SHIP’S DOCUMENTS AND CERTIFICATES (PART II)

In operating and for its commercial purpose, a trading vessel needs to be supplied with certificates issued by various institutions. The certificates will act as prove of a vessel’s worthiness to be used in a commercial activity. These certificates have various survey items and serve their own purpose. Below is some of the certificates owned by BLT’s vessels.

1. Classification Certificate
This certificate contains ship classification and issued by Classification Society. Vessel classifications described in this certificate are Classification Number, Vessel Ownership, Flag State, Ship Particular, Vessel Builder, and the compliance with the Society rules and regulation of the classification characteristics.
This certificate is valid for 5 years and annual survey will be held in 3 months prior or after its anniversary date.
The purposes of the certificate are commercial, vessel standard, insurance, and mandatory regulation from flag state. Commercial purpose is to inform the charterer of vessel type and types of cargo that vessel can carry. Vessel standard means that vessel is certified by Class for its quality and capacity. Insurance purpose means that vessel is insured by the Class. Flag State Control also demands for vessel to be under Class Society and this certificate is issued to serve the same

2. IAPP (International Air Pollution Prevention)
This certificate is valid for 5 years and annual survey will be held in 3 months prior or after its anniversary date. The purpose of this certificate is to ensure that vessel already comply with SOLAS regulation 5 Annex VI of air pollution prevention. Vessel fitted with this certificate means that vessel is fully complying of the requirement in terms of on board equipment, arrangement, and material used. IAPP certificate also has supplement that describe the Main Engine, Aux Engine, and the types of bunker to be used inside and outside ECA

3. ISPP (International Sewage Pollution Prevention)
This certificate is valid for 5 years and annual survey will be held in 3 months prior or after its anniversary date. The certificate is issued in accordance to SOLAS regulation 4 Annex IV of the marine pollution prevention of water. If a vessel is fitted with this certificate, means that vessel already comply in terms of structure, arrangement, system, and material used for preventing pollution. Inside this certificate, the sewage treatment plant installed on board is also described.

FUEL SAVING INITIATIVES

Oil Price is increasing each day. This is certainly becoming bad news for us; because operational cost of our vessels is highly depend on the increase of bunker price. But we don’t have any power over the bunker price in the market. So what can we do? Saving the fuel is the answer.
We are all well aware that all the activity in the vessel need some fuel. To be able to save, every officer and crew must realize and aware how important is to save the fuel. This fuel saving can be started by lowering our daily consumption on the vessel without burdening crew and moreover is not decreasing our service quality.
Below are some of encouraged behaviors in order to save the fuel:
1. Keep accommodation doors closed
a. Post a “keep closed” marking for all doors and windows
b. Implement a fire and security patrol for every period.
c. Brief all crew members that by not properly closed the door will cause the A/C working ineffectively

2. Turn off light in cabins and public areas when they are not being used
a. Turn off light/lamp that were not in use for example in the hospital/clinic, empty cabin, when leaving the cabin, crew/officer mess room on day time and night time after being used, all store, pump room etc. Including turning off the computer after finish using it.

TRICKS OF BUNKER SUPPLY

Most of BLT Chembulk Group bunkering is taking place in Singapore. Singapore is the one of the most active and convenient port for bunker supply. In recent year Singapore bunker industry has been improving so much in term of quality and quantity compare to the old day. It is because of Singapore MPA’s effort and hard work to improve their bunker industry. The MPA has tightened the bunkering procedure; they have CP 60 as well as other regulation to ensure proper bunkering in Singapore. However, even though the procedure has been tightened, we may see some bunker tanker are still trying to play their tricks, therefore it is very important for Chief Engineer and vessel’s crew to know well their tricks.

Below are the Tricks of Bunker Supply, trust that most of our Chief Engineers might known the trick very well, or even know more other tricks. Hopefully by knowing these tricks we can do some prevention, counteract or countermeasure to protect our interest:

1. Manipulating the sounding result:
It is very easy for the bunker barge operator to manipulate the sounding result.

Counteract/Countermeasure: Chief Engineer or bunker surveyor appointed should sound the bunker barge tanks himself

VESSEL TRACKING

Vessel is the most valuable tangible asset for every shipping company. Frequent monitoring and accurate information regarding location / condition of the vessel during voyage is very essential to ensure smooth voyage and timely delivery of the cargo.

Daily report from ship side conveyed through email and communication through satellite phone between ship and shore staff. Shore staff basically will rely upon daily report from vessel side.

But, what if all communication line down due to hardware problem (ship radar broken due to rough weather) or poor signal? How to know the exact location of the ship? How far it is from the port of destination?
In emergency case, what safety measure or emergency response to be done?

About AIS, LRIT and VT service
To answer above questions, starting in 2002 all new commercial ships over 300 gross tons, and all new passenger vessels, are required to include AIS transponders. The requirement for existing ships has been gradually phased in.

The AIS System transmits information encoded on two VHF channels, at 161.975 Mhz, 162.025 Mhz. Typical range is between 20 and 50 nautical miles.
The AIS transponder receives information from the ship’s other navigational instruments. Position, course, and speed over ground information is typically provided by a GPS receiver.

Ships that are moored or at anchor are required to transmit their position information at least every 3 minutes. Ships moving at up to 14 kts must transmit their position every 10 seconds; at up to 23 kts, every 6 seconds; and at faster speeds, every 2 seconds.

SMALL THINGS MEAN BIG

People sometimes think that doing big things is more important because it will gain something big. This is normal. However, in reality there are big things which are very important and still become the subject of debate until today were originated from something simple and small. Examples are given below:
a. Sir Isaac Newton’s Theory of Gravity. He found out about it while he saw an apple fell from its tree.

b. Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. The theory is still a topic which was discussed until today were originated from a observation to small differences to an animal (a sparrow’s beak) and plants (different colors of tree).
This article will not discuss more about the above inventions, but will try to see its connection with vessel operation in the department I work at. This article will also try to give idea on what possibility we can have by paying attention to things that some people might consider simple or small.

1. Duty of Operation Department
Based on my observation, there are some definitions about the duty of operation department. I think the duty of vessel operator is: “to make sure that all supporting tools (excluded technical and crew matters) of vessel operation in the optimal condition so that cargo operation can be done with efficient cost and time”

SHIP INSPECTIONS AND VETTING GUIDELINES

1. Preparing for the Vetting Inspection
The onboard inspection can only be successful if the tanker is prepared for the inspection. The inspector who is to carry out the inspection will start to collect impressions from even before the time he takes his first step onto the gangway and will continue to do so until he takes the last step off the gangway when leaving the tanker after completing the inspection.

Almost all inspectors are former seafarers who from both deck and engine room experience are able to assess a tanker. Most likely the first impression formed from the time the tanker is sighted until the inspector’s arrival at the Master’s cabin will be the strongest, although it will be subjective at this point. The inspectors will undertake the inspection of the tanker looking for objective criteria by which to judge the tanker. It is a fact of life that, however subconscious the urge may be, the inspector will look for objective evidence to support his initial subjective opinion. Thus the importance of the route from ship side to Master’s cabin should not be underestimated. Remember you do not get a second chance to make a first impression.

Make sure that the inspection is scheduled at a convenient time for the vessel, so it does not conflict with other inspections or similar matters. This could easily be arranged through the port agent.

SAFE NAVIGATION IN KANMON KAIKYO PASSAGE

Where is Kanmon Kaikyo Port?
Kanmon Kaikyo is a strait between Honshu and Kyushu island or between Shimonoseki & Yamaguchi City and Kitakyushu & Fukuoka City in west of Japan. With length distance: 22 NM; Average Breadth: 0.8 NM and Depth of water range: 11.6 – 19.7 meter, it is short passage from Korea to Japan or from Japan to Korea.

Here are the procedures entering Kanmon Passage:
1. Report to Local Agent
One day before passing Kanmon, inform to local agent from last port to next port:
a. Date and time departure from last port
b. Distance to go from last port to Kanmon MN line or SH line
c. Steaming time from last port to Kanmon MN line or SH line
d. ETA Kanmon MN line or SH line
Note: For example last port is Shimotsu. Next port is Yosu Shimotsu 03-01-2011/1900lt, DTG to Kanmon SH line 274 NM, Steaming time 22.83 hr, ETA 04-01-2011/1750 LT

ON / OFF HIRE STATEMENT

Documents are very important in a company. As company archives, some of the documents also legally binding, like the On / Off Hire Statement as one of the commercial document. Basically, this document is a letter of notification and agreement of both parties (BLT Chembulk as a vessel owner with a third party which in this context is the charterer or the party who had rented our boat).

What is On / Off Hire Statement?
On-hire statement is a letter of agreement between both parties (owner and charterer), which contains detailed description of Remain Of Board Bunkers (ROB) MFO, MDO, MGO, Lubes Oil and another important thing is the actual data (date and hour).

LEARN FROM MISTAKES AT OPERATIONAL MATTERS

The implementation of the Asean China Free Trade Agreement (AC-FTA) and also cabotage principle in Indonesia requires us, as one of actor in the shipping industry to improve the quality of human resources for the improvement of service quality. But in the process, there are various technical and non-technically faults will be happen, such as vessel operation, hiring boats, charter vessels, shipping agency, even on the ship.

These errors may have occurred because of human negligence, lack of knowledge and competencies of human resources, and limitations of supporting facilities, including the theory books about sailing.

CARGO TANK COATING

A chemical tanker defined as a tanker which carries liquid cargoes in bulk. There is a wide variety of cargoes carries by these ships, not only chemical products but also commodities (vegetable oil, fats, wine) and inorganic substances (sulfuric acids, phosphoric acid, and caustic soda).

About 30% of liquid trading cargoes (chemical and chemical products) are carried by chemical tankers. Due to the remarkable growth of chemical industry, shipping industry carries more than 50,000 different chemical substances. Accordingly the demand for more sophisticated and efficient chemical tankers shall be increased too.

About Cargo Tank Coating

The chemical tanker is a very special type of ship due to the complexity and the particularity of the cargo. So most of the times, much attention is given to the cargo tanks and to their ability to ensure the quality and purity of the cargo throughout the voyage.

Cargo tank coating has two main roles, first to create a separation barrier to avoid direct contact between the mild steel (tank construction) and the corrosive cargo substance. Secondly, it must have smooth/slippery surface to provide easy tank cleaning operation.

BUNKER FUEL

About Bunker

Fuel Oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. The term “Bunker Fuel” refers to any type of fuel oil used aboard ships. Presently, fuel cost remains as one of the largest item in the overall operating cost of a merchant ship. The great increases in the price of the oil fuel have caused ship owners to increase their efforts to obtain improved and better quality of bunker.

Beside related to efficient operational cost, cargo carrying capacity of a vessel also could be optimized by strategic bunkering arrangements.

SHIP’S DOCUMENTS AND CERTIFICATES

One of the main requirements for tanker operation is ship’s documents. Throughout this article, we will discover further regarding the mandatory documents certificate. Below items are the supporting component that must not be forgotten by every ship owner.

Below are the documents:

1.Certificate of Registry: shows the nationality of a ship (issued by Sea Communication).

To obtain a Certificate of Registry, the owner of the ship must enter his ship to the official registration of the Flag state. The flag state of a commercial vessel  is the state under whose laws the vessel is registered or licensed. The flag state has the authority and responsibility to enforce regulations over vessels registered under it’s flag, including those relating to inspection, certification, and issuance of safety and pollution prevention documents. As a ship operates under the laws of its flag state, these laws are used if the ship is involved in an admiralty case.

2.International Tonnage Certificate (ITC) 1969: gives detail of gross and net tonnage of a ship (issued by Sea Communication).

ITC determined in accordance with the 1969. ITC valid permanently, except in case of alteration or upon transfer of the ship to other flag of state.

OUR CARGO PRIOR LOADING

 

Because of hazardous nature of the cargoes likely to be carried on chemical, oil tankers or gas tankers the planning, preparation and execution of all cargo related functions are to be viewed as critical operations.

In addition to the shipping documents, a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) must be present and available to all persons. The MSDS contain all information regarding the product in question and should be posted in public areas, so that all crew members have access to the necessary information.

In order to lift a cargo, as a minimum requirement, the following must be known:

·         Name of product, technical and trade name

·         Product list in vessel’s Certificate of Fitness (COF)

·         Compatibility Group and exceptions

·         Coating compatibility

·         Marpol category

·         Reactive/inhibited or not

·         Melting point

·         Heating requirements

·         Nitrogent requirements