Showing posts with label Ships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ships. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Montenegro

Maiden voyage with Maryah from Elefsina, Greece to Tivat, Montenegro to change registry from SOLAS passenger vessel to Private yacht (36p).







Thursday, July 14, 2011

Job offer on m/y Serene

I had been a few days ago offered a job on m/y Serene (134m) through Russel Stockil from YCO and had been having some careful consultation and deliberation. The position offered was as Chief Officer cum Relief Captain with the Captain having no rotation.

m/y Serene at Capri

Salary was more or less the same, the yacht was new and bigger but probably had all the teething problems to deal with. I also learned from an acquaintance that the deck crew was insufficient with all the tenders that had been installed onboard, at least if they all would be in water and used. I was told that the previous C/O had left due to that the contract had been changed twice during the build period. 

m/y Serene at Capri

So, realizing that the Russian Owner was unknown to me and I had no knowledge of the intended operation compared to my current employment. Also the no rotational position was a good recipe for burning out people.

At least on IE I was known and I also knew the people in the Organisation the decision finally became obvious. I decided to decline the offer as it was not furthering my career in any way, not in position, not in leave nor in salary. I wrote to the skipper, Captain Elliot Bibby and politely explained my position that I was in.


Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Piracy - the scourge of the high seas

There has lately been a lot of coverage about piracy in modern days and I'd like to comment on it. Piracy to most laymen brings in mind Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirate's of the Caribbean movies or to the older generations James Cagney from his famous pirate movies decades ago.

Well, piracy has never been extinct and hundreds of incidents happens annually around the globe, the worst areas being the Straits of Malacca and the West African coast. I myself have been spending years in the waters of Straits of Malacca and reading piracy reports days on end from the Piracy center in Kuala Lumpur.

My opinion is that pirates are a bunch of cowards. They look for the moment of surprise in dark, they prey on small vessel with small crews that can fetch them a good ransom or where the cargo can be sold or ship as well. Here in Asia it has been speculated that the operation is controlled by a mafia that spans the South China Sea, a good example is the case of Petro Ranger that was hijacked by Indonesian pirates in 1998 with $2.3mil fuel cargo onboard. See Petro Ranger or google up some more. I myself read the book that was written by the Captain after the incident was over.

I also noticed the many reports involved small slow moving tugboats, coasters but never any yachts. In fact I can't recall any piracy incidents on passenger ships or yachts except the one last summer in the Med where m/y Tiara was raided for cash and valuables and this one as well must have been pre-meditated as you don't just head out, choose the closest yacht and go raid it (inside job?).

Another factor for increased piracy is the economy, in Malacca Straits the piracy hit an all time high when the financial crisis was wreaking havoc in SE Asia in the late nineties and now we see the same occurrence at the Somalian coast.

What do you do if pirates come onboard? First of all the Owner does not pay you to be a hero, so you don't have to man the guns with swashbuckling antics like in the movies. Most plans and manuals advise to give passive resistance, i.e. not willingly give everything that is not asked for, just do the necessary to keep the pirates happy. In passenger ships it is advised that all passengers and crew proceed to their respective cabins and lock the doors (more difficult to control when people are dispersed). The Officers in charge should attempt to send a security breach alarm so the office will know that something is amiss (before the pirates smash the communication equipment).

Somebody might ask, how about fire arms? Well, ask yourself are you willing to kill another fellow man for the salary you are getting? Furthermore, weapons onboard involves a lot of red tape in various countries.

Then many people are asking, how do we prevent piracy attacks? The best prevention is not to go through the affected areas at all but then shipping would stop quite effectively and that is not a solution. As said before one should strive to take out the favored elements that the pirates prefer:
- Moment of surprise;
- Darkness.

Me and me matey, Jack Sparrow, arrrrr....

This means maintain a vigilant lookout, visible patrols on deck at all times with walkie talkies and plan your passage of high risk areas in day time. In addition you can rig your fire hoses to spray a continuous "shield" at the aft. If the Owner's are happy for the extra expense the ship can employ security personnel with sonic guns to disable pirates.

Also plan your passage well off the coast or piracy prone waters if possible. Do note that underwriters today might have issued a clause that that passing closer than 200' (or more) of the Somalian waters might render the policy void or may require additional fees.

As an additional security measure there are Companies that provide armed escort in pirate prone areas as well as armed guards onboard. Some Companies have also installed sonic "weapons" to deter pirates but have no info on how effective they are.

One might also ask about robberies in port which are also rated as piracy attacks but it is like in every port there are thieves and if one is not vigilant they will come onboard and take what they want, sailors has throughout time been too trusting and gullible in foreign ports.

As a closing I might say that the piracy threat is there but can be avoided with the right measures of vigilance and slight paranoia, but otherwise it is overrated for yachts and passenger ships and should not be mentioned as a reason for not sailing.


Friday, November 14, 2008

Yacht crews working

Every man got his duty

Previously I posted a blog about Ships Organisation structure, in this blog I am giving some impressions of how small crews works.

As said earlier, the smaller the crew gets the lesser the ranks are in each department but the job still remains the same (!). Realizing that on the modern yachts the technology is getting more and more advanced the Engineers has on many yachts been reduced to only one person onboard, Officers has been reduced to 1/2 persons and Deckhands maybe 2/3, whereas in the Interior where service is required, they make the bulk of the crew.

When taking the earlier stated fact in consideration, that the work still remains the same the Captain is forced to make different solutions to make the ship "tick". These solutions are many times influenced by the budget he has at his disposal. The cheapest one of course is to eradicate the departmental borders and utilize whole crew wherever needed, each one to her abilities, this is a very special feature in yachting and is a must for anyone wanting to work in this industry. There is no place for "this is not my job" mentality. The crew functions like a big family.

E.g. Major wash down is required after a trans Oceanic voyage, the Owner has decided to arrive the next day so jobs has been scheduled so the interior is cleaned and setup as much as possible before arrival and everybody participates in the wash down of decks and superstructures. After that supplies are being delivered, whole crew helps to carry the lot onboard and assists the Chef and Chief Stew to store it away in nooks and crannies. Everybody works like donkeys in order for the Yacht to look Spick & Span for the Owner when he arrives. Then again if the crew is larger and the Owner is more considerate, he will crew time to prepare and arrives 3-4 days after arrival. Crew works as per their job descriptions and gets a good nights sleep.

The other solution the Captain might do is to use Contractors or Technicians to resolve problems onboard. It also many times depends on the ability of the Chief Engineer of what he can do and the time available. Sometimes it is simply not possible to do without expert help. This applies many times to electronics. Also many machinery may be under guarantee service contracts.

For Deck department the Contractors that are many times used is for major paint jobs, teak deck renewal, bottom cleaning etc. This also depends on how skilled the Chief Officer is in terms of maintenance. A good paint job can be ruined easily with the use of wrong chemicals as well as a teak deck too. The maintenance intervals also depends on what materials are used and what Contractors. As the old saying goes "cheap is not necessarily the best" and once you go cheap you do expensive after, then you got both - cheap and good.

In the Interior they require also loads of items, especially when Guests are prepared for, special food items, beverages, flower arrangements, carpet cleanings etc. Here also Contractors, Suppliers and Shipchandlers are needed. The whole interior is to be detailed, usually as per a set standard by the Owner or Managing Company or the Ch. Stew herself. Here the deck and engine boys can provide little help but they are essential in fixing small items that maybe discovered in the last minute.

The most important person in the crew is the Chef, not only for the Guests but also the crew. If the food is crap nobody will be happy and people will start looking for other yacht opportunities. The whole provisioning part of the boat is very important and it affects the overall spirit onboard.

As conclusion of above you can see that one part is useless without the other. Everybody is necessary onboard, there are no superfluous persons.





Thursday, November 13, 2008

Ship command structure

Ships have a militaristic organization structure going in "chain of command" principle. In Cargo ships and big Cruise ships this organization is quite rigidly followed due to conservatism and on the latter due to the size of crews.

Example of organisation flowchart

Again on Yachts the organization structure is the same but the borders between departments have been blurred due to the size of crew, same can be said of small merchant coasters. The smaller the crew the more teamwork is required to make the boat go, therefore sometimes a Deckhand could be washing dishes and Stewardesses could be doing lookout duty, on big ships this would be unheard of. Also the cohesiveness of a smaller crew is greater than a big crew, i.e. the Chief Stewardess could ask the Deckies to wash the deck instead of the Chief Officer (shame on him).

But, back to the organization structure I think everybody knows that on top is the Captain, as the saying goes "Captain onboard and God in Heaven". Even legally it is not possible to have anybody else to be responsible for the ship than the Captain, this is clearly stated in every governments maritime laws. Therefore it is the Captain who goes and explains what went wrong in court and sometimes also takes the flak for it.

Well, then to continue, below the Captain is usually 3 characters, namely the Staff Captain (Chief Officer), Chief Engineer and Hotel Manager (Chief Stewardess). Sometimes there might be also a Radio Officer but he is mostly relegated to history nowadays due to advanced technologyz. These 3 persons represents the department head for the:

1. Deck department;

2. Engine department;

3. Hotel (Interior) department.

In big Cruise ships there may be additionally a Security Dept and Surveillance Dept but I won't delve into these any further.

The Deck Department is lead by the Chief Officer and he has usually below him at least a 1st Officer (if not then we're talking abt a very small boat) and the bigger the vessel gets the more Officer's he has, the responsibilities being separated to Safety, Maintenance, Security and Navigation. Below the Officer's there is usually a Boatswain (Bosun) sometimes followed by a Carpenter, then, Able Seamen, Ordinary Seamen and Apprentice's. The difference from Apprentice to Boatswain is mostly years of experience onboard as well as necessary courses to be taken for the qualification.

The Engine Department is lead by the Chief Engineer and has usually below him a 1st Engineer who is then followed by other Engineer's depending on the Machinery onboard. Below the Engineer's there is traditionally a Donkeyman, Fitter's, Motormen, Oilers and Wipers. Same applies here too as in Deck department, for higher rank depends years of experience and education level.

The Hotel Department is lead by the Hotel Manager and depending on the size of ship loads of people below and I won't even attempt to explain it here. On yachts the Chief Steward has a row of Stewardesses, a Chef and sometimes a Sous Chef (2nd Cook) as well as a Laundryman.

In the olden days the radio telegraph or "sparky" formed his own department but has now been replaced by electronic boxes.

As for how the crews work onboard and different working situations I will elaborate more on that in my next blog :)

Saturday, April 19, 2008

What yacht is good for you?

Wally yachts

Many times you see or hear of a yacht and you just wish you could work there, but sometimes the picture behind the scenes is not as rosy as it looks like from the outside. The question here is how to sort out on what kind of yacht one is suitable to work on?

Schopfer yachts

First one needs to figure out what personal strengths and ambitions you have:

1) Leadership;

2) Willingness to do various jobs, some maybe not in your job description;

3) Special skills (fishing, diving, etc.);

4) Salary requirement;

5) Contract length;

6) Age and "face-factor";

7) Your certification required for said yacht.

These factors determine what you are ready to do and where you might not fit into.

Origami

Some yacht Owners do have very specific requirements for the crew, I have come across following requirements:

- Gender;

- Sexual orientation;

- Age;

- Nationality.

One have to remember that this industry has no unions so there is no equal opportunity policies applying.

Why not?


Lazzara yachts

Few questions you can put to yourself when reading about or being offered a position

- Do you want to work on a yacht with Owner's onboard all the time?

- Do you want to do a year long contract?

- Do you want to work on a 40yr old yacht?

- Do you want to work for all nationalities and with multiple nationalities?

- Do you like the traffic area?

- Do you like the size of the yacht?

- Do you want to share a cabin?

- Do you like motor or sail yachts?

- Do you like a private or charter yacht?

These questions are very important and I can elaborate on every answer.

Sail yachts

Lastly, when we are talking about positions where the crew is likely to be in close contact with the Owner (e.g. Captain and Ch. Stew) we come to the last hurdle - the "face factor". It is the compatibility test, if the chemistry is not there you won't get the job. It is the first meeting with the Owner himself. There is nothing one can really do about it, we show our sunny side and hope for the best and fear the worst.



Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Conventions regulating ships

All might have heard of different Conventions and Standards etc. stipulating different rules of how a ship has to be built and managed.

The top of the pyramid is actually United Nations (UN), and in there is an Organization called International Maritime Organization (IMO) and from there most of the regulations are churned out for our safety etc.

The 1st regulatory item came out shortly after the Titanic disaster and it was called Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), this book has now been edited numerous times and is a big tome today. In this book you'll find standards set for hull, machinery, electric installations, safety equipment, safety of navigation & other misc items. This is the corner stone when you start to build or alter a vessel.

After SOLAS it was followed by the launch of Maritime Pollution prevention convention (MARPOL) due to all oil pollution in the world and if I remember correctly after the foundering of Amoco Cadiz in France. Today it is an equally impressive book as SOLAS and it covers all aspects of pollution including exhaust emissions. This resulted for the 1st manual to be placed onboard, namely the Shipboard oil pollution prevention plan (SOPEP).

Then when the disasters came one after the other the eyes turned into the education of seamen onboard and the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) was launched in 1978 and in 1995 was revided extensively. This book as it says covers what your training should be if you want to study for a STCW standard certificate.

After these books it was quiet for awhile but when the Herald of Free Enterprise capsized outside Zeebrugge and the Scandinavian Star burned down on the North Sea then in 1990's the International Safety Management (ISM) was brought forward. A seemingly draconian system to find the weak link in accidents which increased paperwork onboard ships dramatically. It is now mandatory for all ships over 300GT to have this Code implemented and when used right it becomes an effective tool for the Ships Officers.

Eventually Osama bin Laden shocked the world with his twin tower bombing and it resulted that the International Ship and Port facility Security Code (ISPS) was launched onto us. This code is similar as the ISM code but relates to the security aspect of the boat. As an interesting tidbit for everybody to know is that this Code is divided into two parts and those boats who pays visits to US ports have to implement both parts. Additionally there is no size restriction for ships entering US, all must have a Ship Security Plan onboard.

In addition to these publications there are instances like the Chamber of Shipping and MCA publishing manuals and books that refers and translates these regulations, also IMO publish numerous smaller rags that relates to Load lines, Code of safe working practices etc.

Anyways, the publications mentioned above are mandatory for SOLAS ships, i.e. >300GT and carries more than 12 passengers so you may wonder what is in this for yachts?

Well, if they are not SOLAS yachts then there not so much that applies but if you are a Commercial yacht you need to comply wiith the MCA Large Yacht code (LY2), now launched as a M-notice by MCA and can be downloaded for free on the net. As a Large Yacht you need to have most of these pulications onbaord as well as the ISM implemented etc.

Some useful links:
IMO home
MCA home
MCA M-notices
MCA MAIB reports
C.I. regs