The Monitor

Pulling up the barge's spuds
on a very chilly day

We pulled stakes - literally, the barge was "staked" in - from Deception Bay about three weeks ago (as written at the time when I had no internet service). However the weather deteriorating, and not having an anchor on the barge, meant we steamed around the bay doing circles for three days. Yes, there is no more fun a sailor can have, than that, idling around in circles. After a few days, and a favorable forecast, the captain decided to exit Deception Bay, and make a run to the lee side of Baffin Island, and down to the tip of the Labrador coast.

The tug is a considerable size tug, but still it bounced around a fair bit. Not wanting to take chances, I did some drugs, OK well, as close as I come to them anyways, so I popped some Gravol. After a couple days of bouncing around, I felt confident enough to wean myself off, and despite being slightly nauseated, I was able to maintain function. Nice to get my sea legs back, after many years threading the muddy waters of the St Lawrence.

Looks can be deceiving - cold and rolling north Atlantic

It was my first time in this part of the world, the Labrador coast is a very dramatic sight. The steep ice covered shoreline rises dramatically from the Atlantic. Not a tree in sight, very few bird sightings. It is a scraggly coastline full of shoals and hazards. Not very inviting, but impressive to see. There was open discussion about the possibility of winding up on those shores and our ability to make it off again. These thoughts highlights the very obvious fact that a ship, is but a small spec on this landscape, and that our lives are so very fragile.

Canada's Northern Labrador coast

On our way down - East, South East, we were treated to beautiful clear skies, and of course a considerable display of the Aurora Borealis - the Northern Lights. Yellowish and subtly changing shape, they stretched out the width of the arctic night sky, making a cap shape over the north pole. The sky was quite visible as there was a total absence of any other man made light for as far as the eye could see.

Beautiful to most, not a place to "go ashore"

Third tug, third drydock, third contract

After many years on "conventional" shaft and propeller powered vessels, I am quickly coming to appreciate the complexity of Z drives, right angle drives, or whatever these are called in your neck of the ocean. With three dry-docking in three contracts, on three different boats, in one year, I am getting some familiarization with these complex machines.

My latest adventure involves a Kawasaki Rexpeller drive, which had earlier eaten a rope, supposedly damaging the stern seal. Water was now coming into the unit at an alarming rate. With no facilities nearby, the only options was to renew the oil as much as possible and fill it to the top of the unit, creating a static pressure to counteract the water pressure.

Not quite perfect oil for lubrication

These 2000 hp units take about 1500 liters of oil, so getting rid of this oil, and having new oil to replace it with, can be quite the logistical challenge, especially being in a tug, in a very remote operating environment.

To further constrain the influx of water into the unit, we shifted some fuel around and used our aft potable water tanks to lighten the stern, in hopes of reducing inward pressure on the unit. These tactics seem to work, as the "oil" level in the unit remain constant for the rest of the trip.

After a couple of hours

The oil in the unit was severely contaminated with water. The first sample I took had three layers to it; 80% milky emulsified oil, 2% greenish crap, and the rest, clear water. Not a very good mix, to say the least.

The unit has 4 filters, but only the small one for the Clutch Pump seem to pick up sludge and get plugged up. The sludge was unlike anything I had ever seen before, a greenish brown, gel-like substance that would easily meld together, but was very difficult to remove. The stuff just would not break down.

I tried the usual suspects, diesel, degrease, dish soap, hot water, brake cleaner; nothing seems to break this stuff down. The Second Engineer used de-scaler which seem to do the trick, but took some additional mechanical effort to get the filters clean. Very strange stuff.

Filter, housing cap with bypass, + slime

I also observed another phenomena during this ordeal, which I am not sure was caused by this particular incident, but was worth noting. The filter housings, like most hydraulic system housing, has a filter restriction gauge at the top (magnetic). This gauge is connected to the bypass valve built into the housing, where as the filter plugs up, the pressure lift a pressure relief valve opening to the pump suction directly.

The housing is made of aluminum and the valve disk, made of bronze. The valve disk moves up and down in a bore within the lid of the filter housing. It was interesting to see that galvanic corrosion had damaged the unit, and actually seized the valve, which also meant the restriction indication was not functioning. Of course this meant as the filter picked up the sludge, it plugged; without the bypass functioning, cause stress in the pump, illustrated by heat and noise.

It could be that the z drive has had water issues before, but there was damage, pitting, discoloration, etc, to suggest the speed of damage due to emulsified water flowing through the filter unit, creating a galvanic reaction, was astounding.

Incidentally the oil, Shell Tellus 68, seemed to suspend the water quite well, considering how much was in there. Immediately some water settle out of it, but after that, it remained milky for 5 or 6 days before the water dropped out, and then the oil cleared up quite quickly, over one day. Very neat to see.

Zed's handiwork; modern Z Drives might make engineers feel like this,
might need some tools "and some hard piping N***** !"

What makes you think I have
more time to sort your shit out?

My father in law is nearly in his nineties, having lived a full life, but with many hardships. They grew up in the time of the great depression, where all things were precious and should not be "thrown out". I don't entirely disagree with this philosophies, but one must come to grips with the realities of the usefulness of a particular piece, versus the ability to find it in a timely manner, within the tight confines of an engine room, and its less than ideal storage environment.

Now, I dive into this topic, after seeing my latest handiwork on my last ship, the hold, full of buckets of scrap metal, and garbage bags full of used orings, gaskets, many two feet chunks of hard rubber hoses that would make a cop smile.

Now there is some merit of keeping certain items that are in "ready to use" condition, I am a firm believer in the reduce, reuse, recycle mentality. Some items are worthy of the "used but good" label, however I find this label to be the most common and misused label in the engine room. If it was good, why was it taken off in the first place?

Some pointers: main engine exhaust valves missing chunks, used gaskets, large collections of orings removed for the last 15 years, shafts with missing splines, six pump housings with missing guts, gaskets that shatter like glass, etc, are all good examples of things that are used, and NOT good. Its okay to recycle these things, really it is. Hey, I'm all for keeping a used cylinder liner if it is within specs, but what use is it if you don't have a hone on board, are you really going to use it? Is it properly stored for corrosion?

Leave your hoarding ambition off the boat!

My rule of thumb for general stuff, is if I don't foresee the need for a particular used item in the upcoming 12 months, then it does not belong in the engine room. If it special, very special, it gets a label as to what it is, it's condition, date, signature, and placed in the appropriate spot - where you would expect to find associated parts.

The problem of hoarding is not new, just have a look at the "reality" shows on cable tv; hoarding is a problem, one that affects sailors too. I find it to be a problems, not just because of the obvious clutter and it's safety consequences, but because it gives you a false sense of security... and at sea, there is nothing worse than that.

You get on board, you look around, and you say to yourself, okay she's and old girl, but looks like we have spares to handle a fair bit of trouble. Then trouble hits and your left searching aimlessly through a pile of garbage that is disorganized, to find something that resembles what you are looking for, but once you put it in, realize, hey, its leaking at exactly the same spot as the unit you trying to replace.

Used but good, my ass!

If this looks like your ship spare's
locker, its time to move on

Now you have wasted your time, which could be in a very awkward navigation area, say, in the middle of the English channel (been there, done that). Probably made the leak worse, due to monkeying around with it in the first place; stripped the bolts tightening it up "a little more". Now you have a much bigger problem, its worse, and you've wasted allot of time - up shit creek without a paddle.

Now I understand our need for back up and security. Its a great idea, but keeping junk around is not that useful. Building buckets and buckets of scrap and disorganized nuts and bolts are, in my experience, is of not much use - just landed it, and save the company time and money, and perhaps your life.

Most companies have detailed purchasing procedures, they are there to help you, learn them, and if you need an item, order it. I find many engineers are afraid of these procedures and / or actually fear asking for stuff. If the office deems that order not be necessary, then it is not your fault if downtime accumulates. Keeping junk on board will probably cost more in fuel over the life of the vessel, carrying that ballast around, than it would buying the right part, and having a system to find it.

By the way, if you are finding yourself overwhelmed by hoarding... huh, used but good enthusiast, my sister runs a cleaning company to help you. Shes is much more diplomatic than I. My cleaning usually involves three bins... garbage, metal recycling and very small potential keeper bin - second look before tossing.

All images from various internet sources.

The Rozen's CE comforting the Cook

I just finished watching a pretty powerful 2012 Danish film about piracy, called, A Hijacking (Kapringen) and I thought I'd share...

Last year’s Hollywood block buster, Capt. Phillips, briefly introduced the general public to the very real problem that is modern day piracy. Obviously the message from Hollywood was the usual one, with easy answers found at the end of a gun, which, when you think about it, is really the heart of the Somalie pirate situation.

A Hijacking takes the viewer on the tedious road that way too many people have found themselves on as a reslt of these crimes. The story is that of the cargo ship MV Rozen, that is commandeered by pirates on its way to India. While I saw much over dramatization in Capt Phillips, this film was by far, more believable, if not downright scary close to what I imagine, is the real situation faced by those involved.

A Hijacking is not a “flashy” movie, and unlike Capt Phillips, the camera work is steady, most of the time. Although it is a powerful story, the "creative license" is limited, with the style of the film, deferring to more tangible realities. Similar to Capt Phillips, the director chooses an almost documentary tone to convey the story.

The main protagonists are the ship’s Danish crew, the Chief Engineer, Captain, and the Cook. Generally the story follows the Cook, while under capture, and the various challenges dealt him. While onshore, at the Orion Seaways headquarters in Denmark, the story follows the CEO, as he negotiates with the pirates. The stresses are well conveyed and realistic.

I am not sure how close, it is to a real occurrence, but this story of fiction, is definitely not recommended viewing for any spouses of sailors bound for the Indian Ocean. Both, Capt Phillips and A Hijacking, were conceived at the height of the Somali piracy crisis; the situation, in that area, has improved somewhat, but we certainly cannot let our guard down. The piracy problem remains a very serious one, in numerous areas of the world.

This film does a great job at chronicling the many problems around such a traumatic event, or at least demystifying the process. I would certainly recommend it, if you can find it. The film is in Danish, with some spoken English and Arabic, so you’ll probably need the subtitles.

The cargo ship MV Rozen is heading for harbor when it is hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. Amongst the men on board are the ship's cook Mikkel and the engineer Jan, who along with the rest of the seamen are taken hostage in a cynical game of life and death. With the demand for a ransom of millions of dollars a psychological drama unfolds between the CEO of the shipping company and the Somali pirates.

Here's a review and another; here is the IMDB page.

Marine Engineering – The New Wave is looking for you: the sparkle in your company’s portfolio, the passionate debater, the champion of maritime matters, the creator of ships, the whiz of solutions, the grand visionary, the energy innovators… Yes, The New Wave wants you all!

Technical Conference and Marine Exhibition

The New Wave is a technical conference and exhibition occurring June 2014, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Western Canada is in the initial stages of a massive surge of activity and renewal in the marine industry. From shipbuilding, design, repairs, to training and emerging renewable energy market, things are happening in the Pacific Northwest, and we would like to you to be involved, at the "ground floor".

The conference is hosted by the experienced, not for profit, Vancouver Island Branch of the Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering; a passionate group, committed to professional development. They would like you to come, and share your marine passion, as presenter or speaker, at the conference. Mr. Malcolm Barker, Vice President and General Manager of Seaspan’s Victoria Shipyard, will be the Master of Ceremonies.

The Vancouver Island Branch has held numerous conferences over the last 15 years, and is excited to have a solid foundation ready for another successful conference, featuring technical presentations, a marine exhibition, and ample opportunity for networking.

We would like you to present your latest development, ideas, and vision with peers. Please submit your expression of interest to participate as a speaker / presenter, by February 26th, 2014, by email to papers@thenewwave.ca.

The official website can be found at www.thenewwave.ca, specific details on how to participate as a presenter may be found here.

Evans McKeil

We are just wrapping up cargo operations in Hamilton, the cargo is of wheat, lightered off the grounded Orsula,off Cape Vincent in late December. The ship made it to Montreal albeit with some damage to her propeller, but the "salvaged" cargo has been a long experience on its own, challenged by numerous weather, and "administrative" fronts.

My workplace, and home, for this particular adventure has been the tug Evans McKeil. Would you believe it, this tug was built in 1936 !

Well of course you believe it, it’s a Canadian boat. Yup, this is by far the oldest vessel I’ve worked on in my career, the second oldest being my first ship, the 1947 built, Anscomb. While the Anscomb is now resting at the bottom of Kootenay Lake in BC, the Evans McKeil continues to chug along the Great Lakes.

...from the original drawings

The Evans McKeil, was originally built as the Alhajuela, for the Panama Canal Mechanical Division in Balboa, Canal Zone. She had a sister, the Arraijan; both were named after cities in Panama. Despite her age, she only bore three names in her life.

...is that the inside of a boiler?
Nah, just the steering flat.

In 1970, the tug was brought up to the Great Lakes by Malcolm Marine, and renamed Barbara Ann, after the company's matriarch. She entered the Canadian register in 1991, since then she’s been known as the Evans McKeil, named after the founder of the Hamilton based family company.

The 110 foot long, single screw tug, has a beam of just over 25 foot, with a draft of 10 foot. The hull is riveted and she has a tonnage of 433 tons.These tugs must have been quite the showpiece, when they were first launched in Panama!

Evans McKeil: a riveting story!

Because of the simplicity of the design, the engine room is actually pretty nice, big, bright, open, airy, probably no good for water ingress, but nice to work in. However, despite her size, she does not carry a whole lot of fuel.

The tug originally had twin Ingersoll Rand, 6 cylinder, 900 hp, engines, each driving 350 kW generators at 250VDC. The propeller was powered by the single, 750 hp DC electrical motor, turning to a maximum 135 rpm.

So nice, not to bang
your head everywhere

In 1965 she was re-powered with a single GM 16-278 Diesel engine producing 1700 hp, at 750 rpm, into Western Gear reduction gearbox. Sometime later, she was again re powered, this time, by an EMD 16V645, blower engine putting out 2,150 hp, to give her a speed of 10 knots.

Having just completed an inspection the other day, the main engine is in excellent shape. As strange as it may sound, I’d say there is a good chance this boat should be around for it’s one hundredth anniversary.

You can read more about the Evans' history from its previous owner, Malcolm Marine. Here are some pictures, more here.

A good broadside of the Evans McKeil. ...from the interwebs

Another day in Newfoundland, another blizzard

Yes, I am back online, after a brief one week stint at home, from a salvage job in Ontario back in early January, I’ve been dispatched clear across the country, to Newfoundland. The first time I’ve spent any time

Designated onboard smoking area

in this far flung place, unfortunately, the near constant blizzards and remoteness of the dock has meant little sightseeing. The boat is really old and leaks, water was dripping from the deck head, and onto my laptop frying the keyboard.

Then to make matters worse, the vessel’s superintendent has “forbidden” us to use the “Rocket Stick”, our cell link to the internet- my only link to the outside world – too expensive. I guess he’s trying to pad his bonus. Despite all these challenges, I was able to order a new keyboard from Amazon.

Keyboard damage culprit identified

The new keyboard, amazingly, did make it to the security shack of the port, and fit perfectly in my laptop. But in continuing with my bad luck, turns out, some of the keys do not work, due to a manufacturer defect. I got my money back, but given my current situation, it’s been frustrating to get any blog post out. So after three weeks here, I have been able to engineer some “work arounds” to my problems, and hopefully I am able to offer some interesting insight.

Just watched Stallone and Schwarzenegger’s latest movie, Escape Plan. Stallone is some expert in maximum security prison - a breakout artist - and he gets to test out the latest “alphabet soup” secret super max prison. I had to laugh at the irony of it all, because as it turns out, the prison is actually a ship, or more correctly, on a ship.

What do you think being a seafarer is all about?

Despite Stallone and Arnold, the biggest star of the show is the "fictitious" ship, MV Rican. The movie ship looks like a tanker, probably is a bulker, but is used as a “passenger ship”.

Vale's got nothing on Hollywood

I did some sleuthing and I found that the "ship set”, as determined by the IMO number seen in the engine room fight scene - (IMO 7621932) - is the MV Rican. In the movie, the ship has been heavily, and ridiculously transformed by the special effects people. The story is as equally laughable.

The Rican, is a Comoros flagged bulk carrier, built in 1979, and is actually listed as "broken up". The 61,400 DWT bulker bore many names including, MV Americana, as she was pictured back in early 2012, when she was in New Orleans, where I imagine they did the filming.

If Hollywood really knew how many regulations an internationally trading ship must conform too, they would never put a prison on it, never mind wast money and energy putting bars on it - no need, its already a prison.

Two wheelhouses, cool

The denouement of the story occurs, where else, in the dimly lit, eerily quiet, dungeon like engine room. There, the meanest of the guards, played by Vinnie Jones, gets to rumble with Stallone, bouncing his head off the main engine, before “taking a tumble” down the ladder.

Stallone then proceed to the control room, to “dispatch” the duty engineer who confidently wields a 14 inch pipe wrench. Our protagonist then pecks at the computer, turns a few knobs, and voila, the ship suffers a total blackout, releasing all the magnetic locks, and gains an honorary STCW engineering license.

No artistic license needed

Of course, anyone with any sense of ships would laugh at the situation, well, a nervous laugh anyways. Ships and prison after all, have an intertwine culture don’t they. Well one thing is for sure, Hollywood keeps reinforcing the stereotypes of commercial shipping. One thing is for certain, it does the seafarer recruiting department no favours.

NYC: March 2003

As it turns out, my latest hitch aboard another old tug, has taken me clear across the country, to Newfoundland. Unfortunately, as many in Eastern North America have experienced, the weather is brutal, and not conducive to many maritime operations.

With no civilization nearby, and with no other entertainment options, we’ve been passing the time watching quite a few movies, now well into my “second choice” library, which seem to include a large number of “prison” movies; such as the one mentioned in my previous post.

All these prison movies have got us talking about prison life. Just the other day we were talking about isolation and comparing the size of our cells, huh, cabins, onboard this 1948 built tug. As it turns out, my cabin measures 6 feet by 5, while the deck guy’s is 5 feet by 4 and half feet.

I understand a prison cell is 6 feet by 9 feet, with its own sink and toilet – can you imagine, what a dream! And those are in the US, think of the prison cells in Norway, or Sweden, wow, those would be so awesome to have.

We have a small bathroom for all of us, with the floor space probably around 6 square feet. Throw in additional challenges like no internet, working tv signal, or cell phone signal, limited food, a Detroit Diesel generator about 6 feet from my pillow. And all of it, in a Transport Canada approved secured port facility, meaning no easy access off the vessel.

NFLD: February 2014

Oh, did I mention that my computer crapped out due to the numerous leaks from the poorly insulated boat, raining on my laptop keyboard, shorting it out. Ultimately one has to have a good sense of humour to be a seafarer these days.

I once worked on a dive support vessel doing a gas pipeline in New York City, at the time the condition aboard were similar to those I am experiencing these days. Of course the topic of conversation was also similar.

Once, we were off Rikers Island, New York City’s infamous prison, where we could observe inside the prison, the inmates watching TV. Soon, one diver started making comparison to life aboard a ship and that in prison – better sleep… cable TV… hot food… little chance of drowning… warmth.

Someone in the back of the galley piped up… and regular sex.

Old jet fighter, center of town

In the previous posts I talked allot about isolation and prisons, well, because it feels like that for me right now. I am on a small tug near the town of Stephenville, in western Newfoundland. We are docked at the site of the old pulp mill, abandoned a few years ago.

I was coming back from town the other day, after paying the cab driver his $30 for the “grand tour”, I could not help to think that I had found the inspiration for the TV series, The Walking Dead.

You see the town of Stephenville is actually a former US military base, the Ernest Harmon Air Force Base. Newfoundland was, not that long ago, part of Britain. The Brits, needing military assets from the US, in exchange made a deal to let the US establish numerous bases in Newfoundland.

Hope you like scenery, cuz there ain't much else

Well, at least its big

When Newfoundland joined confederation, it became part of Canada, and the US eventually left the military bases, at least in Stephenville, pretty much as they had built it.

The town has the charming, if not utilitarian, looks of the military, and makes quite a sight. The center piece of the town, is the giant runway of the former base, literally the pride of the town, despite the fact that no national air carrier lands here.

One of the main roads into town, Carolina Avenue, is actually part of the abandoned tarmac,and runs pass the numerous World War 2 era airplane hangars, in various states of disrepair. A munition bunker is still quite visible down on Missouri Drive. You see, most of the town’s streets are named after US states.

That about covers it. One stop shopping, take that Costco !

World domination, right from NFLD

On Indiana Drive, you’ll find one of the two story utilitarian rectangles, adorned with campy ”southern” columns; that's the former base’s headquarters.

The other rectangles, stereotypical barracks, have been turned into rental housing. One of the former barracks has been turned into a hotel; a new definition of a boutique hotel - take that Toronto!

Now, I am here in the middle of a long winter, its slippery, there is lots of snow, and it’s cold. So people are bundled to the hilts, and slow moving. Trying to speak with all those layers on, only result in mumbling and groans.

Stephenville, or Walking Dead set?

As a fan of TV show, The Walking Dead, and other zombie shows, the sight of Stephenville, old abandoned military base and its “wandering” locals, is just priceless.

Actual Cdn. content may vary

Stunned, amazed - "pinch me", the Canada Transportation Agency has surprised me!

You see, I started watching more closely the application and decision process of the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), several years ago, after my previous vessel was "displaced" by foreign tankers operating between Canadian ports.

For whatever reason, our vessel, its entire crew, and its management lost the work we had been doing for many years, despite being fully licensed, and authorized to carry on, in our respective trade as a product tanker, between Canadian ports.

The CTA administers request for "waivers" of the Canada Coasting Trade Act - Cabotage laws, similar to many other jurisdictions, such as the Jones Act in the USA. Basically they protect Canadian operators engaged in trade between Canadian ports. This may sound romantic to the average joe - the government protecting Canadian workers, but actually it not even close to that.

Construction site of the Hebron GBS in Bull rm - from NTV News

The purpose of the Coasting Trade Act is to protect the Canadian ship owners - which is great - but that is all it does. When rendering a waiver decision, the impacts to the Canadian marine workforce, local economies in spin off industries, is not at all considered. Not even the lack of taxes - duty or income taxes (etc) not paid to the crown is considered, despite the crown (our taxes as Canadians) that pay for a large part of the marine infrastructure in Canada.

Nope, the only thing considered when granting these waivers to operate a foreign owned / crewed vessel in Canada, is whether a Canadian ship owner is impacted. ...and this is dependent on whether this ship owner chooses to speak up about it.

The CTA is pretty much a rubber stamping authority, at least from my perspective. Basically any request made for a waiver is generally granted. This is especially true on the East Coast.

Even with a large and mature "offshore industry", the bulk of the work being done to service Canada's offshore oil reserves is done by foreign owned, and crewed vessel. After all why not, the government seems unwilling to require Canadian content, and a Canadian operator would be foolish to assume protection from such an established pattern.

However the CTA did surprise me a few weeks ago, when it declined a waiver, one of the first I have ever seen. Okay, okay, it was for a pontoon...

" Pontoon - Float (nautical), an air-filled structure providing buoyancy "

So, it's a pontoon, really the most basic of floating structures, but to me, this is a major milestones, because now, we know that the CTA is capable of this type of decision. But it was not an easy win, believe it or not.

Dredge pontoon Source

CTA Decision No. 68-W-2014, came after Jan De Nul NV, a Belgian dredge operators, involved in part of the Hebron project, requested a waiver to utilized the “TISNIX”, "a Mauritian flagged diffuser pontoon", to use with other dredging assets, in March - April 2014, when floating the Hebron GBS begins.

Quebec City based, Groupe Ocean, through its dredging subsidiary, Ocean Dredging DSM Inc., proposed several of its assets would be suitable, and available, for the job. I imagine there was much surprise in this response.

There was some "back and forth" about the suitability of the equipment Groupe Ocean was offering - and yes, remember, we are talking about a pontoon. Eventually, the CTA's Sam Barone determined that there was a suitable Canadian vessel available, and denied the waiver. The basis being...

The Guidelines provide that the onus is on the applicant to demonstrate that a ship that has been offered is not suitable and/or is not available for the proposed activity. Further, the Guidelines recognize that the Coasting Trade Act does not state that an offered Canadian-registered ship must be “identical” to the foreign ship proposed in the application. The suitability of a Canadian‑registered ship is not assessed in relation to the foreign ship, but rather in relation to the requirements of the activity and whether the Canadian-registered ship is capable of performing the activity.

I am not going to hold my breath that this is some kind of major win for the marine industry in Canada, or that this is the start of a trend. After all, 2013 saw the most amount of waiver applications in at least five years. Applications for waivers have been on steady rise, peaking in 2007, but now catching up to peak numbers.

With this decision we find out a couple of things. That there is a limit, even if it is a simple pontoon, and that, some, in the CTA are able to see this limit.

I don't blame anyone for taking advantage of the system that exist. The system is there, because there is an apparent lack of willingness from Canadian ship owners - except for Groupe Ocean in this case - unions, regulators, or clients, to recognize the importance of protecting the Canadian marine industry. Of course, I think this utter stupidity, and self defeating, but it is what it is.

However, if the government, et al, are unwilling to protect the marine industry within it's borders, then remove these stupid regulations applicable to Canadians seafarers, that keep us from competing world wide. Such things as burdensome and antiquated licensing system, and punitive income taxes for starters. I have no problem competing internationally, as a matter of fact, I welcome it.

Canadian seafarers vs world seafarers (source)

I highly recommend keeping track of the decisions and application for waivers. If anything, its really neat to see so many modern ships at work in Canada, without the opportunity to work on them.

What's good for the goose...

In response to my recent blog post on a decision, denying a Canada Coasting Act waiver by the Canada Transportation Agency (CTA) - which is very unusual - Halifax Shipping News tweeted about another story, where the Canadian federal government seems to be stabbing the Canadian marine industry in the back.

In his blog post, Halifax Shipping News highlights a Request for Proposal (RFP) by the Depatment of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) which calls for a "heavy lift" ship, to bring two recently built Hero Class midshore patrol vessels to the West Coast. The ships are built by Halifax Shipyards, and two copies are destined to serve on the West Coast of Canada.

Getting them there, according to the RFP, will involve - that seems to be a foregone conclusion - a non Canadian "heavy lift" ship to transport them through the Panama canal, and to the "area around Victoria". The RFP goes on to suggest ways to dodge taxes and cabotage rules.

Have a look at the RFP here - in particular this section is quite telling...

Since there are few, if any, Canadian heavy-lift vessels capable of performing this transport, most likely an international shipper will be using a foreign-flagged vessel to complete this Contract work. Shipping cargo from a Canadian departure point, aboard a foreign heavy-lift vessel means that there are Canadian Cabotage Law considerations and potential tariffs at the destination; http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-33.3/page-3.html#docCont. To avoid punitive tariffs most shippers would recommend the use of the closest U.S. sea-port to Victoria, B.C., such as Seattle, Washington, to be their destination.

CCG's Hero Class Mid Shore Patrol Vessel in Hamilton, January 2014

Incidentally, I found this article about dodging taxes, while looking for the graphic at the top - I guess the survey was correct, even the government wants to dodge their own taxes and regulations.

What a hectic few weeks. Got home to BC, from a blizzardy Newfoundland, looks like that it still pretty blizzardy over there. Needless to say I more than happy having to decide whether I should mow my lawn today, or tomorrow. Been busy with quite a few projects; taxes, failed computers / Windows 8, construction project, so on and so forth...

One of the project taking allot of my time these days is Marine Engineering : The New Wave. My duty as a volunteer organizer, is to spread the word about this great project, mainly through the website www.thenewwave.ca.

Actually things are really picking up. Since the 1990's, I've been involve in quite a few conference by the CIMarE, and, I am always worried about the pace of development - so fellow organizers tell me. But apparently this conference, and it's planning is well on schedule.

VicShip's GM Malcom Barker
will be MC

We've been fortunate to have a great group of sponsors sign on quite early - Seaspan and ShipConstructor maker SSI being Gold Sponsors, with Point Hope, DSA, UVic and the Canada Welding Bureau taking Bronze Level sponsorships stakes, with Tecsol and SNC Lavallin also providing Sponsorship. BC Shipping News, Western Mariner and of course Martin's Marine Engineering Page have been great Media Sponsors.

The exhibitors are also coming in now, DSA, AXYS, and Belzona being the very early birds! I think any exhibitor will really get a great benefits package by participating, especially their online presence will be superb, if I do say so myself! The site is already ranking high on Google, and having your firm exposed on it, is nearly worth the cost of the exhibition space by itself.

We also had a great deal of really interesting papers submitted, and I am hoping we will be able to release news on the presentations shortly. The conference topic is broad in ocean technology but what's amazing, is how the "new fields" like ocean renewable energy dovetails with "traditional" entities of the marine industry.

We also nailed down the evening social, to be held at the BC Maritime Museum in Victoria BC. We've got a nice socializing opportunity, with scrumptious foods, in a great maritime setting, all lined up.

The project is taking allot of my time, but its always gratifying to be involved. The submission deadline for presentation abstracts is today. I am anxious to release the presentation lineup as it will be of interest to many in the industry, and I hope to see you there as a delegate.

Find out more, www.thenewwave.ca. Marine Engineering - The New Wave; a technical conference and exhibition for marine professionals, Victoria, BC, Canada, June 2014.

Victoria's Delta Resort will be the Conference and Exhibition venue

The Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering's Medal of Excellence Award is the hallmark of achievement in the Canadian marine engineering profession. It recognizes an individual's contribution to marine engineering in this country, whether through innovation, service or leadership.

The inaugural presentation last year to Bud Streeter was one of the high points of Mari-Tech 2013 in Halifax. Interviewed afterwards, Mr. Streeter remarked that "to be recognized by one's peers in our industry is the highest honour one can receive."

The nominee does not need to be a member of CIMarE. They must, however, be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Current members of the National Council and serving Branch Executives are not eligible.

Please send your nominations to me by April 7, 2014. They will be kept confidential. You can find the nomination form and further details here.

The presentation of the medal will be made in May at Mari-Tech in Niagara Falls.

Call for Nominations, Extended to April 7, 2014.

The Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering (CIMarE) was incorporated by federal charter in 1976 to advance and promote the science and practice of marine engineering, naval engineering, naval architecture, ocean engineering, marine electrics/electronics, control engineering and other associated professions. You can find out more about the CIMarE here.

BCIT North Van campus,
home to the Cadet programs

I got an email from Russel Oye recently, letting me know of a great development for the west coast engineering types.

Most of you you may know Russel as the long time Shop Instructor at BCIT's North Shore Marine Campus, where all recent Marine Engineering cadets have passed through. Russel is also involved in the Canadian Institutes of Marine Engineering though the Vancouver Branch.

Recently he's been tasked by BCIT to developed a Marine Mechanical Technician program, and the new Heavy Equipment Technician program.

BCIT's Marine Campus
eng. workshop in 2004

The good news comes in the form of BCIT, and Vancouver Community College (VCC), announcing that they are joining "technical training forces", and are moving them to new facilities on Annacis Island, near Vancouver. The facility will be known as the Motive Power Center of Excellence. The provincial government has contributed 4.5 millions dollars to the project.

Motive power programs train heavy-duty mechanics, transport trailer mechanics, diesel mechanics, commercial transportation mechanics, railway conductors and forklift operators.

“Around 43 per cent of the one million jobs expected to open by 2020 will require trades or technical training,” said Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk. “Co-locating two existing heavy-duty transportation programs into one centre will benefit students, industry and employers.”

Pictured below, is the artist rendering of the new facility. Those of you with the keen eye, will notice the dominate feature of the facility, is a glass walled workshop housing a large MAN Diesel engine.

BCIT and VCC's new Motive Power Center of Excellence on Annacis Island

The fully operational medium speed Diesel engine; an inline 7 cylinder, 48/60 series, with common rail fuel injection, weighs in at 119 tons and puts out 8,400 kW. The 48/60 series of engines is the second largest series of the MAN medium speed portfolio, and this particular engine was recently donated to BCIT, by MAN Turbo and Diesel Canada, a value of 1.3 million dollars.

BCIT's MAN 7L 48/60 engine leaves the factory in Germany

You can read my previous blog post on the engine arriving in BC here.

This is of course, great news for us engineering types in Canada, and more importantly the future engineering types. The prominence of the engine, and its showcasing, may offer the first sight of fascination to a developing mind. Not to mention when our next generation choose this profession, they will have a place to develop their interest, with the latest gear and programs.

Congrats to all those involved. I am very anxious to see the finish product, when the new facility opens, expected to be September 2014. You can read the full press release by BCIT here.

Tee New Wave Organizing Committee

The Vancouver Island Branch of the Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering is hosting “Marine Engineering: The New Wave“, a technical conference and exhibition for Marine Professionals. The conference will take place June 12 and 13, 2014 at the Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort and Spa. The two-day event will feature guest speakers, relevant technical presentations, a trade exhibition, an evening social event and various networking opportunities.

The conference aims to present cutting-edge developments in the marine, industry, from ship design, repair, construction and operations, to oceanography and marine renewable energy. The schedule each day will be made up of four sessions, two of which will focus on Marine Operations. The other two sessions will explore Marine Design and Ocean Technology.

There is a diverse range of topics that will be presented in the Marine Operations Sessions. Presenters from BC Ferries will discuss the process for the adoption of Liquefied Natural Gas technology into the BC Ferries fleet including the technical requirements, business case and the regulatory issues. The Defence Research and Development Centre [DRDC] Atlantic will give a presentation on the simulation naval platform dynamics and the affect on human and equipment safety as it relates to performing a mission. The results of these simulations are applicable to any platform at sea not just naval platforms.

An analysis carried out by the Maritime State University of Vladivostok will be presented regarding the seaworthiness of ships in freezing seas. Generating energy from the oceans and rivers has become a significant area of research and innovation. Marine Renewables Canada will focus on marine renewable energy on the West Coast of Canada, specifically, what project opportunities are emerging and how the supply chain can contribute and benefit.

Investigations using high fidelity computer simulations are being used to predict the performance of wave energy conversion technology will be presented by the West Coast Wave Initiative based at the University of Victoria. The Oregon Wave Energy Trust will highlight the developments of the wave energy sector in Oregon and the United States. Robotically controlled underwater devices are increasingly used in marine industries. Separate presentations will be given on underwater robotic logging and seafloor robotic mining.

Also from DRDC is a presentation on the development of a docking strategy for recovering an ROV with a submarine through virtual prototyping. Another presentation will examine how adaptive learning techniques can be used to develop vessel and equipment specific
training for fleets.

A few examples from the Marine Design Sessions are as follows: Speakers from the University of Victoria’s Department of Mechanical Engineering will give a presentation concerning the development of an integrated design and analysis platform for hybrid-electric ship propulsion taking into account the dynamics between powerplant, drivetrain and ship hydrodynamics. The presentation will detail UVic’s Green Ship and Hybrid Power Systems research.

Bart Stockdill, representing Robert Allan Ltd.,will discuss how computational fluid dynamics can be used as an effective alternative to costly and time-consuming scale model testing to evaluate the performance of tugboats and other workboats in the design process. The Corvus Energy presentation will cover advances in hybrid and full electric propulsion for passenger ferries that achieve huge fuel savings. A speaker from the National Marine Electronics Association will discuss digital electronic standards for communication between marine equipment in terms of simplifying wiring aboard ships.

The Ocean Technology Sessions will feature presentations focusing on how new technologies will help solve problems currently affecting marine industries. One such presentation from AML Oceanographic will describe how low-power LED-based ultra-violet light sources can be used to control biofouling on a Marine Engineering – The New Wave The West Coast’s Newest wide range of oceanographic equipment.

It is essential for the future of humans that the oceans continue to be a significant source of food. Vancouver Island University will give a presentation on the Blue Revolution, which is adapting advanced engineering to create sustainable shellfish aquaculture systems.

A special area at the conference will be set aside for a poster display of projects by students at post-secondary marine engineering, science and technology colleges and universities.

More details

For the most up to date information regarding the schedule, presentations not mentioned here and all information regarding the conference please refer to the website http://www.thenewwave.ca/

Accommodation

A block of 50 rooms is reserved for conference attendees, however you must book by May 12th, 2014 to access the special pricing. Please contact the hotel reservation line to check availability, call 1-800-667-4677, and mention the conference name, “The New Wave“.

Please view the "Program" tab at www.thenewwave.ca for full details, times, and abstracts of the presentations.

After 20 meetings, about 4000 emails and countless hours of work, Marine Engineering - The New Wave 2014 is finally here.

The event is a technical conference and exhibition for marine professionals and the planning is nearly complete, with less than a week to go. We have an broad series of papers to be presented and a full room of exhibitors. The Exhibition is free to attend, so if you are in the area, drop on by and say hi, see what the Vancouver Island Branch of the Canadian Institute has been up to and what where all about.

The conference will have 24 presentations, one special evening social function, two lunches with special presentations, one from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the other from Brian Carter of Seaspan discussing NSPS progress on the West Coast.

We still have a little bit of room, so consider joining us as delegate, sponsor and even exhibitor... to find out more visit the website www.thenewwave.ca (...a fine website if I do say so myself).

Seaspan's Brian Carter received a
token of appreciation for his update
on NSPS from MC Malcolm Barker

As I type this, we are sailing across the Gulf of St Lawrence, having discharged a load of aggregate in Summerside, where I joined the ship. We are proceeding to Sept Iles to load Aluminum, bound for Oswego, via the St Lawrence Seaway. What a treat it is to continue to explore the numerous aspects of Canada marine scape from coast, to coast, to coast.

I am actually glad to be back onboard, the predictable pace of onboard life is quite the change from my last time at home. This past time home was a bit longer than usual, as I had booked off time to attend The New Wave, a marine engineering conference, I volunteered to assist in delivering.

It was not first conference that I’ve assisted with, the local chapter of the CIMarE has hosted several of these types of conference since 1999, but for some reason this one was particularly tedious. It was very taxing on my relationships with my spouse and kids. The numerous meetings, seeing me at the computer working out bugs on the website, on the phone answering questions, or designing signage and such were encroaching on our family time. To be honest, the Domestic Operations Control Unit (DOCU) errrr, my spouse, was probably more relieved that the conference was over, than I was.

My web “properties” suffered as I spent a considerable amount of time on the project, but there is only so much time in one day. After such a long hiatus of looking after the Dieselduck domain, I am kind of missing it, and I am looking forward to nurturing my baby” again. I enjoy total control of my websites which is incredibly satisfying; after working in committee for the last year, this is quite evident to me now.

Great to meet some exhibitors

The New Wave was well received, and I think went very well, if I do say so myself. As a “ship” guy, the general feel of the conference was more cerebral than the topics I am usually involved in. Delving into the renewable energy sector and those many facets were a bit of a new area for us as a group. The majority of the projects presented may have been in their infancy, but it certainly highlighted the need and opportunity for the ship guys and the theoretical guys to get together and actually do some really neat things.

We had very strong support from our traditional sponsors and exhibitors, I must say, which was really good to see. As for numbers - we had about 115 attendees, 21 sponsors, 22 exhibitors, 24 papers, 2 guest speakers, 1 social event. All made for a very packed two days!

For me, this represents a commitment of more than one year, 20 organizational meetings (in Victoria, a 300km round trip), 1600 emails received – not counting the replies. A huge semi-custom Wordpress website built, including online registration and payment; 22 blog posts. Not to mention 150 tweets and a newfound addiction to micro blogging – there goes more of my time!

Gold Sponsor, SSI's Denis Morais
listens attentively during
technical presentations

Why I did it? Well, to be honest, I doubted the benefits at some points. After some time to reflect, you tally up the knowledge base absorbed, meeting current peers, and future peers, getting out in the community, and at the end of the day it’s an overall benefit professionally. Plus, it benefits our local branch of the Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering – a non profit organization.

It’s been a time consuming affair to say the least, so I apologize publically to my spouse for the intrusion into our daily lives, and appreciate her patience in this, another one of my “projects”.

Unfortunately, I have another project on the go, which will bring more stress into our lives – sorry honey.

I am hoping to start building the new Dieselduck empire world headquarters. Yup, that’s right. The plans have been drawn up, and the subcontractors lined up; when I get home from sea, we start building the headquarters – a one car garage in the backyard.

Hey, gotta start small right; mmmmm, didn’t Apple start that way.You can view all the pictures i took of the event on www.seafarermedia.com. See you all in a couple of years, when we again play host to Maritech, the national Marine Engineering conference.

MV Palva in Montreal, now owned by Transport Maritime St Laurent

I’m back in Quebec, passing through Quebec City, on our way to Oswego, with a load of Aluminum ingots from the smelter in Sept Iles, bound for Mitsubishi. As we pass my “old stomping grounds” in Quebec City I see no signs of Valero’s “new” Panamax tankers. Apparently the whole deal and its details are quite hush, hush, but they are around, I am told.

Valero, the US based oil company that operates Ultramar’s Jean Gaugin Refinery, in Levi, across the river from Quebec City, has purchased two Panamax tankers for an undisclosed sum. The tankers Stena Poseideon and the Palva, where jointly owned by UK based Concordia Maritime, and Finnish oil company, Neste Oil; the deal closed in April 2014. The new owners are Transport Maritime St Laurent Ltd., a new shipping entity in Canada, with Desgagnes being tapped as ship managers.

MV Palva in Montreal

The two ships have a length of 228 m, a beam 32 m, and a draft of 12.2 m, with deadweight of 74,000 tons. They are powered by a MAN-B&W 6S60 MCC main engine, delivering 13,560 kW to a controllable pitch propeller (CPP), to give them a 16 knot service speed. The ice classed ships were built in 2007 and 2006 at the Brodosplit Shipyard, in Split, Croatia, and are classed by DNV. The two ships are bound to be some of, if not, the largest ships on the Canadian ship registry.

The Stena Poseidon has been renamed the Espada Desgagnes, and the Palva, has been renamed the Laurentia Desgagnes. Until Desgagnes takes full management control, Concordia Maritime remains the ship managers. The ships are currently trading internationally in the North Atlantic area, and still fly the Barbados flag, with a non-Canadian crew aboard. In the fall of 2014, they are expected to start regular service between Montreal and Levi, carrying 350,000 barrels of Alberta crude, with 100 trips a year planned.

Picture by FleetMon

The “new” ships are expected to carry crude from Montreal, to Levi, utilizing Berth 86; the smaller, but recently dredged “inside” berth. The bigger outside berth will remain for crude imports from overseas. The plan is based on Valero wanting to take advantage of the cheaper Alberta oil sands crude, coming to Montreal, by Enbridge’s pipeline “9B”, from Sarnia and points west. But until the East West Pipeline Reversal proposition is “rammed through”, errrr, I mean approved, they are faced with a transportation issue between Montreal and Levi.

Media reports state that Valero is spending CDN$180M. on upgrades to their facilities, in Montreal and Levi, to accommodate the two ships. Desgagnes’ Jean Marie Beaulieu is quoted as saying 100 jobs will be created with this new venture.

Berth 86 at Valero's St Romuald Marine
Terminal near Quebec City

A couple of years ago, Valero completed a clean product pipeline from Levi to Montreal, which alleviated some pressure on the local tanker market. Currently, Quebec City based Desgagnes’ Petronav division handles most of the product moved out of the refinery, utilizing Desgagnes own ageing tankers, and those from the (ex)Rigel fleet of four vessels.

Crude oil for the refinery has been coming in from places like Northern Africa on foreign flagged tankers. The addition of two large ships in the St Lawrence River, moving crude, is a net increase of ship borne traffic in Canada, and is sure to stretch the resources available.

One of the problems with the plan, apparently, is a lack of seafarers able to handle this surge in work. Desgagnes is renowned for their low wages, especially for Marine Engineers, so this crewing problem is probably not going to get any better fast. Regardless, it will undoubtedly put some additional pressures on an already tight labour market.

With the federal government’s unwavering support for the Alberta crowd, I wonder where they are going to magically make Engineering and Deck officers appear from. I estimate you would need 20 or so engineering officer alone.

Sister ship Stena Perros

Perhaps we are going to see the “highly successful” Temporary Foreign Worker program come into play, but I would assume this would be too cumbersome for the companies involved, especially with cumbersome and archaic Transport Canada personnel certification regulations.

Alternatively, I would suspect some kind of foreign crewing arrangement, as they don’t have too many options to choose from. At the very least I would expect a strong demand for Certificate of Equivalency.

Given Valero’s past experiences with Canadian cabotage, I would suspect the latter will be deemed necessary, and eagerly facilitated by the Harper Government ™. Of course, we tax paying professional Canadian seafarers we’ll keep getting the “high standards” from Transport Canada, and be left onshore.

Ok, maybe I am too depressing in my views, but no matter what, this is a major development in Canada. There are very few - five other - Canadian crewed, managed, crude oil tankers operating in Canada, so there is a shortage of experience in this market, I would propose. This is a very ambitious plan by Valero, and it is bound to be a major shift / blow / impact on the current Canadian seafarer / shipping scene.

Stena Perros and Vega Desgagnes on Montreal 2008

Does technology ever frustrate you? It seems like we going backwards now when it comes to technology. I was over at the seafarer mission just hours ago, downloaded my email, to read later, then left to sleep before watch. Well, lo and behold, I turn on the computer and, poof, all my emails are gone. Just gone. WTF!

Over the winter I was on a shitty boat and a leak from the deckhead dripped on my computer, frying the keyboard. I guess the computer got confused with so much whacked keyboard input, and corrupted the hard drive. So I had to buy a new computer. I went with a trusty brand, a Toshiba, and of course there was no choice about operating system, so Windows 8, it was.

What a piece of shit ! Both the hardware and software. I have never had to pay so much attention to ‘mickey mousing’ the operating system since Windows 95. This hardware is not user friendly and unnecessarily gimmicky. The keyboard looks cool but is hard to type on resulting in many missed letters.

The operating system is made for the benefit of Microsoft, trying to insert itself into every facet of your life, to try to scam a few more bucks out of you. I get it, they want more profits, they are jealous of how Apple’s been able to swindle so much more money from their users. But it’s just not those basic tools that we need; it seems everything is designed to suck you into a void of unproductive, time consuming, wasteland.

Last year, I create a few websites using different content management systems (CMS); it’s been the trendy thing for some time. Most website now use a form of Wordpress, which is a CMS based system. My intentions were to find a system that would allow me to join the “crowd” and move my website, created in the early days of the internet as we know it, and modernize it.

I am realizing that CMS is like my laptop, its looks really great for the first few minutes, then, you realize what a pain in the ass it is. It is constantly under spam attack, always needs tweaking, because the endless security updates are not compatible with the skin or “apps” you’ve installed. Its non stop !

I was thinking of moving my website to a CMS system, but I am sooooo happy I did not fall down that shithole. No, I like my little old simple HTML website, sure I’ve added a few things here and there, but the time I spend on it now, is actually time producing content. …and time, like many people, is my most precious commodity.

I believe I have a pretty good record of adapting technology and making my day more productive. But these days it seems I am wasting so much time fixing, tweaking, updating, dodging bloatware and scams; and let’s not forget all these gadgets track and spy on you to boot.

I am fuming because I’ve lost my whole email program, luckily I just backed it up a few days ago, so I probably just lost a few emails. But still, technology should not be this painful. It seems now that technology has become an enslaver; I guess it always was, but at least five years ago the benefits outweighed the negatives, to me at least.

Can anyone stop the madness!

Pics from the interwebs

Cold and desolate

Zed is dead!

Used but good... Almost never !

Don't let your spouse see this...

Wanted: Passion, experiences, discoveries

Evans' riveting story

Missing link(s)

Escape from the Engine Room

Regular Sex

Walking Dead settlement found

The CTA refuses a Waiver - Pinch me !

Looking to dodge Cdn taxes? look to DFO for advice

What's keeping you?

CIMarE's 2014 Medal of Excellence

"Big Iron" gets a fishbowl

Technical program released by The New Wave

Worthwhile time sucking vortex

Back to life, after a great big wave

Canada's register to add two crude tankers

Stop the madness