NEW ICE SIMULATOR INSTALLED AT
SAMUNDRA INSTITUTE OF MARITIME STUDIES
ICE NAVIGATION TO BE PART OF SIMS TRAINING PROGRAMME SOON.
“Ice strengthened” seems to have
become the term of the day for all operators
of medium range product carriers and Aframaxes.
However, the safe shipping of oil through
icy waters is not only a question of extra
steel weight and more powerful engines; it
also means new challenges and responsibilities
for the seafarers manning these ships and
operators managing them.
With the increase in the ice class vessels
under the management, the in-house training
of Executive Ship Management has taken a new
dimension with the introduction of the Ice
simulator within the existing facility of
SIMS, Mumbai campus. Following our tradition
and policy, the simulator has been constructed
and being honed with ingenious Indian expertise
and in-house guidance.
The
trial run for the simulator is scheduled within
next two weeks and we expect a thorough scrutiny
of the system prior put into practical implementation.
With the full installation and implementation,
this is going to be the first ever ice simulator
in any maritime training institute in India.
Indeed another milestone for SIMS that the
institute is truly proud of!
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| *Note:
This monthly safety moment is collected from various sources and
is not an actual incident from the ESM fleet. |
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EXHAUST
GAS ECONOMISER FIRE |
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A vessel while departing
from port carried out a number of manoeuvres as it proceeded
out to open sea, without the auxiliary boiler circulation
pump having been started. This resulted in some leaking
tubes as the heated tubes were exposed to cold water.
There was no bypass of exhaust gas from the main engine,
so speed was reduced, and the economiser was emptied and
shut off from the steam system. Speed was subsequently
restored.
After a few hours a soot fire was discovered and extinguished.
Upon examination, several tube sections were found to
be partly melted and were blanked off. The voyage continued.
The economiser was repaired at the earliest opportunity. |
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Probable
cause |
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Modern two-stroke diesel engines
running on heavy fuel oil will inevitably generate quantities
of soot when running slowly and when heavy manoeuvres
are carried out for an extended period. Furthermore, the
possibility exists that excess cylinder lubricating oil
may follow the exhaust gas and mix with the soot. This
may reduce the ignition temperature below the normally
expected gas temperature during operation, approximately
220 - 260 deg. C. If not removed, such soot deposits may
ignite when the engine returns to full power.
On the vessel in question, the economiser was fitted with
spiral-finned tubes which increases deposition of soot
and manual, locally-operated chain driven soot blowers.
In the above case, it is probable that soot blowing was
‘forgotten’ or overlooked.
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| LESSONS
LEARNT |
Soot blowing of the economizer
must be carried out on a daily basis at sea. If the
ship has been under manoeuvring for long hours soot
blowing must be carried out after increasing engine
rpm, where possible, or immediately after rpm is increased
on departure port.
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circulation pump should be started well in advance of
the main engine, and should not be shut off for at least
2 - 3 hours after shutdown of the main engine, so as to
ensure proper cooling of the economiser tubes. (Care should
also be taken to avoid starting the circulation pumps
with cold water during normal full load operation of the
main engine). |
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