IMarEST's 'Marine Professional' magazine

[Varley]

Dave, your remind me!

A class of LPG/Ethylene semi refs. One in dock and being surveyed it was revealed that the standby set would not start on MSB blackout unless the ESB was live. Much leafing of inadequate documentation led to the fact that the auxy engines LO priming pumps were fed from the ESB and that standby starting was not allowed unless the LO pressure was at some prerequisite level.

One of our chiefs would have been able to provide you with another 'as found' generator replacement (not Yanmar). He had the consummate luxury of four machines but was unwise enough to tell my leader, when we were visiting, that he had been told that the fourth was available for 'spares'. He was sent packing along with his favourite footwear, bedroom slippers.

[Makko]

Sounds like the China Nav vessel that I recently inspected - The Chief told me that, because of the distributed power system, they only needed one of three Auxies on the board to work the cranes!

Rgds.
Dav

[Dartskipper]

Today's Western Morning News has a front page article abouta brand new piece of maritime technology that is pioneering an autonomous voyage from Plymouth, UK to Cape Cod USA.;



The voyage may take up to three weeks. The vessel is an aluminium trimaran, powered it appears by photovoltaic cells driving an electric motor, and is 15 metres in length. It was manufactured in Gdansk and shipped in four sections to Plymouth where it was assembled. No British yard could take on the job apparently. It will be monitored remotely for the entire voyage. Its progress can be monitored through;

https://mas400.com/dashboard

The article doesn't mention who is supposed to swim after it if it breaks down.

My concern is sending a small unmanned vessel into the North Atlantic, to possibly become a floating hazard, seems a tad irresponsible.

Any thoughts?

[Tim Gibbs]

Originally Posted by Dartskipper

Today's Western Morning News has a front page article abouta brand new piece of maritime technology that is pioneering an autonomous voyage from Plymouth, UK to Cape Cod USA.;



The voyage may take up to three weeks. The vessel is an aluminium trimaran, powered it appears by photovoltaic cells driving an electric motor, and is 15 metres in length. It was manufactured in Gdansk and shipped in four sections to Plymouth where it was assembled. No British yard could take on the job apparently. It will be monitored remotely for the entire voyage. Its progress can be monitored through;

https://mas400.com/dashboard

The article doesn't mention who is supposed to swim after it if it breaks down.

My concern is sending a small unmanned vessel into the North Atlantic, to possibly become a floating hazard, seems a tad irresponsible.

Any thoughts?

Less hazardous than a floating container?

[Varley]

Support mid-ocean?

A kind Kongsberg technician, possibly engineer, gave me an introduction to the IAS system fitted to a steam LNG vessel I was visiting in Daewoo. It is the sort of wonderful stuff in which I would have reveled had I been sailing on her. But as someone who must provide such staff and answer their requests for assistance I was far from sanguine. In addition there is the lifetime question. With kit that is single failure prone (admittedly in each of its redundant identities) the only solution at year ten (arguable, but around then) to the kit running into the end of the bathtub curve is to replace it all. The silicon is not the issue it is the marrying of the new 'platform' (you don't expect it to still be Windows 10 or whatever do you?). Basically it may mean the re-engineering of the complete monitoring and integrated controls. Taking my ten years to heart Mr. K agreed saying that in ten years the kit would no0t only be expensive to support but 'fabulously' expensive. He went on to mention Autronica (as I told him I had had a KM2 operating well into this century). "Kongsberg own and still produce the later KM series - for those clients that are difficult for our technicians to access".

I would have imagined everywhere that was not liner run would provide them with such a difficulty. It certainly proved so with one Datachief we had.

I am quite impressed with the connectivity achieved but isn't she rather a long way off course?

[Tim Gibbs]

Originally Posted by Varley

Support mid-ocean?

A kind Kongsberg technician, possible engineer, gave me an introduction to the IAS system fitted to a steam LNG vessel I was visiting in Daewoo. It is the sort of wonderful stuff in which I would have reveled had I been sailing on her. But as someone who must provide such staff and answer their requests for assistance I was far from sanguine. In addition there is the lifetime question. With kit that is single failure prone (admittedly in each of its redundant identities) the only solution at year ten (arguable, but around then) to the kit running into the end of the bathtub curve is to replace it all. The silicon is no0tm the issue it is the marrying of the new 'platform' (you don't expect it to still be Windows 10 or whatever do you?). Basically it may mean the re-engineering of the complete monitoring and control integrated controls. Taking my ten years to heart Mr. K agreed saying that in ten years the kit would no0t only be expensive to support but 'fabulously' expensive. He went on to mention Autronica (as I told him I had had a KM2 operating well into this century). "Kongsberg own and still produce the later KM series - for those clients that are difficult for our technicians to access".

I would have imagined everywhere that was not liner run would provide them with such a difficulty. It certainly proved so with one Datachief we had.

I am quite impressed with the connectivity achieved but isn't she rathe a long way off course?

40 years ago Mr K used to charge NK 1000 just to say good morning

[Makko]

Originally Posted by Tim Gibbs

40 years ago Mr K used to charge NK 1000 just to say good morning

Yes, like the radar technicians whose first stop was the duty mess for a "full on" breakfast. Banging down my three "dinner" beers (12-4 and standby) at 0810 in Port Elizabeth (I was on the vessel for a double header), first the shocked look on their face that I would have beer for "breakfast", then I said,"Shouldn't you be up on the bridge, working". They shuffled off reluctantly - To do what they were being paid to do! The same Leckie as the egg boiler, later told me that I had been rude. Bluddy cheek!
Rgds.
Dave

[Engine Serang]

Hope you would have been as forthright with Class Surveyors or PSC Officers. Bet your X-Band didn't work shortly after departure Port Elizabeth.

[Engine Serang]

Jeez she's sank a lot of shipping already.

[Dartskipper]

Originally Posted by Tim Gibbs

Less hazardous than a floating container?

It broke down and was towed back to Plymouth yesterday according to the evening news broadcast. Something mechanical failed apparently.

[Engine Serang]

It was the Doxford.

[Makko]

Now that is something to ponder on ES - A solar powered Doxford, operating on that weird, was it Sterling, cycle!! Something akin to infinite movement!

Rgds.
Dave

[Varley]

If not completely solar powered then partially once one accounts the parts for which supernovae are responsible. But for all except Perpetual Motion (infinite movement?). That defies even Brian Cox.

(Plenty of Sterling cycle machines about. There is a domestic gas fired CPH generator spun by one. Pa bought a vintage version for us as boys, typical of the ones used to drive fans seen occasionally in Westerns. Ma displeased as it deposited soot on the lounge ceiling).

[Malcolm G]

Would that be Stirling?
Or are you meaning the way that money goes around?

[Varley]

Tsk tsk. One would have thought a plumber might have it write!

[Duncan112]

Originally Posted by Varley

Dave, your remind me!

A class of LPG/Ethylene semi refs. One in dock and being surveyed it was revealed that the standby set would not start on MSB blackout unless the ESB was live. Much leafing of inadequate documentation led to the fact that the auxy engines LO priming pumps were fed from the ESB and that standby starting was not allowed unless the LO pressure was at some prerequisite level.

One of our chiefs would have been able to provide you with another 'as found' generator replacement (not Yanmar). He had the consummate luxury of four machines but was unwise enough to tell my leader, when we were visiting, that he had been told that the fourth was available for 'spares'. He was sent packing along with his favourite footwear, bedroom slippers.

Sounds like one refrigerated Container Ship I sailed on, to carry a full reefer load with the usual selection of chilled and deep frozen North from NZ, you needed 3 reefer compressors - the vessel was constructed with 5 sets of Hall's finest. One set had been out of use and as you describe used for spares with the Office's knowlege. One set was broken - the vessel superintendent knew this but had kept this information from the higher levels in Fleet Management (Including the Boss Engineer Super). We had just finished loading full fridge in Port Chalmers when one set failed, the cause was eventually traced to a failed oil cooler allowing the refrigerant side to fill up with sea water, (The fault finding only took the best part of a day, cleaning and drying the refrigerant side allowed us 14 days in PC however!!

[Varley]

It does not sound as if your Chief was in the bedroom slipper habit. Maybe, however, the ship super was not quite as fleet on his feet as the fleet demanded.