[booboo]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

@booboo,

The pics reminded so much of my stint on the offshore oil and gas platform where I used to work in the maintenance dept. The alleys, the doors, the cabins, the open deck are very much similar to the "drilling rig turned into platform" set up. We also used to go to remote platforms using the OSV's and it used to fun ride during calm waters and a puky experience during monsoons. I have seen waves of atleast 10 mts in height slashing the main platforms as well as the OSV's. It was a good experience working on such vessels but the proportions your mentioned are way too ahead.

Keep the pics coming, its time for me to get nostalgic.

godhlur, nice to know that the offshore industry guys are here too.
i was in the north sea, peterhead on a psv servicing the forties platform for a while. this big a storm as in the pictures is not too common i agree. but then during the ocean crossings chances are one will encounter some real bad ones esp in winters.
on a lighter note - this word now storm reminds me of only one thing - the bolero (call it addiction to this wonderful forum)

[booboo]

a storm (not the bolero kind in the north atlantic)









Attachment 477633

[deky]

Seeing these pics reminds me of my cruise ship days. I was in the Hotel side and not on the deck side but still the 5+ years i spent on ships were truly an amazing experience. I remember going through such horrible or maybe worst weather once when we were crossing the Bay of Biscay. The waves were monsterous.

Also not to forget is when my ship actually sank off the coast of Melacca and we all had to abandon ship in those life boats and life rafts. The weekly drills actually saved us.

Talking about cars, I have realised that the ships agents at the various ports happen to drive the bestest of the cars available!!!

EDIT: And all you captains and masters of the ships, I need those old discarded maps to be framed and to put on the walls....Heeeeellllpppppp!!!!

[ghodlur]

My BIL is a Chief officer on a VLCC and he speaks on most occassions about the rough weathers he has to face esp during the monsoons. On one occassion he had to face rough waters literally for one full year, reason being he was operating in the Asian waters when it was monsoon times and when he proceeded to Pacific waters again he had face the rough monsoons over there. After that any mention of a trip to Goa to enjoy water would make him puke.

[booboo]

to be honest i was inspired by your honest and touching travelogue to post something here. i know every crew hates the oldman for calling drills even when the work schedule calls for a break.

yes, best drive in an agents car was when i joined at sebuku and the drive from kalimantan to sebuku through dense and real wild forsest roads was the best. was a nissan patrol and we had to carry fuel cans and food for the 14 hrs drive with no real stop. real isolated drive. driver seemed scared of this area (was from jakarta). some roads were non existent.
by maps do you mean old charts i guess, but which walls, home or computer wallpaper?

Originally Posted by ghodlur

My BIL is a Chief officer on a VLCC and he speaks on most occassions about the rough weathers he has to face esp during the monsoons. On one occassion he had to face rough waters literally for one full year, reason being he was operating in the Asian waters when it was monsoon times and when he proceeded to Pacific waters again he had face the rough monsoons over there. After that any mention of a trip to Goa to enjoy water would make him puke.

well ghodlur. beleive me every shippie on leave feels the same. my cousins cant understand why i rarely go the beach (i live in vizag which has some beautiful streches of beaches)

[deky]

Originally Posted by booboo

by maps do you mean old charts i guess, but which walls, home or computer wallpaper?

Yes!!!! Old charts, I want to frame them and put it on the walls of my guesthouse as my guesthouse has a nautical theme.

Originally Posted by booboo

well ghodlur. beleive me every shippie on leave feels the same. my cousins cant understand why i rarely go the beach (i live in vizag which has some beautiful streches of beaches)

How true, I hate beaches too

[booboo]

Originally Posted by deky

Yes!!!! Old charts, I want to frame them and put it on the walls of my guesthouse as my guesthouse has a nautical theme.

do post the pictures of your farmhouse - i could use some ideas for mine




mine is just a place to crash with simple two rooms with a bath and a well which was dug recently

[WDM007]

Is this the end of the thread?
Anyway, nice & informative pics.
Thanks for sharing the information, which we never knew !

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by booboo

guys who sit in the offices tend to stare at you during debreifing at times that as a sailor one wants to break his front teeth with just one blow. esp when they say - 20 metre waves - come on captain, tell us the real story. story my foot - i just scatter these pictures that will follow next and walk away)

Good one. Reminds me of a story told by my mentor who was DGM in a shipyard. Excuse me about not using the proper lingo as I am not in this field.

On a sea trial with an oil tanker, one official was complaining about the steel rope that runs to the front of the deck being too thick and reducing the thickness would save loads of money. In reply, the Captain to be explained the same scenario mentioned by you. Imagine a sailor going to the front in such a situation. He would be hanging on the rope with the legs clasped and thickness of the rope adds to his belief that the rope won't break, come what may.

[booboo]

Originally Posted by WDM007

Is this the end of the thread?
Anyway, nice & informative pics.
Thanks for sharing the information, which we never knew !

you humble me wdmoo7,

with such lovely and wonderful car trips out here posted so lovingly these kind of posts actually seem out of place. but then i had no road trip to contribute to so posted some old pictures out here.

these ships btw about 12000 bhp and fuel tank capacities of about 2000 metric tons of heavy fuel oil and daily consumption is about 30 metric tons.

whiteknight very true. as a captain and a seaman all i am concerned about is safety and cost is irrelavent whereas the financial department priorities is just the opposite. and the war goes on and on, lol.

what you refered to is called the lifeline which is rigged from the accomodation or living quarters to the forecastle or the forwardmost part of the ship towards safety requirements in bad weather.



the main engine (b&w)



engine control panel



engine control room



enjoy the ceremony that survivies across all nationalities and is conducted every time a nerd crosses the equator, lol.







the final tribal dance before i isuue them the certificates on King Neptune's behalf (btw i am the one blue)





(Mods pls feel free to delete part or the entire post if pictures seem inappropriate)

[booboo]

on a lighter note every seaman has to earn his citizenship in the kingdom of King Neptune (the ruler of the seas)
whenever any seaman crosses the equator for the first time he is made a slave to a representative of king neptune (beware this deputy holds endless power and is to be respected as King Neptune himself would be during the entire ceremony that lasts about half a day after which a major sailor bash is held to celebrate the addition of the latest kids to the sailor kingdom)
the catch here is that the tougher King Neptune's rep is the tougher your citizenship formalities are.

the benefit of this Mandatory custom is
a) you are no longer considered a charlie(nerd)
b) you are in possesion of a certificate stating that you have crossed the equator (written proof and is valid all over the world on any other ship)
c) King Neptune will ensure that the sea creatures do not terrorise you
and gaurd you forever

[WDM007]

Hey Booboo

Thanks for starting the thread again.

Also the custom of crossing equator is amazing :0
Never heard of such thing before !

Do share such events/ customs/ memories.

[ghodlur]

Booboo

Nice pics. The engine looks huge. I thought most modern ships have turbine generators to propel the ships. Is the engine in pic a diesel driven.

Regarding the rituals, I remember one which was being done in offshore where a newbie was compulsoraily sent by an OSV to a remote platform and once he was done with his puking (Which was btw lifetime) he was considered a regular and a trained hand.

Atleast on such huge tankers there is deck space but on production platform there is hardly any space except for walking coz the entire deck space is occupied by vessels, valves, cranes etc.

[n.devdath]

One question Booboo. What is the max speeds that cargo ships can do when unladen and on calm waters? Is it true that military ships are the fastest when it comes to speeds with their similar counterparts?

Please keep updating this wonderful thread regularly.

[booboo]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Booboo

Nice pics. The engine looks huge. I thought most modern ships have turbine generators to propel the ships. Is the engine in pic a diesel driven.

Regarding the rituals, I remember one which was being done in offshore where a newbie was compulsoraily sent by an OSV to a remote platform and once he was done with his puking (Which was btw lifetime) he was considered a regular and a trained hand.

Atleast on such huge tankers there is deck space but on production platform there is hardly any space except for walking coz the entire deck space is occupied by vessels, valves, cranes etc.

The Latest merchant ships use engines that run on heavy fuel oil and diesel oil is generally used to flush the system
even generators run on heavy oil now more or less
(saves massive amount on fuel costs)



well here are some more engine room pictures to give you an idea of the space