The Technical Superintendent

domingo, 31 de mayo de 2015

DAY AFTER DAY

Each weekend I plan all the things that are becoming in the week: which ship is sailing, anchored at the road, on port operating, etc. and with this data base it is possible to schedule all the tasks

It is important to order the ship tasks based on the priorities, for example

	By Class	By Oil Company	By the own Company
	*Next Annual Survey*	*Next Vetting*	*Next Internaul Audit*
Ship A	03-jun	05-jul	27-may
Ship B	22-may	14-ago	25-nov
Ship C	16-jul	30-ago	10-jun
Ship D	20-dic	11-nov	23-jul

Based on these summary table you must contact the other Company departments in order to:

Procurement Department: Bring the vessels all material resources

Operations Department: Coordinate date and place of the inspection

Human Resources Department: Ensure that all the Crew has the flag and STCW documentation in order

Technical Department: Follow up the logistic, assist the vessel in order to maintain all equipment’s in service (critical and not critical) and coordinate the inspection

In reference to the Annual Survey, it’s necessary to know that all certificates are valid for a period of five years with annual renewals. At the fifth year, took place the Special Survey (dry dock) where all the certificates match with the same date, this is known as “harmonized” and begins a new five years period. Between the Annual Survey and the Special Survey there is another one: the Intermediate Survey. This one, it’s carried at the second or third annual inspections.

Please consider the following: for each Annual Survey there is a period of three month before and after the exact survey date called “window”. This is a period of time since you can initiate the survey and the last day you have to finish it. Look the next picture:

martes, 30 de septiembre de 2014

THE ORIGINS

There is no a Technical Superintendent school

Neither, nobody borns or became at a TS inmediately

A TS could be a naval engineer, chief engineer, or another one with technical preparation associated with ship management

His responsabilty is the vessel management, acomplish with the services that ship requires in order to mantain it operative with no delays, the TS needs to know the flag regulations like Liberia, Panama, Singapur, Malta, Bahamas, or the ones of the own country

It´s important to coordinate the vessels ETA in order to visit and send the necessary contracts

In each visit the TS will meet with Captain and CE in order to know the ship and crew requirements

Also, each five years the vessels has the special surveys and for that, the TS will prepare the dry docking quotation and all the task in reference to this special survey

Planning/Managing and arranging all technical maintenance and repairs for Company’s vessels, identify and solve daily routine problems/issues
Ensure full compliance with all class, flag state or any other mandated standards and requirement
Initiating action or authorizing action on purchases of spares for the vessel considering budget restraints.
Monitoring the fleets condition, cosmetically, technically and structurally
Safe efficient and economical running of the vessels under his care
Day to day monitoring of the vessel’s performance and progress
Assessment for Employment of senior engineering officers
Participation in Management Review Meetings
Provide assistance to the Manager in the preparation of vessel operating budgets;
Advance planning to ensure dry dockings are effectively planned and efficiently executed
Monitoring the company’s documentation required of the vessel
Manage subordinate and hold regular meetings with them on good, safety practices as well as Company management policies and procedures
Report regularly to the Manager and follow up on problems/issues

The rest of the things it will be lern with the time and the experience. For example, if the OWS is out of service, the first thing that the TS must do is call to the Class (LR, BV, ABS, DNV, etc), explain what had happen and inmediately send an email to the flag in order to ask for a dispensation. With this dispensation, the Class will issue a "Short Term" for a period of time until the equipment will be repaired.

In next times I will tell more about the class, status survey, vettings, statutory certificates and more!!!

THE STATUTORY CERTIFICATES

The vessels that are involved in international trade must accomplish with international regulations (safety, security and environmental protection)
The implementation of these regulations are under the responsibility of each Flag State which may delegate all or part of its powers to classes that are all togheter in the IACS (international association of classification societies)

The statutory certificates for a cargo vessel are grouped by types as SOLAS, MARPOL, and others

SOLAS
Safety of Life at Sea

MARPOL
Marpol 73/78 is one of the most important international marine environmental conventions. It was designed to minimize pollution of the seas, including dumping, oil and exhaust pollution.

Classification

Class Certificate

Loadline

International Load Line Certificate

Survey of Load Lines

Solas

Cargo Ship Safety Construction Certificate

ABS Record of Cargo Ship Safety Equipment

Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate

Record of Equipment for the Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate (Form E)

ABS Record of Approved GMDSS Radio Installation

Cargo Ship Safety Radio Certificate

Record of Equipment for the Cargo Ship Safety Radio Certificate (Form R)

Marpol

International Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate (Annex I)

International Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate - Supplement Form B

International Sewage Pollution Prevention Certificate (Annex IV)

International Air Pollution Prevention Certificate

International Energy Efficiency

International Energy Efficiency Supplement

Supplement to International Air Pollution Prevention Certificate

Cargo Gear

Cargo Gear Annual Certificate

Cargo Gear Re-testing Certificate

Others

Certificate of Crew Accommodation

International Anti-Fouling System Certificate

Record of Anti-Fouling Systems

International Tonnage Certificate (1969)

Panama Canal Certificate

International Anti-Fouling System Certificate

Record of Anti-Fouling Systems

THE VESSEL INSPECTION QUESTIONNAIRE

http://www.ocimf.com/sire/sire-documents

The VIQ is an OCIMF issue that is used as a guide of questions and answers for the vetting inspectors in order to survey a ship

As it is useful to the inspectors, it´s useful too for the Technical Superintendents. The goal is the way to read and undestand it and the job to show it to the crew
The VIQ is composed by thirteen chapters and each one refers to a specific theme with lots of questions

This is a list of the chapters

Chapter 1. General Information 15
Chapter 2. Certification and Documentation 19
Chapter 3. Crew Management 25
Chapter 4. Navigation 29
Chapter 5. Safety Management 43
Chapter 6. Pollution Prevention 63
Chapter 7. Structural Condition 71
Chapter 8. Petroleum 73
Chapter 8. Chemicals 93
Chapter 8. LPG 107
Chapter 8. LNG 125
Chapter 9. Mooring 141
Chapter 10. Communications 147
Chapter 11. Engine and Steering Compartments 151
Chapter 12. General Appearance and Condition 159
Chapter 13. Ice Operations 163

TECHNICAL SUPERINTENDENT MANAGEMENT

Every Company, depending on the number of vessels that belong to the own fleet, has a determined number of TS

Each TS will stay in touch with the other departments.

The purchasing department, for example, is responsible to get all materials, spare parts and so on that have direct impact on the TS job

A lot of work requests needs spare parts as seals, little shafts for pumps or things that seems as marginal or insignificant but delay or stop totally a job. For that reason the TS must follow the vessel needs and the answer that the purchasing dept. is giving

Another important is the operation department, they manage the Company business affairs and have the need to know if one all the vessels are full operative without delays. Together, will coordinate a schedule repair as a dry dock or one of shorter time

The human resources department is important too. There are lot of modern vessels with the latest technology, but the crew, specially the officers, haven´t the professional ability to manage it. By the other way, the problem is the permanent changing of the crew.

Then, the TS must be in contact with all departments in order to have a safe ship with a trained crew.

He must control all due statutory certificates and equipment certificate, request quotations for the work request and visit the vessels that he assists each time they are in port. Once onboard, must have a discussion with the Master and the CE to know the needs of his vessel and the crew, what things to improve and take a walk around to see possible deficiencies that the crew didn’t see for being accustomed.

The TS must do inspections of the vessels that could be each month and one annually, checking all points of the vessel that assist:

BRIDGE (navigation, communications, issues)

ENGINE ROOM (main and auxiliary engines, air compressors, steering gear, boilers, emergency generator, bilges, alarms)

OTHERS (minimum spare parts, PMS, main deck, pipelines, manifold, cranes, anchoring system, fire pumps, pump room, extinguishers, cleaning at galley, cabins, bathrooms and officers eligibility

SOME FLAG CONTACTMAILS

Hello everybody
Sometimes we have the need of communicate with the flag representatives of the vessels that we assist
These situations appears when a chritical equipment is out of service and we have to report to the flag in order to ask for a dispensation as well as to the class
These are the vessels flag contacts that I assist actually: