InterManager welcomes pilotage standards scheme

Monday, December 20th, 2010 | 12:18 am | International Shipping News

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A new international accreditation scheme for maritime pilots has been welcomed by InterManager, the international trade association for third‐party and in‐house ship managers.
The International Standard for Maritime Pilot Organisations (ISPO) has been developed by Pilot organisations in major ports in conjunction with Lloyd’s Register. Ports throughout the world are working to adopt the ISPO Code, which accredited its first pilotage district (Rotterdam) in 2005. This month sees the accreditation of the first UK pilotage district, The Association of Forth Pilots.
ISPO introduces an internationally‐agreed standard which is transparent to all customers – including ship managers, shipsʹ Masters, ship owners, oil majors and port operators. The scheme is specific and relevant to pilotage.
Captain Kuba Szymanski, Secretary General of InterManager, said: “We welcome this very important initiative by pilots for pilots. We believe it is essential to have international standards to ensure that worldwide excellence is promoted for pilot organisations, in the same way that InterManager promotes excellence among its members. This initiative will be well‐received by the industry and especially shipsʹ Masters and their managers who have long
recognised the need for pilotage standards.”
Captain Szymanski spoke at the recent ISPO User Group Conference in Edinburgh, during which Captain Jon Hague, chairman of the Association of Forth Pilots, was officially presented with Lloyd’s Accreditation.

Source: InterManager

Captain Andre Smith

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Marine Pilots care for the safety of ship, crew and environment. Pilots offer their services with the knowledge that the ship-owner also has to deal with economical interests. Pilots offer a balance between safety and efficiency.

ISPO is the acronym for International Standard for maritime Pilot Organizations and it is a safety and quality management system specially for pilots and pilot organizations. It has been developed by pilots and pilot organizations. You could call it selfregulation by the maritime pilot industry. ISPO has been developed to provide transparency of pilot services to all port related stakeholders with a minimum of extra paperwork. The system is being audited by an external auditor like Lloyds Register or DNV.

Background
In the maritime pilot industry there must be awareness that the pilots are self-confident, solitary workers and like it that way. To their mind it is only natural that they offer quality services, which should not necessarily be certified by a classification society.

Yet, more and more customers demand transparency in services from pilots. Particularly the oil industry told the maritime pilot industry to show that they are as good as their words. “You say that you render quality services, but can you prove us that you really are”, companies said. That gave reason to think again. Furthermore implementing the system gives you a good opportunity to have a close and good look at all processes within the organisation.

The Dutch pilots’ organisation Rotterdam-Rijnmond was eager to put its capability to the test. Its organization was and is audited by Lloyd’s Register according the ISPO. This classification society and theEuropean Maritime Pilots Association (EMPA) developed the ISPO. The Rotterdam-Rijnmond organisation was the first in the world which was certified. That happened in January 2005.

At the time, there was hope that colleague organisations in the Netherlands and elsewhere would soon follow to adapt the scheme and be ISPO compliant. It has, however, taken some period of time before other organisations became enthusiastic about the ISPO.

The Antwerp-based harbour pilots, associated within CVBA BRABO, were certified in 2007, the Amsterdam pilots at the end of 2008. The Varna Pilots (Bulgaria) in the spring of 2009. The Forth Pilots (Edinburgh) and the pilots of Loodswezen region North in 2010.

Other Pilot Organizations are ISPO compliant: pilots working in Liverpool, Trinidad & Tobago, Ukraine and Germany are interested in the scheme

Captain Andre Smith

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--
If I knew then what I know now, 

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Captain Andre Smith

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Captain Andre Smith

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Squat and Under Keel Clearance, UKC

The speed of the vessel through the water has a great effect on evaluating squat. Squat is approximately proportional to the square of the vessel's speed through the water.

Squat is the increase in draught and trim that occurs when a ship moves on the surface of the sea. At low speed, a ship sinks bodily and trims by the head. At high speed, a ship bodily lifts and trims by the stern. At especially high speed, the ship can plane. However, squat is greatest in shallow water where the resulting increase in draught and trim can cause grounding.
 
This, of course, provides a further limit on speed in shallow water, consideration of grounding due to squat being especially important if the under-keel clearance is 10% or less of the draught and the speed is 70% or more of the limiting speed.
 
In shallow water, squat can be estimated by adding 10% to the draught or 0.3 metres for every 5 knots of speed.

Example: Your vessel’s draft is 5 meters. The Depth of the water is 5.5 M. The UKC is 0.5 M. The limiting speed of the vessel is equal to:

Vlim = 4.5(5.5)^1/2 =10.55 Kts or 4.5 times the square root of 5.5 = 10.5 Kts

The speed at which the vessel could ground if UKC is 10% of Draft or less

70% of Vlim = 0.7 (10.55) = 7.4 Kts

Another approximation can be made as follows:
If the vessel’s draft increase 0.3 M per 5 knots by interpolation the speed would be about 8.3 Kts.

As stated earlier, squat is proportional to the square of the vessel’s speed, by halving the speed you will be reducing squat by a factor of 4.

William George

Senior Surveyor at National Cargo Bureau, Inc.

Captain Andre Smith

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Record profits for container shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk

�         by Peter Elson, Liverpool Daily Post

�         Feb 24 2011

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�         1Share

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SHIPPING and oil group AP Moller- Maersk has announced record profits for 2010 – just a year after producing the biggest losses in its history.

The Danish group, which has its UK headquarters in Liverpool, posted a net profit of �3.2bn for 2010, against a loss of �620m in 2009.

Maersk beat forecasts on the back of a container shipping recovery, swinging from its worst result on record in 2009, when the global economic crisis hit trade and shipping, to its best result ever in 2010.

But it said it will not repeat last year's record profit in 2011 due to expected lower oil output combined with uncertainty about freight rates and oil prices.

Nils Smedegaard Andersen, Maersk chief executive, said: “Things look better going into 2011 than they did a year ago.

“But our share of oil production will be lower and we still see some uncertainty about the oil price and where container rates will end up.”

The company said in a statement: “The AP Moller-Maersk Group expects a result lower than the 2010 result.

“Cashflow from operating activities is expected to develop in line with the result, while cash flow used for capital expenditure is expected to be significantly higher than in 2010.”

The results come two days after Maersk revealed plans to order 10 container ships, which will be the world’s biggest vessels, from Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, for $1.9bn.

It has options on 20 more vessels of a similar size to capitalise on expected growth on Asia-Europe routes.

Read More http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/ldpbusiness/business-local/2011/02/24/record-profits-for-container-shipping-giant-ap-moller-maersk-92534-28224630/#ixzz1EsPfM2GE

Captain Andre Smith

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Accident, Accident report, pilotAdd comments

Aug042011

The damaged pilot ladder

A recent incident occurred on a Platform Supply Vessel where the pilot ladder on the starboard side parted whilst the pilot was attempting to board the vessel by means of this ladder. This resulted in the pilot falling backwards approximately 2 metres onto the deck of the pilot boat where he was caught by the pilot boat deckhand.

The pilot suffered whiplash injuries and the pilot boat deckhand suffered slight injuries to his neck and lower back. However, there was a high potential that this incident could have resulted in more serious injury to the pilot and pilot boat deckhand, including the possibility of fatalities.

Whilst the PSV was underway in Aberdeen Bay proceeding at approximately 5 knots in a South Westerly direction towards the entrance to the harbour, the two on duty ABs deployed the starboard pilot ladder over the vessel’s side at a height of 1.5m above the water line.

The vessel then altered course by two points to starboard to create a lee for the pilot boat and the pilot boat came alongside the vessel’s starboard side.

The pilot then attempted to board the vessel by means of the pilot ladder but when one foot was on the bottom of the ladder and whilst attempting to place his other foot on the ladder, the ladder parted causing the pilot to fall backwards onto the pilot boat where he was caught by the pilot boat deckhand.
Although a pilot ladder is always used for boarding a pilot, the shipboard personnel had not changed out this pilot ladder which had previously been reported as defective by one of the Aberdeen pilots and therefore this ladder remained in use for boarding the pilot.

Investigation Findings
The investigation of this incident revealed many findings including the following:-

·         The pilot ladder was in poor condition and the pilot ladder ropes were worn by contact with the sheerstrake.

·         There were no measures in place to reduce the effect of the sharp edge of the vessel’s sheerstrake on the pilot ladder ropes.

·         The wear on the pilot ladder ropes from contact with the sheerstrake was not considered as the company risk assessment process was not effectively implemented on board.

·         Experience Transfer highlighting the potential hazard from the deployment of a pilot ladder over the sheerstrake was not yet issued to the fleet.

·         The pilot ladder was stowed on the open deck by the pilot boarding station and was not covered and suffered deterioration from the weather.

·         The pilot ladder was not adequately inspected before use and the defects in the pilot ladder were not recognised by the ABs prior to the pilot boarding.

·         The shipboard personnel did not comply with the appropriate pilot boarding protocols and the requirement to have a responsible officer in attendance to supervise the pilot boarding was not followed.

·         The previously reported defective pilot ladder was not removed from service and quarantined and was used for boarding the pilot.

·         The company requirement to use the DocMap system for the formal reporting of defects by means of the ‘property damage’ or ‘equipment failure’ categories was not used.

·         There was no unused spare pilot ladder on board and the vessel was awaiting delivery of a new pilot ladder although there was another available ‘in service’ pilot ladder rigged on the port side.

Actions
A total of 14 corrective actions have been identified by the pilot ladder incident investigation which, when fully implemented, are considered to be suitable and sufficient to address all of the investigation findings helping prevent any future similar pilot ladder incidents.

In addition, a ‘Pilot Ladder Questionnaire’ has been developed and this has been completed by all vessels.

This questionnaire shall be completed for all vessels and shall be forwarded to the relevant Fleet Managers and Vessel Managers.
The purpose of the questionnaire is to obtain feedback and thereafter ensure that certain immediate actions are implemented on each vessel, namely:-
1. Any sharp edges with the potential to affect pilot ladders to be removed
2. A new and unused spare pilot ladder to be provided
3. Gratings to be installed to raise pilot ladders from deck (if not stored in a dry and clean environment)
4. Weather proof covers to be provided for pilot ladders (if not stored in a dry and clean environment)
5. Regular inspections of pilot ladders to be carried out by a competent person on board
6. Inspections of pilot ladders to be recorded in the TM Master planned maintenance system
7. Bi-annual inspection of pilot ladders to be carried out by an independent competent person during LOLER inspections
8. ‘Certificates of Conformity’ and ‘Inspection Certificates’ for pilot ladders to be maintained in a file on board
9. A responsible deck officer to supervise pilot boarding
10. The requirements contained within the IMPA ‘Required Boarding Arrangements for Pilots’ poster to be re-emphasised to all relevant shipboard personnel

In addition, it has been noted that other ropes in use on board could potentially be exposed to wear and deterioration by the same means as those which affected the pilot ladder ropes. Therefore, the actions to address the causes of the pilot ladder incident must be applied to all
ropes on board which could potentially be exposed to wear and deterioration by the same means as those which affected the pilot ladder ropes.

Captain Andre Smith

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Captain Andre Smith

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I found this to be a good read,  ………………………..☺

Averting disaster

Oil tanker traffic to Vancouver has doubled in five years. While environmentalists worry about a catastrophic spill, the marine pilots responsible for guiding the massive ships through our harbour say their training will keep the city's waters safe.

BY MIKE HOWELL, VANCOUVER COURIER JULY 23, 2010

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Oil tanker traffic to Vancouver has doubled in five years. While environmentalists worry about a catastrophic spill, the marine pilots responsible for guiding the massive ships through our harbour say their training will keep the city’s waters safe.

Photograph by: Dan Toulgoet, Vancouver Courier

It's an overcast Thursday afternoon as a marine tanker fully loaded with crude oil makes its approach to the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge from Burrard Inlet.

Captains Robin Stewart and Roy Haakonson stand at the controls in the ship's wheelhouse and give orders to helmsman Greg Brooks to keep the massive tanker on course.

The ship is 250 metres long and 44 metres wide. It has to pass through a 137-metre channel at the CN rail bridge before continuing under the Ironworkers span into Vancouver harbour.

"Looks like rain, Roy," Stewart says to Haakonson, who monitors the ship's course on a laptop computer equipped with global positioning software.

The marine pilots have a panoramic view of the Inlet, with Stanovan oil refinery high up on the south shore, the bridges dead ahead and Canexus chemical plant along the northern waterfront.

The array of screens and dials in front of them works as a large electronic dashboard, providing a range of information including engine speed, rudder angle and the ship's rate of turn.

As the tanker nears the CN bridge, Brooks, who is at the wheel a few feet behind the pilots, suddenly announces a "hard over rudder failure."

The rudder has inexplicably shifted right, causing the ship to veer toward the chemical plant. Haakonson orders Brooks to stop the engines while Stewart radios three tugboats tethered to the ship. Two tugs are at the back, one at the front. "Stern tugs, full to the north please," says Stewart, who then notifies the tug on the bow to prepare to push. "We've got a rudder failure, gentlemen."

In less than a minute, the 6000-horsepower tugs help guide the ship back on course. It travels under the bridges without incident, averting a potential disaster.

"Good job all of you," Stewart radios to the tug operators.

"Oh, you did it all, we just helped you out," replies one of the operators.

The incident is fiction.

The make-believe scenario occurred in a high-tech simulator July 15 at the Pacific Maritime Institute in Seattle, which provides training for B.C.'s marine pilots and tug operators.

The rudder failure exercise capped off six months of training for 104 pilots and 55 tug operators responsible for piloting and assisting oil tankers that travel in and out of Burrard Inlet.

The training comes as local politicians and environmentalists are worried about the increase in oil tanker traffic and the potential for a spill in local waters.

Tanker traffic into the port more than doubled from 28 in 2004 to 70 last year. That number is expected to increase with the United States' reliance on Alberta oil, which is funneled through the Trans-Mountain pipeline to a Burnaby terminal.

Port Metro Vancouver also recently allowed tankers with bigger loads of oil to travel under the Ironworkers bridge, in some cases leaving no more than 1.5 metres of clearance between the keel and the ocean floor.

Transiting the oil means a huge responsibility for pilots such as the 54-year-old Stewart, who has piloted about 100 tankers in his 10 years as a member of B.C. Coastal Pilots Ltd.

Despite the increase in tanker traffic and demand for bigger loads, Stewart says pilots are "apolitical" and not beholden to shipping companies or influenced by economic pressures of oil producers.

"You're not going to find a group that is more concerned about the environment than we are," he says, noting his family's history on the coast. "That's not to say we're tree huggers. We know the risks that are involved and we take it as a personal challenge to make sure that we minimize those risks."

The man playing the helmsman in the rudder failure scenario is the key person in the marine industry helping pilots avoid a tanker disaster in Vancouver.

Capt. Brooks of Florida designed the course at the Pacific Maritime Institute and developed the strategy to have three high-powered tugs tethered to a large tanker.

A former operations coordinator for Exxon on the east coast of the United States and a longtime tug operator, Brooks' role was to assess how tankers with increased loads could safely maneuver through the Second Narrows.

Last fall, he coordinated a live trial of a tanker mishap in Georgia Strait, where a similar scenario to the simulator exercise was tested by pilots and tug operators.

"It basically proved our concept," says Brooks, who conducted live trials with British Petroleum, Arco and Exxon in the late 1990s.

At the maritime institute, the simulator includes separate rooms for tug operators. The rooms resemble the wheelhouse of a tug and have large screens with computer-generated images of the second narrows area.

In the past, smaller conventional tugs escorted tankers but weren't always tethered for fear of a tanker swamping them. The more powerful tractor tugs don't present the same risk and can push or pull a tanker back on course.

"Human beings being human beings, a lot of people get used to what they're doing and they don't challenge it," Brooks says. "When these guys got involved with me, they needed to challenge the system because they wanted to look at having tankers go deeper. What we determined is we could."

The marine industry's request five years ago to load more oil in tankers was the impetus for Port Metro Vancouver to review its 1981 guidelines for how tankers pass through the narrows.

The revised Second Narrows Movement Restriction Area Procedures, which was finalized in April, calls for loaded tankers more than 185 metres long to be restricted to daylight transit. Tankers and other vessels more than 265 metres require two pilots on board with three tugs tethered to the ship.

Ships can travel no more than six knots per hour (11.1 kilometres) at specific tides and in clear visibility. Vessels found by the pilots to have "unacceptable maneuvering characteristics may be refused permission to transit or subjected to special restrictions," the document says.

All tankers travelling into Vancouver are double hull construction--unlike the single-hulled Exxon Valdez that ran aground in Alaska in March 1989. The Valdez spilled more than 250,000 barrels of crude oil into Prince William Sound. The tanker's captain, Joseph Hazelwood, was accused of being drunk at the time of the accident, although he was cleared of the charge at trial. Hazelwood was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of negligent discharge of oil, fined $50,000 U.S. and sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service.

No marine pilots were aboard the Valdez.

Under Canadian law, every foreign ship over 350 tonnes entering B.C. waters is required to hand over responsibility of the vessel to a local pilot. That includes cruise ships and U.S. aircraft carriers.

Pilots never touch the controls but instruct the vessel's captain or helmsman--as was shown in the simulator scenario--how to safely get to and from a destination.

Pilots are experienced mariners, having built lengthy careers on the coast aboard tugs, fish boats and small coastal tankers. They are intimately familiar with the coastlines, inland waters, shoals, harbours, ports, weather, tides, shipping regulations and restrictions of transiting an area such as Second Narrows.

The typical entry age for a pilot is 42 and applicants must have a minimum of 700 12-hour days as a certified master seaman. The testing, according to Stewart, is rigorous and stumps some of the most experienced mariners, who can earn up to $200,000 year as a pilot.

"We had upwards of 25 people writing exams last year and we would consider ourselves lucky to come out with two or three successful candidates," says Stewart, who is a member of the B.C. Coast Pilots Ltd.'s examination committee.

Fred Denning, president of B.C. Coast Pilots, has worked on the coast since 1969 and can't recall a tanker being involved in an accident where oil was spewed into the water.

But B.C. has had some notable ship accidents involving other types of vessels where marine diesel oil, fuel and canola oil have spewed into local waters.

Port Metro Vancouver records show:

- In February 2008, a 50-metre fishing boat caught fire in Vancouver harbour with 60,000 litres of diesel fuel on board, although investigators say it appeared only enough diesel was spilled to cause an extensive sheen on the waters' surface.

- In February 1995, about 50 tonnes of marine fuel spilled into the Vancouver harbour during bunkering operations on a grain ship at the Alberta Wheat Pool, near the Second Narrows.

- In February 1990, a collision between a piloted cargo ship and fishing boat released about 40 tonnes of marine diesel oil into Vancouver harbour.

The Port and the Pacific Pilotage Authority were unable to provide details on whether the pilot was penalized.

Vancouver has also seen several canola oil spills, including up to 200 tonnes spilled in 1998 while loading a ship at West Coast Reduction and two similar mishaps at Neptune terminals in 1999 and 2000.

As statistics kept by the pilotage authority indicate, pilots completed more than 63,000 assignments from 2005 to 2009 on the coast and Fraser River and recorded an incident free average of 99 per cent.

"We investigate everything that occurs and that could be as little as a scratch on the side of the vessel," says Kevin Obermeyer, the president and chief executive officer of the pilotage authority, a Crown corporation charged with overseeing the work of pilots.

But incident reports show a range of more serious mishaps than paint chips, including the grounding of two cargo ships--the Petersfield in Douglas Channel Sept. 25, 2009, and the Sophia Z three months later in Prince Rupert harbour.

Both accidents were concluded to have a "medium probability of advancing navigation safety." Investigations concluded the Petersfield accident was caused by mechanical and equipment failure. The Sophia Z grounding was related to a "wind related incident just off berth."

Neither pilot was penalized, although the pilot of the Sophia Z had to undergo training on how to better navigate a ship during adverse winter weather.

Then there's the Westwood Anette freighter incident of Aug. 4, 2006. The Westwood spewed 29,000 litres of bunker oil into the waters after it punctured a starboard fuel tank on a metal piling at the Squamish terminal dock.

It was the only vessel-related oil spill with a pilot on board in 30 years, according to Obermeyer. The RCMP investigated but did not charge the pilot. The authority did not penalize the pilot either, concluding the construction of the metal piling was inadequate.

"Fines or suspensions only happen if you have a bad apple," says Obermeyer, who attended last Thursday's training at the Pacific Maritime Institute. "Nobody gets up in the morning with the intent to damage a ship."

In Obermeyer's decade on the job, one pilot was fired for using drugs and another suspended indefinitely for alcohol use. The authority discovered the substance abuse during medical tests.

"It didn't happen while piloting but you can't afford to have someone using--period," he says.

In another case seven years ago, a pilot was suspended after a freighter T-boned a dock in Nanaimo. The authority ruled the pilot hadn't given the ship's captain the correct orders. The pilot resigned after the incident.

Locally, in October 1979, the freighter Japan Erica crashed into the CN rail bridge in the Second Narrows, shutting down a vital rail link to North Shore bulk terminals for three months. The ship was travelling at night in dense fog.

According to newspaper coverage at the time, the pilotage authority's response was to "reprimand" the pilot and issue him with "a letter of censure." This was despite the Coast Guard's recommendation that an inquiry be held into his competency to continue as a pilot.

That accident is what prompted the Port and marine industry to develop the guidelines in 1981 for guiding tankers and big ships through the narrows.

Those measures are coupled with the Pilotage Act, which states a pilot can be held liable up to a maximum of $1,000 if gross negligence is proven in a crash. They can also be charged criminally but that hasn't happened on the B.C coast.

But it has in San Francisco, where a pilot was sentenced to 10 months in prison after the Cosco Busan container ship ran into the Bay Bridge in November 2007.

A U.S. federal judge ruled that Capt. John Cota's carelessness was exactly what Congress intended to punish when it toughened maritime laws after the Exxon Valdez disaster. Cota admitted to two misdemeanor charges of polluting the waters and killing migratory seabirds.

The single-hull Busan, travelling in heavy fog, spilled more than 55,000 U.S. gallons of bunker fuel oil into the bay. The oil spread along 26 miles of shoreline and killed more than 2,400 birds. The government estimated the cleanup cost at $70 million, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Cota, 61, was the first ship's pilot in U.S. history to be sentenced to prison. The case proved pilots are not infallible.

But the condition of a ship is also important in avoiding mishaps.

In Canada, it's Transport Canada's job to ensure foreign vessels coming into port are mechanically sound and meet safety and anti-pollution standards before pilots board a ship.

Transport Canada's policy is to inspect all foreign tankers upon their first visit to Canada and at least once a year thereafter, says Jillian Glover, a Transport Canada spokesperson, in an email to the Courier.

"All vessel operators must contact the Government of Canada with information on their ship, cargo and destination, and report any safety deficiency to Transport Canada 96 hours in advance of entering Canadian waters," Glover said in her email. "This provides time for the government to review this information and to refuse entry to any vessel that could pose a risk to Canadian waters."

But as statistics show, hundreds of foreign ships continue to arrive in Vancouver with problems. In 2008, Transport Canada inspected 421 foreign vessels, of which 217 were found to have "deficiencies."

Of this number, 10 vessels--including a tanker with "a launching arrangement" with a lifeboat--had deficiencies serious enough for detention. Deficiencies included fire dampers not closing, structural defects, not enough certified crew, not having operational lifeboats and a broken emergency fire pump.

The worry from politicians and environmentalists in Vancouver is that human error, mechanical failure or some other scenario could lead to a major oil spill in local waters.

Earlier this month, city council hosted a meeting with marine industry leaders and environmentalists to discuss the increase in oil tanker traffic. Representatives from Port Metro Vancouver and the shipping industry pointed to a myriad of safety precautions taken to move tankers in and out of Vancouver, including the requirement that tankers are of double hull construction.

"It's no coincidence that the decline in the statistics of oil spill incidents [in the world] stems from the introduction of double hull tankers, and we have yet to have a pollution incident from a double hull tanker," Capt. Stephen Brown of the B.C. Chamber of Shipping told council. "And long may it continue."

As politicians heard at the meeting, oil tanker traffic to Vancouver is expected to increase in the coming years. The surge is being driven by the United States, which re-examined its dependence on oil from the Middle East after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and looked to Canada.

Chris Badger, the chief operating officer of Port Metro Vancouver, made it clear to council the Port has no plans to decrease tanker traffic. The Port's mandate, Badger said, is to support and grow Canadian trade.

"If Canada decides it will trade a specific commodity, including oil, it is the Port's responsibility to facilitate the transport of that cargo in the safest, most efficient and most environmentally responsible manner possible," he said, noting almost four million tonnes of crude oil was exported on tankers in 2009.

That's four million tonnes guided safely out of Vancouver by pilots, the very people fingers will be pointed at if an oil disaster occurs. And that's why, Capt. Robin Stewart says, the training is important.

"Emotionally, it really wears on you," he says of the simulator exercise. "You feel like it actually took place."

mhowell@...

© Copyright (c) Vancouver Courier

Read more:http://www.vancourier.com/news/Averting+disaster/3313799/story.html#ixzz1UqGc8UGZ

Captain Andre Smith

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BY KARANC 15 AUGUST 2011 NO COMMENT

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“Crash” word is generally used to describe some kind of accident or damage when one object slams into another. However, in the shipping world, when the word is combined with the term “manoeuvring”; it becomes a procedure which is performed to avoid any kind of collision or accident.

Why Crash Manoeuvring?

In a sea going vessel, unlike land transport, there are no brakes that are provided to stop the ship when needed. The stopping of the vessel is done by reversing the rotational direction of the Main engine and thereby the propeller. This stops or reduces the speed of the vessel heading towards the collision course

The crash manoeuvring is usually done to avoid any type of collision or crashing of ship to any other ship or structure (Jetty, land, Iceberg etc). In this type of manoeuvring the main engine is subjected to severe stress and loading, but the safety of ship and life is assured.

How to Perform Crash Manoeuvring?

Crash manoeuvring is turning the engine in opposite direction to reduce the heading speed of the ship. After certain time, the ship stops and starts streaming in astern direction. This is done by supplying starting air at about 30 bars from the air receiver to the engine. The stopping air is known as the brake air.

The brake air when sudden injected inside the engine cylinder, will try to resist the motion of the piston and the rotation of the crankshaft and propeller.

Procedure

Following Procedure is to be followed when a navigational officer calls engine room and says that we have to stop immediately to avoid collision

�  When there is an emergency like collision, grounding etc. the controls are transferred immediately in to the Engine room controls

�  The bridge will give astern direction in the telegraph, acknowledge the same

�  When the telegraph is acknowledged only the starting air cam will reverse its direction but the fuel cam will remain in its running position due to running direction interlock since engine is still running in the ahead direction

�  The fuel lever in the engine control room is brought to ‘0’

�  As soon as the RPM of the engine drops below 40 % of the Maximum Continuous Rating or MCR rpm of the engine, give break air few times in short time frame

�  The break air will inject with astern timing setting inside the ahead moving piston which will resist thepiston motion

�  Since fuel will not inject until running direction interlock opens, as soon as the rpm drops near to Zero, give fuel and air kick by bringing fuel lever to minimum start setting

�  When carrying out Crash Manoeuvring, some safeties need to be bypassed to avoid tripping of engine in mid of emergency

�  When the ship stops and situation is under control, a detailed Main engine inspection is to be carried out when there is a chance.

Captain Andre Smith

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BY SOUMYAJIT DASGUPTA 19 AUGUST 2011 NO COMMENT

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Economy of Scale, Energy Efficiency and Environmentally Improved – Theses three ‘E’s define Maersk’s Triple-E Vessels which are purported to set a new shipping industry benchmark for size and fuel efficiency.

The creation of ten Triple-E vessels, with each having the potential of carrying 18,000 twenty foot containers, would benefit the shipping industry, and Maersk Shipping Line would shoot up the ladder of fame. The enormous size of these vessels is another domain of significance. Eco-friendliness adds up to the value.

Specification

�  Maersk’s Triple- E Vessels, being gigantic four hundred meters long, 59 meters wide and 73 meters high, is undoubtedly the largest vessel, of any variety, sailing on water, in today’s world.

�  A ‘twin-skeg’ propulsion system consists of two propellers, with 9.8 meters in diameter and 4 blades each. The engine is an ultra-long-stroke one, operating with a lower number of revolutions, producing a total power of 30,000 KW.

�  The Triple-E class vessels aim at reducing the power wastage and its machinery comprises of a waste-heat-recovery system, which remarkably saves up to 10% of main engine power, which statistically equals an average annual electrical consumption of 5,000 European households.

�  U-shaped hull highlights a marked difference with other traditional container ships and allows a lot more space while 23 rows (one extra than Emma Maersk) boost additional capacity.

�  The Maersk container ships are also capable of travelling 184 kilometres, using one kWh of energy per ton of cargo; whereas, a jumbo jet uses the same amount of energy per ton of cargo, to move just half a kilometre.

Economic Significance

At a noteworthy cost of USD 190 million per vessel, Maersk Line is buying the world’s largest ships as an interest to profit from the 5–8 % growth in trade from Asia to Europe that the company expects, and simultaneously maintaining the industry leading market share in the trade, that it already possesses.

The Maersk shipping company would possibly use these ships for the transportation of stuff ranging from gadgets to groceries, shuttling between Asia and Western ports that are spacious and good enough to handle them, which include Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Felixstowe in England. As per records, it is a known fact that the U.S. ports are too small to handle the vessels.

Environmental Significance

The special design of the Triple-E enables these largest container ships to produce 20 percent less CO₂per container moved, compared to Emma Maersk and 50 percent less than the industry average on the Asia-Europe trade lane. With further notice, the vessel would not consume more than approximately 35 percent less fuel per container, than the 13,100 TEU vessels being delivered to other container shipping lines in the next few years, also for Asia-Europe service.

Long a green innovator, Maersk Shipping believes in following a disciplined and elaborate environmental policy and, a few years ago, it pioneered to become the first shipping company to study independently its fleet’s CO₂ emissions. Many people considered the number of miles a product had to travel when thinking about its impact on the planet, and Maersk wanted a detailed observation and to understand precisely the working of a product’s whole carbon life cycle, in order to assist them be more efficient and apt for proper industrial use.

Shipping, arguably, is considered the most efficacious form of transport, but that does not mean that the industry can ignore its destructive contribution to global warming.  Maersk shipping tries to counter it by buying and aiding the construction of more eco-friendly ships, thus bringing down its impact on the atmosphere. Maersk shipping also tries to set a green example for container shipping. Here’s sincerely hoping that more companies will do the same, contribute at changing the face of shipping industry and concentrate on making the earth a better place to live in.

Conclusion

Maersk shipping aims at meeting the growing needs of a growing population while minimising the impact on the environment, beyond their lifecycle. Maersk container ships are also way advanced in dealing with therecycling of the vessels. The vessel’s ‘cradle-to-cradle passport’ records and maps out all the materials and ingredients that are used to construct the Triple-E class ships; which in turn, implies that when the vessel is retired from service, the preserved document would ascertain that all materials do not prove to be a waste. Instead, they are put to good use through recycling, and some are disposed, if required; and these actions are carried out under safe and dependable conditions, and in the most effective manner.

Captain Andre Smith

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http://www.marisec.org/PilotLadders.pdf

Captain Andre Smith

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US NAVY TOWING MANUAL K-2.2.2 Bollard Pull

Bollard pull is the zero speed pulling capability of the tug. It is a measure of the usefulness of the ship in a stranding scenario or in holding a large tanker or aircraft carrier off a lee shore. Keep in mind, however, that bollard pull figures, like horsepower, may be open to interpretation.
Ideally, bollard pull is tested when a tug is built and certified by one of the classification societies. Bollard pull tests are also sometimes performed after major engine overhauls. Tug owners whose tugs have been tested usually provide a copy of the certificate attesting to the bollard pull figure. 
Bollard pull, like horsepower, is a selling point for tugs and is sometimes overstated. For instance, there are rules of thumb for converting propeller power (shaft horsepower) to bollard pull, such as one ton pull per 100 horsepower for a conventional propeller or 1.2 to 1.5 tons pull per 100 horsepower for a propeller fitted with a nozzle. The owner may save the cost of a bollard pull test and simply apply one of the factors to convert propeller power to bollard pull without ever knowing what the real figure is. It is unlikely that the owner would ever select a conservative conversion factor. 
European owners generally report bollard pull in their literature and reputable salvage tug owners are generally able to produce a certificate to document the test. American owners and the worldwide offshore oil support industry, on the other hand, rarely report bollard pull. When they do, the figure may not have been validated by a test. Horsepower is probably a more reliable measure among ships of these types. (From U.S. Navy towing Manual.)

9 hours ago

Captain Andre Smith

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while captain stuck in toilet 

By Mike Schuler

The Finnish ferry KING carrying 54 passengers ran aground Friday after its master got stuck in the bathroom, according to a report from Reuters based on a release from the Finnish Coast Guard.

The captain got stuck in the bathroom because of a jammed lock and yelled for help, the article quoted the coast guard as saying.  One of the ferry’s crew managed to slow the vessel down but unfortunately it was too late, and the vessel ran aground on a rock near Helsinki.

Some minor injuries were reported, as well as some cosmetic damage to the vessel.  The coast guard is investigating whether the captain’s actions were criminal, but hey, at least he wasn’t drinking.

Those of you from Finland can read the Coast Guard release HERE.

Image by Murad Sezer / Reuters

Captain Andre Smith

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BY SOUMYAJIT DASGUPTA 20 AUGUST 2011 NO COMMENT

 inShare 

The reliable independent source of maritime market information for the merchandising and settlement of physical and derivative contracts, of the shipping world; can easily be pinpointed as The Baltic Exchange. The international community of the Baltic Exchange is said to be comprised of more than 550 members, currently and proficiently covers the majority of world shipping interests. It is also said to consecrate to a business conduct code, with the Baltic supervising it.

The company, as per historical records, is known to be founded around the midway of the 18th century. The name of the company, Baltic Exchange, was first officially used at the Virginia and Baltic Coffee House located in the Threadneedle Street in 1744. In 1990, it went on to be listed as a private limited company, holding shares. In present times, the member companies have the ownership of the exchange and there is no public dealing on a stock exchange.

A Board of Directors governs it, and the members of the board are chosen through the process of election. Currently, it incorporates 20 employees and is situated at 38 St Mary Axe, in central London.

The members of  the Exchange were the sole owners of it, with an estimate  of 600 companies and 2,000 individuals, as it happened earlier in 2010.The company supported a huge member base, and the membership has also included financial experts, lawyers, and representatives of the insurance industry; while those from the shipping business formed the principal part of it.

United Kingdom or continental Europe saw the maximum number of corporate members, though nationality confinements on membership did not exist. The members are required to strictly work in accordance with the Baltic Exchange “code of business”, which should be agreed to, beforehand, in order to gain the membership. The code maintains certain rules for carrying out business with shippers. The membership contract can be cancelled if a reckless member violates the code.

Responsibilities

The responsibility of a large proportion of all dry cargo and tanker fixtures, are undertaken by the members of the Baltic Exchange. It monitors the monetary transactions, regarding the sale and purchase of merchant vessels and .

The Baltic Exchange actively provides daily Baltic freight market prices, and maritime shipping cost indices that are used to settle freight futures (known as Forward Freight Agreements or FFAs). Transactions, regarding the members of the Exchange, are carried out exclusively over the telephone.

Indices

The exchange publishes six daily indices:

�  Baltic Dry Index (BDI)

�  Baltic Panamax Index (BPI)

�  Baltic Capesize Index (BCI)

�  Baltic Supramax Index (BSI)

�  Baltic Handysize Index (BHSI)

�  Baltic Dirty Tanker Index (BDTI)

�  Baltic Clean Tanker Index (BCTI)

The exchange also provides forward curves, dry cargo fixture list, daily news and settlement data.

Essentially a London-based organization, the Baltic Exchange is chiefly constituted of shipbrokers, ship owners, and Baltic freight charterers, which fulfil the task of supplying daily information and data, based on the affairs of the maritime market. The Exchange supervises matters concerning international shipping operations and price fluctuations. This in turn, majorly helps shippers and investors to purchase freight futures, to decide on financial arrangements, and to finalise the terms of the derivative contracts.

The Baltic Exchange also serves as a platform for the trading of futures.  It can also be considered as serving as a resource, for the proper guidance for maritime investors across the world. It is an administrative arrangement for the shippers to have a profound influence on the modern transactions of the Exchange.

The Baltic Exchange diligently observes  the publication of daily exponents on various issues, concerning  the shipping industry, This also adds up the registering of  detailed statistics , assures updation, by constant addition of ” up-to-minute data”, dealing with various freights and shipping futures, which guides the investors and shippers, while to negotiating contracts.

The readings, printed by the Baltic Exchange, also determine the decisions taken by the dealers of maritime cargo and freight; like in the case of the Chicago Merchantile Exchange, which happens to be a U.S. based company. It facilitates an internationally renowned dispute resolution forum for contract and other disputes, and maintains a database of those members as expert witnesses in maritime law trials.

At a Glance

• World’s only independent source of maritime market information

• International community of more than 530 members

• Baltic Code sets standards for ethical business conduct in shipping

Role of the Baltic Exchange

• Support marketplace development

• Not protecting specific interest groups

• Facilitate introduction of new routes

• Modify routes to enhance liquidity

• Maintain independence, integrity

• Assure quality of settlement data

Captain Andre Smith

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