation of the unilateral exclusion process while an appeal is underway and currently before the Labor Relations Board.

As well, they are once again calling on BCF executives to consult with them to discuss and resolve any problems that management identifies in relation to union membership.

As part of the LRB hearing on exclusions, the corporation submitted sworn statements which included generalizations regarding BCF Ship's officers – who ensure safety onboard - that were both negative, and misleading, engineers are saying.

Senior ships’ officers are utilizing The West Coast Ship Officers’ Association (www.WCSOA.com) – a support forum formed in the 1990s – to share information.

Contrary to controversial BCF statements, ships’ officers have a keen interest and key role in implementing and achieving safety, dependability, efficiency, and other BC Ferries goals and objectives.

Like experienced technicians with similar positions on aircraft, oil rigs and power plants, BCF engineers work as supervisory employees far removed from office desks. Their responsibilities include reporting to governing bodies and regulatory authorities.

In January, 2011, engineers from the WCSOA requested a meeting with BCF president David Hahn. His response to their requests to sit down with them was resoundingly negative: “To be clear, I will not be partaking in any meeting with an organization that has no standing and our plan on exclusions is proceeding as planned.”

The world is awash in disasters resulting from risky cost-cutting measures, dangers of pollution, unsafe practices, hazards and myriad other problems which are most apparent to those whose job and skills are focused on monitoring these matters on the scene, on an hourly basis, in this case, below deck. Engineers want to retain this role.

For more than five decades ships’ officers in BC have earned widespread public trust and confidence, as well as an international reputation for excellence. They are now calling on the corporation, government, the LRB, and the public to continue to support a proud tradition of safety, dependability and service in a proven integrated ferry system.

Pictures from various internet sources.

Women at Sea in New York City

2011-03-25T05:00:00.002-07:00

In a little under a week from now, a celebration of progress, you could say, will occur in New York City. Although the marine industry is a predominately "male" industry, some very capable women, have been leaving their mark; at this event, achievements in the United States maritime field will be highlighted. Below is a blurb of the event, and you can visit the Working Harbor website for more information.

" In honor of Womenʼs History Month, the Working Harbor Committee, a not-forprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about the history and present-day importance of the Port of New York and New Jersey, will host “Women at Sea,” a special program created to highlight the important contributions women make to the maritime industry.

The evening will begin with Shipping Out: The Story of Americaʼs Seafaring Women, a 60-minute documentary by filmmaker Maria Brooks that appeared on many PBS stations. This unusual documentary tells the history of seafaring women in America. We meet modern women working on container ships, tankers, tugs and other vessels, as pilots, engineers, mates and ordinary 'seamen'. "Shipping Out" explores the history, mythologies and attitudes which limited women's participation in seafaring roles until recent times Immediately following the film, seven women mariners will describe their experiences working at sea and answer questions from the audience. A reception with food, wine, beer and soft drinks will follow.

Participants will be:

--Jessica DuLong, (pictured above) chief engineer on the retired New York City Fireboat John J.Harvey.
--Captain Linda L. Fagan, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Commander and Captain of the Port of New York.
--Commander Linda A. Sturgis, (Pictured right) USCG, head of the Prevention Department at Coast Guard Sector New York.
--Captain Ann Loeding, tug captain who has worked in New York Harbor, the Erie Canal, the Great Lakes and Alaska.
--Captain Coleen Quinn, Sandy Hook Pilot
--Marissa Strawbridge, second mate for American Marine Officers.
--Debra Tischler, commercial operator for Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. and former second mate on tankers, car carriers and bulk carriers.

The event will begin promptly at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 30, at the Community Church of New York, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan. Tickets are $20 and are fully tax deductible. They can be purchased at www.workingharbor.org. Advance purchase strongly recommended. For additional information or telephone purchases, contact 212-757-1600. "

In a related story, you can check out this article as well.

Getting Laid (up)

2011-03-22T17:14:00.006-07:00

I have been up to my eyeballs in work, getting the ship ready for the 2011 navigation season. Two weeks now, getting all the systems up and running, getting all our welding done, and various defects looked after. Some projects will be orphaned until next year, but overall I am please that the boat, I think, will be in better shape than last year, so I think that is progress.

Here on the "East Coast" of Canada, most Canadian ships tie up, or "lay up", for winter, as the St Lawrence River freezes over, and the St Lawrence Seaways closes for the season. All due to the cold weather, snow and ice, which makes sea passage impractical. Some deep sea vessels will continue for most of the winter, bringing goods to and from ports on the St Lawrence up to Montreal.

The lay up is a much needed down time, to tend to our very old ships. All along the great lakes and along the river, ships will weather the winter months in a safe harbour, from late December to late March, with only a ship keeper on board. This year, many ships, including ours, laid up in Montreal - as a matter of fact the port was reportedly "full".

With the mild temperatures of last week, a few of our berth mates have ventured out for their first cargo. Meanwhile the rest of us are on a mad dash to secure the necessary expertise to wrap up all the projects, before putting "to sea". Our charterers are on the phone, asking us to join them ASAP; could be worst, we could not have cargo...

Hopefully the minus 11 Celsius weather we are experiencing this week, will abate and we should be underway Friday night. Having had the usual initial missteps and numerous "surprises" after lay up, I hope that good luck will finally look down upon us, and the rest of the start of our season will be smooth and uneventful.

The opening of the Seaway is usually the official start up time for most charterer contracts for the region, so yesterday, it officially opened. You can read about it here and here.

Pictures from Internet sources.

The power of an earthquake and tsunami

2011-03-11T17:25:00.005-08:00

The images from Japan are shocking and worrisome; few words can express my condolences to the affected and the chagrin at their loss. The amount of energy release by this offshore earthquake, known as the Sendai Earthquake, is mind boggling. With three nuclear power plants in emergency shut down, one incapable of adequately cooling its core, the situation is grave at best.

The resultant tsunami tossed around ships, and there is news reports that shipyards are searching for their missing workers. With images of tugs and fishing boats washed inland by the dozen, overwhlemed port infrastructure and damaged shipyards, it is obvious that our brothers and sisters working on the sea, and on the coast, have paid a very heavy price today.

Living on an island, very close to a similar fault line, with the expectation of a similar event occuring soon, brings a lump in my throat that is hard to swallow. As a sailors, we are keenly aware of nature's whims, which can have devastating consequences for us, so its with this in the back of my mind, that we practiced our earthquake drill just last month, the great BC Shakeout. In general we forget the purpose of preparadess and drills whether at sea or on our time off, until of course such a magnamous event reminds us of our frailty.

To make a donation, to help the people of Japan, click here or here, or support a reputable aid agency. To read about the earthquake and its impact, visit the Wikipedia page. Google is also beta running a crisis response page.

Respite care in port

2011-03-02T20:15:00.006-08:00

I am getting ready to head out east, back to work, and the miserable cold. Mind you, things here in BC, have been pretty chilly, with some snow to boot - a rather rare occurence this time of year. As usual my preparations for sea are extensive, wrapping up loose ends, trying to spend as much time as possible with the wife and kids, and little time is left for my "hobby", so thanks for bearing with me with the lack of new posts.

I have been meaning to comment on the Sailors's Society, one of the links recently featured on this website. I am always fascinated to hear of new (to me) bussinesses and projects, so I clicked on it and viewed and learned more about them. On their website they had video, reproduced below. I was impressed with the message and its delivery, and though you might be as well.

The Society is a charity based in the UK, but operating worlwide, providing personal, professional and spiritual needs of a non denominational Christian background. Even coming from a "first world" country, I've had on many occassions taken advantages of a port's Seafarers Mission or Center, so I know first hand this is very specialized work and much appreciated by us professional sailors. For those coming from distant countries, working long contracts, lower down the rank, the work of these charities do, is a downright critical part of a sailor's well being.

The video produced by the Sailor Society is not only an appeal for donations, to continue their work, but also a poignant look at seafaring. Anyways, I thought it was pretty good, and I think you will agree, perhaps you might even consider supporting them, or at least another similar institution - financially or otherwise.

In this video the Society explains their purpose...

Need a ship repossessed ?

2011-02-21T15:38:00.007-08:00

If you are someone who has lent their financial support to a shipowner, who's not really taking your investment seriously, then maybe its time you talk to someone, before you lose even more.

Maybe your ship is being held hostage by an unscrupulous shipyard, delinquent ship operators, or crooked port authority. No matter how you slice it, you are without your asset, and you need to talk to a professional about it.

Drop me an email if you need a large and / or commercial ship repossessed, or just need help tracking it down.

Retreat in Whale Wars

2011-02-17T10:16:00.005-08:00

Last week, Japan announced the cancellation of their whaling, huh, I mean "cetacean research" activities in antarctic for this year. The development was attributed to the constant pestering of the whaling fleet's main processing vessel, Nissan Maru, by vessels of the environmental group Sea Shepperd Society. But with Australia citing a lack of confirmation by the Japaneses authority, this has lead the Sea Shepperd's leader, Paul Watson, to question this as a diversion tactic.

The Sea Shepperd's Antarctic operations have been chronicled, for the last four years, by television cameras in a show called called Whale Wars. The show is one of the most popular shows on Animal Planet, a US based television network. As it turns out, I was just working on a review of Season Three, which aired last year, and that I recently had a chance to watch in its entirety - below are my comments.

Whale Wars Season 3 review

By now most of us mariners, in North America anyways, are familiar with the antics of the crew of Sea Sheppard Society, in the Antarctic anti whaling campaign. Every year, the Japanese operate a fleet of vessels carrying out whaling activities, under the guise of research. In the past two documented seasons of the campaign, we have witnessed some pretty interesting seamanship in the environmentalist's quest to halt these "research" activities. I personally enjoyed the previous two seasons, so I was looking forward to lay down in my bunk, and watch the "warriors" duke it out at sea.

I don't know if the crew of Sea Sheppard is getting more skilled at sea, or the show is a bit more polished, but I sense that the overall professionalism displayed is probably better than most would expect. Obviously the drama of the chase is the primary focus of the show, but one has to remember, these are primarily volunteers manning these ships. The interpersonal drama has subsided in this series, with more of an emphasis on the physical assets at the Sea Sheppard's disposal, and their interaction toward achieving their goals.

Well its pretty hard to ignore since the main tactic in season three, the utilization of two new vessels in the campaign against the Japanese whaling fleet, the MV Addy Gil and the MV Bob Barker. Bob Barker, yes, named after the game show host guy. Captain Watson, the head of the organization, and the Captain of the veteran campaigner MV Steve Irwin, is now elevated to commodore, with a "fleet" at his disposal.

The MV Bob Barker is an old Norwegian Coast Guard Vessel, that is a bit faster than the Steve Irwin, but more importantly, is ice strengthened. Ice is of course a major challenge in the Antarctic, and the Steve Irwin definitely was in precarious waters in the two previous seasons.

The Adi Gill is smaller, but much faster craft. But with speed comes limitations, which ultimately prove fatal for the vessel, midway through the season. As an engineer you might be familiar with the Ady Gill and its previous role as Earth Racer. The vessel successfully sailed around the world burning bio-diesel, and shattering speed record while doing so.

The surprise introduction of the new fleet mates probably made the Japanese cringe considerably, but also made for a fresh new angle on the show. Passionate as he is, there is only so much Paul Watson, I can take.

As with all popular culture, the captain is the main focus of the vessel, but in the case of the Ady Gill, the captain is Paul Bethune, and he certainly comes across as an energetic passionate character - certainly an interesting shipmate, if albeit a bit unpredictable. He brings a welcomed sense of adventure, proudly showing his Kiwi roots.

Like I mentioned above, the show seems to have kicked up the professionalism, whether on the vessels, or in the production of the show, why, I am not sure, but there is a considerable marketing machine involved in this endeavor, so the results are probably starting to materialize in this season. The show is a reality type television program, but nonetheless is used by the Sea Sheppard to advance their cause. So I think we end up seeing less of the "oh my god, they did not just do that" moments, that we were seeing in the first, and second seasons.

Regardless, Whale Wars remains a fast paced action / drama show. Great photography and editing, and this season, not too much personal drama. It remains very popular across north America, and can be found online and coming to DVD in December.

Lenin

2011-02-08T08:00:00.001-08:00

I have a strange fascination with all thing nuclear, especially ships. I came across this interesting pictorial of the world's first nuclear powered ship. The Soviet icebreaker Lenin. Check out the rest of the pictures here. Here is another photo album as well. Murmansk is featured in this series of arctic pictures.

From Wikipedia...

" NS Lenin is a Soviet icebreaker launched in 1957, and is both the world's first nuclear powered surface ship and the first nuclear powered civilian vessel. Lenin was put into operation in 1959 and officially decommissioned in 1989. "

20/20 is MariTech 2011's vision

2011-02-03T10:39:00.006-08:00

The Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering (CIMarE) is the only professional organization in Canada, dedicated to Marine Engineering excellence at sea, in the design office, at the shipyard and in so many other aspects of the profession. This "not for profit", fully democratic, national entity has branches across Canada, which serve as meeting points for branch members, and guest, interested in Marine Engineering.

Each year, the CIMarE holds a technical conference called MariTech. This year's Maritech is hosted by the Vancouver Island Branch of the CIMarE and is entitled 20/20 Looking to the future - A vision of Canada's Marine Industry in the year 2020. These conference are very well attended by a swath of industry movers and shakers, and this year event promises to be no different.

The Vancouver Island Branch is a progressive and seasoned veteran of hosting these types of conference, and is well honed in providing a top notch professional experience at an accessible price. The organizing committee has chosen the well appointed Delta Ocean Point Resort (pictured below), on the shore of downtown Victoria's inner harbour, to serve as the backdrop for this professional event.

The event will span two days, May 5th and 6th, 2010, in picturesque Victoria, British Columbia, on Canada's west coast, near Seattle and Vancouver. You can find out more about the Maritech 2011 conference - 20/20 looking to the future, by visiting the official website, their Facebook page, or the Linked In page. You can also download the brochure here. You can find out more about the CIMarE here.

Dear Canadian ISP: Cap this...

2011-02-02T08:00:00.002-08:00

I am spreading the word of my extreme displeasure on new caps for my bandwidth, arbitrarily impose by my, and probable yours too, internet service provider. If you live in Canada, this may interest you.

Why is it, that Shaw would charge me, under their new plans, ~$72 for my January usage of 90 gb of bandwidth (~$40 base for 60gb, $2 per GB over), while my website hosted in the US, for the same period, used 90 gb of bandwidth (of an unlimited plan) and they charge me $8. Sounds like a rip off to me. Stifling competition and innovation. These guys - Shaw Telus and Rogers - are too use to screwing us - overcharging to start with and delivering poor service. BTW – the $8 is in line with estimates of the actual Bandwidth cost of $0.10/gb of data.

I’ve heard the argument that “those who use it should pay”, well if that’s the case then why don't ISPs charge my aging parents or sister less / accordingly, to the 5 gb a month they use approximately. If the US guys (Dreamhost) can do it for such reasonable cost, and still grow, year after year, why can’t the Canadians corps – even with their monopoly? Another argument is that the cost of technology is higher. I find this to be pure BS! Cost of technology has dramatically drop. And why are independent operators like Techsaavy restricted to compete – it’s not their fault that the greedy corps that rule Canada are so “inefficient”.

We seem to put up with this stuff, all because we are complacent little sheep, afraid to say anything to upset people. In our house, we get the majority of our information from online sources, I also run a reasonably successful website dependent on internet access, so this is a very real problem for us. It will become one for you too, sooner than later, with more and more content becoming only available online.

I urge you to call your ISP - Shaw and Telus - tell them to stuff themselves (and not just with our money) with their Duopoly on our internet service. Contact your MP - The Federal NDP is the only ones speaking out against it. At the very least, sign the online petition at the link below.

I've sent a letter to my MP about it, you can too, I've also donated to and joined http://openmedia.ca/meter, maybe you could consider it. Either way, educate yourself and spread the word.

Why TC does not comment

2011-01-31T08:00:00.000-08:00

I was doing some research on another topic when I came across an interesting article from the Tyee, a BC based, shall we say, left leaning, epub. The articles chronicles the interaction of the paper, with Transport Canada, and their (varying) stance on crewing for tugs operating in Vancouver Harbour.

The reason this subject has been in the news this past year, is that Alberta "tar sands" crude, and bitumen, is being pumped to Vancouver, for shipment overseas; a relatively new concept. With the increase in production, there has been a need to increase the size of tankers traversing the harbour, and its many challenging waterways.

The resulting discussion led to increase public awareness, and concern, about tanker traffic through the Second Narrows (pictured below), a treacherous waterway within Vancouver's harbour. As a result the Tyee armed with some "ammunition", courtesy of the guild (Ship's Officer Union - CMSG), quizzed Transport Canada about operating tugs with only two crew onboard, a Captain and a deckhand.

Tugs, within the ever widening boundaries of the Port of Vancouver, are not required to sail with a licensed engineer. This is becoming more of an issue with the increase requirements of escort tugs for tankers, and the complexity of the tugs themselves. The definition of "escort", being the tripping hazard for TC.

For us "locals" this is nothing new - the multiple version of a simple answer from Transport Canada, nor the fact that these 6,000 hp tugs operating with no engineers on board. To me, the later has been quite incredible to swallow for many years. There is some good deckhands, but its getting a little ridiculous to expect them to operate a complex engine room like that on the newer, high power tugs.

Never mind the aspect of safety, or the union's own motives, but who in their right mind would let a multi-million dollar piece of machinery, in the hands of a deckhand, dispatched from the union hall, a few hours before. Not to mention, the legal and financial implications of a possible accident.

OK, granted the reliability of modern engineering systems are better. There is probably not much an engineer - or anybody else, can do, in the case of a major failure, given the tight waterways, and the quick pace of something going south to start with. But, that is kind of the point with this discussion. The older, lower powered tugs, handling smaller ships, carrying grain, had a bit more room for errors, before they became front page news.

I heard a story from a friend of mine the other day; one of SMIT's new high powered escort tug in Vancouver being out of commission, because the deckhand, sick of hearing the engine alarm, punched the display, rendering the engine practically inoperable, and the tug laid up for a considerable amount of time, until a specialist with parts, came from Germany.

This debate was bound to come up, especially with the arrival of such high horsepower machines in the area. Anyways, you can read the articles here - Transport Canada at its best.

Pictures, from various online sources.

Floating Green Lab

2011-01-24T09:00:00.001-08:00

Furthering a story which we brought you over two months ago; UVic (the University of Victoria) is officially confirming the acquisition of the Canadian Coast Guard Vessel Tsekoa II. They are also announcing nearly $18 million in funding, from the Federal and Provincial Government for the ship, and an expansion of the Venus project - an underwater observatory in waters of Saanich inlet.

The majority of the funding is to refit the former Canadian Coast Guard vessel, which will dramatically change not only its shape, with a planned extension, but also its propulsion system to fuel cell centered power plant. The rendering of the new design also show Z drives, which, if accurate, would be logical, but quite a dramatic change from its current propulsion set up.

The re-powering of the Tsekoa II with a Hybrid propulsion system is not a just trendy shift towards "green", well ok, perhaps a little, but also to make the vessel quiet and optimal for scientific research.

The press release states the University hopes to have the vessel ready in 2011, but no specifics have yet been determined, nor what their ship's new name will be. In the mean time, the Tsekoa II has been relocated - towed, from the CCG Base at Pat Bay, to downtown Victoria, where she is berthed for refit preparations.

You can read the full press release from UVic and a "Backgrounder" on the project, as well as Tactical Marine's Press Release on the Tsekoa II. Here's the CBC's take on the announcement. Tactical even got some international press from Tradewinds, find the story here.

Pictures and graphics, courtesy of Tactical Marine.

Shipyard Men

2011-01-21T20:16:00.006-08:00

The Company Men is not an extraordinary Hollywood film, but it does have a bit of an interesting setting for us mariner types. The setting of this "corporate drama" is of a large US industrial conglomerate, the fictional GTX of Boston, with a focus on the drama of "cost cutting" to please shareholders in the company's shipbuilding division. The cost cutting measures result in the firing of thousands of people in the shipyards, including at the top of the "corporate ladder", to which the impacts on the characters is chronicled in this film.

The end is pure Hollywood; if you see it, you will understand. Otherwise it was a interesting drama with Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, and Ben Affleck. A few years ago, I kinda lost interest in Affleck movies, due to his constant acting obsession to save the world. The Town was pretty good drive away from this, but poor old Ben makes a bit of a return to his charitable ways in this one...

The film is out this weekend, here is the IMDB write up.

That gentle glow, more than a nice sunset...

2011-01-18T13:05:00.009-08:00

A shipment of Uranium concentrate was damaged on a cargo ship, during rough seas, while in transit from Vancouver to China, between Hawaii and Midway, in the Pacific. Two drum like containers, came loose from what I understand to be a larger shipping container, and have spilled their content into the ship's hold. The ship, the MCP Altona, was instructed to return to Canada by the Uranium's producer, Cameco, to deal with the situation. The cargo ship sits at anchor, off the east coast of Vancouver Island near the town of Chemainus.

Since it is very near my place, I had a drive down there today to have a look see. Not much activity was showing around noon today. According to news release and press reports, the situation has been assessed, a clean up plan proposed and federal agencies are overlooking the process. It is a bit unusual to see a such a cargo ship anchored off there, so before I even heard that of the situation, I noticed something was amiss.

The anchorage faces a quiet area, as is most of Vancouver Island; that particular area is peppered with retiree's homes and not much else. The anchorage is called Ladysmith, but really the ship is nearest the town of Chemainus. South of Chemainus, are the deep sea docks of the local pulp mill at Crofton, the only logical place for the ship to dock nearby, if deemed necessary. I am not sure why authorities chose to anchor the ship there, as Vancouver would have been a more appropriate place, with a greater access to resources to deal with this. One must wonder if the area is designated as a "port of refuge".

Chemainus is the base of operations for Jones Marine, a small log and general towing business, these guys are the most likely place to provide logistic support to the operation, this hunch was also supported by the sight of large newer rental SUVs in the parking lot. At the time of my visit, there appeared to be little activity at the yard or on the ship.

This shipment is touted as benign, but I certainly would be wary to start playing with anything labeled Uranium. Here and here, you can find out more about the nature of the shipment. With Canada being a leading worldwide exporter of Uranium products, this event is probably far more common than we like to think.

The MCP Altona is Chinese built cargo ship, classed by Germanischer Lloyd, and delivered in 2007 to its owners, Hartmann Shipping of Germany. The 7,853 DWT ship flies the Liberian flag and is managed by Intership of Cyprus - a small, but typical cargo ship. The ship was inspected by the USCG shortly after the incident, in Hawaii. It was also inspected by Transport Canada in December 2010, where 9 deficiencies were recorded, mostly dealing with certifications.

You can read more in the media here and here. Cameco's press release on the incident. I shot some video footage of the ship today, the zoom on my new camera is excellent, but my steady hand, not so much... Here it is below.

My first YouTube upload, that's progress! but I have no idea how I wound up with the ID "poppinwoods" - very strange. Picture of the Altona at the top, from internet sources.

Norwegian Icebreaker Heads Up The Mississippi

2011-01-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

I got this email below a couple of weeks ago, and of course I had to laugh, having sailed with numerous Norwegians; the email is reproduced below...

" As you may have seen on the news, it's been very cold in Iowa, so cold in fact that Iowans have borrowed a Norwegian Icebreaker from Minnesota to unclog the Mississippi, starting over near Davenport, and working its way north.

Here is the first picture of it as it begins the hard work required to break up the ice. The first Norwegian Icebreaker heads up the Mississippi."

Spruceglen serves up PR

2011-01-11T21:02:00.005-08:00

I am just working through an update for the main site, and came accross an interesting link to a Canadian Geographic Magazine piece, on the the St Lawrence Seaway. For those outside Canada, who may not be familiar with the seaway; it is a major piece in Canada's maritime industry, and a fairly impressive feat of engineering.

The article by author D'Arcy Jenish, lays out what the Seaway is all about while transiting it on the Canada Steamship Line's Spruceglen. A topical look at the look at the seaway but an easy and interesting read. Check it out the article here, published about one year ago.

A ray of Sun

2011-01-08T22:40:00.001-08:00

The largest newspaper, west of the Canadian Rockies, has a feature on west coast tugs in today's Business section. It features an optimistic outlook by the regional operators after several years of hardships - no pun intended.

Seaspan is featured in the story, as is the Catherwood, Jones Marine, Smit, Pilots and others. An interesting read overall, but the history side is of course nothing new to those plying these waters, such as myself having faced the economic downturn first hand.

The optimism in the industry is the main focus of the piece. I am not yet convinced a big time recovery is in the works, but with a major part of the workforce quickly reaching retirement, even a mild increase in operations might turn into something worthwhile for young professional seafarers on this coast. Although in typical west coast - Canadian - fashion, it will be accepted with a fair dose of trepidation and resulting foresight.

You can read the Vancouver Sun feature here. In a related story, the Vancouver Sun published a piece on the forestry sector's anticipated recovery this year. Well its not really a recovery of sorts, more of a "to the victors, the spoils of war" story. The paper reports prices for lumber are to rise sharply as demand grows. But why they will rise so sharply, is that there is nobody left to cut it, mill it, or move it for that matter. Its great news for the investors!

Picture: Ernie Catherwood, owner of Catherwood Towing Ltd. of Mission aboard Sea Imp VIII on the Fraser River, has seen a major diversification in the kind of work his company has taken on. Photograph by: Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun

Welcome 2011, now behave !

2011-01-02T19:12:00.006-08:00

Indeed another years has popped its head up. Welcome 2011! Welcome indeed, and hopefully you are better than that last year.

I was just re reading my 2010 outlook post I had made about one year ago, in preparation for this outlook or my musing of the future, and although I was pretty general last year, it turns out I wasn't off the mark too badly. I am feeling a bit out of the "maritime mindset" coming off the holiday season, but the Christmas Lights are now stowed and its time to get back to work. So here goes my observations for your consideration and comments.

So what happened last year? Well for one things, we in the maritime sector were busier then the year before. The economy in general has recovered some steam in the maritime sector, no skyrocketing performance, but an improvement, in the later half of 2010, in particular. I was expecting more of a steady climb out, especially towards the end of the year, but I am not so sure we are still climbing with determination. The US economic engine is still sputtering, so this remains a heavy burden on trade, especially in Canada, and a red flag for shipping.

From my personal observations, the port of Montreal and Quebec were tremendously busy, with a great deal of cargo and passenger traffic. Berths were very busy, in particular tanker traffic seemed extremely busy. The Port of Montreal reported a sharp increase in the first half of 2010 of about 10% over the same period the year before, and I am sure those figures will be up even more at the end of the year. The Seaway was also up, in particular grain cargoes, but overall 17% rise year over year.

Over in Vancouver, fresh numbers indicate a nearly 16% increase in all traffic over the previous year with inbound boxes up, and outbound dry bulk up significantly. Passenger traffic out of Vancouver though took a beating, down 35%. With Alaskan bound ships being home based out of Seattle instead of Vancouver, the rest of BC Ports are increasing in passenger traffic at Vancouver's expense.

The big stories of 2010 might be Seaspan acquiring its former competitor Rivtow (all assets from the non ship berthing duties) from SMIT Marine Canada. The Olympics in Vancouver sure caused allot of hubub in the harbour, and brings a bit of closure to a construction frenzy, requiring a great deal of raw materials. The Canadian Navy was richly celebrated this year, well at least in pomp and circumstance, across Canada. The service has been around for one hundred years, although much of its future sits on uncomfortable chairs.

The Canadian government (GOC) gave ship owners a giant gift in lifting import duties on foreign built ships. They also made some significant changes to the Coasting Trade Act, in hopes of clarifying the process. The changes are said to make it easier for foreign operators to work in Canadian waters - in particular this benefits the offshore oil and gas business in Eastern Canada. Which of course will probably not involve hiring Canadians. The GOC also went on a silly spending spree under the auspice of Economic Action plan, pumping millions and millions of dollars on "ready to go" ships projects to patch up yet again, the ageing red and white fleet. Old ships with shinny paint, except now there is a need to pay those bills, and here we go again with belt tightening for the coming years.

In the arctic, business has apparently been booming. Although venerable NTCL is floundering under what appears to be poor management. Other east coast based operators are picking up the slack without missing a beat. Things were tempered with two major groundings in the arctic, which grabbed national headlines highlighting vulnerabilities in the regions.

Another big story for the region is the federal approval of the Mackenzie Pipeline. The project, 30 years in the approval stage, is expected to cost over $16 billion - the largest capital project in Canada. Obviously the arctic marine industry is in a major position to take advantage of those development dollars - assuming there is some strong enough financial backers to actually undertake the project.

Over in the west coast, forestry is still in a slump. This important industrial sector heavily serviced by marine assets, remains in a decade long downturn. There is talk of the industry picking up, perhaps for the companies who sell raw logs, but for the guy on the tug, not too many of these guys are seeing any benefits. The raw logs are just being shipped on deep sea ships, right from the cut site, to be processed in Asia. With construction down across North America, aggregate is also down. So no real good news there. I was reading a story that a tug company was doing dive charters to keep their head above water. Pretty sad.

The bright spot on the west coast is those processed logs, along with everything else, coming back on box ships as consumer products, which is fueling a serious growth of harbour tugs. Big local player Seaspan is going head to head with worldwide powerhouse SMIT, in BC waters. Seaspan adding 5 new powerful ship berthing tugs to their fleet, while SMIT solidified its dominant position in BC's north and continued to refine its fleet in Vancouver. Meanwhile over at BC Ferries, traffic was down about 2% year over year, and they don't expect any growth any time soon. I have heard from several people that they also have a hiring freeze as well.

Oil continues to dominate the maritime environment on the east coast with a forecast of oil production from Canada doubling by 2020, which can only mean further offshore opportunities for seafarers, unfortunately with the changing of the Coasting Trade Act, this opportunities may be far and few between. And of course the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon have yet to fully materialize. Fishing is a major industry there, but I am not very familiar with its outlook or issues.

Deepwater Horizon, well if that is not the biggest maritime story of last year I don't what else it could be. This in my view is a major event which will have tremendous impact on a variety of aspect concerning the offshore oil market. The impacts will probably focus the industry; probably reduce the amount of projects; probably improve lives and safety of seafarers.

What holds for engineers in particular and seafarers in general for 2011; more of the same. We've been running on lean rations for a long time now. There is not much that can be cut, but the accountants will keep trying. Training is so rarely given to Canadian seafarers by their employers, that I dont think will change. Jobs afloat have been few and far between with a caution bunch hanging on to their positions. If growth continues, there is likely some good times ahead for us, as retirement is claiming more and more seafarers. The lack of young engineers being able to progress through the ranks is still a very real problem that has not been focused on by employers and shipowners, who have done even less, if that was possible, to attract new talent. This will quickly lead to an interesting and certainly diverse workforce in the very near future.

With these pressures mounting against their traditional operations, shipowners are likely to turn to foreign going assets to supply the Canadian market. Clearly this strategy will be detrimental to the already struggling Canadian mariner, in particular the much needed "young blood". But then again these guys have been shunned for many years, and those willing to pursue a maritime career past these roadblocks, do it in spite of Canadian operators, and in the international market.

Perhaps ship operators will turn to foreign assets, but regardless the shortage of competent and experienced officers is not a problem isolated to Canada. This is a major problem for shipping all over and there will be no quick solution, especially when the "good time" were here, they did nothing more than pay lip service to the problem. Now, after two years of belt tightening, you can be sure the situation is not any better.

In Manila this year, the new STCW requirements were agreed to and will usher in another round of of needed standards improvement. In North America where working hours routinely surpass 14 hrs days, this will have some pretty major impacts.

All these observation in my mind point to an interesting year. late 2008 and 2009 was a disaster, 2010 was better. 2011 I expect will be similar to 2010 with a modest growth, probably shy of pre meltdown levels. Asia continues to dominate in the production of goods wanted in Europe and North America, gobbling up resources from around the world. All this is made possible by shipping, and shipping is made possible by seafarers, so it should be a good year.

Another Year Gone ?

2010-12-22T15:11:00.004-08:00

Here we are again, another year on it's last legs and Christmas Day only two days away.

Last week I made an emergency stop at my garage with my truck running only on the battery as the alternator had packed it in.
Of course, one week before Christmas, we all know what the bank account is like and I was a bit upset. Jim, the shop manager drove me into work and he started off the trip by telling me about one of his other regular customers who had been in the week before. This gentleman worked at a alcohol and drug rehab and Jim asked him if they were busy. He told him no, that this time of year they mainly are dealing with suicides.
A wise man, Jim is, without another word, he reminded me how lucky I am. Even with the nasty days at work wondering what job I'm going to have next week and dealing with the deaths of some good friends and the everyday issues we all have, on Christmas Eve, I will be loading up the truck with gifts and my German Shepard and heading to New Brunswick to spend Christmas with my family. It will be loud, people will be in and out all day and I will spend my time huddled by the wood stove because it will be undoubtedly cold in that 200 year old house, but I'll be home.
My best wishes go out to those at sea during this time of year and away from their families. Even with the modern communications it still is a lonely time for these seafarers.

Merry Christmas to my friends and I hope that next year will bring them better times and fortunes.

As for my truck, it was a credit card charge that was too close to the $600 mark for my liking. Turned out the battery was shot as well.
But hey, the night before I had been on the highway in a snowstorm towing a horse trailer.....it could have been worse, right?

2010-12-19T20:08:00.004-08:00

I'm still alive ! I had a "family emergency", so I had to rush home from sea over a week ago, and I have been busy ever since. That's why I've been unable to make any new post here on the blog - hopefully I will pick it up in the next week or two.

I am just taking a minute now to wish you, at sea and at home, hopefully the later, a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful and prosperous New Year. I hope the positive vibes transcends borders and backgrounds and extends to you and yours, during this holiday season, from out little family in Canada, and our community here at Martin's Marine Engineering Page - www.dieselduck.net.

Wilde times with Mary

2010-12-05T18:04:00.003-08:00

The UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has a couple of recent safety bulletins that may affect you, in your job as seagoing engineer.

The one that caught my eye recently, is a Harmonic Filter failure in the propulsion system of Cunard's Queen Mary 2. Harmonic Filters, a bank of capacitors, are generally part of any modern Diesel Electric propulsion system, used to stabilize and "clean" the network.

The internal wear was not pick up by sensors design to do just that, leading to internal rise in temp and pressure, which compromised the filter housing, leading to failure. The failure sprayed oil onto 11 kV bus bars, causing what I imagine was a spectacular light show. The whole mess luckily did not result in casualties, but did significant damage to the vessel's equipment.

Harmonic Filters, a bank of capacitors, are generally part of any modern Diesel Electric propulsion system and the MAIB is urging all mariners who have experienced this type of failure, to contact them.

Another safety bulletin, issued earlier in the year, addressed findings during an investigation into the ferry Oscar Wilde, which suffered and auxiliary space fire. The fire broke out in the fuel preparation unit, and firefighting efforts were infective as the installed high expansion firefighting foam system did not function as designed, despite proper maintenance. The problem was the distribution nozzles were blocked by debris. The MAIB is suggesting several initiatives to the engineer and operator responsible for the safe operation of this system.

You can download the "Queen Mary" Safety Bulletin here, and the "Oscar Wilde" Safety Bulletin here. The MAIB is asking for feedback, in confidence, if you have encountered problems with one or both these systems. You are asked to send them an email at maib@dft.gsi.gov.uk and using the title ‘Foam Systems’ or ‘Capacitor failures’.

Pictures from the MAIB; showing the damaged fuel prep unit from the Oscar Wilde, and a damaged fire door from the Queen Mary.

Too bad he was not hanging on to it...

2010-11-30T13:09:00.006-08:00

Rick Ehlert is dumb. Drunk or not, one should realize the implications of releasing a ship's anchor weighing 28,000 lbs, and letting free fall from its pocket. But apparently a drunken Rick did just that over the weekend, on Holland America's MV Ryndam. The ships was on route from Tampa, Florida to Costa Maya when he made his way to the aft mooring deck undetected and released the anchor while underway.

News reports don't mention if the anchor was fully deployed, or what happened once it released, but suffice to say, I would never be standing close to the deck when the anchor chain runs out, and the bitter end comes flying out of the chain locker.

I will not call him retarded, because I think that would be an insult to mentally challenged persons, but I think he fits the profile of someone with limited faculties. Now this guys is contending with the US's FBI and the rest of the Homeland Security people, and facing a potential 20 years in prison. Cruise Bruise theorizes the event was a publicity stunt for the man's California RV business. Well that's a new one in the annals of marketing.

You can read the story from USA Today here. Picture above of the Ryndam, from my collection, this one while in Alaska, 2004. Other pictures, from the internets.

Review - NG's Gulf Oil Spill

2010-11-28T06:05:00.004-08:00

Violently burning for 36 hours, explosions, missing workers, environmental catastrophe around the corner, SMIT salvage is working against the clock the minute they get the call for this salvage. I had been anxiously waiting to get my hands on the National Geographic’s latest focus on disasters at sea, Gulf Oil Spill. The show is about the Deepwater Horizon drill rig, and this is a review of that show.

I suspect that the show’s producer did not anticipate such a disaster to happen on their watch, because to me, the show feels like it was a bit rushed to production. Not to say the production quality was inferior, but if you follow National Geographic’s Code Red, about salvage jobs, you will understand what I mean with the opening credits. They are very similar, but I guess they miss the branding of the other shows in the series, probably due to the large scope of the response. I suspect the documentary crew was actually on another, but related assignment, when the call came in to Houston’s SMIT office for the salvage of the Deepwater Horizon.

The producers also made the strange choice to call it “Gulf Oil Spill”, when within the first few minutes the focus of the show is explained, by the narrator, to be the first 36 hrs of the disaster, which deals with the fire and sinking, not the resulting spill. In that context, the show’s producers do a very good job at walking the audience through some of the actions taken. I say some, because I am sure it was a massive response from numerous parties, to deal with the emergency, and obviously difficult to present every angle in a limited frame of a tv show.

The audience is first taken through the United States Coast Guard’s response, and the logistic challenges they faced. We hear from a crewmember and his first hand experiences. The editing is not too nauseating and provides enough information to understand the situation with pictures, storytelling, graphics and some newsclips. The audience is then introduced to the salvagers, SMIT of Houston, with a backup team from Holland being mobilized.

The salvager’s goal: to bring the fire under control. To that aim, we follow salvage master on the initial response with an immediate dispatch to the scene, where it becomes pretty obvious that nothing can be done to bring the fire under control, because it is an oil well blow out, and not just a ship fire. Not to downplay a ship fire, but watching the video of the rig on fire, you’ll understand the gravity of the situation. In that video footage, from the time of the initial explosion to the sinking, the formidable firefighting effort did not appear to me to make a noticeable difference to the situation on the rig.

The salvager’s hopes were pinned on the success of the underwater operations to operate the blowout preventer, which, unfortunately were not successful, as we all know, and disappointingly not expanded on in the show. Successful operation of the blow out preventer would have isolate the well, and cut the fuel to the fire.

In the meantime, the gathering of the response equipment and mobilizing it to the scene is chronicled. Unfortunately, as the bulk of the response party leaves the dock in Louisiana, the Deepwater Horizon succumbs to the conflagration and slips beneath the surface, the event caught on film, ending the initial scope of the salvage for SMIT.

The show continue on with the disaster’s response efforts, going back to the USCG, this time aboard the USCG tender Oak, for skimming operations. Its gets a bit, well, military here, but interesting nonetheless.

I am thinking at this stage, of the dramatic response and ensuing court cases I have seen in the past, when an engineer is alleged to have discharged oil overboard a merchant ship. When you are faced with such a major spill, which has, for the most part been downplayed, “all traces are already gone from the spill” so says the government, probably due to its economic impact to this oil producing region, so I wonder if the punishment will be dealt in equal measure – but I doubt it, and I am probably digressing too much.

The show does a good job in not over dramatizing the situation, a refreshing change from other maritime shows, but then again there is no need to dramatize such a disaster to start with. With the time line model that the producer follow, this blends well to actually offer some good insight overall on the disaster. There is some great footage of the firefighting operations, a basic degree of technical knowledge is provided. There is obviously a great deal more action being done than we are made aware in the show, but there was obviously some major challenges to capturing a disaster of this nature.

The images and video are stunning that’s for sure. The overall quality of the production is good, and I would recommend you watch it, although the availability of it might be an issue – it was for me. The show last 45 minutes and was released a month after the start of the disaster, which probably was why it felt a bit unpolished.

Here is a time line of the accident. Here is the official website of the show. A behind the scene interview with the producer. Pictures are screen shots from the video.

"Cost cutting" and other great corporate ideas

2010-11-24T16:58:00.008-08:00

I am back at work and dealing with the adjustment phase, setting the agenda for the month. Of course thats why I don't end up having too much spare time writing new entries during this transition phase, but here it is. Another little random comment.

I was in my bunk last night, watching a couple of interesting programs on the recent disastrous, BP led project in the Gulf of Mexico, also know as the Macondo Well, or the Deepwater Horizon. The first program I watched wasn't so much about the accident, but more about the corporate culture within British Petroleum (and I think in many companies) regarding the appreciation of safety and other costly annoyances.

The program is called The Spill, and it is from PBS's Frontline and ProPublica, certainly two of the most well respected journalism hubs. The show, which aired last month, walked us through the various incidents thats occurred within BP's empire, during their rapid growth spurt - the Texas City Refinery explosion, Alaska Pipeline oil spills, Thunderhorse and of course the most recent and massive Gulf Coast spill.

The show was more to highlight the culture, and perhaps the results that you get when upper management makes unrealistic program cuts announcements - "cut 25% percent off costs". Well, where do people think this will come from. Oh yes, here we go, all this time we've been spending 25% of income on this wasteful department. Yeah right, of course training and safety are usually the first things to fall off the budget, maintenance is next, so on and so forth.

The US government has cleared BP in this particular matter, regarding the Deepwater Horizon but subtle corporate idioms are hard to pin down, like what makes a person different from others. I guess there is something in corporation wanting to be treated like people. Of course some people are like Mother Theresa, others, like Charles Manson.

Well, enough of that pleasant corporate talk, dwelling on the death of quality, and the ever deeper diving to the bottom of the barrel, in search of a 0.0045% rise in the quarterly share price - huh, I mean shareholder value. I am a little bias, as I have nearly always found Frontline to be "bang on", so of course, this show was well received by this blogger. You can judge for yourself, by watching it in full length here. The website also has further details. I recommend seeing both.

I will write about the other show I watched, regarding the Deepwater Horizon, and the salvage efforts, a much less subtle tale, tomorrow, as I am sailing out of wi-fi range shortly.

Pictures and graphics from various internet sources.

UVic goes to sea

2010-11-11T19:07:00.007-08:00

The University of Victoria (UVic) is acquiring a new research ship. Plans are not final yet, or at least UVic is deferring official comments to an announcement, expected towards the end of this year. What I do know is that UVic is in the final process of "purchasing", or has already "purchased" outright, the Canadian Coast Guard specialty vessel Tsekoa II.

The Tsekoa II was built for the Canadian Federal Government fleet, under the Department of Public Works, in 1984, by Allied Shipbuilders, in Vancouver, BC. The 87 foot long vessel has a 23.75 foot beam and was designed by Vancouver's Robert Allan Limited as a workboat for repairing docks along the BC coast. With the divestiture of port activities from the federal government to local entities in the 1990's, the vessel quickly became surplus to Public Works and was subsequently transferred to the Canadian Coast Guard, which became the responsibility of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in the late 1990's. (ahhh I missed those great years of constant tail chasing by the feds).

She has pretty much sat idle ever since, principally moored at the Institute of Ocean Science (IOS) at Pat Bay, north of Victoria due to chronic and severe lack of funding to operate her on any regular schedule. I actually worked on her back in the early 2000's and found her to be a good sturdy work boat, albeit a day boat, mostly due to her spartan accommodations.

IOS is probably where Tsekoa caught the eye of the UVic scientists, since it is where UVic keeps its other research "ship", the John Strickland. Spokesperson for DFO / CCG has stated that the details of the transfer are in the final stages, and that the DFO / CCG will not be affiliated with the ship in any way, nor does it know where the new base of operations, for the much expanded "UVic fleet", will be located.

The vessel's steel hull and aluminum superstructure has a current GT of 160 tons, with accommodations for 7 crew. Her top speed is 12.2 knots driven by two Caterpillar 3408 TA mains, for a grand total of 670 hp, on twin fix pitch screws. The engines were rebuild in 2005, but I understand the new owners have a grand plan to stretch her by 21 feet, just forward of her engine room, to install some scientific equipment, and probably increase her berthage capacity. Fleet BMT is looking after this alterations, at a yet undetermined shipyard. Local burgeoning company, Tactical Marine, is looking after the operational management of the vessel under a tendered contract.

It appears that the inaction at DFO to replace, much less add, scientific ship capacity has caught the eye of UVic for some time. The science group is very keen and they had identified that the scientific capacity offered by the DFO, to the University, was not going to be adequate for their research goals, so the search for a vessel has been afoot for several years now.

UVic has you may know is at the helm of the recently completed underwater observatory NEPTUNE, off the coast of Vancouver Island (subject of previous post here) and the smaller version, VENUS in Georgia Straight. Both these projects are massive, well funded scientific endeavors, and will undoubtedly required considerable ship time to satisfy the scope of the project.

I understand the goal is to have the ship operationally ready for the 2011 summer scientific season.

As it turns out, the Tsekoa is a very popular little ship, with many copies of it plying the world's ponds. Yes, I am being a bit tongue in cheek here, but the vessel is the subject of a Remote Control model ship design. I wonder if the model maker will change their designs.

You can see one such model in operation, below, from YouTube.

Splendid holiday comes to an abrupt end

2010-11-09T08:51:00.008-08:00

MV Carnival Splendor has suffered and engine room fire and was adrift off the Baja coast in Northwest Mexico, in the Pacific Ocean. The fire was detected in the aft engine room of the 113,323 gt ship around 6 am, and confirm put out at about 9 am local time. Ship's engineers have been able to restore some basic hotel services, but overall the ship is reportedly "dead in the water".

The Carnival Splendor is one of Carnival newest ships, having been built by Fincantieri, in Genoa Italy, and made her maiden voyage in August 2008. The Panamanian flagged vessel is classed by Lloyd's Register.

Here is the US Coast Guard's press release for the initial incident.

Coast Guard Responding to Fire Aboard Cruise Ship November 8, 2010

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- The U.S. Coast Guard is responding to reports of a fire that occurred earlier today aboard the 952-foot cruise ship, Carnival Splendor.

Initial reports of the fire were received by the U.S. Coast Guard at 8 a.m., today. Three Coast Guard cutters, a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft, a vessel in the Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System, a Mexican Navy 140-foot patrol boat and aircraft are responding.

The AMVER vessel Dresden Express, a 965-foot container ship, is currently on scene.

The C-130 is expected to be on scene at approximately 3:00 p.m., followed by the Coast Guard Cutters Edisto, Morgenthau and Aspen.

The Carnival Splendor is presently located 150 miles south of San Diego and has 3,299 passengers and 1,167 crewmembers aboard.

The Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center Alameda is currently in contact with all response assets as well as Carnival Cruise Line's operations' center.

No injuries to passengers or crew have been reported.

The fire was discovered in an aft engine room and was extinguished at approximately 9:10 a.m.; however, smoke remains in the area and the ship’s fire crews are on scene.

The Carnival Splendor is a Panamanian-flagged vessel and sailed out of Long Beach, Calif. en route to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Media contact for Carnival Cruise Lines: (305) 406-5464, media@carnival.com.

For concerned family members, contact: 1-888-290-5095

Carnival's press release can be found here. Here's is another story. Wikipedia's piece on the ship, and here's another sales pitch.

Update: The ship was safely towed by commercial tugs to San Diego, on Nov 11, and all passengers have disembarked.

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Another giant hits the waves

2010-10-30T10:15:00.007-07:00

1,364th ship has been delivered to its owners by STX Europe, from its birthplace in Turku, Finland. 1,364 is better known to the rest of the world as the Allure of the Seas. The new cruise ship for Royal Caribbean International is now in her first full day of transit across the Atlantic to her home port of Port Everglade, in Fort Lauderdale.

Allure of the Seas is the sister ship of the Oasis of the Seas, launched last year. Allure will share the title of world's largest passenger ships, by far, with a gross tonnage of 225,000 tons. Significant cruise ship design features makes these ships a powerful draw draw for the cruising public. I think its fair to saw that RCI's vision has once again delivered a superior product and will rightly draw considerable attention for its passenger amenities.

Allure of the Seas, like the majority of her fleet mates, fly the Bahamian flag and is classed by Det Norsk Veritas (DNV). It is the 30th ship for the top tier management company, Royal Caribbean Cruises, although the Royal Caribbean International brand has 22 ships under its banner, including the Allure of the Seas.

The new ULPax (Ultra Large Passenger Ship) is due to arrive on November 11th in Port Everglades, and her official naming will occur on November 20th, before she begins her regular western Caribbean cruise schedule on December 5th, 2010.

Allure of the Seas

Owner : Royal Caribbean International
Ordered : 2007
Construction start : December 2008
Delivered : October 28, 2010
Built: STX Europe, Turku, Finland
Cost : 1.2 billion USD
Flag: Bahamas
Class : DNV
GRT : 225,282
GT : 122,000
Lenght : 360 meters
Breath : 64 meters
Air Draft 65 meters
Draft : 9.1 meters
Cruising Speed : 22.6 knots
Main Machinery : Diesel Electric power plant
Main Engines : Wartsila, 12V46 x 3, 16V46 x 3, common rail Diesels
Total power : 97 mega watts (130,000 hp)
Propulsion : Asea Brown Boveri, 20MW azimuthing pods x 3 (propellers are 6.1 meter in diameter)
Bow thruster : 5.5 MW x 4
Maiden Voyage: December 5, 2010
Accommodations :
- 16 passenger decks
- 24 passenger elevators
- 5,400 guests (double occupancy)
- 6,296 guests total
- 2,394 crew (From over 71 countries)
Interesting tidbits
- Deck area of 25 ha, or 250,000 m2
- 90 000 m2 of fitted carpeting
- 250 km of pipes with a diameter exceeding 25 mm
- 2,400km of welded seams
- 16,000 sprinkler nozzles and 100 km of pipes
- 5,310 km of electric cabling
- 600,000 l of paint
- 7,000 works of art
- 4,100 m3 of drinking water produced in 24 hrs
- 50 tons of ice cubes produced daily
- 21 pools and Jacuzzis with 2,300 m3 of water

For more specs, check out this page. Official website; follow her trans Atlantic progress by video.

STX Europe mentions this in their press release...

"The Allure of the Seas and the Oasis of the Seas can be termed the most powerful and sophisticated ships in the world for a reason. They also are the culmination of more than 40 years of product development cooperation between the cruise line, the shipyard and the maritime cluster. The Oasis class vessels are 361 metres in length, and their cross tonnage is 225,000. The Allure of the Seas can accommodate 6,360 passengers at maximum. In comparison, the Song of Norway delivered to the same customer in 1970 was 168 metres long with a gross tonnage of 18,400; in other words, the Allure of the Seas is some 12 times as large.

The building contract was signed on 2 April 2007, and production was launched on 4 February 2008. The keel laying of the Allure of the Seas started on 2 December 2008, and the vessel was launched for the first time on 20 November 2009. "

You can read STX Europe's Press Release for more interesting facts and figures.