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| Sanmar Shipping Limited |
| ‘Ice Station Sanmar’ |
| Sanmar Sonata braves the elements |
| In January this year, Sanmar Sonata sailed
from Europe to New York. Capt P P Rao of Sanmar Shipping, with
over 20 years’ experience as a Master of ships, was well aware
of the ways of the sea. It was the first time Sanmar Sonata
was going to face ice cold weather. Capt Rao had already taken
all precautions. Narasimhan, the Chief Officer, was making a
checklist. |
| Narasimhan was particularly worried about
the pressure vacuum valves, the breather for the cargo tanks.
As the cargo tanks freeze, the pressure drops and the vacuum
valve opens to allow some air in. If the valve fails to breathe,
the vacuum inside the tanks could reach dangerous limits. Narasimhan
had to keep the valves free of ice. He took the fitters with
him and set on the job. Clearing the first valve free of ice
took almost an hour and a half. He had to clear all the thirteen
valves within a day. |
| Working on the deck in harsh winter seas could
be killing. The cold winter winds and sea sprays double the
chill factor, the legs get heavy with frost, breathing gets
difficult. You need dedication and courage even more than physical
endurance. |
| By the third day, the deck had fully frozen
and it was windy. The Chief Officer and fitters were checking
round the clock on all the critical matters. The second and
third officers offered to share with him in the navigational
watch keeping time, allowing the Chief Officer more time to
deal with the ice. Capt Rao altered the course to avoid an approaching
storm. He was preparing all the messages to the charterers,
explaining the anticipated delay in reaching New York. |
| Thanks to the warmth generated by the 10000
HP main engine, the engineers were much better off than their
counterparts on the deck. However, freezing fuel and cold water
were a constant source of worry. Heavy rolling hampered all
the major maintenance plans in the engine room. Chief Engineer
Sathyamoorthy planned to start the deck hydraulic system one
day in advance to ensure circulation of the hydraulic oil forward
and also to protect the hydraulic motors in the anchor and mooring
rope winches. He had kept all the systems either in operation
or completely drained to prevent ice formation. Stagnant water
in a pipeline could be disastrous as ice expands and breaks
critical pipes. |
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| The Chief Engineer and Chief Officer smiling
away the cold. |
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| A ‘chilling’ scene on board ‘Sanmar Sonata’. |
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| Sanmar Sonata, having cleared her decks of ice,
ready for port. |
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| When the ship reached the port at New York, the
crew faced the daunting task of clearing the ice on the deck. Hosing
down the ice water from the fire pump failed because the water froze
as it passed through the exposed deck. The high-pressure washing machine,
which developed 200 bars of water pressure worked finally, but the
process was very slow. It took 18 hours to clear the deck and six
more to reach the berth. |
| At the end of it all, the dedicated ship staff made
sure the ship came through safe and sound, fulfilling all her contractual
commitments. An inspector representing Shell, recorded the crew’s
excellent handling of the ship in cold conditions in his report to
his principals. Sanmar Shipping earned appreciation from customers
and partners alike. |
| By B Jayakumar, General Manager (Tech.), Sanmar
Shipping Limited. |
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