November 2006 | Page - 1
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MARPOL CAMPAIGN COMES TO AN END:
ENTIRE  FLEET  PARTICIPATED WITH  ENTHUSIASM AND GUSTO

We thank our seafarer participants for their enthusiastic response to this campaign. It clearly reflected their deep and heartfelt concern for the health and well being of our old friend and benefactor - THE DEEP BLUE SEA.

The campaign, ran over three fortnights (some feedback was still trickling in when we went to press) has been helpful in fostering the understanding of our sea going staff about legislation and anti-pollution hardware onboard. Additionally it has educated us in the office, regarding the difficulties experienced by them while working with old and obstinate machinery, so as to always remain fully compliant with MARPOL regulations.

The best write-up and best poster honours were taken by LPG/C Warwick and LPG/C Emiland respectively (they also distinguished by reporting in good time) and were included in the previous edition of the ENB. (continue on page 4 >)


Best runners-up posters during the MARPOL campaign

A GROUNDING IN THE BASICS
*Note: This monthly safety moment is collected from various sources for educational purpose and is not an actual incident from the ESM fleet.

A ro-ro ferry with 110 people on board was leaving a port at night via a 731-metre wide buoyed channel. The master had the con and was accompanied on the bridge by a third officer and a helmsman.

Following a VHF conversation with the pilot on board an inbound 25000gt bulk carrier, the master had manoeuvred the ferry close to the northern limit of the channel to avoid impeding the large inbound vessel. Course was 290 degrees and speed was 15 knots over the ground.

As the bulk carrier passed down the ferry’s port side, the third officer moved to the port bridge wing to check that she was passing clear. At the same time, the master ordered ‘port ten’ to keep the ferry within the buoyed channel and clear of its red lateral buoys marking its northern limit.

The helmsman, who was using starboard rudder at the time, repeated the order, but applied 10 degrees of starboard helm. Because the ship’s head did not seem to be responding, the master then ordered ‘port twenty’ followed several seconds later by ‘hard to port’. On both occasions, the helmsman again repeated the order, but increased the amount of starboard helm. When the master looked at the rudder angle indicators mounted on the bridge deck head, which was about 16 seconds after he had ordered port helm, the helmsman’s error was immediately apparent. The helm was quickly put hard to port and the engines to full astern. However, by that time, the ferry was turning to starboard and was leaving the buoyed channel.

The corrective action was taken too late to prevent the ferry from grounding.


invites the applications for
DECK CADETS
(Jan 2007 Batch)
and
GRADUATE MARINE ENGINEERS
(DEC 2006 BATCH)

Applications are now open.
For more information, please visit www.samundra.com.
Alternatively prospective candidates can contact ESM Mumbai or any of our field offices.

LESSONS LEARNT
•

This is not the first time a helmsman has put the helm the wrong way in pilotage waters, and it won’t be the last. However, such a mistake need not result in an accident. Regardless of the experience of those involved, this can only be achieved by the good seamanship practice of habitually checking the rudder angle repeater after each helm order has been given. It will often be too late to rectify the error if the movement of the ship’s head is relied upon.
•
To steer a course, helmsmen frequently need to carry large amounts of either port or starboard rudder due to variety of reasons, including the weather, engine configuration and trim. In such circumstances, the procedure of taking control of the rudder, when initiating a turn, by ordering ‘midships’ just prior to the intended alteration prevents any delay in turning in the required direction, and also helps to reduce the risk of confusion. Conning is an extremely important but simple procedure on which the safety of a ship depends. In pilotage waters and in close proximity to other vessels it needs to be both positive and precise.
 
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