After having voiced my and my offices dissatisfaction of what went down in Lumut I was approached by the Manager, Mr. Nick Coombes, of APS Langkawi to meet on the 16th to sort out some issues at hand.
Fortunately Cmde S.K.Mongia was also visiting Phuket at this time so I could coordinate to have a mutual meeting and saving a lot of emailing afterwards.
We met on the 16th at 10am onboard and went through the events of the DD and came to our grievances that eventualy boiled down to a discount of the final DD invoice.
To cut the story short I have the deepest respect for Nick by assuming responsibility of his bad business decision and granted us a considerable discount on his Company's expense.
The only party coming out of this mess "unscathed" is the main culprit "Grade One Marine Shipyard", they must've been laughing all the way to the bank.
Oh well, I'm sure they will now be missing many Yacht repair contracts as I'm sure APS Langkawi won't be promoting them as the place to haul out in SE Asia.
In case anyone asks me for a reference I'll give one too - a negative one. I have no positive thoughts whatsoever for this "run-by-night" establishment. In fact I have reported their disgusting antics to the Malaysian yacht and Shipyard associations.
Years ago on m/v Columbus Caravelle where we once spent an annual docking in Guangzhou for 2 humid weeks I thought that was bad. Then in 2003 when I was working on Project m/y Turama I thought I’d seen it all. Last year in Langkawi Wavemaster I thought I had hit rock bottom but I was once again proven wrong this year in Lumut by Grade One Marine Shipyard that set records in shafting the Client.
Lifted up after more than 24hrs of wrangling
As you may have glimpsed in my previous blogs that our drydocking has not gone quite as smoothly as anticipated I am not exaggerating this. It is usual that there are always some squabbles that are then solved by giving a bit and taking a bit after some discussions. Not so with Grade One Marine Shipyard.
Weight dials on the shiplift put us on abt 350mt displacement
Asia Pacific Superyachts of Langkawi had recommended this yard as they had successfully lifted there abt 10 boats. I visited the facility in May and they visited us in Langkawi in order to work out a quote. The facility is new and seemed promising in my eyes. Once I left Langkawi again there was not much movement on the quote despite emails back and forth. It seemed yard only moved for us when John Orr went down to Lumut to chase them.
Furthermore, APS put themselves as a go between as agents and so in effect we were the client of APS and APS the client of the yard. My management expressed their dismay to such an arrangement and warned APS that they are putting themselves in a precarious position in case problems arise. We were told this is the only way yard wants to deal with yachts, via APS Langkawi, so we digressed. APS assured that there will not be any problems and floating will go smoothly. Well, as it happened all went to hell and relationship between vessel and APS Langkawi is discontinued indefinitely.
Yard has following muppets to show: Operations Manager Fuad bin Rasol, slick prick that promises even the moon from the sky in order to get you to his yard. Seems to have poor conception of reality and hence does not know what his labor is doing or perhaps just pretends to be that way. Haji Nasir, senior costing officer, promises that anything can be done in a blink of an eye, next day goes back on his word. Costing stooge Mahat, Nasirs right hand man, hopeless blabber and interrupts anyone who starts to give him facts or question his facts. Project Manager Azlan is as useless as tits on a donkey, unfortunately he was appointed to us. Shiplift supervisor Captain Ahmad, formerly known in Rebak, Langkawi as Mr. 10%, proud person, cannot take advice.
View through our rudder pintles
The only persons that really earned recognition for good work and ability to problem solve was Mr. Saeran and Mr. Teoh, the first is in charge of mechanical issues and did our rudder and props, the latter is underwater hull supervisor from cleaning to painting. Especially Mr. Teoh never vacillated on any job at hand, he just did it.
Project Manager Yin was the only PM that seemed to know what he was doing, he was appointed to do all the other government ships that was being overhauled, when at times PM Azlan lost his only marble the yard sent Yin over for few days and this kept on going during whole yard stay.
As a conclusion of our visit I can say that we have been had totally by APS Langkawi and Grade One Marine Shipyard and I am thoroughly disgusted by their antics. It was not probably the brightest idea to come and do a drydocking in a muslim country during their fasting month but we were assured that it would not affect productivity as they also employ staff from other religions. I initially planned arrival 1st August but it was changed for budgetary reasons. Seeing that the yards clients mostly consists on government vessels from the marine police, coastguard and navy I assume they just do a shoddy job, charge it triple or quadruple and get paid for it, no adjustments are never asked for as it is a government job and bureaucrats just sign whatever is put in front of them.
Finally on the way to be floated
Needless to say we will never ever visit this yard again, one can only take so much of being overcharged, held for ransom and being blackmailed.
We left Phuket on the 22nd Aug in order to be in Lumut a day before haul-up so I could sort out any problems from yard side as well scout out the area where I was going (it is un-charted).
Impressive clouds at Phi Phi Island
The weather was not too bad when we left but became increasingly poor the further south we went. By the time we were passing Langkawi Island it was pouring down cats and dogs and whatnot.
View to Phangnga Bay
John, our agent, who was driving down south called me and told the weather had been equally poor on the highway, only after Penang had the rain let up a bit. At sea we got westerly swell from our sb quarter that was not making the going any easier. As we had plenty of time on our hands I decided to enter from south of the Pangkor Island, the channel is wider there and I had been here in 1998 before so I sort of knew the waters. High seas were still rolling in from the Straits but as soon as we were in shelter of the Pangkor Island it stopped. The mainland side had been developed with tens of highrise buildings compared to 1998 there had been nothing there.
The Navy Colony on mainland opposite Pangkor Laut
Also the channel was better marked than in 1998, there is a 90degrees bend about halfway in the channel. Once cleared we were passing massive naval installations and greeted by the odour of a fertilizer factory that also closely resembled the smell of a brewery. I anchored in front of the Lumut International yacht club that consists of a 2 small piers and a collection of small craft. In front was also anchored a laid up navy vessel, Rahmat, that seemed it had been there a long time.
We launched our tender and took ashore Kalpana who needed medical attention as her wisdom tooth had started acting up. John met us at the pier and I got my clearance papers handed over as well. After this we headed up the channel to scout the “un-charted” area. We passed a flour mill and cargo piers until we reached a fork and took off right, shortly after, we arrived in front of Grade One shipyard. The 75m double pier where the lift was going to happen was flanked by three 60m long offshore vessels. We surveyed the waters in front of the pier and found ample water there except to the immediate west where we discovered only 3-4m of water, it appeared to be a mud flat just at the western pier end. Having done this we headed back to the ship and it was time for me to meet the yard people.
At the yard I met up with the lifting Engineers and we went through the way they wanted to lift up. It was the same as in Langkawi last year, stern first until we were inside of the piers, then stop. It appeared that the shore side was a bit shallow too. Instead of hauling the next day the yard wanted me to arrive same day at 1530hrs. Oh well, said and done, I was happy to get the show on the road. John dropped me off at the marina where I got a refreshing rain shower on the way back to the ship. We hoisted back our tender and anchor and sailed up river.
When we arrived the lifting piers I had a westerly current and wind going on and I saw it was not going to be an easy task to get the boat in with all elements at my broadside. My first attempt failed as I could not keep my bow up to the wind and current so I had to abort and try again. My 2nd attempt I was keeping my bow well up wind and tried to approach with my stern and then let my bow turn when I was easing her in between the piers. Easier said than done, I got stuck in the mudflat just west of the piers so I had to redo my approach. My 3rd attempt was successful, Saini was giving me good instructions of the situation aft and I backed in with speed. My bow fell again but I was in before it was too much. No damages either. We handed lines ashore and the yard started to position the shiplift and prepare to put is on the hard stand. My next story will about our works in Lumut, until then…
As told before we arrived at the Wavemaster floating pontoon on the 14th Aug for our drydocking. Once alongside our agent, Nick Coombes, set immigration procedures in motion. I met with the yard Operations Manager Barry Eades and later in the afternoon we had an opening meeting for our scope of works which had been tentatively agreed upon in advance. We also meet our Project Manager, Mr. Irwan.
Kalizma on the travelift
The scheduled haul up date was set to 18th Aug and there already we met with the 1st setback. Yard was waiting for new lifting straps which arrived on the 20th. When waiting for the straps to arrive yard made preparation works in the ER to dismantle our overboard valves as well as project managers surveyed areas of work. Our agent matters are now handled by John Orr.
On the travelift
On the 20th at 1330hrs we cast off and left the pontoon and made a swing towards the lifting piers where the mobile crane was waiting. Because of our masts and hull structure the yard requested me to back in Kalizma. Luckily the wind was not too strong so I managed a little too well backing her up on the windside, the windage did not set her off at all and our tiny bowthruster was steering well. Once entering between the lifting piers and gliding over the lifting straps, one strap got caught between the hull and wing propeller.
On the hard
No damage was done but it took the yard 1h to move the crane and pull out the strap. Several hours was spent setting the straps in their correct places and it was not made easier of our wing shafts and stabilizer fins, but eventually all was set and the straps tightened, the crane engine was howling and its tires were getting flatter and flatter as it was taking the weight of Kalizma. When almost all hull was out of water, then Kalizma was moved close to the pier and all crew was evacuated onto land. Then again the crane engine started it’s growling and wires and straps were put to the test as Kalizma was hoisted level with the dock.
On the hard, 2 pic collage
Unfortunately our sb bilge keel was buckled by the strap as the protective block was rotten and crumbled under the weight. Once over the dock the crane started slowly moving Kalizma to it’s hard stand. The crane gauges showed Kalizma’s weight at 310 tonnes. She was well drydocked by 2030hrs and we all (except the night watch) could leave for our rented apartment for dinner. Yard personnel started hull scraping and rigging hull stanchions. The hull was covered in thousands of barnacles and oysters, Kalizma was full of life even on the outside.
Drydocking video
Next morning 21st at the yard again the yard removed the lifting straps and continued hull cleaning. Overboard valves were being dismantled and fabrication people took measurements for installing the centre engine silencer. At the same time I had arranged ultrasound [US] measurement team to come and measure hull thicknesses as per class requirements.
Paint works
Later in the afternoon we met with the Class inspector from Rina, Mr. David Htwe, and the 5yr class inspection was under way. Fuel and water tanks were inspected, hull on the inside and outside by the US team, overboard valves, paint specs and other certifications were checked. The bad nes was that our collision bulkhead had corroded under the allowed level and had to be renewed so shipyard was alerted to alter the priorities. The hunt for certified plate started and frantic re-calculations of timetables to complete works on time.
On the 22nd the class surveyor continued the survey and eventually only having the machinery inspection left which can only be done when the ship as afloat, the surveyor left for another assignment with the promise that “I’ll be back”. We had our note books cluttered with remarks and started working on them as well as monitoring the shipyard. Anchor’s were lowered and chains ranged out on the ground for calibration. Paint locker was emptied in way of the collision bulkhead. The US team finished their survey and left for Singapore to issue their final report.
On the hard
On 23rd and 24th yard did little work as they are off during weekends and not too keen on overtime. Some propeller polishing and ob valve works took place.
25th was Monday again and the week was kicked off and yard started removing zinc anodes as well as shipside polishing. The anodes look like they had been welded on last week although our certificate states that they are 99,9% pure Zn, samples are collected for analysis. Later in the afternoon hotworks started and shipside was cut at the collision bulkhead and also in ER the silencer bracket fitting started. Overboard valves were removed to workshop for overhaul and service. On port wing propeller we discovered a small rope tightly wound around the shaft and when removing it a slight leak started. Yard is working late and we are standby in addition to fire guards.
26th Shipyard continuing works as on 25th, propeller guards and sea chest strainers are being cleaned. We are checking for availability of port propeller packing gland. Hotworks continue and dismantling of machinery aft of collision bulkhead starts.
27th – 29th Works progressed as per schedule.
30th – 31st Bottom was painted with antifouling.
SEPTEMBER
1st – 2nd Start of Ramadan. 1st 3 yard workers turned up but did barely anything.
2nd nobody worked.
3rd Big meeting with yard representative due to very slow progress and I voiced my dissatisfaction of how things are managed. I sent Chief Engineer to Kuah town to buy materials for work shop people so they could overhaul our valves. C/E confirmed they did not even possess the rudimentary materials for a workshop and they handed a list with 20 items that they would require to proceed (bolts & nuts, lapping paste etc).
I asked Operations Manager why we have to do their procurement and he summoned the Project Manager that tried to say WE had asked for the list and then we went on to see Purchasing Manager, he had the workshop PR in his unprocessed pile for abt 2 weeks already and said that these items are not available on the Island.
Stern view
By this time I said to hold on and I whipped out my mobile and called C/E Vivek and asked how many of the items had he managed to collect? Reply was “all items except the aluminium sheet”. “Thank you very much, you just got caught lying in my face” I told the yard people and walked off.
4th Work was carried out between 8am to 5pm only.
5th Work has progressed very slowly due to Ramadan, no OT was done. In PM collision bulkhead was tag welded into position and BT motor lifted back onboard.
6th Weekend again, yard workers showed up late.
7th onwards, works are progressing at snails pace, I could write same entry for every day but it is sad reading. Yard was every morning promising this and that would be finished and more of a rule than an exception that promises are always broken.
11th Plate in bow welded in place and x-ray team and RINA surveyor brought on site. Team shot 3 x-rays (40cm length each), all seams failed due to bubbles and slag in weld seam. RINA surveyor gave orders to grind down the shot seams and do another x-ray.
13th Bow plate welding seams now re-welded and re-x-rayed, all passed. Phew, what a relief as time is running out…
16th Finally we were coming to the stage to talk about downslip and the yard has the guts to come and ask me for signatures on the basis of “no cash, no splash”. I had a meeting offering my protest of all the delays and no-shows and finally we came up with a 7.5% discount settling the yard invoice at 200.000RM.
17th Eventually they delayed again as the bottom sensor installation was leaking and had to be repaired and this morning it was still leaking so our only option was to weld the hole back shut. Finally we were lifted up over the water and ship was lowered and hoisted and a number of valves had to be dismantled and taken back to workshop for tweaking.
At the same time the RINA surveyor was onboard to inspect the valves and get the last bit of paperwork done. Unfortunately he could not wait for us to be completely waterborne and he had to leave for another assignment. The surveyor handed me the new Class cert and hollered “Call me in Singapore” when he was spirited away on the jetski. While we were hanging there we took the opportunity to load all beverages for the Owner onboard when they moved the ship back to the pier again.
18th In the morning at 0430hrs we were finally waterborne and all valves water tight. We moved along side pontoons and some cleaning jobs took place by the yard. At 1400hrs we started engines and left the yard unceremoniously for Singapore, there was only our agent John to cast off the ropes.
It was the 1st and last time I ever drydocked in that yard. The facility is great but the labor is mediocre with their issues of skills, getting people to come to work and actually do some work etc. In the future I could come with my own team there and do the whole thing by myself but then again you will lose on food and lodging as well as you need to negotiate the fee for external workers (the yard terms states 15% additional fee).
Now it is a standard term here onboard if we get a slow delivery or lazy contractor we say “He probably used to work at Wavemaster in Langkawi…”
