Technical stuff

The Suction valve / pipe definitely was blocked, a result of many voyages carrying cheap nasty crudes which are not suitable for COW. A few members of the crew spent a few hours unblocking it and then we checked the valve position indicator in the tank to ensure it corresponded with the light in the CCR. Now that tank is again to load cargo which cannot be used to COW so no doubt this will become a regular occurrence. The COW machines are only at the top of the tanks and are not of the programmable type. This ship is 13 years old now, making it the oldest in the fleet and has been placed on a run which usually carries thick crudes. So perhaps more regular tank inspections will be necessary in the future.

With regard to the cold ballast being in contact with the bottom of the cargo tank before cargo is fully discharged / COW completed - the ballast tanks on this ship are mainly of the "U" shape without any centre divide and therefore for stability reasons must be full to the level of the double bottom before cargo is fully discharged - I don't claim to be 100% correct here as the book explaining this was rather complicated! The heating coils were turned off a little early during the last discharge - and then quickly turned back on again as the cargo began to cool!

The Chief Mate is on his first trip in rank, as is the Captain and Chief Engineer, other than the 1st Engineer all other Officers are on their first trip with the company so everyone is learning!

Hi from Nanhai

Hello all,

We are now drifting near to Nanhai fso awaiting the pilot some time this afternoon to take us in to begin loading. He will be arriving by helicopter. We left Hong Kong at 7pm last night by which time the visibility had improved. When we arrived it was down to just 1 mile which although it sounds a lot it looks and feels nothing when you are close to another ship. I was on the bridge for arrival and departure, I am beginning to understand how the ship handles now, it seems that it is important not to reduce speed too much because that slows down the reaction time when trying to avoid other vessels.

HK anchorage was eventful again just like last time with everyone arriving at once (lube oil barge, bunkers barge, provisions boat, garbage barge and the launch with the new joiners). So we worked all day and were there only 12 hours in the end. The barges all have Chinese crew who seem always to be in a hurry and so shout and toot horns to try and speed us along, we just ignore them and continue dealing with them one by one at a safe pace. The on signers are all aboard now and seem to be settling in. Some have sailed Chevron before but most are new to the company so will get quite a shock I'd imagine as other companies tend to be more relaxed (disinterested) in safety etc.

Just to add a little about the tank cleaning, the 5 inches of sludge I wrote of was only in one tank (the rest had 1-2cm in places). This was because the stripping valve was totally blocked with sludge. The cargoes the ship carries have high api (40 or so) and solidify towards the end of stripping as they cool down. The heating coils are mounted 5 1/2 inches above the tank bottom and so when the level falls below there it cools quickly as it is cooled by the ballast water being pumped in the u tanks beneath.

Right, off for some sleep now before the pilot arrives.

tanks

Just a note to put everyone's mind at rest. I have been into 3 tanks this morning, all of what the comments on the blog say is true, it is scary, and dangerous and rather unpleasant but very interesting! They are like cathedrals inside, Huge expanses of pitch black steep ladders and platforms, we can take only small torches which are certified intrinsically safe so you really have to watch your step! We test the atmosphere before entering but it still feels stale inside and I was glad to come out into the fresh air!
The tanks were about 5 inches thick with sludge on the bottom so we wore rubber boots and sloshed around in it for 20 mins or so inspecting all the pipes and valves and looking for anything wrong. We found a couple of broken bolts in one of the tanks so we will be replacing those tomorrow and also inspecting two more tanks (larger ones this time).
Anyway that is all for now, I will get some rest this afternoon and then go on watch this evening.
Thanks again for all your comments.

Happy New Year

Hey all,

We are now en-route to Singapore, we will be there possibly 3 days to take on bunkers and provisions then on to Benchamas (Gulf of Thailand) (again!) to load. Then we expect to go to Nanhai (China) also to load and finally to Barbers Point (Honolulu, Hawaii) to discharge.

The discharge at Marsden Point, north of Auckland, was eventful and quite tiring, I spent most of the time in the pumproom and on deck opening and closing valves and checking all the pumps/systems were running ok. The Whangarei Harbour is beautiful with sandy beaches and lots of New Zealanders enjoying the sun. We had some problems
with starting the cargo pumps so we were longer than predicted discharging and hence missed high tide for departure. So we had to wait around until the afternoon before we left with pilot on board. The channel is quite narrow and as we are one of the largest ships the terminal handles they seemed a little nervous. Also our sister ship touched bottom here a few years ago so they were extra cautious!

The weather is slowly warming up now as we sail north again towards the Torres Strait (between northern Australia and south Papua New Guinea). This will be a narrow channel through the reefs and so involves 12 hours of pilotage. Should be interesting! Today we had another boat drill, a weekly occurrence here.

I am now beginning to get the hang of ship life, and slowly learning what all the millions of buttons, valves, pipes and equipment do. I will have been on board 2 months in a week or so but it feels like more. Time doesn't really pass very quickly here (in fact at the moment as we are heading west we gain an hour every couple of days, so it passes even slower!) However it is still really fun and as I begin to get a little more responsibility and understanding of what is going on it's even more fun!

We are washing some of the tanks in the next couple of weeks when we get the go-ahead from the company so that should be a learning experience too!

Thanks for your continued interest and for your encouraging comments, which have been forwarded by e-mail.

Rob