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PORT OPERATIONS

Port Management

The retreat of government in seaports: towards a renewed
port management style?
Ports, which have traditionally been run like government
departments, are becoming a normal industry thanks to the
infusion of private money that promises greater competition,
higher productivity and eventually lower costs that will be
passed on to importers and exporters. In this new and
volatile environment, the public sector is forced to reassess
its role in the port industry.

The retreat of government flourishes in the belief that an
enterprise-based economy would allow for greater flexibility
and efficiency in the market and a more effective response
to consumers’ demands. Many so-called port privatization
schemes are in fact some form of commercialization or
corporatization of a port authority

Corporatization basically amounts to a shift from public
sector organizations to autonomous companies which are
owned by the public sector but have accounting procedures
and legal requirements similar to the private sector, subject
to very limited direct government control. In the case of
commercialization the government retains control and
ownership of the port organization, but within a business-like
environment involving some management autonomy and
accountability. The private sector undertakes many
commercial activities through performance agreements,
management contracts, service contracts, lease systems
and/or concession agreements with the public port
organization. Mainland Europe has followed the path of
public sector retreat via corporatization and
commercialization, as most governments have loosened
their grip on ports. Port authorities still have robust ties with
their respective municipalities through ownership structure,
but decisions are made on a more independent basis and
port managers are accountable for these decisions. The
final aim is the creation of an independent port management
system with a sound commercial strategy – including the
possibility to diversify into other ports or activities via
financial participation – and full accountability for the results
of administrative and operational activities.

This text is based on the article published in De Lloyd/Le
Lloyd entitled “The retreat of government in seaports:
towards a renewed port management style?” byDr. Theo
Notteboom: Associate Professor, ITMMA, University of
Antwerp

Port Management
Giving a presentation: The retreat of government in
seaports: towards a renewed port management style?

B0101
Ok, ladies and gentlemen, just before we set off on our tour
of the Port I just wanted to take a couple of minutes to say a
few words about the style of port management today. Now,
how many of you have hands-on experience of port
management? Ok, that’s quite a number of you then. So
you’ll be able to relate to what I’m saying.

So, to begin, let’s look more closely at ports. Well,
traditionally these have been run like government
departments, but now they’re becoming a normal industry
thanks to the infusion of private money. This brings a)
greater competition, b) higher productivity and c) eventually
lower costs that will be passed on to importers and
exporters. And what’s the result? Yes, a public sector that
has been forced to reassess its role in the port industry.

As you are aware, governments have retreated from port
management in the firm belief that an enterprise-based
economy allows for greater flexibility and efficiency in the
market and a more effective response to consumers’
demands. Many so-called port privatization schemes are in
fact some form of commercialization or corporatization of a
port authority

Right, now, let’s turn to corporatization itself: I hear you
saying, what exactly is corporatization? Well, corporatization
basically amounts to a shift from public sector organizations
to autonomous companies. These are owned by the public
sector but have accounting procedures and legal
requirements similar to the private sector. In the case of
commercialization the government retains control and
ownership of the port organization, but within a business-like
environment involving some management autonomy and
accountability. OK, are you with me so far?

Let’s move on, then, to the private sector: This sector
undertakes many commercial activities through performance
agreements, management contracts, service contracts,
lease systems and/or concession agreements with the
public port organization. Mainland Europe has followed the
path of public sector retreat via corporatization and
commercialization, as most governments have loosened
their grip on ports. We shouldn’t forget, however, that port
authorities still have robust ties with their respective
municipalities through ownership structure.

I’d just like to finish by saying that the final aim is the
creation of an independent port management system with a
sound commercial strategy. I hope we can show you some
of that strategy today. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your
visit to the Port of Antwerp.

Port of Antwerp sees cargo volume grow once more by
nearly 6 per cent

B0102
Strong third quarter for container cargo
Antwerp, 24 October 2005

In the first nine months of 2005 the port of Antwerp handled
nearly 120 million tonnes of cargo, an increase of 5.7 per
cent compared with the same period last year, with imports
and exports up by the same amount.
The container volume between January and September
amounted to 55.8 million tonnes, up 8.6 per cent on the
previous year. In terms of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU)
this represents an increase of 5.8 per cent, to 4.8 million
TEU.

Antwerp’s container trade did particularly well in the last
three months. In the third quarter the volume of containers
handled was up on the same period in 2004 by 11 per cent
in TEU and 14 per cent in tonnes. The Deurganck dock
promises further growth in the port’s container activities. The
“OOCL New York” was the first ship to be handled in the
Deurganck dock since the official inauguration of the
Antwerp Gateway Terminal.

Ro/ro cargo for its part contracted slightly during the past
nine months, by 4 per cent. 589,413 cars, trucks and trailers
have been shipped through the port of Antwerp so far this
year. Imports remain stable, and the decline in exports has
been reduced during the past quarter from 20 to 15 per
cent. The drop in exports is due to the stricter import rules in
West Africa and the closure of the Iraq market.
B0103

MarEng

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Conventional general cargo expanded by 3 per cent in the
first three quarters of this year, reaching 13.6 million tonnes.
Imports in particular have risen significantly as a result of
the strong increase in steel products (up 23 per cent). India,
Russia and Iran are exporting enormous amounts of steel to
Europe, since the EU is struggling with high steel prices.
This trend, which made itself apparent last year, is now
levelling off. Meanwhile, the volumes of fruit and forest
products remain stable.

The volume of bulk freight handled in Antwerp stood at 47.8
million tonnes at the end of the third quarter, an increase of
nearly 4 per cent. Both imports and exports were up during
the past nine months. There were particularly strong
increases in the volume of chemicals (up 11 per cent) and
oil derivatives (up 14 per cent). This good result is a
consequence of higher output by various companies in the
Antwerp region. Furthermore, the port of Antwerp is gaining
in significance as a distribution centre for chemicals and
derivatives.

From January to September a total of 11,407 seagoing
vessels called at the port of Antwerp. This represents a
further slight decrease of 1.7 per cent in comparison with
the first nine months of last year. On the other hand, the
gross register tonnage continues to trend upwards, with
growth of more than 3.7 per cent.
© Port of Antwerp Authority 2005

Port organization in the Port of Antwerp
The Antwerp Port Authority owns the docks and the sites
used by port operators and industrial companies on the
Right Bank of the Scheldt. It is, moreover, the owner of part
of the port equipment. The Port Authority likewise manages
the Left Bank port, which ensures the application of uniform
policies on both sides of the river. However, land use and
industrial development policy on the Left Bank is in the
hands of a separate public sector corporation for land use
and industrialization.
The private port companies make the necessary
investments in superstructure and handling equipment on
the bare facilities they lease from the Port Authority. Private
enterprise is also responsible for all logistic and transport
services to the port users.
© Port of Antwerp

The Port of Antwerp, public sector partnership

Part 1

B0104
All kinds of public services are involved in the activities of
the port. The Antwerp Port Authority, with a workforce of
1,900, owns and manages docks, berths, locks, etc. It is
responsible for planning, expanding, modernising and
maintaining the infrastructure of the port, and also operates
its own equipment, including warehouses, floating cranes,
shore cranes, tugs and dredgers.
Part 2

B0105
The Authority also leases sites and land and is responsible
for the distribution of electricity in the port. Furthermore
various national and regional authorities play an important
part in ensuring the safety of shipping and satisfactory port
operations. The Ministry of the Flemish Community is, for
example, responsible for maintaining the navigation channel
in the Scheldt, and also for the pilotage service. The
government is also responsible for issuing tonnage
certificates and certificates of seaworthiness.
Other public services include the various Police Services,
the Health Inspectorate and the Customs Service. All the
railways in the port are the property of the NMBS-SNCB

(Belgian Railways). Roughly 1,800 people are employed in
operating them.
© Port of Antwerp Authorities

The Port of Antwerp, private sector partnership
The organization of the private sector in Antwerp is
dependent on the activities of a number of professional
associations. These organizations act as industry
spokesmen with regard to the various authorities and with
other industries.
The Antwerp Shipping Federation (ASV) represents the
agents and shipowners' offices who watch over the interests
of the 300 or so shipowners whose ships make regular use
of the port. Its 100-odd members include shipbrokers and
operators. The Belgian and Luxembourg merchant fleet is
only small, but is one of the most specialized in the world.
Consequently the Belgian Shipowners' Association (BRV)
represents shipowners who are involved in the carriage of
gas, bulk cargoes and oil.
A second large group is made up of the 210 forwarders and
industrial shipping agents in Antwerp. Their interests are
represented by the Antwerp Freight Forwarding, Logistics
and Works' Agents Association (VEA).Antwerp's cargo
handlers are represented by ABAS (Professional
Association of Antwerp Master Stevedores and Port
Operators) and the KVBG (Royal Association of Traffic Flow
Controllers).

ABAS has about thirty members. The majority are
stevedores, although both warehousing specialists and
companies performing related activities such as lashing and
securing also belong to the association. The sixty members
of the KVBG take care of the handling, warehousing and
distribution of goods. These firms were originally warehouse
operators (Antwerp's "naties") which have now developed
into suppliers of logistic services. These professional
associations have established a number of umbrella
organizations that serve as forums for consultation and
cooperation.
• ALFAPORT ANTWERPEN acts as the representative of
business in the port and promotes the interests of port users
in many different areas.
• CEPA or the Port of Antwerp Employers' Association and
the Employers’ Association of Trade and Shipping Offices
are both involved in the social sector.
• INPRO, the Dangerous Products Information Centre is a
helpdesk for firms seeking information about dangerous
goods.
Firms in other areas of the transport industry have their own
professional associations. These include associations for
Belgian inland navigation companies, Rhine shipping
agents, and road hauliers. In this way all parties can be
drawn into the consultation process.
© Port of Antwerp

A multipurpose port
B0106
The Port of Antwerp handles more than 150 million tonnes
of cargo per year (55% incoming and 45% outgoing
traffic).This volume makes Antwerp the second largest port
in Europe and the fourth largest in the world.
B0107
A little under half of Antwerp's goods traffic consists of bulk
such as coal, ores, fertilisers, grains and so on. Antwerp
also handles large quantities of breakbulk. The various port
operators have invested heavily in specialised handling
installations for trades such as iron and steel, fruit, forest
products, cars, dangerous goods and sugar.
B0108
It thus comes as no surprise that Antwerp is a market
leader in many of these trades.

MarEng

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Inglés Marítimo. Creado a partir y como complemento de

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Antwerp has responded positively to the unitised load
phenomenon. Nowadays 76% of all general cargo is packed
in containers.
B0109
Antwerp's container terminals pride themselves on their
productivity and low costs, outdoing many of their European
competitors. Not surprisingly, Antwerp offers the best quality
to price ratio of all North Sea ports.

© Port of Antwerp Authority 2005

Isolation and Communication
B0110
The Port of Antwerp has a large ecumenical team which is
responsible for the welfare of all seafarers. So far this year,
Port Chaplain John Attenborough has been busy visiting the
ships that have come into the Port of Antwerp. He has
concentrated his efforts on the Left Bank as this area is
rather far away from most amenities, which are located on
the Right Bank of the river Scheldt.
Stephanie Hughes spoke to him. “John, please tell me
something about your work on the Left Bank.”
JA “Well Stephanie, during the weekends the whole area is
like a ghost town, no lorries, no cars, not much of anything.
Isolation is one of the biggest challenges that seafarers face
in the modern shipping world. The seafarers are very lucky if
they can even manage to find a telephone in order to call
their loved ones back home. This is something that many
people fail to understand in this modern world of mobile
phones. Seafarers have a harder time than most of the
population, because the roaming service on a mobile is
extortionately expensive. One seafarer told me that being on
a ship on the Left Bank was like being in a desert. He went
on to say, “All you need is some sand and the picture would
be complete!” He did not want me to take his photo,
because he was not in a happy mood. ”
SH “Can you tell me something about the challenges you
face when visiting the ships?”
JA “Though ships are getting bigger and faster, crewing
levels are decreasing. With new security regulations,

seafarers find it more difficult to leave the ship and
chaplains and welfare workers find it more difficult to gain
access to the ships and to the seafarers on board. On one
occasion, I encountered a security guard who refused me
access to one ship on the grounds that the cargo was of a
sensitive nature. I said that I had nothing to do with the
cargo, all I wanted to do was to go and talk to the crew.
After some time, the security guard finally agreed to let me
on board. The crew were so grateful for my visit. It seems
obvious that the nature of the cargo should not get in the
way of welfare of the crew, but more often than not it seems
the cargo is valued more highly than the welfare of the
seafarers.”
B0111
SH “But is there any good news on the horizon?”
JA “There certainly is. For the new Deurganck Dock,
officially opened on June 6th 2006, there is provision in the
agreement by the companies running the new dock, HN-
PSA and P&O Ports, to provide welfare facilities to the
seafarers that come in on the ships which berth in the dock.
“
SH “So it is just a case of waiting and seeing.”
JA “Yes, It will be interesting to see how the new facilities
make a difference to the lives of the seafarers visiting
Antwerp. I was recently invited to a meeting with one of the
companies running the new dock and am pleased to report
that the needs of the seafarers have been taken into
consideration. The companies have agreed to provide
telephones, computers, a TV, a comfortable seating area
and some shelving on which we can put newspapers and
magazines for the seafarers to take. The ships using the
new dock will only be container vessels, so the time in port
will be a matter of hours. It is really exciting to see that, at
last, seafarers will have somewhere relatively accessible
where they feel welcome.”
SH “Thank you for your time and for the useful insights into
the developments in the Port of Antwerp.”
JA “You’re welcome.”

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SHIPPING AND MARITIME MANAGEMENT

What is ship management?

B0200
I: Jack Roberts, you’ve worked in ship management for the
last 20 years, so I’m sure you won’t mind if we describe you
as an old-hand at the job!
B0201
I: Can you tell us a bit about yourself to start with?
B0202
JR: Well, I initially chose a career at sea because of my
interest in sailing and all things nautical. I was determined to
learn the art of seamanship first hand and first went to sea
in 1974 as a deck cadet. I then spent several years in
service, moving up the ranks, on many different types of
ships. Going to sea certainly broadened my horizons, gave
me the chance to see the seven seas, as it were. I didn’t
know then that it would provide professional training for a
lifelong rewarding career. After a number of years at sea I
decided that an entire life on the ocean waves was maybe
not what I wanted, and in 1985 made the move back to land,
where I swiftly entered the world of ship management. I
have seen many changes in ship design, technological
equipment and management practices since my early days
and as a result the job has always remained fascinating and
challenging
B0203
I: How, then, would you define ship management?
B0204
JR: Well, that’s a good question. I suppose the first thing to
say is that ship management is really an umbrella term,
covering various different types of management services
and these are, in turn, related to all aspects of daily vessel
operations. The term describes an international business of
many characteristics including low margins, relatively low
barriers of entry for ship management companies, heavy
paperwork, intense competition, high risks and a need to
provide a round the clock service. The ship manager must
be able to tailor the service to the differing needs of the ship
owner, whilst maintaining efficiency and cost effectiveness
in service delivery. In other words ship management is the
professional supply of a single or a range of services by a
management company separate from the vessel’s
ownership.
B0205
I: Does that mean that the ship manager and ship owner are
separate entities?
B0206
JR: Yes, indeed. The point I’m making is that the
management company is separate from the ship owner.
This means, in effect, that the supplier of the services, in
other words the management company, is considered
independent from the user working with his own staff and
sometimes from a separate company. The term separate
means, in the strictest sense, that there is no common
shareholding interest between the ship owner and the
manager. We could talk about this particular point later
perhaps.
B0208
I: Can you give some specific examples which typify the
relationship between the owner and the manager?
JR: Certainly, although it’s not as simple as definitions might
suggest. The relationship depends very much on the
resources and needs of the owner in relation to the services
provided by the manager. Just to give a couple of examples
then.

One example that we have is a situation in which the ship
owner elects to retain control over a number of critical
functions in the management of his ships – such as the
selection of senior officers, safety auditing and the
negotiation and management of dry docking – but will

outsource the remaining day-to-day management activities
to the ship manager.

In another example the ship owner himself may retain a
technical department to run a core fleet of, let’s say, bulk
carriers, but should he then acquire a fleet of specialist
vessels he would need to use a ship manager to provide the
skills required for that specialist fleet – I’m talking about
maintenance skills as well as the sourcing of sea staff with
skills and experience relevant to the fleet in question. These
are just two examples though. To sum it up, it’s actually the
contract between the manager and the owner which defines
the exact relationship.
B0209
I: Moving on then, can you tell us more about the contract
itself?
B0210
JR: Contracts vary, of course, and are again dependent on
the needs and resources of the contracting parties involved.
As I mentioned earlier, the manager provides a single or a
range of services. The ship owner elects to use a
comprehensive range or possibly just one service from
those offered by the manager. The contract, then, governs
the professional supply or in other words sets out the terms
by which the supplier – that’s our ship manager – provides
services to the user in return for a management fee. The
ship manager is bound to a contractual set of terms and
conditions. We see this in several ways; the ship manager
must ensure that the vessel always complies with
international rules and regulations, that it is run in a safe and
cost efficient manner without threat to the environment and
that it is maintained so as to preserve as far as possible its
asset value.
B0211
I: We began this interview by talking about a range of
services which might be supplied by the ship manager?
What exactly are those services?
B0212
JR: Essentially the services in question comprise three main
groups, namely technical management, crew management
and commercial management. There is also a fourth group
that can be termed ancillary services, but I won’t go into that
in detail at the moment.

The main objective of technical management is safe,
pollution free and cost efficient vessel operation in
accordance with international rules and regulations and
also, to some extent, the protection of asset value. Perhaps
one of the most obvious examples of technical management
is regular vessel inspections.

Crew management is the provision of well-trained and
suitably experienced crew of the nationality required by the
ship owner to ensure safe and efficient operation according,
again, to international regulations.
Commercial management involves the provision of
miscellaneous ship broking services relating to the
employment of a vessel, but I can come back to that point
later.
B0213
I: Let’s look at risk for a moment. Is ship management a
risky business? Which party, manager or owner, runs the
greater risk in your opinion?
B0214
JR: As I said right at the start, ship management entails high
risks. As to which party runs the greater risk, well, that’s
debatable. Let’s take the ship owner first, since it’s often
said that he is the prime risk taker. His primary objective and
success is dependent upon his ability to find profitable
employment for the ship and/or to realise a profit from the

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vessel’s resale for demolition or further trading. By contrast
the ship manager’s aim is to provide a service or services to
assist the ship owner in return for a fixed management fee.
It would be unfair though to say that the ship manager runs
no risk. He might find himself in a situation whereby the
owner has run into financial difficulties and is unable to pay,
or whereby there is a risk to his reputation due to problems
caused by insufficient funding. What I mean by this is that
the risk is not borne entirely by one party.
B0201
I: Well, it sounds like a fascinating field to work in. Jack
Roberts, thank you for agreeing to speak to us.

Antwerpia Shipping
For a company such as Antwerpia Shipping n.v. it is vital to
be able to anticipate trends on the shipping markets.
Antwerpia Shipping n.v. was established in 1965 and offers
services related to the chartering of motor vessels,
otherwise known as ship chartering. It serves as an efficient
link for commerce from or through Antwerp to various
worldwide destinations. Antwerpia Shipping acts as ship
agents, brokers, ship charterers and bunkering agents
operating from a centrally located office in the city of
Antwerp, Belgium. Antwerpia Shipping specialises in tramp
traffic, namely vessels which do not operate under regular
schedules, and can arrange movements of cargoes within
the Mediterranean, U.K. and the North continent to various
destinations. It arranges charters for a wide range of vessels
including refrigerated cargo vessels (reefers), VLCCs,
RoRos, dry bulk carriers and general cargo ships. Antwerpia
Shipping offers a monthly conventional and container
service from Antwerp to Helsinki and, in addition, operates a
twice monthly conventional service from Tallin and Helsinki
to Antwerp. Transhipment is catered for by companies in the
stevedore business.

Chartering a ship – definitions
A Shipper is an individual or company with cargo to
transport. A charterer is the individual or company who hires
a ship. A charter-party is the contract setting out the terms
under which the shipper contracts for the transportation of
his cargo or the charterer contracts for the hire of a ship. On
a voyage charter, a ship earns freight per ton of cargo
transported on terms set out in the charter-party which
specifies the precise nature and volume of the cargo, the
part(s) of loading and discharge and the laytime and
demurrage. All costs are paid by the shipowner. A
consecutive voyage charter is where the vessel is hired to
perform a series of consecutive voyages between A and B.
A contract of Affreightment (COA) is signed when a
shipowner undertakes to carry quantities of a specific cargo
on a particular route or routes over a given period of time
using ships of his choice with specific restrictions. The term
‘Period charter’ is used when the vessel is hired for a
specified period of time for payment of a daily, monthly or
annual fee. There are three types of period charter, time
charter, trip charter and consecutive voyage charter. A time
charter is where a ship earns hire monthly or semi-monthly.
The shipowner retains possession and mans and operates
the ship under instructions from the charterer who pays the
voyage costs. A trip charter is fixed on a time charter basis
for the period of a specific voyage and for the carriage of a
specific cargo. The shipowner earns 'hire' per day for the
period determined by the voyage. With a bare boat charter
the owner of the ship contracts (for a fee, usually long-term)
to another party for its operation. The ship is then operated
by the second party as if he owned it.
Adapted from © PONL with permission

Chartering a ship - A telephone conversation

B0216
BJ: Antwerpia Shipping. Bert Janssens speaking.

B0217
JM: Good afternoon. Your receptionist told me that you were
the best person to talk to. I’m calling from Australia. My
name is Jack McCarthy of Queensland Maritime Services.
Your company was recommended to me by a business
associate.
B0218
BJ: Well, let’s hope we can live up to the recommendation,
Mr McCarthy. What can I do for you?
B0219
JM: I’m looking for a vessel to transport cargo.
B0220
BJ: You’ve come to the right place. We can arrange for the
shipment of bulk, liner, reefer or project cargo, you name it.
What type of cargo did you have in mind?
B0221
JM: Grain. 50,000 tonnes to be precise.
B0222
BJ: That won’t be a problem, but I’ll need to take more
details from you of course. Can you let me have the present
location of the grain, and the port of destination?
B0223
JM: Well, I’m looking to ship the grain from the Port of
Gladstone to Tallin in Estonia.
B0224
BJ: OK, Gladstone – that’s in Queensland, isn’t it? Yes, I’m
familiar with Gladstone, although we normally ship coal from
that region.
B0225
JM: That would be right. Gladstone’s the fourth largest coal
export port in the world. This time it’s grain though, and my
timing’s pretty tight. I have a contract to get the grain to
Tallin within the month.
B0226
BJ: OK, I’m just having a look at my screen here. Yes, I
thought so. We have a Panamax dry bulk carrier presently
sailing from the Gulf to deliver grain in Japan. It’s due to
arrive in Japan in three days time. That means that it will be
‘open’ in four days time and then due to return to Antwerp. It
will be looking for a cargo such as yours to reposition into
the North Atlantic area; I’ll just have to check if it ties in with
our service from Antwerp to Helsinki and on to Tallin. It
should do though. That would suit your requirements,
wouldn’t it?
B0227
JM: Yes, indeed. Sounds just like what we need. Can you
just run over the ship’s characteristics to check that it fulfils
our requirements? I’m thinking about its speed, cargo
capacity, dimensions, handling gear and so on.
B0228
BJ: Certainly. As I said, it’s a Panamax bulk carrier, 69,100
dwt., built in Japan in 1994. I’m sure you’re familiar with the
vessel type, but basically it has a framework for the carriage
of dry solids in bulk without packaging. Grain, for example. It
has a capacity of 70,000 metric tonnes and sails at an
average speed of 14 knots; that’s an economical speed I’m
talking about. You can visit our website for further
information about the ship’s characteristics.
B0229
JM: OK, but can I just run over a couple of points with you?
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that grain is a free running
cargo. It’s prone to shift in heavy weather and if the ship’s
not up to it this could threaten the safety of the ship herself.
Heavy cargoes like these have to be loaded and discharged
in a certain sequence, otherwise we’re talking about serious
stress to the structure of the ship. When loading grain, care
has to be taken with the sequence of filling the hatches and
the cargo distribution, so that no undue stress is put on the
vessel while loading or later when moving in a seaway.
Large waves can be a deadly hazard, you know.
B0230

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BJ: Don’t worry Mr McCarthy. Our chartering staff is
experienced in many types of cargo vessels. We’re in the
business of providing quality service to our customers. You
can be sure that our contractual arrangements will meet
your needs. What type of contract were you considering, by
the way? I’m assuming it won’t be a bare boat charter, will
it? A voyage charter would best suit your needs, I think. And
if things go well, and you’re in the business of shipping grain
on a regular basis, we could always move on to a time
charter in the future, perhaps.
B0231
JM: Well, indeed, that might be something for the future, but
it’s a voyage charter I’m interested in at the moment.
B0232
BJ: OK, we can put that together for you. Why don’t I work
on some details for you now, and send you a proposal. I’ll
include voyage estimations and calculations for you. With
the voyage charter we’ll be looking at price per ton here – it
was 50,000 tonnes of grain, wasn’t it?
B0233
JM: That’s correct.
B0234
BJ: And the ship has to arrive in Tallin in May, doesn’t it?
B0235
JM: Yes. The grain has to be there by 28th May at the
latest. That should be possible with the Panamax though,
shouldn’t it?
B0236
BJ: Absolutely. I’ll get this proposal off to you as soon as
possible, Mr McCarthy, and don’t worry – all the contract
details can be negotiated to ensure that the vessel is
capable of handling the cargo in a damage-free manner.
Can I just take your e-mail details?
B0237
JM: Certainly. It’s jmccarthy@qms.com
B0238
BJ: McCarthy – that’s two ‘c’s, isn’t it?
B0239
JM: That’s right. Capital ‘m’, small ‘c’, capital ‘c’. Thanks for
your help Mr Janssens. I look forward to hearing from you.
B0240
BJ: You’re welcome. If there’s anything else you need, just
call me. Goodbye now.
B0241
JM: Thanks and goodbye.

The Shipping Markets
There are four shipping markets; the newbuilding market,
the freight market, the sale and purchase market, and the
demolition market. Each of these markets trades in different
commodities.

The newbuilding market trades new ships; this is where
ships are ordered.
The freight market trades sea transport and cargo; this is
where ships are chartered.
The sale and purchase market trades existing or second-
hand ships. Ships are bought and sold on this market.
The demolition market deals in scrap ships; this is where old
or obsolete vessels are sold to scrap dealers.

It is the cash-flow between the four markets that drives the
shipping market cycle. At the beginning of the cycle freight
rates rise and cash starts to flow in, prompting shipowners
to pay higher prices for second-hand ships. As prices rise
investors focus on the newbuilding market which now looks
attractive. The confidence surge brought about by buoyant
prices leads to more orders for new ships. When these
ships arrive on the market a couple of years later, however,
the whole process starts to go into reverse. Freight rates
begin to fall reducing the cash inflow just at the time when
investors are paying for their newbuildings. Financially weak

owners are then forced to sell off ships on the second-hand
market. Eventually ships are traded at bargain prices, before
the cycle picks up again and prices start once more to
accelerate.

SHIPPING AND THE ENVIRONMENT (1)
B0242
Shipping managers within the European Union are
continually looking for innovative ways of reducing costs
and, more importantly, of doing less damage to the
environment. Encouraging short-sea shipping is one way of
doing this. Establishing links between sea and inland
waterways is another method.

Short-distance shipping is not a new idea. Thousands of
wrecked vessels around the Mediterranean, some of which
date back to Roman times, bear evidence to this. Short-sea
shipping now carries 41% of goods traffic within the
Community and is the only mode of goods transport with
recent growth rates. It is a means of transport which should,
ideally, be promoted as a means of relieving congestion
within the Community. Today there are efficient services
between southern Sweden and Hamburg, between the ports
of Antwerp and Rotterdam, and between south-east
England and the port of Duisburg. However the current
volume falls short of its potential capacity. For example,
75% of the timber exported by Finland to Italy crosses
Germany and the Alps although it could go by sea. Shipping
managers should therefore promote short-sea shipping as a
real competitive alternative to land transport and certain
shipping links, particularly those offering a way around the
bottlenecks in the Alps and Pyrenees should be made a part
of the trans-European network, just like motorways or
railways.
B0243
The European Union has an important natural asset: a
dense network of rivers and canals linking up the basins of
the rivers, such as the Seine, Rhine, Meuse, Schelt, Elbe
and Oder, which flow into the North Sea, the Atlantic and
the Baltic. Recently the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal has
provided a link to the Danube basin, bringing the total
number of member states that can use this inland waterway
network to twelve. Inland waterway transport is quiet and
energy-efficient, and takes up little space. In addition it is an
ideal form of transport for dangerous goods, such as
chemicals, and also for the carriage of low-cost commodities
over long distances. For example a vessel can travel from
Duisburg to Rotterdam, a distance of 225 kilometres, in half
a day regardless of conditions which affect other modes.
Inland waterway transport is thus a very competitive
alternative to road and rail transport and, following the
enlargement of the EU, could do much to relieve traffic on
east-west routes.

This text is based on the European Commission White
Paper European Transport Policy for 2010: time to decide,
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European
Communities, 2001
119 pp. — 21 x 29.7 cm ISBN 92-894-0341-1

SHIPPING AND THE ENVIRONMENT (2)
Shipping is friendlier to the environment than other methods
of transport, the reason being that a large volume of cargo
can be transported in an energy-efficient manner, leading to
fewer emissions per amount of cargo transported. It would
be unfair not to mention, however, that shipping is also
occasionally guilty of causing environmental problems.
These occasional problems include the following:-

Air emissions:

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• Exhaust gas emissions of vessels discharging sulphur and
nitrogen oxides into the air along with carbon dioxide,
carbon monoxide, particles and hydrocarbons.
• Cooling agents, extinguishers and volatile organic
compounds discharged into the air during the loading and
unloading of tankers.

Water emissions:
• Oil and chemical emissions discharged into the sea,
accidentally or intentionally.
• Escape of solid and liquid ship waste into the water.

Other environmental problems:
• Spread of organisms to new areas, threatening the
balance of the original biotype. These organisms are
transported in ballast water or when they attach themselves
to the bottoms of vessels.
• Increased surge formation may increase erosion to
sensitive littorals.
• Growth in noise pollution.
• Safety risks caused by increasing vessel speeds.

Sub-standard ships
B0244
A recent incident has highlighted problems with sub-
standard ships. It has been revealed that a boxship which
sank off the coast of Yemen following a huge fire had
recently failed a port state control inspection. At the time of
the incident the vessel was reportedly travelling from Korea
to Rotterdam.

The fire on the vessel blazed in the aft accommodation and
cargo area for at least six hours and plumes of black smoke
were sent billowing into the sky 130 nautical miles off Aden.
Explosions were still being heard from the ship the following
day.
B0245
A Dutch navy frigate sent speedboats to take 27 crew from
the vessel, and a helicopter removed one injured crewman.
His condition on board the navy ship was reported to be
stable. A ten mile exclusion zone was established around
the boxship, which lost a number of containers overboard. A
UK navy vessel was also in attendance and tugs were
summoned to the scene shortly after the vessel had caught
fire.

It was reported that the blaze had been caused by a
technical fault. As recently as 2001 the boxship had been
detained following a port state control inspection (PSC). The
incident is now under investigation.
B0246

The incident highlights recent concerns over sub-standards
ships and serves as a reminder that ship owners and
operators need to be familiar with requirements on safety
and pollution protection in order to prepare themselves for
PSC which is becoming increasingly widespread at
international level. A spokesman for the International
Association of Classification Societies (IACS) said that it is
in the interest of owners and managers to be fully prepared
for these inspections. He added that IACS checklists
identifying the top 50 most common causes of ship
detention are now available

The boxship in question was insured by Britannia Steamship
for cargo losses and classed by DNV. Hull cover is likely to
be with Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, but a great part of
the risk will be reinsured out to London and other
international markets. The container cargo of a ship of this
size would typically be worth $150m, indicating that the loss
could outstrip damage to the hull.

Interpreting the shipping markets
B0247
At the beginning of the year freight rates generally were at
an all-time high. Younger members of the industry were told
by older, wiser colleagues how lucky they were to
experience such high levels, usually seen only once in a
lifetime. In the Spring, however, the market plummeted
displaying all the hallmarks of a classic shipping “spike”. By
mid-year rates had experienced the biggest ever fall in the
shipping market with average Capesize rates collapsing by
almost $60,000 on a daily basis from the January peaks.

No-one had reckoned with China, however, which single-
handedly reversed the market and launched it on a further
upward trajectory. Imports of iron ore into China surged in a
period of one month, rising 5 Mt between June and July,
from 13 Mt to 18 Mt. This was the biggest ever increase in
demand by one country in a single month, and proved just
the tonic that was needed for Capesize owners who had
feared the boom was short-lived. The sharp upturn had an
immediate effect on smaller sizes with both Panamax and
Handymax rates responding positively and immediately
moving upwards. The rise continued steeply until the
beginning of December setting another record peak second
only to February’s first.

Few owners can be dissatisfied with this year’s average
rates. Everything considered it was a good twelve months
for the record books, with another promising year just round
the corner.

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CARGO HANDLING

Antwerp Container port trade

Text One
Container trade
B0301
This year the volume of containerised goods came to 74.6
million tonnes, or 6.5 million TEU. Over the last 10 years
container tonnage has risen by 42.5 million tonnes or
164.7%.At present, 78% of all general cargo is
containerised. Last year the nine principal ports of the Le
Havre-Hamburg range jointly handled 28.4 million TEU, or a
total tonnage of 298 million tonnes. In terms of tonnage as
well as of TEU Antwerp is the third largest container port in
the range, after Rotterdam and Hamburg, and has a market
share of 21.3%.

Text Two
Container trade by geographical region in 2005 Text
based on table © Antwerp Port Authority
B0302
Container trade with Europe was 19.7% of the total of 74.6
million tonnes. The Near East was slightly more, 20.3%.
Trade with the Mid and Far East was slightly less than that
with Europe, 19.2%. Trade with North and Central America
was 0.8% under 25% at 24.2%. Trade with South America
and Africa lagged behind at 5.7% and 9.2%
respectively.Other regions made up the remaining 1.7%
trade.

Text Three
B0303
Port of Antwerp — Container traffic in 2005 (in tonnes) –
Full containers
The number of full containers unloaded from Europe was
5,210,121.
The number of full containers loaded for Europe was
9,545,549.
giving a total of 14,755,670.
The number of full containers unloaded from the Near East
was 5,451,874.
The number of full containers loaded for the Near East was
9,431,519
giving a total of 14,883,393
The number of full containers unloaded from the Middle &
Far East was 5,147,976.
The number of full containers loaded for the Middle & Far
East was 9,075,391
giving a total of 14,223,367
The number of full containers unloaded from North &
Central America was 8,010,124
The number of full containers loaded for North & Central
America was 8,250,502
giving a total of 16,260,626
The number of full containers unloaded from South America
was 2,184,113
The number of full containers loaded for South America was
2,384,074
giving a total of 4,568,187
The number of full containers unloaded from Africa was
2,833,753
The number of full containers loaded for Africa was
3,869,554
giving a total of 6,703,307
The number of full containers unloaded from other
destinations was 153,634
The number of full containers loaded for other destinations
was 557,419
giving a total of 711,053
Text © Port of Antwerp

Introduction to cargo care

A successful containerised cargo shipment depends on four
basic fundamentals.
1. Matching the cargo to the correct type of container that is
best suited for the forthcoming voyage.
2. Ensuring that the container is in good condition prior to
loading the cargo and that it is carried and handled correctly
throughout the voyage.
3. Ensuring that the cargo is loaded correctly into the
container and is properly secured against movement during
the voyage.
4. Ensuring that all the relevant cargo information is
communicated to all appropriate parties to ensure that the
container and its contents will arrive at the consignee in the
expected condition.
© PONL 2005

Cargo Handling – Bill of Lading definitions
In order to understand a Bill of Lading, it is important to be
familiar with certain definitions.

'Carrier' Means the party named in the Signature Box on the
face of this document.

'Merchant' Includes any Person who at any time has been or
becomes the Shipper, Holder, Consignee, Receiver of the
Goods, any Person who owns or is entitled to the
possession of the Goods or of this Bill of Lading and any
Person acting on behalf of any such Person.

'Holder' Means any Person for the time being in possession
of (or entitled to the possession of) this Bill of Lading.

'Person' Includes an individual, group, company or other
entity.

'Sub-Contractor' Includes (but is not limited to) owners and
operators of any vessels (other than the Carrier),
stevedores, terminal and groupage operators, road, rail and
air transport operators and any independent contractor
employed by the Carrier in performance of the Carriage and
any sub-sub-contractors thereof.

'Indemnify' Includes defend, indemnify and hold harmless
whether or not the obligation to indemnify arises out of
negligent or non-negligent acts or omissions of the Carrier,
his servants, agents or Sub-Contractors.

'Goods' Means the whole or any part of the cargo received
from the Shipper and includes the packing and any
equipment or Container not supplied by or on behalf of the
Carrier.

'Container' Includes any container, trailer, transportable
tank, flat or pallet, or any similar article used to consolidate
goods and any ancillary equipment.

'Carriage' Means the whole or any part of the operations
and services undertaken by the Carrier in respect of the
Goods covered by this Bill of Lading.

'Port of Loading' Means any port at which the Goods are
loaded on board any Vessel (which may not necessarily be
the Vessel named elsewhere in this document) for Carriage
under this Bill of Lading

'Port of Discharge' Means any port at which the Goods are
discharged from any Vessel (which may not necessarily be
the Vessel named elsewhere in this document) after
Carriage under this Bill of Lading.

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'Vessel' Means any waterborne craft used in the Carriage
under this Bill of Lading which may be a feeder vessel or an
ocean vessel.

'Combined Transport' Arises if the Place of Receipt and/or
the Place of Delivery are indicated on the face of this
document in the relevant spaces.

'Port to Port' Arises if the Carriage is not Combined
Transport.

'Shipped on Board' Relates only to the Container into which
the Goods are manifested.

'Freight' Includes all charges payable to the Carrier in
accordance with the applicable Tariff and this Bill of Lading.

'Hague Rules' Means the provisions of the International
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules relating to
Bills of Lading signed at Brussels on 25th August, 1924 and
includes the amendments by the Protocol signed at
Brussels on 23rd February, 1968, but only if such
amendments are compulsorily applicable to this Bill of
Lading. (It is expressly provided that nothing in this Bill of
Lading shall be construed as contractually applying said
Rules as amended by said Protocol).

Refrigerated cargo
Most vessels are nowadays involved in the carriage of
refrigerated cargoes all over the world, travelling through
climates as hot as the torrid summers of the Persian Gulf
and as cold as the frigid winters of the Antarctic Ocean. The
combination of the cargo temperature requirements and the
climatic variations means correct temperature control of the
refrigeration unit is essential, ensuring the cargo reaches its
final destination in the desired condition. Shippers have

developed extensive knowledge and expertise in the
carriage of world-wide temperature controlled cargoes. They
transport their customer’s cargoes efficiently and effectively
from the point of loading all the way through to the final
destination, ensuring the cargo arrives in pristine condition
for the final customer.

Engine problems aboard a container ship
Report from Arnie Spencer, Captain of a container ship
which trades from the Far East to the west coast of the USA

“Hi, I’m Arnie Spencer. Since my last dispatch, we have
been to the port of Long Beach for our full discharge and
load. Whilst in the harbour, we performed our regular three-
monthly test of the lifeboat, lowering it into the water and
taking it for a spin around the harbour, which was most
enjoyable. The engineering department took the opportunity
of our time in harbour to open up an engine cylinder and
check the piston rings. If there is any wear, the piston rings
are changed and the piston crown is cleaned up and
replaced. This means that on departure the new pistons
must be run in, meaning that we have to very gradually
increase our speed over a 12-hour period in order not to
cause any damage to the new pistons.

On our way across the Pacific, we encountered an engine
problem, which meant that all engineers had to take turns
on sea watch, much to their annoyance. On today's modern
vessels, the engine room is unmanned at night with one
engineer covering alarms over each 24-hour period.
Therefore, taking part in watches throughout the night is a
shock to the system compared to the usual 8-5 daytime
shift. Hopefully, the problem will be fixed shortly and we will
be back to normal after our second call to Singapore”.
© The Marine Society

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VESSEL TYPES

B0401
BULK CARRIERS
Bulk carriers, or just bulkers, are ships especially designed
to carry loose goods in bulk. The cargo transported in bulk
commonly includes wood, coal, ore, grain, coke, fertilisers,
cement, light minerals, sugar and sand.

Bulkers usually have one deck, with the engine room in the
stern and a deckhouse above it. Holds are constructed with
longitudinal and cross walls, called bulkheads. Cargo in bulk
is easily stowed in between them. Bulk cargo ships are not
equipped with any handling gear, except for handy size
ones, up to 30,000 tons of deadweight. All loading and
unloading is done by means of shore devices like grabs or
suction pipes. Some of them make use of flexible ductings
and fans, which simply blow light cargo into holds. Port
devices may include special conveyors that drop cargo
inside. When one hold is full, loading is continued into the
next one.

Bulk carriers have large upper and lower ballast tanks to
provide enough draught. Some bulk carriers are designed to
function also as tankers. Such vessels are called Ore Bulk
Oil (OBO) carriers.

CABLE-LAYING SHIPS
Cable-laying vessels, also called cable layers, are specially
designed for laying and repairing telegraph and telephone
cables across vast water areas like channels, seas and
oceans. Modern cable layers are as efficient in repair and
maintenance operations as in long-haul cable laying.
The internet boom together with the extraordinary expansion
of telecommunication has led to the growing demand for
vessels specialising in laying sub-sea optical fibre networks.

“The Cable Innovator” seems to be the largest vessel
operating in this market. The ship was built by Kvaerner
Masa Yards in Finland. All cable-laying operations
arevcarried over the stern, so the vessel can maintain a high
speed and is not slowed down during cable work. Moreover,
it can operate successfully in extreme weather conditions. It
has been designed to deploy a remotely operated vehicle
(ROV). The vehicle is connected to the ship via
communication tether.

The most important cable handling equipment aboard “The
Cable Innovator” is the electrically operated cable laying
drum with various tension devices. The drum diameter is 4m
long and has fixed-angle fleeting rings and blades for
controlling the cable work. It is equipped with a special A-
frame for handling the plough used for
cable burial in the seabed.

Furthermore, “The Cable Innovator” is equipped with an
echo sounder and devices for measuring the length of the
cable laid out. While laying cables, all main data are
monitored, logged and printed out as a quality control. The
control system can also display all data accounting for the
tension of the plough tow cable when the vessel operates
and can activate the alarm in case the cable tension gets
too high. The vessel automatically reduces its speed. When
buried safely beneath the sea bed, the fibre optic
communication cables constitute a vital part of our global
telecommunication network.

CAR CARRIERS
The “Elbe Highway” is the first of the series of four
innovative PCTC (Pure Car and Truck Carrier) Ro-Ro car
carriers built in Gdynia Shipyard S.A., Poland, for long-term
charter for Kawasaki Europe. The shipyard design office
team initiated and accomplished all the concept work on

these new vessels. Along the way they were able to put into
practice the yard’s considerable experience in the field.

The delivery ceremony was held on 20th August 2005,
exactly nine months after the commencement of steel
cutting. The second ship, the “Thames Highway”, exactly
replicating the design of the prototype, was completed by
the end of 2005
.
The largest car carriers of today can handle over 6000 units.
The “Elbe Highway”, with her overall length (LOA) of 143 m
and breadth (B) of 25 m, can carry up to 2100 units, so the
total car deck capacity is comparatively small. In fact, she
can be classified as the only vessel ever designed and built
expressly for carrying vehicles. The intention was to follow
the innovative approach to world car transport. The crucial
idea is to lower the cost of the port stay by means of
employing smaller cargo ships, operating as feeders.

The vessel is constructed with two hydraulically-operated
external stern ramps. One is a straight stern ramp, another
one is a quarter stern ramp. Each of them has a safe
working load of 70 tons and a 6-metre long driveway. All
vehicles ranging from passenger cars to heavy movable
machinery can be loaded and discharged through these two
ramps.

For PCTC carriers, a stern quarter ramp offers considerable
advantages for cargo access and handling. Its main benefit
is that it allows the vessel to berth in the normal manner,
that is alongside the quay, without the need for special
shore facilities. The motor vehicles carried by the “Elbe
Highway”, and later on by her three sisters, can be handled
at any port in the world, not only at Ro-Ro terminals with
trailer quays.

The carrier is built with eight cargo decks in total. Two of
them are liftable car decks. They enhance greatly the
operational flexibility of the vessel. Unlike hoistable car
decks, they have no integral lifting mechanism, but are
deployed by a mobile deck lift. Thus, the maintenance
requirements of each of the panels forming the movable
decks are limited.

The arrangement of internal ramps and fixed car decks
follows the main design concept to shorten the time in port.
Namely, deck supporting pillars have been designed off the
ship centre line, making the construction not symmetrical,
but allowing for better cargo access.

The “Elbe Highway” has been classified by DNV as ICE-1A
as the hull is strengthened in her underwater and bow
sections. The navigating bridge is fully glass-shielded to
improve the navigation visibility on icy waters. The prototype
carrier has already joined the growing fleet of high-quality
car carriers of high manoeuvrability and efficiency that are
operating on short routes in the Baltic
and North Sea regions.

B0402
CONTAINERSHIPS
These ships carry cargo in containers. Goods are locked
and sealed in huge boxes of standard size. Containerships
carry containers both in holds and on the main deck. In the
holds, there is a special cellular structure of guide rails
where containers are stowed one on the top of another.
That is why they can be also called cellular vessels. These
ships usually have one deck, with the machinery spaces
located towards the aft end. Additional containers are
stowed on open deck and anchored in place by wire ropes.

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Containerships have produced a revolution in water
transport. The higher speed of around 26 knots is their main
advantage over other cargo ships. In addition, the loading
and unloading work with the use of shore based moving
gantry cranes is extremely fast. The primary advantage of
the use of containers is the possibility of transporting cargo
directly from customer to customer, not only from port to
port. Container vessels have grown in capacity up to 8000
TEU. Large container vessels usually do not have their own
loading gear. However, small, or medium-sized ones, called
container feeders, are often quipped with cargo gear. Also,
some multipurpose ships can operate as container feeders.

THE “ESTONIA” FERRY
The “Estonia” ferry was delivered in 1980 to operate on
routes in the heavy traffic between Finland and Sweden.
The ship was, at the time of delivery, the second largest
ferry working in the Baltic Sea region. It was built with one
bow ramp on the car deck, enclosed by a hinged bow visor
that opened upwards, and two stern ramps. Passenger
entrance doors were arranged on decks 4 and 5 and the
pilot and bunkering doors located on the car deck.

The design of both the visor and ramp were very popular at
the time. The installation included a bow visor and a loading
ramp. The ramp was hinged at car deck level and was
closed when in a raised position. In a closed position, the
upper end of the ramp was extended into a box-like housing
on the forecastle deck. The only reason for such a
construction was to make space for the ramp when the visor
was in its closed position.

The ramp was placed behind the bow visor. Thus, as you
can see in the drawing above, the ramp was longer than the
available height of the deck. There was only one reason for
such a long ramp. Namely, the bulbous bow had become so
long that the ramp needed to be extended to reach the quay
edge.

While operating on the Baltic Sea on the 28th of September
1994, at about 0115 hrs, the visor separated from the bow
and tilted over the stern. The ramp was pulled fully open,
allowing vast amounts of water to enter the car deck.
Consequently, the ship listed heavily to the starboard side.
Many of the passengers were trapped in their cabins, with
no chance to get out in time. A few minutes later, all four
main engines stopped and the list increased as the water
started to enter the accommodation area. Flooding of the
ferry continued so fast that the starboard side submerged
ten minutes later. The ship was sinking rapidly and
disappeared from the radar screen at about 01.50hrs.

The alleged cause of water coming into the car deck
resulting in the Estonia catastrophe was the poor
construction and bad maintenance of the visor and bow
ramp, together with too high operating speed. However,
there were some other theories presented. According to one
of them, the problem was that the bow visor was placed in
such a position that it could not be seen from the bridge.
The bridge crew would have probably reacted if they had
been able to observe the visor. Another theory is based on
the fact that the Estonia had not met the requirement of
having an extra collision bulkhead, which should have been
placed at more than 5% of the ship’s length from the forward
perpendicular. This would have definitely increased her
chances of surviving the loss of the visor. If the collision
bulkhead had been there, it would have prevented water
from entering the car deck. So the attempts to build vessels
strong enough to restrain the sea have once again been
conquered by the forces of the nature.

INDUSTRIAL SHIPS
Industrial ships are designed to carry out industrial
processes at sea, like drawing out raw materials and food
resources from waters. The activities that take place aboard
these ships include extracting oil and mineral salts, or
catching and processing fish and crustaceans like crabs,
shrimps and lobsters. Thus, if we consider the function the
ships perform, we can clearly distinguish between the
extractive and processing ships. The first type includes
trawlers and seiners A trawler is the most popular vessel
among fishing ships. Its name comes from the name of the
activity, ‘trawling‘, which means catching fish by dragging a
fishing net along the sea bed. The trawl can be launched
either over the ship side or over the stern. Spain and
Norway have been taking the lead with respect to the
number, size and the variety of trawlers built.
Non-trawling vessels can range from simple crafts which
deploy a net, to fishing vessels that first lay out nets, even
for a distance of a few kilometres , and then wait
for the shoal of fish to swim into it.
The typical representatives are seiners, tuna clippers and
crab boats.
A seiner makes use of a special kind of net called a seine
net in the following way: the net hangs vertically in water. Its
top edge floats and its bottom is weighted and equipped
with a rope. When a shoal of fish swims into the net, the
rope tightens and closes around it.
Processing ships receive fish or other sea goods from
extractive ships, process them into products, and bring them
to ports. They must be fitted with special machines for
processing, canning and storing.

TANKERS
Tankers are vessels designed for carrying any liquid cargo
such as petroleum and products derived from it, liquefied
gases, chemicals, wine and water. There are gas tankers
designed for carrying liquefied gas, either LPG or LNG, both
of which need to be kept at higher pressure and at low
temperatures to maintain the cargo in a liquefied state, and
there are crude oil tankers. The latter usually carry crude oil
from a loading port near oil fields or from the end of a
pipeline to a refinery.

Gas tankers are often steam turbine ships. The boil-off,
which is the gas evaporated from the cargo in order to keep
the temperature low, can be used as fuel for the boilers.

Tankers come in all sizes, ranging from bunkering tankers of
1000 DWT used for refueling larger vessels to the real
giants:
· the VLCC – Very Large Crude Carrier , 200,000 – 300,000
DWT
· the ULCC – Ultra Large Crude Carrier , over 300,000
DWT
Crude oil tankers are the largest of all cargo ships. Their
capacity has risen right up to 500,000 tons and,
consequently, their large draught limits their sailing routes.
There are only a few ports that supertankers can enter and
thus they are mostly loaded and unloaded from off-shore
pumping stations. The liquefied cargo is loaded by means of
pipes from shore facilities and through flexible pipelines
mounted on the jetty.

A further step in the development of the oil industry is the
Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading vessel
(FPSO), designed for off-shore purposes. When a large
vessel like a crude oil tanker is damaged by collision or
grounding, vast amounts of oil may leak out straight into the
sea. This explains the strict requirement for them to have a
double hull.

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THE ENGINE ROOM

PART 1
MARINE ENGINEER
Anybody who wants to be a Marine Engineer must be ready
and prepared to spend a long period in training. Practical
training is of crucial importance because the sea
environment is very demanding. Sea training is not easy,
although it only takes place when a candidate has sufficient
knowledge already. A cadet engineer has to learn new skills
and put them into practice. For instance, he learns how to
do machine repairs like opening up different bearings, tube
sleeves, and rusty items like nuts and bolts, as well as
cleaning valves and changing filters.

The successful candidate may be awarded a diploma and
will then be able to work on ships as a qualified Marine
Engineer class four. Then after some time spent working on
ships, he can sit for competency certificates as a class-two
Marine Engineer. Again, after some time at sea, he can sit
for the class-one certificate of competency, which qualifies
him to take up the job of the Chief Engineer on board a ship.

A marine engineer can be called a ship mechanic, a ship
machinist, a ship engine operator, or a ship engine room
attendant.

THE ENGINE DEPARTMENT
The Chief Engineer, or Chief Engineering Officer, is in
charge of the Engine Department. He is responsible for all
technical operations of the vessel, including engineering,
electrical and mechanical units. In particular, he is
responsible for all the propulsion machinery, power
generating equipment and auxiliaries. He has to keep
documents on the machinery working as well as all the
repairs carried out on the vessel. He also logs fuel oil
consumption. A varying number of officers, petty officers
and ratings assist the chief engineer. The engine officers’
hierarchy goes as follows:

1) The First Engineer. He is responsible for maintenance
and operations of the engineering and technical units.
2) The Second Engineer. His responsibilities usually include
the maintenance of lubricating systems, engine room
auxiliaries, and electrical equipment.
3) The Third Engineer. He is usually responsible for fuel and
water systems. He also supervises tanks soundings and
monitors the boiler room equipment.
4) The Fourth Engineer. His responsibilities may include, for
instance, the operation and maintenance of engine room
auxiliaries.
5) The Motorman – His duties are defined by the head of the
engine department and can include, for example, the daily
maintenance and cleaning of specific engine parts.

The propulsion plant department can also include some
petty officers, such as the donkey man and the storekeeper
and, if the ship is a tanker, there may also be the pump
man. The first one mentioned attends a donkey, auxiliary
boiler, especially when the ship is in port. A storekeeper is in
charge of all the spare parts and equipment stored for the
engine room. The last one, a pump man, is employed to
maintain and operate cargo pumps.

The engine room ratings, e.g. fire-fighters, greasers are
usually employed on watches to assist the engineer in
charge. They are responsible for daily cleanliness of the
engine room and for routine oiling, greasing and machinery
servicing.

WATCH KEEPING

The machinery driving a vessel which is underway is usually
operated 24 hours a day. All running machinery must be
controlled continuously in order to prevent any failure of the
equipment. The majority of control systems on modern ships
are automatic. A ship may operate for agreed periods with
unmanned machinery, called UMS, which stands for
Unattended Machinery Spaces.
The standard system of watches adopted on board is
usually a four-hour period on duty followed by eight-hour
rest. The word “watch” means both the period and the crew
working at that time. The three watches in any 12 hour
period are usually: 12 to 4, 4 to 8, 8 to 12. Thus, for
instance, an engineer on duty for the 8 to 12 watch works
from 8 a.m. to 12 noon and from 8 p.m. to 12 midnight

A watch is usually made up of an engineer in charge with an
assistant engineer and a rating. Their duties include
inspecting the main propulsion plant, auxiliary machinery
and steering gear spaces. They should note any
malfunctions and breakdowns, report and correct them.

Time at sea is expressed using the 24-hour system, as
opposed to the 12-hour system commonly used on land.

Internal Combustion Engines
Internal-combustion engines are machines that convert heat
into mechanical energy. In internal-combustion engines,
burning of the fuel inside a tightly closed cylinder results in
expansion of gases. The pressure created on top of a piston
makes it move. The back-and-forth motion of a piston is
known as the reciprocating motion (straight-line motion).
This motion must be changed to rotating (turning) motion to
perform a useful function, such as propelling a ship or
driving a generator to produce electricity.

All internal-combustion engines rely on three things: fuel, air
and ignition. Fuel contains energy for engine operation, air
contains oxygen necessary for combustion, and ignition
starts the process of combustion.

All internal-combustion engines consist of one or more
cylinders that are closed off at one end and have a piston
driving up the other end. Cylinders may be arranged either
in a straight line (in-line) or in a V shape. When a piston
slides downward as a consequence of the pressure of
expanding gases inside a cylinder, the upper end of the
connecting rod moves downward together with the piston.
The lower end of the connecting rod moves down in a
circular motion. This makes the crankshaft rotate. There are
different kinds of internal-combustion engines. The most
commonly used nowadays are diesel and petrol engines.
Diesel engines are extensively used in ship propulsion, and
petrol engines in the automotive industry.

FOUR-STROKE CYCLE
The four-stroke engine was first introduced by Nikolaus Otto
at the end of 19th century and since then it has also been
known as the Otto cycle. The commonly used term,
however, is “four-stroke”. It takes its name from the four
strokes of the piston needed to complete the processes of
converting fuel energy into work. The four strokes of the
piston are known as the suction (intake or induction) stroke,
the compression stroke, the power stroke and the exhaust
stroke.

SUCTION . During this stroke, the crankshaft rotates
clockwise and the piston moves down the cylinder. The inlet
valve is open and a fresh air charge is drawn into the
cylinder.

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COMPRESSION. The inlet valve closes and the air charge
is compressed by the piston moving up. Its pressure and
temperature increase. By the time the piston approaches
the cylinder top, known as Top Dead Centre (TDC), the
pressure is over 100 bar.
POWER. Just before TDC, fuel is injected into the cylinder
by the fuel injector. The fuel is atomised into tiny droplets.
They are very small so they heat up very quickly and then
start to burn. The expanding gases force the piston down
the cylinder, thus turning the crankshaft. During this stroke
work is put into engine.
EXHAUST. When the piston approaches the bottom of the
cylinder, known as Bottom Dead Centre (BDC), the exhaust
valve starts to open and the hot gases are expelled from the
cylinder.

TWO – STROKE CYCLE
This operation cycle is so called because it takes two
strokes of the piston, or one revolution of the crankshaft, to
complete the process needed to produce power. In this
cycle, each event is accomplished in a very short time.
Moreover, the engine requires some special arrangements.
First, the fresh air is forced in under pressure. The incoming
air is used to clean out, or scavenge, the exhaust gases and
then fill the space with fresh air charge. Instead of valves,
there are special holes, called ports, which are opened and
closed by piston sides as it moves up and down.

So the piston is at the top of its stroke after fuel injection and
combustion have taken place. The piston is then forced
down on its working stroke with the valves in the cylinder
head opening the exhaust port. The burnt gases then begin
to be expelled and the piston continues down until it opens
the inlet or scavenge port. Next pressurised air enters and
drives out the remaining burnt gases. The piston closes
these ports as it returns. The air is then compressed as the
piston moves to the top of its stroke. This is the explanation
for the name “two stroke”, with a downward power stroke
and an upward compression stroke. A two-cycle engine,
therefore, has two power strokes for every one of a four-
cycle engine.

FOUR – STROKE DIESEL ENGINE
The engine is made up of a piston that moves up and down
in a cylinder liner which is sealed from the top by a cylinder
head. The fuel injector, through which fuel enters, is located
in the cylinder head. The inlet and exhaust valves are also
housed in the cylinder head and held shut by springs. The
piston is joined to the connecting rod by a piston pin. The
bottom end, or big end, of the connecting rod is joined to the
crankpin, which forms part of the crankshaft.

The crankshaft is arranged to drive the camshaft through
gears. The camshaft either directly or through pushrods
operates rocker arms which open the valves at the correct
point in the cycle.

The crankshaft is surrounded by the crankcase and the
engine block that supports the cylinders and houses the
crankshaft bearings. The cylinder and the cylinder head are
arranged with water-cooling passages around them.The
four-stroke has certain advantages over a two-stroke, which
include higher piston speeds, wider variations in speed and
load, cooler pistons, no fuel lost through exhaust and lower
fuel consumption. It also consumes less lubricating oil.

TWO – STROKE ENGINE
This engine is made up of a piston that is solidly connected
to a piston rod. The piston rod is attached to a crosshead
bearing at the other end. The top end of the connecting rod
is also joined to the crosshead bearing. Ports are arranged
in the cylinder liner for air inlet and for a valve in the cylinder

head that enables the release of exhaust gases. The
crankshaft is supported within the engine bedplate by the
main bearings. A-frames are mounted on the bedplate and
house guides in which the crosshead travels up and down.

Some of the engine power is used to drive a blower that
forces the air charge into the cylinder under pressure.
Additionally, because of a much shorter period the intake
ports are open (as compared to a four-stroke cycle), a
smaller amount of air is admitted.

The main difference between the two engines is the power
developed. The two-stroke engine, theoretically, develops
twice as much power as the four- stroke one. Inefficient
scavenging, however, reduces the power advantage.

DIESEL ENGINE TYPES
A diesel engine operates with a fixed sequence of events
which are achieved either during four or two strokes. A
stroke is defined as the distance the piston travels between
its top and bottom points.

Various engine designs can also reflect the way the piston
acts. According to this, diesel engines may be classified as
single acting, when one side of the piston and one end of
the cylinder are used to develop power, and double acting, if
both piston sides and both cylinder ends are used to
produce power.

Considering the way the piston is attached to the upper end
of the connecting rod we can distinguish two types: a trunk-
piston engine (if the piston is directly connected with it) and
the crosshead engines (if indirectly connected).

Diesel engines usually have three general speeds ranges, in
which they are classified: low -speed diesels – 50 – 300
rpm, medium-speed diesels – 300 – 1000 rpm, and high -
speed diesels – above 1000 rpm.
According to their drive, engines may be classified as direct-
coupled engines, i.e. coupled directly to the propeller shaft
(also called direct drive engines) and geared engines, i.e.
coupled to a reduction gear mechanism (indirect drive
engines). If engines can rotate in both clockwise and
anticlockwise direction, they are known as reversible
engines. When they cannot run in the opposite direction,
they are called non-reversible.

DIESEL ENGINE PARAMETERS
In general, diesel engine parameters are defined in terms of
the following characteristics:

• Cylinder Bore. This is measured in millimetres (mm) or in
centimetres (cm) and is used to identify the inner (inside)
diameter of the cylinder.
• Stroke or the Length of the Stroke. This is the distance a
piston travels between top and bottom dead centers (TDC
and BDC); measured in mm or in cm.
• Piston Speed. This is measured in revolutions per minute
(rpm). It is the speed at which the crankshaft rotates. Since
the piston is connected to the shaft, the rpm, along with the
length of the stroke, determine the piston speed.
• Mean Piston Speed. This describes the average speed of
the piston during one rotation of the crankshaft. It is
measured in metres per second (m/s).
• Mean Effective Pressure (MEP). This is the average
pressure exerted on the piston during each power stroke
and is usually defined as force per area unit, e.g. in pounds
per square inch (psi), or bars.
• Horsepower (hp). This is the power developed within a
cylinder and can be calculated by measuring the MEP and
the engine speed. It is normally defined in kilowatts.

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• Stroke-to-Bore Ratio. This is the length of the stroke
divided by the cylinder bore. If the result is about 1, we can
classify the engine as a square one.
• Maximum Continuous Rating (MCR). This is the designed
maximum power which a diesel engine is capable of
delivering continuously, at nominal maximum speed, in the
period between two consecutive overhauls.
• Fuel Consumption. This depends upon the power
developed by the engine. The rate of fuel consumption is
the amount of fuel used in a unit of time, e.g. tons/day.

DUAL FUEL SYSTEMS
There are engines that can run on either natural gas or fuel
oil. They are called dual-fuel engines. For example, the
Wartsila 32DF and Wartsila 50DF, both four-stroke engines,
are designed to be fuel-flexible. Changing from one fuel to
the other can be done under all operating conditions.

They operate on the lean-burn principle, where the mixture
of air and gas in the cylinder has more air than is needed for
complete combustion. Lean combustion reduces peak
temperatures and consequently NOx emissions. It is started
by injectingcsmall amount of LFO (called pilot fuel) into the
cylinder. The pilot fuel is ignited in a conventional diesel
process. Each cylinder is individually controlled to ensure
the desired air-fuel ratio together with the necessary amount
and timing of pilot fuel injection.

The fuel system of the Wartsila 50DF has been divided into
two subsystems: one for gas and the other one for diesel oil.
The engine is started in diesel mode using both main diesel
and pilot fuel. At about 300 rpm, the main diesel injection is
disabled and the engine is transferred to gas mode.

Natural gas is supplied to the engine through the valve
station. The gas is first filtered to ensure a clean supply. The
gas pressure is controlled by a valve located near the
engine driving end. Its pressure depends on the engine
load. The system includes the necessary shut-off and
venting valves to ensure safe and trouble-free gas supply.

On the engine, the gas is supplied through large common-
rail pipes running along the engine. Each cylinder then has
an individual feed pipe to the gas admission valve on the
cylinder head.

The fuel oil supply system has been divided into two parts:
one for the pilot fuel and the other for backup fuel. The pilot
fuel is elevated to the required pressure by a pump unit.
This includes filters, the pressure regulator and an engine-
driven piston-type pump. The high-pressure pilot fuel is then
distributed through a common-rail pipe to the injection
valves at each cylinder. The pilot fuel is injected at
approximately 900-bar pressure.

The back-up fuel is fed to a normal camshaft-driven injection
pump. From the injection pump, the high-pressure fuel goes
to a spring-loaded injection valve of standard diesel design.

JERK PUMP INJECTON
In the jerk pump injection system, there is a separate
injector pump for each cylinder. The injector pump is usually
operated once every cycle by a cam on a camshaft. The
barrel (cylinder) and plunger (a spring-loaded ram) of the
injector pump are designed to suit the engine fuel
requirements. Ports (holes) in the barrel and slots in the
plunger serve to regulate the fuel delivery. The pump
elements (cylinder and plunger) are built into the injection
pump body. As the cam rotates, it operates a spring-loaded
ram (the plunger), which moves up and down in a barrel . As
the plunger moves up the barrel, the pressure of the fuel in
the barrel above the plunger rises very quickly. The high-

pressure fuel then opens the fuel valve (the injector) and
fuel is sprayed into the engine cylinder.

Different engine manufacturers use different methods to
change fuel injection timing when an engine operates under
part load conditions to achieve saving in fuel. This is called
Variable Injection Timing (VIT).

For example, the Wartsila 64 engine uses a fuel pump with
two plungers and two barrels with common suction and
discharge. The plunger for controlling the start of
injection has a helix in the top of the plunger, while the
plunger for controlling the end of injection is a conventional
scroll-type fuel pump plunger. The same cam operates both
plungers. Thus, the injection can be freely adjusted
independently of the injected quantity. No lubricating oil is
required for the pump element, since the plunger has a
wear-resistant, low-friction coating.

LUBRICATING OIL SYSTEM
The lubrication system of an engine supplies lubricating oil
to various moving engine parts. Its primary function is to
form the oil film between moving parts, thick enough to
reduce friction. Insufficient lubrication may cause sticking of
piston rings, overheating of bearings and excessive engine
wear.

The performance of modern diesel engines depends on the
effectiveness of their lube oil systems. To be effective, such
a system should successfully perform the following
functions:
• it should control friction between load-bearing surfaces;
• it should reduce wear by preventing metal-to-metal contact
between moving parts;
• it should limit the temperature by taking some of the heat
away;
• it should reduce corrosion by coating metal surfaces;
• it should dampen mechanical vibrations;
• it should help to seal cylinder walls.
The lubricating system of a diesel engine can be divided into
two subsystems: the one operating inside the engine, called
the internal lubrication system, and the one that functions
outside the engine, called the external system.

The internal system mainly consists of passages, piping,
valves and filters, sometimes pumps. The external one
includes such parts as tanks and sumps, pumps, coolers,
strainers and filters.

OPERATING PROCEDURES
These are verbs which are commonly used in standard
trouble-shooting orders and operating and maintenance
procedures.
• activate
• adjust
• attach
• check
• change
• clean
• close
• connect
• correct
• disconnect
• dismount
• examine
• install
• lift
• locate
• loosen
• lower
• lubricate
• make sure

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• mount
• open
• overhaul
• place
• position
• raise
• reduce
• relieve
• remove
• replace
• screw
• shut off
• start
• switch off
• switch on
• take out
• tighten
• uninstall
• unscrew

FUEL OIL SUPPLY SYSTEM
The design of the supply, also called external, fuel system
varies from ship to ship, but every system should provide
well-cleaned fuel with the correct temperature and pressure
to each engine. The arrangement of the system usually
allows for the use of both diesel and heavy fuel oil.

First, the oil is pumped from the bunker tanks or normal fuel
tanks. Both of them are used for the storage of fuel oil and
can be called storage tanks.
The oil is pumped to an intermediate tank, also called a
settling tank. Sometimes the name “collecting tank” is used.
Then it is led through heaters and centrifuges for
purification. Centrifugal purifiers are used for purification of
both fuel and lubricating oil.

After passing through centrifuges, cleaned and pre-heated
oil is transferred to the respective service tanks, also called
“day” or ‘daily’ tanks. They are used in alternation. When
one tank is in use, the other one is being filled . Next, an
engine-driven pump (also called a booster, transfer or
primary pump) forces the fuel, from the particular service
tank in operation, through the viscosity regulators, filters and
flow meters to the internal (injection) fuel system. This is
done by means of circulating pumps.

The system must include various safety devices such as
alarms and remotely operated tank outlet valves which can
be closed in the event of fire.

Part 2, ENGINE ROOM LAYOUT
ENGINE ROOM PLATFORM ONE

Starting Air Receiver
This is a kind of a storage vessel that resembles a bottle,
containing compressed air for starting the main propulsion
unit. Air is pressurised in air compressors and supplied to
the air receivers. There are always two separate air
receivers in the starting air system.

ME Emergency Control Station
This is designed to operate the main engine (ME) in the
event of automatic control system failure. Such a station can
be located either on the machine itself or close to it. It is
normally used in case of emergency.

Main Engine
The name Main Engine (ME) currently refers to the prime
source of power converting heat energy into mechanical
power needed mainly to rotate the propeller and,
consequently, to drive a ship.

Engine Room Platforms
Around the main engine, there are several decks in the form
of galleries to provide access to all machinery. The decks
are made of steel plates and gratings and must allow clear
observation of the spaces below and above.

Main Engine
This is a slow-speed, two-stroke, reversible engine
manufactured by MAN B&W (under licence from H.
Cegielski). The type is the 7S 60 MC-C series. The engine
drives a fixed pitch propeller.

Vacuum Priming Unit for Ballast Pumps
This device is designed to remove the air from the working
space of the ballast pumps in order to start their operation.

Starting Air Compressor

Compressed air has many uses on board a ship, ranging
from starting diesel engines to cleaning machinery during
maintenance procedures. The air can be compressed in a
multi-stage process.

Starting Air Compressors
The majority of engine room machinery must be doubled for
emergency backup.

ENGINE ROOM PLATFORM TWO

Fuel Oil Separator (guess task)

Auxiliary Generating Sets
Auxiliary gen sets are designed for continuous operation.
The gen sets consist of auxiliary engines connected to
generators in order to produce electricity on board. All the
sets are equipped with a complete instrument panel, alarm
sensors and shutdown equipment.

Fuel Oil Separator
Marine residual fuel oil is the residue remaining after all
lighter fractions have been extracted from the crude oil
during various processes at the oil refinery. It often contains
catalyst fines which are extremely hard and erosive and can
cause serious damage to the engine. The normal way of
removing catalyst fines and other contaminants from marine
diesel oil is by centrifugal separation.

Auxiliary Gen Sets (guess task)

Auxiliary Engines

Auxiliary engines, together with alternators, are mounted on
a common bedplate and are installed on shock absorbers.

Central Fresh Water Coolers
The fresh water is reused continuously for engine cooling.
The water circulates throughout the engine cooling spaces.
The water is then led to fresh water coolers, where its
temperature is reduced by sea (raw) water.

The hydrophore provides the non-stop supply of fresh water
under required pressure into the sanitary water system.

Working Air Compressor and Fresh Water Cooling Pumps
This device is designed to provide air at a specific pressure
to the automatic control system of the engine room.

Fresh Water Coolers (guess task)

Fresh Water Generator
This is also called an evaporator, as it changes sea water
into vapour. First, sea water enters a cylinder containing

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coils. Next, steam passing through the coils causes the
water to evaporate.
The water vapour is then condensed and used for various
applications.

Fresh Water Cooling Pumps (guess task)
Gen Sets Electric Generators

Exhaust Gas Collector
The Exhaust Gas Collector (or receiver) is an integral part of
the main engine. Gaseous products of the combustion
process are collected in it to avoid pressure differences
resulting from rapid exhaust gas emission. Exhaust gases
are the major source of waste heat and noxious emissions.

Spare Cylinder Cover
The cylinder cover, or cylinder head, is usually made of solid
steel with bored passages for cooling water, and the central
bore for the exhaust valve, and also separate bores for fuel
valves, the safety valve and the starting valve.

ME Cylinder Heads (guess task)

Exhaust Gas Boiler
Exhaust gas boilers on diesel-propelled ships generate
steam through the process of water evaporation, exploiting
the high temperature of exhaust gases. The boiler works as
the heat exchanger and raises steam temperature and
pressure in its own drum.

Oil-fired Boiler Burner
A boiler is a closed vessel for boiling water to create steam.
The oil-fired boiler is of the water tube (or "water in tube")
type. In a water tube boiler, water circulates through a series
of drums and small-diameter tubes, while hot gases pass
around them. The function of the burner is to provide the
fuel burning process inside the boiler automatically.

Fuel Block and Hotwell
The hotwell is a steel chamber which stores the condensed
exhaust steam from the oil-fired boiler in an open feed
system. The fuel block houses fuel pumps, filters, heaters,
viscometers and other equipment needed for proper fuel
preparation.

Exhaust Gas Boiler Water Circulation Pumps
The purposes of these pumps is to ensure the continuous
flow of water through the exhaust gas boiler. They are of the
centrifugal type.
Centrifugal pumps make use of kinetic energy to move the
liquid by means of an impeller and a circular pump casing.
The impeller produces the liquid velocity and the casing
forces it to discharge from the pump converting velocity to
pressure.

Oil-fired Boiler
Most oil-fired boilers are now supplied as as a set including
the oil burner, fuel pump, feed pumps and automatic
controls for the whole unit.

Cylinder Covers (guess task)

Main Switchboard
The Main Switchboard (MSB) ensures the non-stop
distribution of electricity all over the ship.

Telegraph
The telegraph is a hand-operated device located in the
control stations of both the engine room and the bridge. It
transmits changes in engine speed while

manoeuvring. Before START, the telegraph handle should
be moved to the position corresponding to the order from
the bridge.

Engine Control Room
Workstations with many computers, monitors and keyboards
are installed to enable the optimal control of the ship’s
systems and machinery. Correct maintenance of the
condition of machinery enables maintenance schedules to
be planned in order to avoid breakdowns.

Cylinder Head with Exhaust Valve
Combustion gases leave the engine through exhaust valves.
Each cylinder is equipped with an exhaust valve which is
mounted in a central bore in the cylinder cover. The valve
housing is held in place by means of four studs and nuts to
form a gas-tight seal.

THE ENGINE ROOM FLOOR

Stern Tube Sealing
This special type of sealing is arranged to prevent the entry
of sea water and also the loss of lubricating oil from the
stern bearing.

Shaft Line
The main propulsion shaft line consists of shafting sections
connected by means of bolted flange couplings and
supported by bearings that keep the shafting in the proper
alignment. When in service, the shafting can be checked for
static and dynamic alignment. The static check can be done
by clocks or strain gauges and the dynamic alignment by
measuring the amplitude of axial vibrations at various
speeds when the ship is underway.

Intermediate Shaft
The intermediate shaft has flanges at each end and is
supported by bearings. There may be one or more sections
of intermediate shafting between the crankshaft of the main
engine and the tailshaft (the propeller shaft), depending
upon the machinery space location.

Shaft Line Connecting Flanges
Flanges are usually circular metal plates with a ring of bolt
holes to couple them together.

Shaft Line Main Bearing
This bearing supports the intermediate shafting between the
tailshaft and the main engine. It is designed to provide
lubrication between the bearing itself and the rotating shaft.

Main Lubricating Oil Pumps
They deliver lubricating oil to the main engine in order to
minimise friction and wear between moving engine parts.
Pumps can raise liquids from a lower level to a higher one.

Shaft Line
All the shafting sections are manufactured from solid steel
with integral flanged couplings. The shafting sections are
joined by fitted bolts made of solid steel.

Bilge System Pump and Oily Water Separator
The bilge pump is usually of the piston type. A piston is
used to build up pressure in a cylindrical chamber to force
the liquid through the pump. Ships must have an emergency
bilge pump that can function properly in case of bilge space
flooding.

Lubricating Oil Filters
Lubricating oil filters, always working in pairs, are used to
remove the smallest particles of dirt from oil before it enters
the moving elements of the machinery.

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Bilge Piston Pump
The pump belongs to the group of displacement pumps
inside which the liquid is mechanically compressed by
decreasing the volume of its chamber. It is designed with a
metal piston to achieve the liquid compression.

Oily Water Separator
Oily water separators are used to prevent discharging oil
when ships pump out bilges outboard. Such units make use
of the gravity force system together with some multi-stage
filters.

Oily Water Separator
There is an automatically controlled valve which releases
the separated oil to a drain tank. The nearly oil-free water
leaves the separator. The water that still contains oil goes
through the separating process again.

Sewage Treatment Plant
International legislation bans the discharge of untreated
sewage outboard. Marine treatment plants can employ
either chemical or biological methods. The biological system
breaks down the sewage completely so the remaining
substance can be freely discharged into any waters.

Sewage Treatment Plant, Oily Water Separator, Piston Bilge
Pump (guess task)
Sea Chest (Kingston Filter)
A sea chest is a special built-in sea water filter located
below the waterline. The sea water that enters the ship is
filtered inside the sea chest. The sea water is used for
cooling and firefighting purposes.

Ballast Pumps
Ballast pumps are usually electric-driven units mounted
vertically. The liquid enters the centre of the rotating impeller
enclosed within a casing and flows radially out through the
vanes. The ballast system is to ensure that water can be
drawn from any tank or the sea and discharged to any tank
or the sea as required for trimming and heeling the ship.

A-frame of ME and Torsional Vibration Damper
The A-frame is usually mounted on the bedplate of a two-
stroke engine. It is a part of an engine construction in the
shape of the letter A. A torsional vibration damper is
designed to absorb, or dampen, torsional vibrations that are
always present during the engine operation.

Bilge/Fire Pumps and Sea Water Cooling Pumps
All the pumps produce a flow of fluid under pressure. The
piping systems are often interconnected and most pumps
installed appear in pairs. Pump failures can prove disastrous
in case of emergency on board.

ME Lubricating Oil Cooler
Coolers on board ships are heat exchangers where a hot
liquid is cooled by sea water. However, fresh water cooling
is sometimes used to avoid corrosion problems. The plate-
type cooler consists of a number of sealed titanium plates
screwed together into a frame. The plates are extensively
corrugated to improve the heat transfer process.

Ballast Pumps and Sea Chest (guess)

Main engine lub oil cooler (guess)

Lub Oil Filters and Separators
The centrifugal separator is used to separate oil and water,
or a liquid and solids in the contaminated oil. The separation
of impurities and water from oil is essential for good

lubrication. The removal of contaminants from lub oil
reduces engine wear and possible machinery breakdowns.

Lub Oil Duplex Filter
This is an assembly unit of two parallel filters with special
valving design for the selection of full flow through either of
the filters. Generally used in lubricating oil lines to allow for
changeover without the stopping the flow.

Lubricating Oil Separator
The use of a centrifuge speeds up the separation process. A
centrifuge separating two liquids is known as a "purifier". A
centrifuge separating small amounts of water and impurities
is known as "clarifier". As the device rotates at high speeds,
it should be perfectly balanced and all its parts handled with
special care.

ENGINE ROOM, PART 3

Interview with Peter Lund from Wärtsilä Land and Sea
Academy

Part 1
Well, I came originally from Australia. I’m an Australian
citizen, a permanent resident in Finland. I’ve been here for 7
years, living in Turku, and I work for Wärtsilä, or “Wartsila”
as they say in English because we say as it…as it is written.
And I’m involved in at the present time in the training
business. We have a global training infrastructure called
Wärtsilä Land and Sea Academy, and I work as a solutions
development manager, and have done for the last two
years.

The Land and Sea Academy is a Wärtsilä, it’s part of the
service business. Wärtsilä is mainly divided into 3 sectors or
business sectors which is Marine, Power and Service
business, and Training is part of the Service business.

The training…we, we have full scope or have developed into
providing a full scope of training needs for our customers,
which not only includes our product. It started off with the
training switch in mainly providing product training for
internally and for customers and then, because we have this
global infrastructure we have a global advantage over
individual training institutions which are resident in one
country.

Part 2
In the following audio clip Peter Lund talks first about his
least favourite tasks as an engineer and then about what he
finds is most important.

I guess it would probably be finding the tools and equipment
that had dropped down into the bilge. I’d say that would
probably be the worst.

Well, I think these days the regulations and the people
management, if you can do this properly, and allocation of
resources is probably the major thing. You can always, it’s
good to have technical knowledge on everything but
sometimes it’s very difficult because machinery changes so
much, electronics change so much and you can always, if
you need to know, you can always find this information, but
it’s very hard to, on the spur of the moment, find managing
skills and find knowledge to satisfy
regulatory bodies like survey authorities and everything so I
guess the administration is probably the Chief Engineer’s
biggest task now.

I would say, the major thing, it’s very good, the life at sea.
As far as growing the mind, there’s nothing like travel for
broadening the mind and I still believe this but in this day

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and age I’d say the biggest advice I could have to any
young person is to be aware.

Fuel Bacteria Results in Grounding

Narrative
When due for her annual overhaul, one of the Skye based
inter-island ferries Loch Striven was to be replaced by
another vessel from the Clyde. The two vessels met at Kyle
of Lochalsh, where the crews changed over. Apart from the
motorman who remained onboard, the delivery crew was
now manning the southbound ferry. The voyage south was
to be made in stages, dependent on weather conditions,
with overnight stops as required. The chargehand in
command was experienced and qualified, and had regularly
undertaken delivery voyages in this area.

The first leg of the voyage passed without any problem and
she spent the night in Oban. The forecast on the following
day was for wind strength 4 to 6 increasing to force 7 in the
evening. It was decided she could reach Campbeltown by
nightfall and before the weather deteriorated. Loch Striven
sailed from Oban at 0730 for the Clyde. By the time she
cleared the shelter of the Kintyre peninsula the wind had
increased to force 6. At1755, the forward main engine
stopped due to choked fuel filters. These were cleaned, the
engine restarted, and the vessel resumed her voyage. As
she rounded the Mull of Kintyre and turned north, the wind
increased further. While lining up the leading lights for entry
into Campbeltown Loch at 2110, the aft main engine
stopped. Soon afterwards she grounded on Macringan's
Point under the influence of beam seas and the wind. Again
the cause of the engine stoppage was found to be choked
fuel filters. These were cleaned and the engine restarted.
With both main engines now operating and the hull only
slightly damaged, the vessel came off the ground and made
her way safely into harbour under her own power where she
tied up at 2140.

The subsequent investigation found that the fuel tank was
contaminated with bacteria, which had formed black
deposits on the internal tank structure. The deposits had
broken away during the rough weather and had entered the
fuel systems. These built up in the fuel filters and eventually
led to fuel starvation. The frequency of choked filters had
been recorded while in service and the question of fuel tank
cleaning was to be investigated during the overhaul.

The owners later established that the "blocked fuel filter"
problem, although known to the motorman, had not been
identified on the handover notes. This potential problem was
not therefore known to the chargehand in command. The
choking of the fuel filters, although of the duplex type
allowing for quick changeover, only became known when
the main engine revolutions started to drop. On the
approach to Campbeltown, both motormen were in the
accommodation, and by the time they became aware that
there was a problem, the engine had stopped.

The Lessons
1. If fuel filters become blocked, find out why!
2. Make sure that whoever is in command is made aware of
the problem, the estimated time it should take to fix, and
whether it was an intermittent or regular feature.
3. If fuel starvation is a possibility, someone should be
closed up in the engine room while negotiating narrow or
dangerous waters.
4. When changing crews or personnel, the handover
procedure MUST include any known defects, details of all
known machinery problems, and an indication of difficulties
likely to be experienced.

Footnote
If bacterial contamination of fuel and fuel tanks is suspected,
take samples and have them tested as soon as possible.
Cleaning fuel storage tanks and using biocides will
overcome the problem and prevent a recurrence. It is a
good idea to eliminate all water from fuel tanks by regularly
draining them to remove condensation and any water
delivered with bunkers.

Source: Safety Digest – Lessons from Marine Accident
Reports 2/2000. Department of the Environment, Transport
and the Regions, the United Kingdom. Marine Accident
Investigation Branch.

A maintenance procedure

Injection Valve
The liquid fuel injection system e.g. of a diesel engine,
consists of injection pump, high pressure pipe and injection
valve. The injection valve injects fuel into the cylinder of the
engine. It is important that the distribution of the fuel spray is
as even as possible. Checking the distribution is a standard
maintenance procedure of an engine.

Checking the spray distribution
The symmetrical distribution of spray can be evaluated
when having the opening pressure adjusted to 50-100 bar.
The needle stroke using a hand test pump is close to
nominal at this low opening pressure.

ENGINE-ROOM FIRE ALONGSIDE OIL BERTH
Narrative
An oil tanker of 2,979 deadweight tonnes was using a cargo
pump to discharge ballast to shore facilities. The pump was
driven by an auxiliary engine located in the engine-room. A
connecting rod punctured the engine entablature which
caused a fire to start. As soon as the engine-room smoke
detection alarm was activated the general alarm was
sounded and the port emergency plan was initiated. The fire
was eventually extinguished by the shore fire brigade using
high expansion foam. There were no resultant injuries to
personnel.
Observations

1. The connecting rod of the auxiliary engine probably
became detached due to a fractured rocker arm, preventing
the opening of the exhaust valve, and subsequent
overloading on the respective piston.
2. The cause of the fire is deduced to have been an ignition
of crankcase oil vapour by the hot white metal of the bottom
end bearing.
3. Operation of the remote pull-wire arrangement failed to
initiate the gang release of the fixed CO2 fire extinguishing
system. A local attempt to release it was aborted when the
CO2 bottle room had to be evacuated due to leakage from a
joint on the pressure alarm sensor fitted to the gas manifold.
4. The minimal forward draught of the vessel prohibited an
intake of water from the sea to the emergency fire pump. An
alternative intake from the forepeak was unavailable
because the tank was empty.
5. The auxiliary engine could not be stopped because the
bridge remote stop arrangement, although installed, was not
connected. The fuel tank quick-closing valves were shut but,
because the fuel in the common fuel line to the multi-engine
installation was of sufficient capacity, the auxiliary engine
continued to run for a prolonged period.
6. The engine-room ventilation trunking had years of
accumulated oil internally and thick coats of paint externally
which contributed to the intensity of the fire. The engine-
room had been in a dirty condition.
7. A crew member had to be rescued from his cabin after
failing to respond to the sound of the general alarm. A

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CARGO SPACE

B0601
Cargo space, as the name implies, is the space available for
cargo to be carried on board different types of ship. It can be
expressed as the grain capacity or bale capacity of the ship
and can be found in the holds, in the ‘tween decks, in the
tanks and deep tanks, in refrigerated compartments and
cooling chambers and in case of certain cargoes such as
timber or cargoes carried in containers, even on deck.

Bale capacity is the cubic capacity of any space available
for cargo such as bales of wool measured from the ceiling of
the hold to the underside of the deck beams (the depth),
between the inside of the cargo battens (the breadth) and
between the inside of the bulkheads or sparring where fitted
(the length). It is measured in cubic metres or cubic feet.

Grain capacity is the cubic capacity of any space available
for cargo such as grain which fills the hold entirely. It is the
total capacity in the hold with an allowance for the volume
occupied by frames and beams. It is measured in cubic
metres or cubic feet. It is greater than the bale capacity of
the vessel.
B0602
Broken stowage is the space between packages not taken
up by the cargo, the space which remains unfilled for to a
variety of reasons such as the shape of the hold, the type of
cargo, special kinds of packing, irregularly-sized items of
machinery etc. It is expressed as percentage which is
usually greater when large cases have to be stowed in the
hold.
Cargo space on board container vessels is usually
measured and expressed in TEU which stands for Twenty-
Foot Equivalent Unit.
Cargo space on board Ro-Ro ships is expressed in the
length of lanes and is measured in metres. It can also be
expressed as bale capacity and measured in cubic metres
or cubic feet.
Cargo space on board Con-Ro vessels is expressed both in
TEU for the number of containers the vessel can carry and

in the number of cars it can take on car decks so the length
of lanes is also given.

Cargo space can be filled with different types of cargo. It
can usually be divided into space for general cargo which is
packed and bulk cargo, both liquid and dry, which is loose.
Different liquids and chemicals can evaporate from their
receptacles and tanks and in such cases the unfilled space
is called ullage.
B0603
General cargo can be divided into containersed cargo, non-
containerised cargo and refrigerated cargo. General cargo
may cause many stowage problems because the goods can
be packed in different cases, bags, boxes, bundles, crates
and drums and some pieces of machinery or heavy lifts can
be loaded without any packaging at all. In such cases the
broken stowage is very high.

Containerised cargo prevails nowadays and causes least
problems in sea transport because containers are of
standard shape and dimensions. Perishable cargo is loaded
into refrigerated containers or refrigerated holds and carried
in reefer ships, which are specially built for that purpose.
Perishable cargo includes meat, fish , dairy produce and
fruit. Cars can be carried on board the PCC which stands for
Pure Car Carriers and cargo space in those ships is
expressed in the length of lanes and the number of cars
they can carry.
B0604
Bulk cargo can be divided into liquid cargo and dry cargo.
Liquid cargo such as crude oil and its products can be
carried in tankers. Dry bulk cargo is usually carried by
bulkers or bulk cargo vessels. OBO vessels carry both types
of bulk cargo. OBO stands for Oil/Bulk/Ore.
B0605
LPG and LNG vessels carry liquefied petroleum gas and
liquefied natural gas in specially constructed steel spheres
under pressure and at low temperatures. Chemicals such as
molten sulphur are carried in special tanks by chemical
carriers.

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PORT STATE CONTROL

Port State Control is based on the Paris Memorandum of
Understanding (Paris MOU). It consists of 22 participating
Maritime Administrations and covers the waters of the
European coastal States and the North Atlantic basin from
North America to Europe. Other agreements have also been
signed in different regions of the world e.g. the Tokyo,
Caribbean, Viña del Mar, Black Sea and Abudja
Memoranda. Some countries such as Canada and the
Russian Federation are party to more than one agreement.

The Paris Memorandum aims to eliminate the operation of
sub-standard ships through a harmonised system of Port
State Control. Ships can expect PSC boarding in almost
every country. It is important that ship’s officers and crew
members understand the reasons for PSC and prepare for
these inspections.

The inspections take place on board foreign ships in the
Paris MOU ports, ensuring that these ships meet
international safety, security and environmental standards,
and that crew members have adequate living and working
conditions.
It is clearly understood that the responsibility for ensuring
that ships comply with the provisions of the relevant
instruments rests upon the owners, masters and the flag
states.

Unfortunately, certain flag states, for various reasons, fail to
fulfill their commitments contained in internationally agreed
legal instruments and as a result some ships sail the seas
and oceans in an unsafe condition, threatening the lives of
all those on board as well as the marine environment.

The Port State control is carried out by properly qualified
Port State Control Officers, acting under the responsibility of
the maritime authority.
A Port State Control visit on board will normally start with
verification of certificates and documents such as the
International Tonnage Certificate, Passenger Ship Safety
Certificate, Cargo Ship Safety Certificate, Dangerous Goods
List or Manifest, Oil Record Book, Cargo Record Book
Minimum Safe Manning Document and other certificates.

Documentation of crew members has to comply with
international and flag state standards. When serious
deficiencies are found the ship should be detained. The
captain is instructed to rectify the deficiencies before
departure. When the ship is not complying with the
regulations, a more detailed inspection is carried out.

Flag States which are not a party to conventions shall
receive no more favourable treatment. Every year the Paris
Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control
Committee publishes Black and Grey and White lists of
vessels which have undergone the inspections. Port State
Control is an international initiative and requires both
regional and international co-operation of all parties
involved.

Mandatory Expanded Inspections are compulsory and are
held on board at intervals of no more than 12 months on
board
- oil tankers with a Gross Tonnage of more than 3000 metric
tonnes and older than 15 years of age
- bulk carriers older than 12 years of age
- passenger ships older than 15 years of age
- gas and chemical tankers older than 10 years of age

Mandatory Inspections are held on board any ship not
subject to an Expanded Inspection provided that a period of

at least one month has elapsed since the last inspection
carried out in the Paris MOU region.

Overriding Priority Inspections are held on board:
- ships reported by pilots or port authorities as presenting a
danger to the safety or the environment
- ships carrying dangerous or polluting goods, which have
failed to report all relevant information to the competent
authorities
- ships which have been the subject of a report or
notification by another authority
- ships which have been the subject of a report or complaint
by the master, a crew member or any person or
organization with a legitimate interest in the safe operation
of the vessel
- ships which have been involved in a collision, grounding or
stranding on their way to the port - ships accused of an
alleged violation of the provisions on discharge of harmful
substances
- ships which have been handled in an erratic and unsafe
manner
- ships which have been suspended or withdrawn from their
class for safety reasons in the course of preceding 6 months

Initial and More detailed Inspections are held on board:
- vessels visiting the region for the first time or after an
absence of more than 12 months
- other ships not inspected within the previous 6 months
- ships flying the flag of a state appearing in the black list
- ships with outstanding deficiencies
- ships which have been detained in the previous port
- ships older than 13 years of age

All inspections start with a check of the statutory certificates
such as the International Tonnage Certificate, Passenger
Ship Safety Certificate, Cargo Ship Safety Certificate,
Dangerous goods special list or manifest or detailed
stowage plan, Oil Record Book, Cargo Record Book,
Minimum Safe Manning Document and other documents.

The initial examination is a general inspection which is a
tour of the ship in order to judge her overall condition.

The more detailed inspection is carried out if the initial
inspection gives grounds for believing that the condition of
the vessel, its equipment or crew do not correspond to the
particulars contained in the certificates. This inspection will
include operational drills such as abandon ship drill, testing
of the emergency fire pump, testing emergency lighting etc.

General Ship’s Inspections include:
- start of emergency generator
- inspection of emergency lighting
- operation of emergency fire pumps plus pump with two fire
hoses connected to the main line
- operation of bilge pumps
- closing of watertight door
- lowering the lifeboat onto the water
- test of emergency stop for boilers, ventilation and fuel
pumps
- testing of steering gear including auxiliary steering gear
- inspection of emergency source of power for radio
installation
- inspection and test of oily water separator

Oil tankers:
- examination of fixed deck foam system
- examination of fire-fighting equipment in general
- inspection of fire dampers to engine room, pump room and
accommodation

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VESSEL TRAFFIC SERVICES (VTS)

Welcome to study Maritime English: Vessel Traffic Services.
This module is divided into two parts. The first one is called
VTS in theory. It explains the statutory background of
Vessel Traffic Services. In this part the exercises
concentrate on words and phrases which are typical of
statutory texts. The other part is called VTS in practice. It
consists of dialogues and exercises based on these
dialogues.

It must be noted that the dialogues are imaginary although
real ship names and photos are used in the exercises. The
traffic situations described in the dialogues have been
created for the purposes of the MarEng Project.

VTS, Text 1
What are vessel traffic services?
Growth in international commerce and tourism as well as
technical development has resulted in high traffic density in
many sea areas. Moreover, vessels are bigger and faster.
The approaches to pilot boarding stations, ports and river
waterways are all areas of potential traffic congestion and
complexity. To reduce the risk of collision in busy port
waters as well as in more open coastal waterways vessel
traffic services (VTS) have been implemented. Vessel traffic
services are shore-side information processing systems
which range from the provision of simple information
messages to ships, to extensive management of traffic
within a port or waterway. Information messages can
include position of other traffic, defects in aids to navigation
or meteorological hazard warnings.

As stated in the IMO Resolution A.857(20), the efficiency of
a VTS will depend on the reliability and continuity of
communications and on the ability to provide good and
unambiguous information. Furthermore, the quality of
accident-prevention measures will depend on the system’s
capability of detecting a developing dangerous situation and
on the ability to give timely warning of such dangers.

This text has been adapted from the following sources:
IMO Assembly Resolution A.857(20) paragraph 2.1.3
IMO Internet page: www.imo.org/Safety

VTS, Text 2
What is the purpose of vessel traffic services?
As stated in IMO Resolution A.857(20) the purpose of
vessel traffic services is threefold: firstly, to improve the
safety and efficiency of vessel traffic, secondly, to improve
the safety of life at sea and, thirdly, to protect the marine
environment and the adjacent shore area, worksites and
offshore installations from possible adverse effects of
maritime traffic. For example, in the event of pollution
resulting from a collision or grounding, VTS helps to limit the
effects by working with other shore-based agencies and
directing other vessels to avoid the area. Also, a VTS has a
valuable role in helping to identify the source of the
pollution.

Vessel traffic services apply to all merchant and government
vessels navigating in an area where these services are
provided. Depending upon governing rules and regulations,
participation in a VTS may be mandatory or voluntary.
Participation by leisure craft is voluntary, but they, too,
should follow the instructions given by the VTS Centre.

One important feature in the legal position of the VTS is the
possibility of giving instructions to vessels when the
provision of information has not lead to the desired result.
This might happen if a vessel is not acting in accordance
with the agreed procedures in an area covered by a VTS.

This text has been adapted from the following sources:
IMO Assembly Resolution A.857(20) paragraph 2.1.1
VTS Master’s Guide. Gulf of Finland. Finnish Maritime
Administration, Helsinki. Available at: http://www.fma.fi

VTS, Text 3
What are the services provided?
The benefits of implementing a VTS are summarised in IMO
Resolution A.857(20). VTS allows identification and
monitoring of vessels, strategic planning of vessel
movements and provision of navigational information and
assistance. It can also assist in prevention of pollution and
co-ordination of pollution response.

IMO Resolution A.857(20) paragraph 2.1.2 says that “a
clear distinction may need to be made between a Port and
Harbour VTS and a Coastal VTS. A Port VTS is mainly
concerned with vessel traffic to and from a port or harbour
or harbours, while a Coastal VTS is mainly concerned with
vessel traffic passing through the area. A VTS could also be
a combination of both types. The type and level of service or
services rendered could differ between both types of VTS; in
a Port or Harbour VTS a navigational assistance service
and/or a traffic organi[s]ation service is usually provided for,
while in a Coastal VTS usually only an information service is
rendered.”

Source: IMO Assembly Resolution A.857(20) paragraph
2.1.2

VTS, Text 4
How do vessel traffic services function?
The main tool of a VTS operator is a traffic image. It is a
comprehensive overview of the traffic in the area combined
with all traffic influencing factors. Technically, a traffic image
is a combination of information from different sources. First,
the ships’ movements are monitored by radar. Then, the
computer combines the radar image with an electronic
navigational chart which displays the fairway, its aids to
navigation and the depth information. The VTS operators
monitor vessel traffic on screens where ships’ radar echoes
are identified and put under surveillance. The operators can
monitor ships’ movements online, study their previous
passage and predict their future path on the basis of the
course and speed they hold.

A VTS operator has specialised knowledge of the waterway
and has, therefore, responsibility for managing the traffic in
the area. The master of a vessel has knowledge of the
behaviour of the vessel. Therefore, responsibility for safe
navigation lies with the ship’s master at all times. Neither a
VTS passage plan, nor requested or agreed changes to the
passage plan, can supersede the decisions of the master
concerning the actual navigation and manoeuvring of the
vessel. Any instruction from a VTS to a vessel should be
“result oriented” only, leaving the details of execution to the
master, officer of the watch or pilot on board the vessel.

VTS, text 5
Automatic Identification System (AIS)
The implementation of the Automatic Identification System
(AIS) has considerably enhanced safety at sea. AIS is an
aid to monitoring vessel traffic. The system makes it
possible to get information about ships and their movements
at intervals of a few seconds. Today, all ships of 300 gross
tonnage and upwards are required to be fitted with
shipborne automatic identification systems. This
requirement is met by installing a shipborne VHF transceiver
which operates globally on two dedicated VHF channels.
The shipborne AIS continuously and automatically transmits

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fixed, dynamic and voyage-related information and receives
corresponding information from other ships. AIS can provide
the following information for vessels within the radio range
and for automatic display in the VTS Centre:
1) Position
2) Call sign and Name
3) IMO and MMSI number
4) Type of ship
5) Length and beam
6) Navigational status (Underway, at anchor, etc.)
7) Speed over ground (SOG)
8) Course over ground (COG)
9) Heading
10) Rate of turn (ROT)

The available voyage related information includes:
1) Type of cargo
2) Ship’s draught
3) Destination
4) Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA)

There is also a capability for shore to ship, ship to shore and
inter-ship transmission of text messages. For VTS, the
Automatic Identification System substantially improves
monitoring of vessel traffic compared with traditional radar
systems. All transponder targets within VHF radio range are
automatically displayed and identified on digital charts. The
influence of bad weather and target swapping experienced
in radar echoes does not exist with the AIS technology.

Source: Automatic Identication System (AIS). Available at
the Finnish Maritime Administration web-page: fi
http://www.fma.fi/e/functions/trafficmanagement

VTS, Text 6
TRAFFIC REPORT
According to IMO Resolution A.857(20) vessels should
make all required reports, including reporting of deficiencies,
prior to entering a VTS area. The VTS Authority operating
the VTS is responsible for providing mariners with
information about the times and geographical positions for
submitting reports, radio frequencies to be used for
reporting and the form and content of the reports.

Vessels heading for the ports of Kotka, Hamina or Loviisa in
the eastern Gulf of Finland must give a traffic report to the
Kotka VTS Centre via VHF when entering the Kotka VTS
area. This applies to vessels with length of over 24 metres.
When a ship contacts the VTS Centre, it should give its
name, location, the planned route and planned anchoring
(who, where, destination). The VTS Centre will confirm that
it has received the report and will provide the vessel with the
necessary information and instructions.

A vessel must also give a traffic report after anchoring or
after it has been made fast to the quay. A vessel
manoeuvring irregularly must always give a traffic report. A
report must also be given whenever circumstances so
require.

This text has been adapted from the following sources:
IMO Resolution A.857(20) paragraph 2.6.3
VTS Master’s Guide, Gulf of Finland. Finnish Maritime
Administration, Helsinki. Pages 24–25. Available at:
http://www.fma.fi

VTS, Text 7
Information Service

information service

A service of VTS to ensure that essential information
becomes available in time for on-board navigational
decision-making (IMO Res. A.857(20) paragraph 1.1.9.1)

According to the definition given in IMO Resolution
A.857(20) the aim of information service is to ensure that
essential information becomes available in time for on-board
navigational decision-making. The VTS Centre receives and
provides information about conditions and events important
to shipping and safety at sea. Priority is given to information
that is of immediate concern to the vessels in the area. Also
vessels in the VTS area are obliged to report to the VTS
Centre any observations that could affect safety at sea.

The information service is provided by broadcasting
information at fixed times and intervals or when deemed
necessary by the VTS centre. Information can also be given
to a particular vessel in conjunction with the vessel’s
position report, on request or whenever circumstances so
require. Information may include, for example, reports on
the position, identity and intentions of other traffic, waterway
conditions, weather, hazards, or any other factors that may
influence the vessel’s transit.

This text has been adapted from the following sources:
IMO Assembly Resolution A.857(20) paragraph 1.1.9.1
IMO Assembly Resolution A.857(20) paragraph 2.3.1
VTS Master’s Guide, Gulf of Finland. Finnish Maritime
Administration, Helsinki. Page 21, 25.

VTS, Text 8
Navigational Assistance Service

navigational assistance service
a service of VTS to assist on-board navigational decision-
making and to monitor its effects (IMO Res. A.857(20)
paragraph 1.1.9.2)

According to the IMO Resolution A.857(20) the aim of
navigational assistance service is to assist on-board
navigational decision-making and to monitor its effects. This
service is provided only on specified occasions and under
clearly defined circumstances. The navigational assistance
service is especially important in difficult navigational or
meteorological circumstances or in case of defects or
deficiencies. This service is normally rendered at the
request of a vessel or when deemed necessary by the VTS
Centre. When navigational assistance service is provided
the beginning and end of navigational assistance should be
clearly stated and acknowledged.

Not all VTS centres, though, are authorised to provide
navigational assistance service. For example, Helsinki VTS
or Kotka VTS do not provide vessels with any direct
navigational instructions.

This text has been adapted from the following sources:
IMO Resolution A.857(20) paragraph 1.1.9.2
IMO Resolution A.857(20) paragraph 2.3.2

VTS, Text 9
Traffic Organisation Service

traffic organisation service
a service of VTS to prevent the development of dangerous
maritime traffic situations and to provide for the safe and
efficient movement of vessel traffic within the VTS Area
(IMO Res. A.857(20) paragraph 1.1.9.3)

According to the IMO Resolution A.857(20) the aim of traffic
organisation service is to prevent the development of
dangerous maritime traffic situations and to provide for the

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safe and efficient movement of vessel traffic within the VTS
area. The traffic organization service concerns the
operational management of traffic and the forward planning
of vessel movements to prevent congestion and dangerous
situations. Operational management of traffic includes
allocation of space, mandatory reporting of movements in
the VTS area, routes to be followed, speed limits to be
observed or other appropriate measures which are
considered necessary by the VTS authority. The service is
particularly relevant in times of high traffic density or when
the movement of special transport may affect the flow of
other traffic.

When necessary VTS gives instructions on the speed of
vessels, prohibits vessels from overtaking other ships in the
VTS area or specifies the right-of-way in narrow channels.
The service may also include establishing and operating a
system of traffic clearances or VTS sailing plans or both. A
sailing plan is a mutually agreed plan between a VTS
Authority and the master of a vessel and concerns the
movement of the vessel in a VTS area.

This text has been adapted from the following sources:
IMO Resolution A.857(20) paragraph 1.1.9.3
IMO Resolution A.857(20) paragraph 2.3.3
VTS Master’s Guide, Gulf of Finland. Finnish Maritime
Administration, Helsinki. Pages 21–22, 25.

VTS, Dialogue 1
Entering report

Situation description:
The M/S Marina is entering the Kotka VTS area and gives a
traffic report on VHF channel 67. The Kotka VTS centre
confirms that it has received the report and provides the M/S
Marina with necessary information and instructions.

B0901

•

Ship: Kotka VTS, this is Marina.

•

VTS: Marina, Kotka VTS.

•

Ship: We are passing the reporting point number

10. My ETA at pilot station is 1300 hours local time.

•

VTS: Marina, Kotka VTS. You are in the Kotka VTS

area. Proceed to Orrengrund Pilot Station.
Information: Rig the pilot ladder on starboard side,
one metre above the water. Make a boarding
speed of six knots.

•

Ship: Pilot ladder starboard side, one metre above

the water. Boarding speed six knots. Is pilot ready
for me?

•

VTS: Yes, pilot on arrival. Traffic information: One

outbound vessel, name Annegrecht, now passing
Tainio light.

•

Ship: Okay, traffic information received.

•

VTS: Information: There are cable operations in

position 277 degrees from the southern point of
Kaunissaari island distance 4 miles. Wide berth
requested.

•

Ship: Cable operations in vicinity of Kaunissaari.

Wide berth requested. Well received.

VTS, Dialogue 2
Information Service

Situation description:
The M/S Marina has entered the Kotka VTS area and is
heading for Kotka, the port of destination. The Kotka VTS
centre notices that Marina is proceeding to deep water
fairway pilot boarding position which is west of Kotka
lighthouse. However, deep water pilot boarding position is
for vessels with the draught of 10 metres or more. Marina’s
present draught is 7.5 metres. The Kotka VTS centre

informs Marina that the pilot is boarding at the Orrengrund
pilot boarding position, 1.5 SSW of Orrengrund. Now Marina
is proceeding towards Tainio racon.

•

VTS: Marina, Kotka VTS.

•

Ship: Kotka VTS, Marina.

•

VTS: Marina, Kotka VTS. Information: The fairway

is on the west side of Tainio racon.

•

Ship: Yes. I will alter course to port.

•

The ship is proceeding towards Tainio racon.

•

VTS: Marina, Kotka VTS. Warning: You are running

into danger. The fairway is on the west side of
Tainio racon.

•

Ship: Okay, I will leave it on my starboard side.

•

VTS: Information: One outbound vessel, name

Finnmill, passing Orrengrund after ten minutes.

•

Ship: Understood, Finnmill is coming out. I can see

her on my radar screen.

•

VTS: Information: There is a yacht race on the west

side of Kotka lighthouse. The yachts are heading
north-west.

•

Ship: Well understood.

VTS, Dialogue 3
Navigational Assistance Service

•

Situation description:

•

The M/S MSC Marianna is in the Hightower VTS

area. Suddenly the mate notices that only one
radar is working. Visibility is 500 metres. He
decides to request navigational assistance. The
Hightower VTS starts navigational assistance and
informs other vessels in the area.

•

Ship: Hightower VTS, this is MSC Marianna.

•

VTS: MSC Marianna, Hightower VTS.

•

Ship: Information: We have problems with

electricity on the bridge. Only one radar is working.
I require navigational assistance.

•

VTS: Understood. You have problems with

electricity. Question: What is your position?

•

Ship: Answer: My position is bearing 035 degrees,

distance 5.5 miles from Landfall lighthouse.

•

VTS: Bearing 035 degrees, distance 5.5 miles from

Landfall lighthouse. I have located you on my radar
screen. All information is based on VTS equipment.
Stand by on channel 10. If you do not hear from
me in one minute time, navigational assistance is
ended. In that case go back to channel 71 and call
Hightower VTS. Navigational assistance starts at
0920 local time.

•

Ship: Okay. Navigational assistance is starting and

is provided on channel 10. If I do not hear from you
at one minute intervals, navigational assistance is
ended and I will call Hightower VTS on channel 71.

•

VTS: All ships, Hightower VTS. Traffic information:

Container vessel MSC Marianna, just passed buoy
number four, is receiving navigational assistance
on channel 10 and is not monitoring any other VTS
working channel.

•

…

•

VTS: You are on the centre of the fairway,

tendency to north. Bearing to the next buoy is 120
degrees, distance 2.2 miles.

•

Ship: Thank you. Information: My next waypoint is

in position 240 degrees and 0.2 miles from buoy
number six. After that I will commence the turn to
the next course which is 090.

•

VTS: Next waypoint in position 240 degrees and

0.2 miles from buoy number six. Understood.

•

…

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•

VTS: You are on the northern buoy-line of the

fairway, tendency to north. Bearing to the next
waypoint is 140 degrees, distance 1.8 miles.

•

Ship: Understood. I am on the northern buoy-line.

Bearing to the next waypoint 140 degrees. I will
alter my course to south.

•

…

•

Ship: I am passing buoy number two and my

navigational equipment is working now. I no longer
require navigational assistance. Thank you.

•

VTS: MSC Marianna, Hightower VTS. Information

received. Navigational assistance ends at 0945
local time.

VTS, Dialogue 4
Traffic Organisation Service

In the Helsinki or Kotka VTS area a vessel has to obtain
permission from the VTS Centre to depart not more than
five minutes before casting off from the quay or leaving the
anchorage and must report its planned route. After checking
the traffic situation, the VTS Centre will notify the vessel of
other ships in the area and, if necessary, will specify the
order of departure. A ship must notify the VTS Centre of any
inability to keep to the planned departure time. If necessary,
the VTS Centre will recommend an alternative route to the
vessel.

Situation description:
The following happens in the Kotka VTS area. The M/S
Janra gives a traffic report stating that she has left Halla lo-
lo berth bound for Orrengrund pilot station and will be in the
Strait of Ruotsinsalmi after 10 minutes. The M/S Greta is
leaving Sunila quay bound for Halla via the Strait of
Ruotsinsalmi.

•

Ship: Kotka VTS this is Janra.

•

VTS: Janra, Kotka VTS.

•

Ship: Information: I am ready to depart from Halla

and I am bound for Orrengrund.

•

VTS: Traffic clearance. Janra has permission to

depart from Halla to Orrengrund at 0900 local time.

•

Ship: We have permission to depart.

•

VTS: Traffic information: One outbound vessel

Ladoga-53 has just passed buoy number 2 and
tanker Berg is anchored in position one mile south
from Vehkaluoto.

•

Ship: Okay, thank you for your information. I can

see Ladoga-53.

•

Ship: Kotka VTS, Janra. We have 10 minutes to

the Strait of Ruotsinsalmi.

•

VTS: Janra, Kotka VTS. You have 10 minutes to

the Strait of Ruotsinsalmi. There is no other
reported traffic in the strait.

•

Ship: Well received.

•

Ship: Kotka VTS, this is Greta. I request clearance

to depart from Sunila bound for Halla. I am just
shifting berth.

•

VTS: Greta, Kotka VTS. Negative. Do not proceed.

Traffic information: Container vessel Janra has two
minutes to the Strait of Ruotsinsalmi. I will contact
you when she has passed the strait and the fairway
is free.

•

Ship: Well received. No permission to depart. I will

remain alongside.

VTS, Dialogue 5
Engine problem

B0902

•

Ship: Kotka VTS, this is Marina.

•

VTS: Marina, Kotka VTS.

•

Ship: Kotka VTS, Marina. We have engine

problems and I am manoeuvring with difficulty.

•

VTS: Marina, Kotka VTS. Do you need assistance?

•

Ship: Negative, no assistance needed.

•

VTS: Understood. Keep me updated about your

situation.

•

Ship: Kotka VTS, this is Nordic Star.

•

VTS: Nordic Star, Kotka VTS.

•

Ship: Intention: Nordic Star is ready to depart from

berth number C5 to sea. Can I have clearance
now?

•

VTS: Negative. Do not proceed. Traffic information:

Tanker Paula is just departing from oil terminal.
Call VTS again after Paula has passed you.

•

Ship: Well understood. We do not have permission

to depart. We will stay alongside. I will call you
again when tanker Paula has passed me.

•

VTS: Friedrich Russ, Kotka VTS.

•

Ship: Kotka VTS, this is Friedrich Russ.

•

VTS: Information: Outbound vessel Marina in the

vicinity of buoy number 10 has engine problems
and she is manoeuvring with difficulty. Advice:
Keep minimum passing distance of 5 cables when
passing her.

•

Ship: Well understood. I will keep clear of Marina.

•

B0903

•

Ship: Kotka VTS, Marina.

•

VTS: Marina, Kotka VTS.

•

Ship: My engines are working now and I can make

a speed of 5 knots. I am still manoeuvring with
difficulty.

•

VTS: Understood. Traffic information: Outbound

vessel Friedrich Russ has just passed buoy
number 8.

•

Ship: Friedrich Russ has passed buoy number 8

outbound. Okay. I will keep to the east side of the
fairway.

•

VTS: Friedrich Russ, Kotka VTS.

•

Ship: Kotka VTS, Friedrich Russ. I heard that

Marina is keeping to the east side of the fairway. I
am passing Marina on her west side maintaining
the minimum passing distance of 5 cables.

•

VTS: Friedrich Russ, Kotka VTS. Thank you.

•

Ship: Kotka VTS, Marina.

•

VTS: Marina, Kotka VTS.

•

Ship: I still have problems with engines. Question:

Where can I anchor?

•

VTS: Question: What is your maximum draught?

•

Ship: Answer: My maximum draught is 6.5 metres.

•

VTS: Information: You must anchor in position 1.5

miles south from Tainio racon.

•

Ship: Okay, I will anchor at given position.

•

VTS: Call Kotka VTS after you have anchored.

•

Ship: Okay, I will call Kotka VTS after I have

anchored.

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ICE NAVIGATION

Welcome to study Maritime English: Ice Navigation. This
module is divided into two parts. The first one is called Ice
navigation in theory. It explains the main aspects of ice
navigation in short texts based on research reports. In this
part the exercises mainly test comprehension of the texts.
The other part is called Ice navigation inpractice. It consists
of dialogues and exercises on these dialogues.

It must be noted that the dialogues are imaginary although
real ship names and photos are used in the exercises. The
traffic situations described in the dialogues have been
created for the purposes of the MarEng Project.

Ice navigation, Unit 1
The Baltic Sea freezes annually
The two most heavily marine operated areas in the world
where seasonal sea ice plays an important role in navigation
are the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada and the Baltic Sea in
Europe. In the Baltic Sea approximately 40 percent of the
total amount of cargo turnover, about 700 million tons,
occurs during winter months. The Baltic Sea freezes
annually and in some parts the ice season lasts up to 7
months, from November to May. For example, in the Gulf of
Finland the average length of the ice season is 120 days
outside St. Petersburg, and 30 days at the entrance of the
gulf.

The ice conditions are mostly affected by two factors: the
number of sub-zero days (frost sum) and the prevailing
winds. The sum of sub-zero degree-days controls the ice
growth and the amount of ice. The prevailing winds control
the drifting and ridging of an ice field.

Forming of an ice cover
An ice cover starts to form on water when the surface
temperature reaches freezing point. Fresh water freezes at
0°C and in sea water the freezing point decreases w ith
increasing salinity. Thus freezing point in ocean water is
about -1.8°C, but in the brackish water of the Balti c Sea it is
about -0.4°C.

In the Gulf of Finland ice thickness is greatest in the eastern
parts of the gulf and is about 50 cm in an average winter.
The biggest obstacles to winter navigation are ridges which
are normally thicker than the level ice and are difficult to
penetrate. Channels with thick side ridges and thick brash
ice in the middle are formed when the ice cover in the
fairway is repeatedly broken and refrozen. The side ridges
make passing of other vessels very difficult. The keel
heights of the ridges are normally a lot bigger than the sail
heights. The side ridges may grow several metres thick and
the brash ice layer in between may become up to one meter
thick. Ridges also form when winds push ice together.

Why are ice classes needed?
The Ship Classification Societies’ “ice class” has a
fundamental basis on the safety of the ship hull and the
essential propulsion machinery. The class defines sufficient
installed power for safe operation in ice covered waters. The
classification also defines certain hull structure against
certain level ice, which in the Baltic Sea conditions is
defined using the first-year ice definition. The classification
also defines the requirements for the propeller shaft as
minimum power for maintaining ship speed in a re-frozen
(covered by e.g. brash ice) fairway navigation channel.

When the ice conditions become difficult, traffic restrictions
are imposed. The restrictions pertain to the availability of
icebreaker assistance. Some of the restrictions are about
safety independent of assistance standards; some are

caused by the availability of icebreaker services. The traffic
restrictions are based on Ice Class Rules.

In the Baltic Sea area ice conditions are monitored on a
daily basis. The Finnish Ice Service of the Institute of Marine
Research issues ice charts and ice reports and produces ice
drift forecasts. The daily ice chart and ice report include a
description of current ice conditions and information about
the icebreakers’ operational areas.

Ice navigation, Unit 2
Captain’s checklist before entering ice-covered waters

B1001
It is always important to plan the voyage carefully for the
safety and efficiency of navigation. Preplanning is especially
important in winter time. The following checklist helps you to
prepare properly for the voyage through ice-covered waters:

1. Start listening to the daily ice reports well in advance,
and, if possible, order an ice chart.
2. Check that your VHF radio is operative, and find out the
channel used by the icebreaker operating in the area.
3. Drain all water from the pipes on deck and empty
containers of any liquids in case there is a danger of
freezing.
4. Pump out all water from ballast tanks above the water-
line if they are filled to the top in order to avoid freezing.
B1002
5. Protect the anchor windlass and the mooring hawser
reels with a suitable tarpaulin before entering freezing
conditions.
6. Keep the pilot ladder in a sheltered place so that it is not
covered by ice when needed.
7. Test the searchlights.
8. Move the anchors astern or place them onto deck so that
they may not come into contact with the icebreaker’s towing
notch. This has to be done in advance to prevent delays in
assistance.
9. Check that the propeller and the rudder blade are deep
enough below the waterline to ensure efficient operations in
ice and to avoid air leaks to the propeller or the rudder. If air
is drawn either to the propeller or the rudder their efficiency
will suffer considerably. Also, if the rudder and the propeller
are too close to the waterline they will be much more
vulnerable in icy conditions.
10. Check that main engine cooling water is available.
This text has been adapted from the following sources:

Ice navigation, Unit 3
Instructions to be followed in ice infested areas

- Avoid splitting thick and hard larger floes if you can go
around them.
- Work with the ice and not against it.
- Respect the ice but do not be afraid of it.
- Do not rush - think first.
- Stay in open water within the natural leads and try to find
the route of least resistance.
- Keep away from ridged ice.
- Keep the ship moving however slowly.
- Reverse the engine wisely and always set the rudder
amidships when reversing.

Ice navigation, Unit 4
Convoy

When a vessel proceeds in a convoy, a careful watch shall
be kept for signals coming from the icebreaker or another
vessel in the convoy. During hours of darkness, icebreakers
use a fixed blue all-around light at the top of the mast. If the

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icebreaker stops or slows speed unexpectedly, two rotating
red warning lights, installed one upon the other, are lit. The
master of the vessel assisted shall take all possible
measures to stop his vessel as quickly as possible.

A vessel in convoy shall inform the icebreaker without delay
if she stops or slows her speed substantially. If the vessel
stops due to the ice condition, the searchlight must be
switched off for as long as the vessel remains stationary.

Ice navigation, Unit 5
Towing

Notch towing
In difficult ice conditions, towing may be necessary. Three
different towing methods are in use. Firstly, the vessel
assisted by an icebreaker may be attached to the towing
notch. This method called notch towing is the one normally
used. The vessel’s bow is brought into the towing notch of
the icebreaker. The icebreaker hands over two steel-ropes
which are fastened to the merchant vessel’s bitts. (The bitts
have been designed to withstand the stresses of towing.)

When notch towing is applied the hull of the towed vessel is
acting as an active rudder of the icebreaker. When
proceeding straight ahead the vessel should keep her masts
in line with the icebreaker’s masts.

When changing course, the helm has to be turned in a
direction opposite to the one used normally, as the vessel’s
hull is acting as the rudder of the whole combination.

Towing a ship attached to the towing notch of the icebreaker
is relatively safe. In the event that the icebreaker collides
with packed ice and loses speed, the ship in tow does not
damage the icebreaker, as it remains attached to the notch.
The downside of this towing method is that the steering
capabilities of the combination are poor.

Towing at a distance
Secondly, the vessel might be slightly distanced from the
notch. The distance is so small that the stem of the assisted
ship is able to move between the edges of the notch
allowing small drift angles to develop when the icebreaker
turns its rudders. This increases the turning capability of the
tow. Sometimes a method where the stem is just outside the
notch edges is used.

Thirdly, the vessel might be towed by means of a long
cable. This method is used in open leads and also in order
to save the very expensive protection “cushions” inside the
notch. The heavier the vessel in tow the more likely it is that
the cushions will be damaged.

The towing distance depends on the ship size, form of the
fore head and the situation. Small vessels can normally be
attached directly against the notch, while large ships are
regularly towed with a distance of some tens of metres from
the icebreaker.

When towing a ship at a small distance from the towing
notch or with a long cable, the icebreaker must make sure
that it can proceed at a steady speed. These two towing
methods are only used in channels through fast ice, never in
hard packed ice fields out in the sea. The advantage of
these towing methods is preserving the capability of both
the icebreaker and the vessel being towed to steer their
course where required.

Ice navigation, Unit 6
On the vessel to be towed

Hoisting the towing cable and attaching it to the bollards of
the assisted vessel should be carried out with the
assistance of three persons. One person controls the
anchor winch and two other persons work with the capstans
hoisting the strop to level with the bollards. At least one of
these persons should have enough experience on such
attachment procedures. Heaving lines are needed on the
assisted vessel to lift the messenger wires attached to the
tow strop to hoist this up to the nocks. Both ends are lifted at
the same time. The messenger wires should be guided by
the bollard tops so that the strop can easily be pulled over to
the bollard.

The icebreaker is in command during the towing operation.
This means that the icebreaker gives all the commands and
the vessel to be towed has to follow them without any delay.
The crew on the assisted vessel should be ready to make
fast or cast off the towing cable at any time. The propulsion
machinery should be ready for rapid manoeuvres at all time
according to instructions from the icebreaker. Also, it is the
icebreaker who decides when the towing will be finished.

Letting go the tow
Letting go the tow is normally carried out by three men in
the opposite manner to that of making fast the tow. The
strop must not be let go in any circumstances, since it may
well severely hit and damage the deck of the icebreaker
when it slides through a bend. There are normally at least
two persons on the deck of the icebreaker. Additionally, it is
normal that the ice-breaker has to be manoeuvred during
this process. There is a danger of getting the wires into the
propellers of the ice-breaker.
The icebreaker slacks the cable so that the block connecting
the cable to the strop is hanging straight down. The
messenger wires or ropes are set on the winching drums of
the windlass and the strop eyes pulled loose from the
bollards. When this has been completed the wires are
slowly lowered to the deck of the icebreaker. Note that the
messengers are lowered using the heaving lines.

Ice navigation, Unit 7
Icing

Icing is quite a common phenomenon near the ice edge
during low temperatures and rough sea. Icing takes place
when the air temperature is below 0 degrees Celsius but the
sea is not covered by ice. Icing is caused by the lifting of
spray into the relative wind by the ship bow. The spray is
then super-cooled and carried over the ship superstructure
to freeze on bulkheads, decks, and rigging. The water
splashing on the deck freezes to the superstructures of the
ship. The weight of accumulated ice can be significant. It
can raise the centre of the gravity of the ship and deteriorate
the ship’s stability. Consequently, the ship may even
capsize, if ice is not removed.

In case of ice build up on the deck structures appropriate
tools should be available. Detaching the ice cover is a hard
job. Hammers, even sledge hammers and hardwood clubs
can be used but wisely. When hitting with a sledge hammer
on a thick layer of ice the load on the metal sheet spreads
rather evenly into the surrounding surface. In case the ice
layer is thin the blow concentrates onto a very small area
and may force a dent into the plating. In such cases it is
better to use heavy wooden clubs or even better leave it as
it is.

Ice navigation, Unit 8
What’s the damage?

B1003
The ice season brings with it characteristic accident types.
Ice can cause different kinds of damage. They vary from

MarEng

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main engine malfunction due to heavy ice conditions to paint
finish degradation due to abrasion by ice pieces. In most
cases the damage is small and limited to shell plating
damage between a few frames at most.

There are a few typical situations which can cause damage
to vessels navigating through ice or in an ice channel. The
vessel may not be able to give way due to ice and may
collide with another vessel. Also, vessels navigating in a
compressive ice field might get stuck and sustain ice
damage to the hull. Compressive ice induces high local
loads that exceed the strength requirements of plating and
framing. A vessel stuck in the ice may also drift with the
moving ice field and may eventually run aground.
B1004
When ships are moving in an ice channel in succession with
a short lead, the first ship may get stuck in the ice and the
next one may collide with it. Reversing in ice may damage
aft ship areas, especially the rudder and the propeller. In
order to avoid getting stuck in ice, it is important that the
propeller maintains its rotation. Usually the propeller ice
loads are quite short-term and the so-called ice torque does
not stop the propeller.

Ice navigation, Dialogue 1
In a convoy

Situation description:
The M/S Marina is in the Gulf of Finland making her way
towards Kotka, her port of destination. She has reached the
longitude of Hanko (023 degrees East) and calls Helsinki
VTS (Vessel Traffic Service). She wants to know the name
of the coordinating icebreaker. According to the instructions
given in the daily ice report, vessels bound for Finnish ports
and requiring icebreaker assistance shall contact the
icebreaker well in advance before entering ice-covered
waters. The operator at the VTS centre saves the
information given by the Marina to the knowledge base. The
icebreakers in the Gulf of Finland can get the information
from the knowledge base and can follow the passage of the
vessel. When the Marina is closer to the nearest icebreaker,
the navigating Deck Officer of the icebreaker gives her a
Way Point and starts her way to meet the Marina. The
icebreaker will take care of the Marina and assist her if
needed.

•

Marina: Helsinki VTS, Helsinki VTS, Helsinki VTS,

this is Marina, Marina, Marina, call sign MWYA3.

•

VTS: Marina, Helsinki VTS.

•

Marina: Helsinki VTS, Marina. We are passing

Hanko, bound for Kotka. What is the first
icebreaker?

•

VTS: Marina, Helsinki VTS. The first icebreaker is

Kontio. At the moment she is close to Helsinki
lighthouse. Kontio’s working VHF channel is 08.

•

Marina: Okay. Thank you. The first icebreaker is

Kontio, close to Helsinki lighthouse, working
channel 08.

Marina gets closer to the icebreaker Kontio and calls her on
channel 08.

B1005

•

Marina: Ice-breaker Kontio, Kontio, Kontio, this is

Marina, Marina, Marina, call sign MWYA3.

•

Kontio: Marina, this is Kontio, good evening.

•

Marina: Kontio, Marina. My position is latitude 59

degrees and 49 minutes North, longitude 024
degrees and 18 minutes East and we are bound for
Kotka. Is the ice situation very bad there? Are you
going to assist us?

•

Kontio: Marina, Kontio. We are close to Helsinki

lighthouse. We are going westward with three other
westbound ships towards south of Porkkala. After
that we are coming to assist you. Stand by on
channel 08. Proceed to the position 10 miles south
of Helsinki lighthouse and wait for further
instructions.

•

Marina: Kontio, Marina. Well understood. You are

close to Helsinki lighthouse, going west with 3
ships towards south of Porkkala. After that you are
coming to assist us. I will stand by on channel 08.

The icebreaker Kontio finishes assisting the three
westbound vessels, leaves them in the fairway south of
Porkkala, makes a turn and starts heading back eastwards
to assist the Marina. After about 3 hours Kontio calls Marina
on channel 08.

•

Kontio: Marina, Marina, Marina this is icebreaker

Kontio, Kontio, Kontio on channel 08. Good
evening, again.

•

Marina: Kontio, Marina. Good evening.

•

Kontio: Marina, Kontio. We are about one mile

behind you here. We are going to pass you on your
port side. Keep your heading and keep full ahead
all the time.

•

Marina: Kontio, Marina. Okay, you are one mile

behind me, you will pass me on my port side. We
will keep full ahead on our current heading.

•

Kontio passes Marina and turns ahead of her.

•

Kontio: Marina, this is Kontio.

•

Marina: Kontio, Marina.

•

Kontio: Marina, Kontio. Please follow us now. Keep

full ahead all the time. We will take care of the
distance.

•

Marina: Kontio, Marina. Okay, we will keep full

ahead all the time and you will take care of the
distance.

Marina is following the icebreaker Kontio in an ice channel.
While they proceed towards Lighthouse Helsinki Kontio
takes two other ships in convoy. Five miles before meeting
the first of these two vessels, Kontio calls her on the VHF
channel 08. The icebreaker organizes the convoy, informs
the vessels in the convoy about her plans and the voyage
ahead. She also instructs the vessels to keep continuous
listening watch on the working channel.

•

Kontio: Aila, Aila, Aila this is Kontio, Kontio, Kontio.

•

Aila: Kontio, Aila.

•

Kontio: Aila, Kontio. We are five miles west of you

assisting Marina eastwards and we are going to
take you with the convoy. Ship called Marina
already behind us is number one and you will be
number 2 in the convoy. We are going to pass you
on the starboard side. After passing you, follow
Marina.

•

Aila: Kontio, Aila. Okay, well received. You are five

miles west of me assisting Marina, passing on
starboard. We will join the convoy after Marina.

•

Kontio: Laura, Laura, Laura this is Kontio, Kontio,

Kontio.

•

Laura: Kontio, Laura.

•

Kontio: Laura, Kontio. We are 4 miles southwest of

you. We are assisting Marina. We are going to take
Aila with the convoy. After that we will take you
with the convoy. Marina is number one and Aila is
number two. Your place in the convoy is number
three. We will pass you on your port side. After we
have passed you, follow Aila.

MarEng

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•

Laura: Kontio, Laura. Well understood. You are 4

miles southwest of me assisting Marina. You will
pass me on my port side. I will be number three in
the convoy. I will join the convoy after Aila.

Ice navigation, Dialogue 2
Towing

Situation description:
The M/S Marina is in the Gulf of Finland making her way
towards Kotka, her port of destination. The edge of the ice
cover reaches as far as Porkkala. The icebreaker Kontio
has escorted the Marina to waypoint 10. After that the
Marina has proceeded in an ice channel without icebreaker
assistance. While Marina proceeds in the traffic separation
scheme the ice cover gets thicker. The wind is getting
stronger as well. At 1830 Marina gets stuck in position
latitude 59 degrees and 56 minutes North, longitude 025
degrees and 36 minutes East. According to the instructions
a vessel stuck in the ice must notify the icebreaker of her
position without any delay. Marina calls the icebreaker Apu
on the VHF channel 08.

B1006

•

Marina: Icebreaker Apu, Apu, Apu. This is Marina,

Marina , Marina.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu replies.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. We are ice-bound in position

latitude 59 degrees and 56 minutes North,
longitude 025 degrees and 36 minutes East.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. Understood. Please prepare for

towing. We are going to tow you in about 20
minutes.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. Okay. We will prepare for

towing. You are going to tow us in about 20
minutes.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. Keep full ahead while preparing;

we will tell you when to slow down.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. Well received. We will keep

full ahead.

B1007

•

Marina: Apu, this is Marina.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. I am ready for towing. My

crew is on the forecastle head. We are ready to
receive the towing lines.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. Okay. Stop your speed.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. Okay. We will stop our speed

immediately.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. I have stopped now. I am not

moving.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. Okay. You are not moving.

•

Apu reverses in front of Marina’s bow.

B1008

•

Apu: Marina, Apu.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. Keep slow ahead.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. Slow ahead.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. We are going to give you two

lines.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. You are going to give us two

lines. Do we need a heaving line?

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. Yes, you need a heaving line.

One of Marina’s Able Body seamen casts a heaving line and
Marina gets two lines. They are fastened to Marina’s

starboard and portside bollards on her forecastle head. An
A.B. shows with his hands that the lines are made well fast.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. Towing lines are made fast.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. Towing lines fast. Ask your crew

out of the forecastle. We are starting to move.
Make half ahead. Steer with us and keep our
masts in the same line.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. Crew is clear of the

forecastle. We are starting to move. We will make
half ahead and steer with you. We keep our masts
in the same line as yours.

B1009

•

Apu: Marina, this is Apu.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. We will finish towing in about 20

minutes.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. Okay. Towing will be finished

in 20 minutes.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. We will finish assistance in

about 10 minutes. You must proceed
northeastwards alone. Are you ready to get the
waypoints?

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. Understood. Assistance will

be finished in 10 minutes. We are ready to take the
waypoints.

B1010

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. Dead slow ahead.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. Dead slow ahead.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. Keep slow ahead and keep our

masts in the same line. Let go towing lines now.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. Slow ahead, masts in the

line. We are letting go towing lines.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. We have let go towing lines

now, the bow is clear.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. Keep full ahead and follow us

about 9 miles more.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. Full ahead. We will follow you

about 9 miles more.

Apu gives now several waypoints to Marina.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. I will now give the waypoints to

you. The next waypoint is 59 degrees 59 minutes
North 026 degrees 00 minutes East. We will leave
you in that position and you must proceed via
waypoints on your own. Next icebreaker outside
Orrengrund is “Voima”.

•

Her working channel is 06.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. The next waypoint is 59

degrees 59 minutes North 026 degrees 00 minutes
East. You will leave us in that position and I will
continue alone via waypoints. Next Ib is Voima and
if we need help again I will call Voima on channel
06.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. I am finishing assistance now. I

am turning hard to starboard.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. Okay. You are finishing

assistance now and turning to starboard.

•

Marina: Apu, Marina. Thank you very much for your

assistance. Have a good watch.

•

Apu: Marina, Apu. Thank you Marina and good

voyage.

MarEng

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WEATHER

The weather is the state of the atmosphere with
reference to wind, temperature, state of the sea,
cloudiness, precipitation, atmospheric pressure,
humidity, mist, fog and ice conditions. It is important for
seamen to understand all the phenomena connected
with the weather and to be able to read weather maps
and listen to the weather forecast and report weather
conditions at sea such as the visibility and the direction
of wind and its force according to the Beaufort Wind
Scale.

WINDS

B1101
Winds are mainly caused by a difference of
temperature which in turn is sometimes responsible for
the differences of barometric pressure. The strength
and speed of wind at any given time depend on the
gradient of atmospheric pressure that is the rate at
which pressure changes with distance.

Speed of movement of pressure systems
Slowly: Moving at less than 15 knots
Steadily: Moving at 15 to 25 knots
Rather quickly: Moving at 25 to 35 knots
Rapidly: Moving at 35 to 45 knots
Very rapidly: Moving at more than 45 knots
B1102
Timing of gale warnings
Imminent: Within 6 hours of time of issue
Soon: Within 6 – 12 hours of time of issue
Later: More than 12 hours from time of issue
Terms referring to wind
Backing; Indicates the changing of wind in the
anticlockwise direction, i.e. from W to SW
Becoming cyclonic: Indicates that there will be
considerable changes in wind direction across the path
of a depression within the forecast area
Wind direction: Indicates the direction from which the
wind is blowing
Veering: Indicates the changing of the wind in a
clockwise direction, i.e. from SW to W
Variable: Indicates the wind constantly changing the
direction from which it blows

WAVES

B1103

Waves are primarily caused by the wind and its action
on the surface of the water. Their height depends on
how long the wind has been blowing and also on the
strength of the wind.
Waves formed by the wind blowing locally are termed
“sea”. Waves formed by the wind blowing at a distance
from the place of observation are termed “swell”.
Some waves result from earthquakes or underwater
seaquakes and on approaching shallow water they
become abnormally high and begin to break with great
violence causing enormous devastation and loss of life.
They are termed “tsunami” and we will all remember the
tragic waves caused by a seaquake near Sumatra on
Dec. 26th, 2004, which claimed the lives of nearly
300,000 people in South – East Asia.
B1104
The following terms are frequently used in connection
with waves:
- the length of a wave , that is the horizontal distance
from crest to crest or trough to trough. If the distances
between the crests of waves are far apart, the sea is
termed “a long sea”. When the crests are close together
the sea is termed “a short sea”, like for example in the
Baltic Sea.

- the height of a wave, that is the vertical distance from
trough to crest.
- the period of a wave, that is the time between the
passages of two successive wave crests or troughs
past a fixed point.
- the velocity of a wave, that is the rate at which the
crest travels.
B1105
VISIBILITY
Visibility at sea may be affected by various weather
conditions in different parts of the world. In the north it
may be affected by rain, sleet, snow, hail and blizzards
or snowstorms. In the south it may be affected by
torrential rains, drizzle or showers as well as by sand
storms. Mist, haze and fog may appear in all areas of
the world at different times of the year. The passage of
very cold air over much warmer water causes arctic sea
smoke, frost smoke or steam fog. It is formed when the
lowest layers of the cold air heated by contact with the
warm sea tend to rise and are chilled to their dew point
on meeting colder air than themselves.
B1106
CLOUDS AND WEATHER SYMBOLS
Clouds consist of minute drops of water or ice crystals
formed by the condensation of water vapour and held in
suspension in the atmosphere. There are two main
types of clouds: stratiform or layer cloud, resembling
fog but not resting on the ground, and cumuliform or
white cotton-wool cloud with much greater vertical
development than horizontal extent. There are also
combinations of these types depending on the height of
occurrence and then we speak about cirrus clouds and
cirro-cumulus, and cirro-stratus, which are high clouds;
alto-cumulus, alto-stratus and nimbo-stratus, which are
medium height clouds and strato-cumulus, stratus,
cumulus and cumulo-nimbus, which are low clouds.
Clouds usually help in forecasting the weather.
Generally speaking, soft round clouds mean fine dry
weather with some wind but not very strong. Harsh and
jagged clouds mean strong winds. Black clouds mean
rain squalls. High clouds moving in a different direction
from lower ones foretell a change of the wind.
B1107
A sailor’s experience is also important in foretelling the
weather but nowadays seamen rely on weather reports
received in a form of facsimile or weather forecasts
which are broadcast daily by various stations.

In the northern regions and in the Antarctic knowledge
of ice terminology is important.

NAVTEX

B1108
Navtex is used for passing navigational warnings and
meteorological information to ships within the range of
400 Nautical miles off shore. The messages are sent
automatically and the information is updated and
corrected all the time. Every Navtex message is
preceded by a four-letter heading. The first letter
characterizes the transmitting station, the second refers
to the class of the message, the third and the fourth
show the number of received messages in succession.
The messages are transmitted on the frequency of 518
kHz. Below is an example of a message transmitted by
Navtex.

HIGH SEAS FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WASHINGTON
DC/TPC MIAMI FLORIDA