[pedrolourenco]

Unlike the old days when you made a booking, waited for years, then paid the full amount and took delivery of your vehicle, no choice of colours, no test drive etc. today, you can try before you buy. Just walk into any showroom and drive or ride. Anyone can do it as long as you have a driving licence. But then there are some vehicles not everyone gets a chance to drive. No No, I'm not talking about a Ferrari or Lambo. This one's a bit bigger.

I will try and use terminology that can be understood by non-seafarers and whenever possible giving examples of the equivalent item in a Car. So seafarers, please don't laugh. Here are some of the terms I will be using during the review:

1. Bow / Foc'sle: The forward part of the ship.
2. Stern / Aft / Poop: The rear part of the ship.
3. Port Side: The left side when looking from aft towards the bow.
4. Starboard Side: The right side when looking from aft towards the bow.
5. Manifold: The end of the ships cargo pipeline where the shore hose or loading arm (sometimes called Chiksan) is connected. This ship has 7 cargo manifolds on each side plus manifolds for Diesel oil, Heavy Fuel Oil and Vapor.
6. Bridge: Equivalent of an aircraft cockpit. The 7 large windows you can see on top.
7. Monkey Island: The area above the bridge. All the antennae and magnetic compass are placed here.
8. Engine Room: Equivalent of a car's Engine Bay.
9. Ballast: Seawater taken into tanks to weigh down the ship when there is no cargo.
10. ECR (Engine Control Room): A room within the engine room with controls for various equipment in the engine room. The Main Engine can be controlled remotely from the bridge (default position).
11. CCR (Cargo Control Room): A room with all the controls for the cargo equipment.
12. Bulkhead: Equivalent of a wall made of Steel.
13. Porthole: Window.
14. Smoke Room: Living Room
15. Cabin: Bedroom
16. Galley: Kitchen
17. Catwalk: an elevated walkway running in the centre of the main deck from forward to aft.
18. Keel: The bottom plate of the ships structure.
19. Draft/Draught: Depth of the keel below the water surface.
20. Freeboard: The height of the main deck above the surface of the water.
21. Air Draft: Height of the main mast above the water level.

The ship in question here is the BW EGRET. This is the first in a series of ships ordered by the company called the Bird Class. The sister ships are BW EAGLE, BW HAWK, BW FALCON, BW KESTREL etc. Very similar to this are the Cat Class ships named after various Big Cats.

General
This ship is what you call a MR (Medium Range) Oil / Chemical Tanker (Class Notation: +1A1, CSR, Tanker for Chemicals and Oil Products, ESP, SPM, COMF-V(3), E0, VCS-2, CLEAN, Recyclable, BWM-T, COAT-PSPC(B), BIS TMON). It is built at SPP Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. Korea. The ship is registered in Singapore and Classed by DNV-GL.

Engine
The ship has one MAN B&W 6S50ME-B9.3 engine which produces a power of 7660 KW (10414 BHP) @ 99 RPM. Yes it's a slow speed engine. There is no gearbox. The crank is connected to the shaft and the propeller. So it's basically like a Honda Activa. Increase and decrease of speed is done with just the throttle. To reverse (go astern) the engine crank rotation is reversed. This is acheived by changing the firing order of the cylinders. These engines are the new Eco series (I will answer your "kitna deti hai questions later") which are very fuel efficient but not very powerful. I guess you are familiar with this logic. This is what we call an electronic engine. You will call this an engine with a ECU. The ECU is the size of a refrigerator.

The maximum speed is 14.5 Knots (26.854 Kmph). We usually maintain an average of 13 Knots (24.076 Kmph). At this speed our fuel consumption is around 19 Metric Tons per day. That works 577.824 Km for 19222 Litres or 0.03 Kmpl. And yes that is fuel efficient. Hope my calculations are correct. Mathematicians please check.

Cargo
As mentioned earlier it is an Oil/Chemical carrier. Cargo is carried in 14 tanks having a total capacity (98%) of 52850.3 m3. We are only allowed to load the tanks to 98%. Each tank has an individual hydraulic driven cargo pump manufactured by Frank Mohn A/S (popularly know as Framo pumps). The tanks are coated with a grey Epoxy Paint (see photo 7). 12 of the tanks have heat exchangers on deck through which the cargo is circulated to heat it if required. The remaining 2 tanks have heating coils inside. The cargoes that can be carried are all petroleum products and for chemicals we have a Certificate of Fitness that lists all the chemicals the ship can carry. The maximum cargo the ship can carry is determined either by the volume of the tanks (98% capacity) or deadweight (Weight of the ship, people, stores, fuel, water etc plus the cargo). For this ship the Deadweight is 49999 Metric Tons. The draft (depth of the ship below the water) in this condition is 13.286 m. 52.5 Metric Tons causes the ship to sink by 1 cm.

Photos:
1. View of the Main Deck from the Bridge (the ship's equivalent of a cockpit).


2. Starboard side Manifold. The curved metal on the side is the Hose Saddle.
When Cargo is discharged using flexible hoses, the rest on this saddle.


3. Port side Manifold. The yellow pipes are the articulated shore loading arms.
Some ports use them instead of hoses. Cargo is loaded or discharged through them. One crewmember has to be monitoring this at all times. He also has the job of of monitoring the gangway that in the photo there is another crewmember taking care of that.


3. Windlass. Used for heaving and lowering the Anchor. The anchor chain is visible. Also has 2 rope drums for mooring ropes.


4. Mooring winch.


5. Life boat.


6. Oil Discharge Control & Monitoring System. Ensures we do not pollute the seas


7. Electronic Charts (ECDIS) and Radars.


8. Steering Console.


9. Control for the steering pumps.


10. Telegraph (for setting the engine speed).


11. Various Emergency Stops.


12. Chronometer & Ships Master / Slave Clocks



13. GMDSS Console (For Distress Communications)


14. Navtex Receiver


15. Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon


16. Satellite Communications Dome


17. Bridge Console


18. Bridge Wing


19. Gyro Compass Repeater


20. Doppler Log


21. Public address system


22. Radar Scanners


23. Voyage Data Recorder (Black Box)


24. A shot of the ship when I signed off in Singapore.


I had a lot more pictures of the Engine Room and deck which are lost somewhere in my Hard Disk. Will upload the same when I find them.

I'm joining back the same ship in a couple of weeks so I'll take some snaps.

[Gannu_1]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Chetan_Rao]

Is the Voyage Data Recorder functionally equivalent/similar to the Flight Data Recorder used on airplanes? Could you elaborate on its usage a bit if possible?

[pedrolourenco]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Is the Voyage Data Recorder functionally equivalent/similar to the Flight Data Recorder used on airplanes? Could you elaborate on its usage a bit if possible?

Yes, it's similar. I'm not sure what parameters the Flight Data Recorder records. The Voyage Data Recorder records the voices of the people on the bridge, one of the VHF's, one Radar, position, speed, course, engine status, depth etc.
The Maritime Industry has always borrowed technology and procedures from the Airline Industry and the VDR is one of those things. Others being Checklists, Simulator Training, Alcohol Policy.

[SmartCat]

Do you have any pics of the crew cabins, dining area etc?

I guess the ship will be a lot fuel efficient than tanker trucks on - per ton hauled - basis.

[polo_ankit]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Do you have any pics of the crew cabins, dining area etc?

I guess the ship will be a lot fuel efficient than tanker trucks on - per ton hauled - basis.

HAHA. You do not want to see the pigeon holes we call cabins! More often than not, they are in a mess, I don't know if anyone would want to put up pictures of their cabins :P

Yes, they are fuel efficient than tanker trucks & use Low Sulphur Fuel (Sulphur content less than 0.10% m/m) in sensitive sea areas like the North Sea, Baltic Sea, Americas, Caribbean.

Originally Posted by pedrolourenco

Yes, it's similar. I'm not sure what parameters the Flight Data Recorder records. The Voyage Data Recorder records the voices of the people on the bridge, one of the VHF's, one Radar, position, speed, course, engine status, depth etc.
The Maritime Industry has always borrowed technology and procedures from the Airline Industry and the VDR is one of those things. Others being Checklists, Simulator Training, Alcohol Policy.

You haven't given the dimensions here? Looks like a Panamax though.

[pedrolourenco]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Do you have any pics of the crew cabins, dining area etc?

Originally Posted by polo_ankit

HAHA. You do not want to see the pigeon holes we call cabins! More often than not, they are in a mess, I don't know if anyone would want to put up pictures of their cabins :P

I did have all the pictures but they are lost in my head disk. Will try and find them. In any case I'm joining back the same ship next week so I can click more snaps of anything you want and post.

Not entirely true Ankit. The European built ships have beautiful cabins. This ship is Korean. The Korean and Chinese built ships are actually quite nice. The really horrible ones are the Japanese ships which you can call pigeon holes.
The ship is our home for 3-9 months (depending on your rank). I always insist on cabins being kept tidy. Every Sunday the Captain, Chief Engineer, Chief Officer and Bosun inspect all the cabins and anyone who does not keep it tidy gets reprimanded. This is now become a requirement as per the Maritime Labour Convention.

Originally Posted by smartcat

I guess the ship will be a lot fuel efficient than tanker trucks on - per ton hauled - basis.

Originally Posted by polo_ankit

Yes, they are fuel efficient than tanker trucks & use Low Sulphur Fuel (Sulphur content less than 0.10% m/m) in sensitive sea areas like the North Sea, Baltic Sea, Americas, Caribbean.

Yes it is fuel efficient specially this type fitted with a new ME series engines (Similar to the modern CRDI engines with an ECU). I will do a proper calculation in KMPL but I think it is roughly 0.02 KMPL.

Originally Posted by polo_ankit

You haven't given the dimensions here? Looks like a Panamax though.

Length: 186 m, Breadth: 30 m Draft: 13.1 m Keel to Top of Mast: 45 m.

[MinivanDriver]

Hi Pedro, Thanks for the excellent article. Had a query. Are there ships that still carry passengers overseas? Or have airlines completely killed that transport option? Would a passenger ship be more fuel efficient (fuel usage per passenger per kilometer) than an airline? Would they be faster than this cargo vessel? Curious to know.

[V.Narayan]

Thank you for a interesting thread and the photos. Could you post more photos of the engine room & shaft please.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by pedrolourenco

Yes, it's similar. I'm not sure what parameters the Flight Data Recorder records. The Voyage Data Recorder records the voices of the people on the bridge, one of the VHF's, one Radar, position, speed, course, engine status, depth etc.
The Maritime Industry has always borrowed technology and procedures from the Airline Industry and the VDR is one of those things. Others being Checklists, Simulator Training, Alcohol Policy.

Interestingly the aviation industry borrowed a lot from the maritime industry, especially during the formation years. Concepts such as navigation, responsibilities (Capt, FO, Navigatior, Engineer etc), right of way, distress calls. even simple things like navigation lights (red port/green starboard) was borrowed directly from ships.

[polo_ankit]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

Hi Pedro, Thanks for the excellent article. Had a query. Are there ships that still carry passengers overseas? Or have airlines completely killed that transport option? Would a passenger ship be more fuel efficient (fuel usage per passenger per kilometer) than an airline? Would they be faster than this cargo vessel? Curious to know.

Hi, yes there are ships which carry passengers but it's mostly cruise liners which do a round trip for vacations. AFAIK, nobody wants to travel on a ship to their destination anymore because air travel is much cheaper & faster. But there are quite a few cruise lines (SE Asia, Mediterranean, South America, USA) which do round trips for people who want to feel what it is like.

I don't believe that fuel per passenger would be more efficient because airlines use Aviation fuel which is much more refined than the Heavy Fuel Oil used on ships. Plus, like I said earlier, it's about the time. Travelling to the USA from Bombay would take anywhere between 15-20 days vs the same in hours via planes.

[theMAG]

Fascinating read! I've always wanted to experience a ship - but the closest I've managed to achieve is a small trawler off the Mangalore coast during an old holiday visit!

I did have a couple of queries though:

1. Has marine engine development moved on to hybrids/alternate fuels or are they exclusively oil driven? I realize a typical electric motor - like in cars, may not work here for obvious reasons!

2. Do ships like the BW Egret - containg economically strategic cargo like petroleum, carry offensive weapons to have a reasonable chance of warding off the baddies ?

[wanderernomad]

No MV is allowed to be armed. They will carry external security when passing through known badlands or pirate infested waters but there would be no permanent/semi permanent weapons installed on any MV. Not sure if the captain is allowed a licensed weapon (small arm) on board but is unlikely.

[pedrolourenco]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

Are there ships that still carry passengers overseas? Or have airlines completely killed that transport option?

The only passengers carried by cargo vessels are the wives and kids of the officers

Would a passenger ship be more fuel efficient (fuel usage per passenger per kilometer) than an airline?

I'm pretty sure it will be more fuel efficient than an aircraft. But need to confirm.

Would they be faster than this cargo vessel? Curious to know.

They are usually faster. However Container and Ro-Ro vessels are as fast as passenger vessels. Tankers and Bulk Carriers are slow.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Thank you for a interesting thread and the photos. Could you post more photos of the engine room & shaft please.

Will do it shortly.

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

Interestingly the aviation industry borrowed a lot from the maritime industry, especially during the formation years. Concepts such as navigation, responsibilities (Capt, FO, Navigatior, Engineer etc), right of way, distress calls. even simple things like navigation lights (red port/green starboard) was borrowed directly from ships.

Nice to know.

Originally Posted by theMAG

Fascinating read! I've always wanted to experience a ship - but the closest I've managed to achieve is a small trawler off the Mangalore coast during an old holiday visit!

Will keep that in mind and will ping you in case we come to a port close to New York.

1. Has marine engine development moved on to hybrids/alternate fuels or are they exclusively oil driven? I realize a typical electric motor - like in cars, may not work here for obvious reasons!

There are ships running on Gas. There are also ships with electric motors driving the propellor. However the motor is powered by a Diesel Generator

2. Do ships like the BW Egret - containg economically strategic cargo like petroleum, carry offensive weapons to have a reasonable chance of warding off the baddies ?

No as mentioned below.

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

No MV is allowed to be armed. They will carry external security when passing through known badlands or pirate infested waters but there would be no permanent/semi permanent weapons installed on any MV. Not sure if the captain is allowed a licensed weapon (small arm) on board but is unlikely.

No the Captain is not licensed to carry any weapons.

[D33-PAC]

Thank you for the post ! Very interesting.

Does the Voyage data recorder have to be unclamped before the ship sinks ? I noticed it is latched to something. Or is there an automatic release mechanism so when it makes contact with water it floats and the latches break off ?