The ship:
* Ship basics
* Bridge
* Crew
* Galley, provisioning and dining
* Navigation and weather
* Health and first aid
* Anchoring
* Ship life expectancy
* Entering and leaving port
* Port safety and stowaways
* Seafarers and the shipping industry
* Who is “Hanjin”?
* Shipping and the economyThe engine:
* Main engine
* Auxiliary engines
* BunkeringCargo:
* Cargo and cargo handling
* Cargo capacity
* Cargo loading and distribution
* Maintaining good ship ‘trim'
* Stevedores
PART IIThe Ship
Ship basics. The Hanjin Boston was constructed by Hyundai Heavy Industries. Hamburg is its home port, it flies the German flag and the ship’s international registration code is DDZK2. It is owned by a German company, “Conti,” which builds and leases ships to a variety of shipping companies. The Hanjin Boston is now under a long term lease to Hanjin Shipping, a Korean freight shipping company. NSB, our ‘host,’ hires the Hanjin Boston crew and operates and maintains the ship. In sum, Hyundai built the ship, Conti owns it, Hanjin leases it, and NSB operates it.
The ship was delivered on 30 June 2005, a scant five months after laying the keel in Korea, for the bargain cost of ~$75-80 millions (fancy yachts at a fraction of our size can easily cost $10-20 M and more). Rapid construction is the result of standardization, with multiple ships of precisely the same dimensions. Ship construction is facilitated by constructing the various hull sections separately, concurrently and in different locations, and then welding them together.
The Hanjin Boston is BIG! At 300 meters (985') long and 43 M (141') wide, she is much too wide for the Panama Canal. Normal draft is 13.0 M with a maximum of 14.5 M (48'). From keel to masthead is 61.4 M (201'), with 48 M (156') above water; the main external deck is ~38’ above the water. She can carry 7471 (call it 7500) TEUs, or “20-foot equivalent units.” In early containership days these units were 20' by 8' by 8.6', so the units could be carried by flatbed trucks on the highways. The great majority of the units are now 40' x 8' and often 9'6" high. The Hanjin has 8 watertight cargo holds with 17 covered hatches. Depending on the location up to 9 units can be stacked vertically below deck, up to 7 above deck, and up to 17 across the ship’s width. Four rows of boxes are located aft of our living quarters and 14 rows are forward; in sum, we are one big box carrying many smaller boxes. All boxes are positioned with their long axis aligned with that of the ship. The gross registered (metric) tonnage is listed as 82,794, and the deadweight tonnage as 93,500, both being formula-derived values rather than what you would get on a scale. The actual weight varies greatly depending on the cargo and ballast water aboard but for practical purposes, when empty, the ship itself weighs ~29,300 tons and when fully loaded, displaces ~122,830 tons.
Bridge. Eight decks above the top of the basic hull and two decks above the highest boxes the bridge is a delightful perch. Ahead, windows across the width of the hull and out to the wing bridges; behind, a view of the near infinite straight line of our wake; and inside, enough electronics to keep a technology fan happy. Redundancy is everywhere: two gyro compasses; multiple autopilots; many radios and email communications with home base; five ways to turn the rudder (a small wheel, two joy sticks, and two bridge-wing wheels); three radars and radar alarm systems; two ways to blow the horn; engine rpm can be controlled independently either from the bridge or the engine room; multiple GPS and plotter units; fathometers; doppler units to determine independently the lateral drift of the bow and stern; weather fax, barometer, and anemometer; binoculars and two units to determine relative bearing; in-ship telephone and loud speaker systems; large chart locker and plotting table; many volumes of logs and manuals; details on cargo distribution, ship’s manifest; head, coffee mugs, sink, head and more. The bridge-wings have separate controls so that the master and pilot can control the ship from the side of the ship. Since the ship remains on autopilot for everything but harbor work, way-point to way-point by great circle route or (direct) rhumb-line, the duty helmsman is free to move about and attend routine chores. The radar alarm would call his attention to another target but sighting other ships is apparently rare, only several times per ocean crossing. Because of the 200 meters of boxes forward of the bridge the helmsman can see only from ~500 meters ahead of the bow. Immediately below the bridge are the bunks and day rooms of the captain, chief mate and chief engineer and one more deck down is our quarters, a few feet higher that the highest boxes forward and aft.
Crew. According to international regulations the ship must have a minimum of 18 officers and crew. On our trip there were 23, 5 German officers, a German rating and trainee, and 16 Filipino crew (including the 3rd mate, 3rd engineer, and electrician), plus the two of us as supercargo (and a 3rd American who joined us for the return leg). For the officers the typical rotation is 5 months continuous duty on the ship followed by 3 on shore leave, while for the Filipinos, 7-9 months and up to 2 months leave. For the most part crew cannot choose their route, ship or companions and since different crew members may have different tours of duty, they do not all change at the same time. Our crew roster included: captain (who does not stand watches), 1st, 2nd and 3rd mates (who stand two four-hour bridge watches each), chief engineer, 2nd and 3rd engineers, electrician, apprentice mechanic, three oilers, fitter (for pipes, welding, etc.), bosun mate (who oversees deck work), four ABs (able-bodied seamen), two ordinary seamen, chief cook, a messman/steward, and trainee. Every crew member has his own room and bathroom, and the officers and crew each have their own ‘mess’ (dining room) and recreation rooms, complete with a small library, music, karoke equipment, DVD systems and an assortment of DVD movies and music. The ship also has a small gym room with ping pong table, stationary bikes, weights, a sauna, and a ~9x15' swimming pool. The pool, about 5' deep, is filled with salt water when in clean warm waters, and when the fresh water supply is abundant, with fresh water.
All members of our crew were welcoming, helpful, and very responsive to our interests in learning more about the containership industry. We were also most impressed with the crew’s performance, their attention to the details of navigation, to maintaining a safe ship in excellent ‘shipshape’ condition. We are especially appreciative of time spent with the captain, the chief mates and chief engineer, who went out of their way to respond to our interests and to our many questions, chores very marginal to their shipboard responsibility. We also appreciated the attentions of our steward who daily checked our room, weekly gave it a good cleaning, and was soon attuned to our mealtime favorites.
During our trip the captain arranged for a barbeque fiesta for the entire crew and we had three post-supper birthday celebrations for crew members. Lots of good cheer, talk, drinks and munchies, and many volunteers to take a turn at karaoke. Though staying on key in an unknown song was a challenge, crew spirits made up for any deficiencies in the renditions.
Galley, provisioning and dining. The ship had a fine stainless steel galley/kitchen backed up by at least three large food storage rooms. One was ship temperature for dry and canned goods, one was cooled for vegetables and fruits, and one was well below freezing. The cook faxes an order list to the shore company which arranges for food to be delivered at the next port. The menu changes somewhat depending on whether re-supply is in Asia or North America. For us meal times were 7:30, noon, and 5:30, though some officers come a bit earlier or later to accommodate watch schedules. Thursday and Sunday feature cake and/or ice cream, Friday is fish day, Saturday is a thick soup day (per the practice in the German navy), and Monday through Wednesday are, as one wag said, none of the above. The menu is fixed, simple, good, and a rather different menu is provided to the officers and crew messes. Since our opportunities for serious exercise are limited, we avoided second helpings.
Navigation and weather. The normal routing is to follow a great circle route to Pusan, passing through the Aleutians near the base of the archipelago and then back through it toward the end. The company’s weather routing service advised, however, that there were 9-15' swells from a previous storm in the area just north of the Aleutians so the captain elected to take a more southerly route to avoid this area. Large swells mean slower speed, more fuel, and extra strain on the ship due to the uneven support the waves give to our long hull. The additional distance that resulted from this course change was negligible but we were sad to miss seeing the Aleutians. Our first sighting of land was at the southern end of the island of Hokkaido, Japan, and then through the narrow strait separating that island from the rest Japan. The weather on our outbound trip was very benign, averaging 10-15 knots of wind, waves seldom more than 3-4 feet, few whitecaps and occasional fog and rain. We didn’t see the sun for most of our outbound trip, normal for this location and time of year. Once in the Sea of Japan we were ahead of schedule so the engine was stopped for ~12 hours and we drifted. With a side profile of almost 90,000 square feet even the light 10-knot breeze blew us sidewise at almost 2 knots; impressive for a ship of this size and with a draft exceeding 30'.
Health and first aid. The 2nd mate is the responsible for the small first aid room and medicine cabinets. The room is equipped with an examining table, basic diagnostic equipment, and a surprisingly well stocked pharmacy, including some narcotics under lock and the captain’s care. There were a number of reference books available, including a 500-page hardbound book, available both in German and English translation, that was published by German maritime authorities on maintaining health at sea. The book is excellent, very detailed, many color illustrations of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, and designed for the non-medical corpsman. For each major type of symptom or sign, e.g., collapse, fever, breathing problems, diarrhea, chest or abdominal pain, etc., a multicolor table is provided with the leading possible causes in specified (40%, 25%, 15%, etc.) order of probability. For each presumptive cause there are rows listing the diagnostic signs and symptoms that will help differentiate between the options. Section references for each diagnosis then take the user to additional detail on diagnosis and treatment.
As would be expected the crews occasionally have serious illnesses and injuries and in such situations professional help can be obtained by radio (Germany provides a 24/7 service to German-flagged ships), transfer made to another ship closer to land, or if close to land, evacuation by helicopter. There is no helipad on board but a basket can be lowered for the patient. Rarely a death occurs at sea and we heard several stories of such events. Handily, the large galley freezer can easily accommodate the deceased until the ship reaches land; no burials at sea in the cargo trade.
Anchoring. The ship carries two 13.3-ton anchors and 2400' of chain measured in “shackles” (about 27.5 M/shackle). Each shackle length is attached to the next one by means of a large, specially configured shackle (or chain link), painted red and preceded and followed but white stripes, the number of which correspond to the number of shackles paid out. With 13 shackles of chain for one anchor and 11 for the other there is quite a load in the bow. We are advised that most anchoring requires 5-6 shackles and maximally, 9, or ~250 M of chain in anchorages subject to lots of wind and current. The massive electric windlass with a 99-ton maximum lift capacity and half that for normal use takes 5-7 minutes to retrieve each shackle of chain. Since most anchoring is for short periods of time while waiting for a berth, the crew deploys only the minimum shackles necessary for the local conditions.
Ship life expectancy. Modern cargo ships of this class, with reasonably good maintenance, have a useful life of 20-25 years. The quality of construction and construction materials has reportedly declined in recent decades leading to a somewhat shorter useful life than in the past, exacerbated by rapid changes in ship design. The number of crew required for a large cargo ship bears little relation to its capacity but since relatively few cargo routes can justify the very large TEU capacities now being built (up to 14,000 TEUs), many smaller capacity ships are still in operation.
Entering and leaving port. A few comments for mariner enthusiasts may be of interest. I wasn’t going to comment on this aspect of freighter travel until I came across the 69 pp. booklet that summarizes the rules, regulations and tide tables for entering the port of Long Beach. As you likely know a local pilot is required to be aboard when entering and leaving port. The pilot provides advice but the ship’s master is the final authority. Reportedly most pilots are efficient and helpful, as was the case on our trip, but occasionally the officers encounter very marginal pilots (as on the ill-fated Cosco Busan in San Francisco!) or those who are so overweight or infirm that they can barely climb aboard and/or ascend 10-12 decks up to the bridge. But aside from pilots, what must the officers know and deal with? Some examples, taken from the 2009 Port of Long Beach Tidetables and Reference Guide, and applied to a vessel of our size and weight.
• Minimum under keel clearance requirements. For a non-tanker our size a scant 1.5' is required but our captain rightly says he would want at least 3' and preferably 6' clearance. Complicating these regulations is the “squat” problem; in a tight berthing slot accommodating several ships a departing ship can lower the others by several feet.
• Tug escort requirements. Specifies bollard pull capacities required of tug escorts and tug assists for tankers of various weights. A large tanker would require a tug with 85 tons of bollard pull.
• Tables for calculating changes in depth. A one degree list would increase our draft by 1.2' and a one degree of pitch change, draft by 8.5', changes not good for ships that theoretically could get by with a required minimum clearance of 1.5'.
• Wind force chart. A 30-knot crosswind to our 9000 sq. meter profile puts a 105-ton lateral force to the ship, requiring a lot of extra tug force to keep us on course.
• Bridge clearances. Provides high-water clearances for 4 harbor bridges.
• Stack emissions and Green Flag Incentive Program. Calls for sharply reduced sulfur emissions (0.5%) starting in 2009 and down to 0.1% by 2012 within 24 miles of the California coast, a major challenge for ships burning bunker oil. Ships and ship fleets observing a 12-knot speed limit within 20 miles of the port have reduced port fees as an incentive to reduce pollution.
• Ballast water program. Reminds operators of the federal and local ballast water exchange requirements designed to reduce the introduction of invasive species into the marine environment due to the exchange of ballast water.
• Speed limits. Allowable speeds in different locations according to type and size of vessel, and visibility. For us, 10 knots, dropping to 6 in the inner harbor.
• Vessel low sulfur fuel incentive program.
• Dock, wharf and crane facilities specifications. Provides a long list wharf heights and minimum water depths, crane heights and characteristics,
• Port communication procedures. Provides 12 frequencies to cover various types of messages to pilots, tugs, bridge operators, vessel traffic service, port authorities, ship bridge to ship bridge, etc.
• Anchoring regulations. Locations, depths, under keel requirements, and when required.
• Pilot ladder requirements. Two pages of illustrations, options, minimum requirements.
Port safety and stowaways. Port safety, especially since 9/11, is a significant concern. During time in port there is a crew member posted full-time at the gangway, ID cards by the crew are issued and taken so that any moment the ship knows who is ashore and who is on board, and the number of stevedores on board is controlled. All doors providing access from the external stairways are locked from the inside so you can’t get access except via the gangway entrance. The worry is stowaways and even with these controls, the captain asks the crew to do a stowaway check during the last 20+ minutes before sailing. By regulation ships must also do a stowaway check before calling at American reports. Accordingly, on August 18 the captain again set all hands to re-visit potential stowaway haunts, each crew member having an assigned part of the ship. A stowaway creates a big headache for the ship. Lots of paperwork, potential harm to the ship, lots of difficulties at the next port where the stowaway must be declared, and super-difficulties if the nationality of the stowaway is not known. Even if one determines the home country if the man (stowing away is a man’s business) lacks a passport the home country will likely refuse to accept him and then it becomes the responsibility of the ship and/or destination port. Additionally, the question of how the stowaway got on board; was it an inside, smuggling outfit’s job, or that of a loner? And if an inside job, who made the arrangements among the 20+ crew? If discovered while under way the ship may have to fashion a (comfortable) cell for him and keep him in the style to which he would like to become accustomed. A big time nightmare and hence the precautions to keep it from happening.
Seafarers and the shipping industry. The Philippines provides about 250,000 crew of the worldwide total of almost one million. They send ~$2 billion in remittances to their home country, almost 30% of the total sent by overseas Filipino workers. With ~40,000 commercial ships in the 1000-ton plus category this gives a ratio, including crew on leave, of ~25/ship. The world fleet of large ships has a gross tonnage exceeding >700 million. The top five ship-owning countries are Greece, Japan, Germany, China, and the U.S. The average age of the world’s fleet is a relatively old 22 years, with U.S. ships tending toward the older end of the spectrum.
In a listing of the registrations for the 95,000 ships of 100+ tons, the 32 “flags of convenience” countries, e.g., Panama, Liberia, Bahamas, account for ~15% of the total. These countries charge relatively low registration fees and tend to have lax and often unenforced safety regulations. The Seafarers’ Bulletin, published by the International Transport Workers’ Federation, gave numerous examples of seafarers not getting paid according to their contracts and of the attempts through litigation and vessel seizure to enforce payment. They post inspectors in many ports to check on working conditions and followup on contract complaints.
We became more aware of the special challenges of seafarers and of the labor market for mariners. Unlike workers in most transportation industries ship crews are small, multinational, multilingual, they spend many months away from families, shore leave is short and getting shorter due to fast turnaround, rich countries may prohibit shore leave out of concern that crew will jump ship, ships are rarely in home waters, duty hours are necessarily long, shipboard facilities and amenities are limited, and pay and benefits tend to be low. Moreover, the reality that crew members have individual contracts frequently out of phase with their peers, and the hierarchical nature of a ship, both discourage long-term friendships. They are a tough lot, doing a tough and very important job, and we have great respect for their efforts.
Who is “Hanjin”? The shipping business is complicated but here is what we understand is the case with our ship. Hanjin, a Korean company in the business of chartering freighters of various types, advises Conti, a German ship owner, that it would like a new containership of 7500 TEU capacity and indicates it is prepared to enter into a long-term lease (10+ years) of the ship. Conti borrows money from multiple banks and contracts with Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea to build the Hanjin Boston. Conti also contracts with NSB, a German company, to oversee the ship’s construction to make sure it complies with the contracted specifications and to provide crew for its operation and keep it in good condition. The Hanjin Boston is launched, sea trials concluded, and it enters into service. During the life of the lease the Hanjin company handles all the work of finding cargo, loading and unloading cargo at its terminal facilities, paying fuel and other major bills, and making lease payments to Conti.
NSB currently operates more than 110 ships held under lease by various freight charter companies, not just Hanjin. Most are containerships with a combined capacity of almost 500,000 TEUs*, and a few are gas tankers (LNG or LPG)**. With close to 3000 employees NSB operates worldwide, has a new ship simulator facility in Germany, and its ships generally have tightly scheduled routes. Most of those operated by NSB were built new under its supervision by shipbuilders in Germany, Korea, Romania, and elsewhere, though a few are purchased and re-named via the used ship market.
*As a reminder, TEU = “Twenty-foot equivalent units”, the original container box measuring 20' by 8' wide by 8.5' high. Most boxes are now 40'. The largest ships now being built exceed 14,000 TEUs; we are a puny 7500 TEUs.
**LNG is liquefied natural gas. LNG becomes liquid, and hence economically transportable, only at -161 degrees C. LNG tankers must therefore have very costly cooling equipment on board. LPG is liquefied petroleum gas, which are gases created by refining crude oil. These can be liquefied even at room temperatures with little excess pressure and thus are much easier to transport.
Conti, as a ship owner, registers most of its ships under the German flag though a few are registered in countries that offer “flags of convenience,” e.g., Panama, Liberia, Marshall Islands. The many types of insurance* required in the ship business are arranged through the Swedish Club, one of several insurance ‘mutualities.’ These clubs, formed and managed by groups of ship owners, collectively insure their ships.
*I read quite a bit about the casualty business and insurance arrangements in the shipping industry. They have a dizzying array of hazards to deal with. Risk assessment and management is much more complicated than, say, for house, car or life insurance. In each of these and many other areas claims are relatively frequent, smallish, and over time quite predictable due to the large claims experience database. In shipping claims cover a very diverse range of risks, are less frequent and can be very, very expensive. Thus it is harder to set relatively stable premium rates. Among the insurable risks are: groundings, collisions, fires, machinery breakdowns, cargo damage, cargo delays, lay-ups due to insufficient business, oil spills, stowaways, pirates, route deviations to deal with serious crew illness, crew injuries, contractual disputes, drug seizures, etc.
Bottom line: ship ownership and management is a complex business!
Shipping and the economy. One measure of the global economic meltdown is the number of ships anchored many miles out from port (and hence outside a country’s immediate ship traffic zone). Currently 10.5% of the world’s containership capacity, 8.5% of car carrier capacity, and 5% of bulk carrier capacity are in lay-up status. As noted in our trip log many anchored ships were seen outside of Shanghai and several other ports. Our own ship was anchored six weeks with a full crew on board during early 2009 due to the lack of business. It’s normal route was taken by a smaller ship and even though crew size changes little with ship size, the fuel cost is significantly lower due to the smaller engines required. While anchoring is less costly than paying port charges and occupying scarce berth space, it is has its own problems. Crews can’t go ashore, stowaway risks still exist, and good anchoring locations are limited. The list of desirable anchorage features includes: low pirate, stowaway and storm risks; relatively shallow depths, good swinging room and ‘holding’ ground; cold water; and low humidity and salinity (easier on the complex electronics). And wherever the location the crew must stay on board; no shore leave allowed.
The Hanjin Boston’s officers say they have seen early signs of a turnaround since the number of anchored ships is declining but even so, ships are traveling at well below full capacity. In our own case we are carrying only about 50% of our rated 7500 TEU containers, we are ~50,000 tons ‘light,’ and the return trip to Asia will largely be empty boxes. We assume that NSB and other charterers are now biting their nails over the outstanding contracts that will add new containerships, including some with a capacity of up to 14,000 TEUs, over the next few years.
The Engine
Main engine. The Hanjin is driven by a 12-cylinder, two-stroke engine (i.e., each cylinder fires when the piston reaches the top of its movement). It is huge - it weighs 2,075 tons, is 23+ M long (75') and 12+ M (40') high, and the cylinders are just under a meter in diameter. Maximum horsepower is rated at 93,120 hp (65,000 kW) at 104 rpm and about 50-60% of that power level at 84 rpm, its normal cruising power. At the cruise setting its 8.95 M (29') diameter four-blade propeller drives the Hanjin at 20+ knots (~24 mph) in calm waters and it can top out at 25.5 knots. Higher speeds sharply increase fuel consumption and engine wear so the reserve power is rarely used. (As a curiosity to us the engine cannot be operated except for a few hours at a time at slower speeds due to reduced blower effectiveness and a consequent gumming up of the engine. This has resulted in the necessity of shutting off the engine and drifting for a few hours when we were ahead of our schedule.) Fresh cooling water exits the engine at ~85 degrees C. and after passing through several massive salt/fresh water heat exchangers, re-enters the cooling circuit at ~35 degrees. By regulation when the ship is within ~20 miles of the West Coast of the US it must run on diesel fuel to reduce the output of sulfur. Bunker oil, its normal fuel, is at the bottom of the petroleum food chain after refineries have extracted gasoline, kerosene, diesel, etc. It has 3-4% sulfur while diesel is ~0.5% sulfur. The engine is designed for and much prefers the thicker bunker oil and can develop hiccups or even fail when on diesel. On the second day of our trip the chief engineer shut down the engine for an hour to make some adjustments on one cylinder, problems probably occasioned by the use of diesel.
The bunker oil, with a much heavier viscosity approaching that of honey, has many more impurities than diesel. En route from the tank to the engine the fuel oil must be heated to reduce viscosity, then pass through a “settling tank,” and finally, a number of filters to remove impurities. It then goes through a low pressure pump which sends the oil at 6 bar/atmospheres to each cylinder’s high pressure pumps, powered off of a cam from the crankshaft. This latter pump sends the fuel into the cylinder at 350 bars via three injectors, each with five nozzle holes. Cylinder pressure at the peak of the stroke is ~80 atmospheres at cruise rpm, and ~120 atmospheres at the maximum rpm. This compares with ~20 atmospheres of pressure on the normal car or boat diesel engine and only 7-8 atmospheres on a gasoline engine.
On the first leg of our trip we are carrying ~6500 tons of fuel with a total capacity of the two main types of fuel approaching 11,000 tons (~4 million US gallons) in 12 tanks. The daily cruise speed consumption is ~160 tons of bunker oil (59,000 US gallons), rising to 260 tons at maximum speed. An additional 10 tons are consumed by the auxiliary engines. Bunker fuel now costs about $320/ton or a bit over $1/gallon so with a daily fuel bill approaching $55,000, an ‘economy’ cruise speed is very desirable. At cruise speed the Hanjin consumes ~120 gallons per mile, not exactly fuel efficient until you factor in its cargo load. With a full cargo load of 75,000 tons a gallon of fuel will carry a ton well over 600 miles, an efficiency much higher than ~400 ton-mile rate of the railroads.*
*As one who in his professional life has worked extensively in health sector simulations I developed a spreadsheet for estimating the cost of delivering a ton of payload cargo based on ‘reasonable assumptions.’ Fuel and ship amortization costs were the two biggest items. The final cost estimates were in the $20-30 per delivered ton range, depending on assumptions regarding fuel costs, the number of filled boxes and the degree to which there were any filled boxes going from the US to Asia. If these estimates are at all realistic then the cost per single item (shirt, hi fi, shoes, rubber bathtub ducky, etc.) in a 20-ton box is little more than pocket change. Some actual estimates by NSB are provided later on and concur with my findings.
The engine crankshaft connects directly to a massive flywheel and then to the propeller shaft so that propeller rpm is the same as engine rpm. As a result there is no “idle”; the engine is either off or the propeller is turning. To go into reverse the engine must be stopped and then by 30 bar compressed air pumped into each cylinder, started in the reverse direction. If the engine is shut down at cruise speed it can take up to 30+ minutes for the ship to come to a full stop and even in an emergency the stopping time could require over 15 minutes. Even to reduce the revolutions to 65, the upper end of the maneuvering speed of ~15 knots, takes 20 minutes under normal circumstances. The engine can’t be started in reverse until the propeller comes to a stop and adjustments made to accommodate the reverse engine rotation. Bringing the propeller to a stop takes time since the ship’s passage through the water keeps it turning until speed is much reduced. Engine resistance to the force of the propeller can be increased somewhat by multiple injections of compressed air into the cylinders contrary to the normal pattern of rotation but even this process is slow. The engine has a minimum operating speed of ~24 rpm which results in a speed of 7-8 knots. Since this is too fast for tight maneuvering and docking in crowded harbors the engine must be stopped intermittently to reduce speed further, and with the rudder losing effect below 4-5 knots, tugs are used to control direction. (As an interesting side note, design specifications require that the compressed air tank capacity must be sufficient to make eight normal starts before having to recharge the tank. Suffice to say it would be not be good to use the air inefficiently and/or have a balky engine and thus run out of compressed air, which is the engine’s starting motor. Reportedly one of the marks of a good engineer is the number of starts he can achieve before depleting the compressed air tank.)
We paid a visit to the rear end of the propeller shaft, where the hull comes down to a broad “V”. Among the features was a narrow escape hatch where a crew member trapped by water or an engine fire (the entire engine room can be flooded with carbon dioxide gas), can ascend by a very long ladder to the deck.
Auxiliary engines. In addition to the main engine there are four large diesel generators, two of 2000 kW capacity and two of 2500 kW. Normal ship operation requires only one generator which is adequate to handle all necessary lights and appliances, a large air conditioning and ventilation system, and some ‘reefer’ boxes. When the electrical load gets up to about 2/3rds of the rated capacity of the operating generator a second one automatically starts, and so on. A major determinant of the electrical load is the number of reefers on board. The Hanjin Boston can carry up to 500 refrigerated TEU boxes that are plugged into ship’s power. Some reefers lower the temperature to 35-40 degrees F. and some keep the contents below freezing. Another major drain on the power is the 2500 kW (3300 hp) bowthruster and when that is in operation, three generators must be on. In keeping with the great amount of system redundancy on the Hanjin there is even a 5th, smaller generator, in an entirely different location, that could handle basic ship requirements if the main generator room was out of service.
Bunkering. This term refers to refueling the ship with bunker and other grades of oil. Bunker fuel, as noted, is near the bottom of the petroleum food chain and comes in different grades and viscosities. The process goes as follows:
• The ship’s chief engineer notifies the Hanjin Company of the minimum tons of fuel required, when it will be needed, the requested grades, and the maximum amount of fuel that its tanks could accommodate.
• Hanjin checks fuel prices and availabilities and authorizes the quantity to purchase at a designated future port. Prices are an important factor in deciding where and when to fuel, and how much to take aboard.
• At the designated port a fuel barge comes alongside with pre-warmed fuel and hoses are connected to the ship. Before refueling an agent and ship crewman together check how much fuel is already in each of the designated tanks and how much is in the barge tank. Since there are no fuel gauges this capacity checking is done on the ship with the equivalent of a lead line dropped into the tanks and tables that convert measurements into capacities. A somewhat different process is done on the barge. Refueling begins and is governed both by tank / barge fuel measurements and the barge’s self-contained pumping capacity. Time is included since barge pumps have different capacities and if the capacity is low, e.g., 300 tons/hour (vs. a more normal rate of 600-900 tons/hour), more time is necessary for fueling. Apparently there is nothing similar to the pump meter that is our reference when refueling our cars. Before and after barge and ship tank measurements are necessary to ensure that the provider doesn’t under-provide and the ship over-receive.
• Samples of the barge fuel are taken and sent to a laboratory for analysis. Singapore is a common destination in Asia. The ship ‘quarantines’ the new fuel until the analysis report is received 4-5 days later, confirming that the fuel meets the desired specifications.
Fuel grade is important, among other reasons because it impacts the grade of oil used to lubricate the cylinder walls of the engine. In four-cycle engines oil is in the crankcase but as with the many two-cycle engines in outboards, lawnmowers, etc., oil is mixed with gasoline to provide lubrication. In the huge two-cycle ship engines such mixing would not work so a special lubricating oil is injected through small holes in the cylinder lining and then burned along with the bunker oil injected through the three injection nozzles at the top of the cylinder. Apparently different grades of bunker fuel requires different grades of lubricating oil, hence the importance of making sure that the oil dealer provided what was ordered so that the lubricating oil can be adjusted appropriately. Occasionally a more detailed and quite lengthy chemical analysis must be done and we heard of major engine problems that resulted from improper fuel specs. As we listened to the details the story become increasingly complicated, with each set of questions resulting in yet more variables to factor into the equation. But, if you made it this far, you get the message.
One other problem is sludge! Sludge is mud, or residual oil. Residual oil, what is left over after the refining process, contains large shares of the heaviest components of crude oil, including metals, and are known as “catfines.” These are highly abrasive and if left in the fuel oil fed to the engine they would soon result in fatal damage. To remove these catfines, water and other impurities the bunker fuel goes through a shipboard process that involves heating, settling, filtration and centrifuges that leads to their separation. Suffice to say the resulting sludge, many tons of it, is a disposal problem. Up until the 1970s hundreds of thousands of tons of sludge were pumped overboard at sea, a big and toxic mess. With increasing attention to the environment, international regulations and the reality that sludge has value as a replacement fuel in land-based power plants in low income countries, sludge is now sold or disposed of by certified companies.
Containers
Cargo and cargo handling. Carrying cargo is the ship’s only reason for existence. Container boxes were introduced in the early 1950s by an American trucker and the idea extended to ships in 1956 with a 58-box cargo from Newark to Houston. The idea caught on big time and now over 150 million boxes are moved annually worldwide on the long routes and many more on coastal and short routes. The total number of container slots on all ships exceeds 11 million and NSB manages ships carrying a substantial share of them. Much of the loaded box traffic is from Asia to Europe and N. America, and much of box filled-with-air traffic is back the other way. A typical 20' box can carry 5200 pairs of flip flops, will weigh 13 tons, and has a sea freight cost of ~ 0.32/pair. At the higher end a 20' box of DVD players can carry 520 units, weigh 2 tons, and have a sea freight cost ~ 3.3/unit. In the reverse direction sending 26,600 bottles of California wine in a box weighing 20 tons can sell for ~ 200,000 or ~ 0.06/bottle for freight. The CO2 emissions per kilo by sea freight is 1/40th of that by air freight and the transport cost much lower. In the transport of these boxes we were very impressed, and at times bewildered, at all that must be taken into account.
Cargo capacity. As noted, our maximum capacity is 7471 TEUs, with most being of the 40' variety (a 40' box is 2 TEUs). There are two banks of reefers in two sections forward of the living/navigating unit, and up to nine units below deck and seven above deck. The stacking height of the units tapers somewhat toward the bow to ensure that the helmsman at the bridge can see the water 500 meters ahead. There is no bow lookout, even when entering and leaving ports or in fog; the lookout function is handled by one or more of the three high-end radars.
A typical 40' unit weighs just under 4 tons empty and depending on box certification, up to 32 tons fully loaded; actual weight depends on the contents. Newer boxes are built to sustain over 200 tons on top of them without being crushed, an important consideration. The first two rows of the above deck boxes are held in place by diagonal turnbuckle bars linked to the ship, lateral units in the third row have a long stabilizer bar, and each of the upper rows is locked individually to the row below. The twistlock mechanism is a separate unit, weighing ~15 pounds with various projections and measures about 7" across. It is impressively simple and effective. One variant of the twistlock anchors the bottom box to the ship. It is locked and unlocked manually. Subsequent boxes are lowered down, one on top of another, with a different twistlock variant projecting downward from its four corners. The elliptical projection is convex on two faces and concave on two faces such than when inserted into the slots at the top four corners of box below the lock mechanism rotates and the two boxes are automatically locked together. The twistlock mechanism is similar to that used with laptop computer cable locks; the lock tip is inserted into a slot and then rotated close to 90 degrees so that it can’t be removed. To unload a box, a stevedore will pull one of the projecting yellow knobs. This unlocks the twist-lock, readying the container for the gantry to hoist it ashore. The lock devices are then removed by the stevedores, stored, and ready for future use. On the west-bound trip many of the units are empty since the US exports much less to Asia than vice versa.
Cargo loading and distribution. Loading is a complicated and demanding process. Our ship will visit seven ports in its route around the Pacific. It costs time and money if boxes for the next port are under boxes for a later port; the latter boxes must be off-loaded, then the target boxes off-loaded, and lastly the latter port boxes re-loaded. If one must burrow down below the large hatch covers the cost is even greater since they must be removed and a place found for them while the boxes are removed.
Compounding this problem are weight distribution considerations. The rear of the ship normally lies low due to the weight of the engine and propeller. The rest of the cargo must be distributed carefully to keep the heavier units low in the ship (to avoid exaggerating the roll during heavy seas) and the weight distributed evenly along its 1000' length. The ship is so long that even with good loading you can apparently see the ship bend in a heavy sea. If the load is not distributed evenly, excessive strains are imposed on the hull, including both fore-aft bending and twisting. A Hanjin office in Florida provides the ship with information about box weight, destination and whether or not it contains hazardous goods (which are generally chemicals), and suggests loading placement for the new boxes. These suggestions may not adequately account for the existing load distribution and other considerations so the chief mate bears final responsibility for checking and rearranging box locations as necessary to ensure a safe voyage. We spent significant time reviewing the detailed loading specifications and graphs; the mate’s task is daunting and demanding. Among others, is calculating for each trip leg the draft (i.e., depth in the water) at the bow and stern at the departure and arrival ports. Leaving Shanghai I noted on the bridge’s bulletin board that we would be 0.2 M lower leaving port than when we arrived a day later at Kwangyang, S. Korea. I assumed this would be due to burning off almost 200 tons of fuel but the mate said “no,” it was due to the greater salinity of the Korean port. Salt water is heavier than fresh and with the large flow of the Yangtze River emptying into the port of Shanghai, the ship rides a bit lower in the water than in the sea water port of Kwangyang.
An important indicator of stability is the “GM” value, calculated at every departure. This value, expressed in meters up from a base point, takes into account in ways not precisely understood by me, the center of rotation of the ship considering its loading. A value of 1.5 would be optimum but seldom attained, a value in the mid-teens would not be desirable and would reflect excessive stability and a tendency to abrupt roll reversals, and hence strain on the boxes. On leaving Shanghai we were at 4.5, an OK value.
Maintaining good ship ‘trim.’ Our ship is at least partially double hulled even though it is not a tanker. Under the cargo hold and partway up the lateral sides are large fuel and water ballast tanks. The tanks may be only several meters deep but given the size of the ship they can carry 25,000+ tons of liquid. As fuel is consumed its distribution must be adjusted along with further adjustments in the water ballast tanks. This is especially important if the ship is light, as in our west-bound trip, or anticipates heavy weather. When salt water is taken on in Asia to adjust ship trim this water must be pumped out at 24 miles off the US coast and replaced with local water as part of the effort to reduce the introduction of exotic species into North America.
Stevedores. We heard quite some tales, and complaints, about ‘stevedoring’ the cargo around. The land-based stevedores are apparently more productive in Asia, especially in China, than in the US. Leaner crews, more tons handled per stevedore, and more flexible contract rules. US labor contracts can prohibit any work beyond the stated time limit, even with overtime. If any containers, even one, remain to be moved after the appointed hour, it could be tough luck; either leave them in place or wait another day in port. Some labor contract clauses prohibit ship crew from installing the final turnbuckle tie-downs to the containers. Thus if the last container makes it on board just when the ‘whistle’ blows, the stevedores leave and the ship must either wait in harbor or set sail with unfastened containers. As a curious, small “N” observation, female stevedore supervisors in the US seem to do a better job of keeping the work on track, with minimum conflicts, than do male supervisors.
Managing liquids and trim. In several places I’ve mentioned the complexity of managing the ship’s load and consequent trim. The large wall diagram of tank locations and capacities, along with a bulletin board that indicates tank management tasks ahead, gave ample evidence of the challenge. Every tank has to have an inlet and outlet, a method for determining current capacity, and pumps of diverse sizes to transfer liquids either to their final destination and/or to other tanks. Here’s the tank list and their capacities:
30 ballast water tanks, 24,140 tons
16 fuel oil tanks, 10,200 tons
4 diesel fuel tanks, 502 tons
7 lubricating oil tanks, 610 tons
2 fresh water tanks, 594 tons
11 other tanks, 1031 tons
70 tanks in all with 37,077 tons of capacity
We watched the bunkering process in Long Beach; it is problem enough just filling the fuel oil tanks!