Heavy Lift Transfer

Heavy Lift Transfer

Hello everyone I hope that you all had a Merry, Merry Christmas.
This time I just want to show as short as possible a heavy lift cargo operation between two vessels at sea.
My vessel was instructed by the Charter to do a heavy lift transfer between a Platform at "Campos Oil Field" and the Line/Riser deploying vessel “Seaway Condor”, our operation consisted in receiving on our deck, coming from the platform a "called spool piece" weighting about 55 ton and after a short steaming through the field deliver the “Baby” to “Seaway Condor” in the way that the boys there can proceed with their job of deploying down the "Baby" to the sea bed.
The weather was a little choppy and the operation carried out at night, these factors together, made the operation a little difficult, special measures were taken and instructions passed to the deck boys according Company and Charter procedures, one was for the boys to stay way from cargo before it start to be heaved up, the other was the need that my vessel worked just on the lee side, at the end all went okay.

I wish a Happy New Year to all, be carefull out there.

Please see Pictures below.

Pict.1

Cargo on deck and approaching “Seaway Condor” Port side aft.

Pict.2

Cargo being lifted up to “Seaway Condor”.

Once upon a time...

Rescue Boat

This morning when I arrived to Viana Shipyard to shift the newbuilding "Industrial Dawn" to another berth due to sandblasting works on a nearby ship, I found the vessel to be about 10m away from the berth, in order to test the rescue boat crane. Unfortunately for these yard workers, they forgot to leave one of them behind to heave up the boat...

Someone finally rigged the gangway and I managed to get to the bridge before they could be heaved up.

This picture was taken from portside bridge wing.

CLEAN DESIGN

CLEAN DESIGN

Clean ship, design, operation and environment, I put a question, will be possible to put this three aspects to working in accordance?
IMO is making a big effort issuing rules and directives on this matters to produce the need on Naval Architects, Class Societies and Shipping Companies to come out with new ship designs and concepts more friendly to environment but also for the crews working on it.
Two notations had came, CLEAN and CLEAN DESIGN, until now more than 100 ships where built to these notations with about 70 (information taken from DNV site) sailing now under CLEAN notation, for the stricter CLEAN DESIGN notation 10 ships (information taken from DNV site) where attracted, with 8 now sailing. The ships referred are of all kinds and sizes, from passenger, Ro-Ro, ULCCs and of course the supply and offshore ships where I had contact with this subject through Farstad Shipping my working Company at the moment.

“Design and construction alone will not ensure best environmental practice. The thinking needs to be incorporated in crew’s attitudes and practices. For this reason CLEAN and CLEAN DESIGN notations include requirements for operational procedures, such as log-books etc, in addition to technical design and built-in features. For the initial projects, in particular, this presented some challenges regarding the split of responsibilities for operational procedures. However, as the yards and owners have gained experiences the roles and responsibilities have become clearer.”
Taken from DNV site Author Eivind Haugen.

According guidelines from Farstad the CLEAN DESIGN notation is a target for new buildings and the aim is to establish procedures that come as most as possible environmental friendly with the manuals in electronic form and when possible use of recycled paper. Garbage management plan to be followed as per Company procedures to achieve the maximum possible waste recycling, etc.
Waste segregation starts on board and when facilities ashore don’t provide such service the Master should complain and report to the authorities in the way that measures must be taken.
Quality of life on board must be improved with the use of new kind of equipment to reduce the stress on board like more comfortable accommodations with reduction on engines and thrusters noise levels.
Farstad has at the moment the “Far Saga” with notation CLEAN DESIGN and a new build to be classed the same.


I want to wish a Merry Christmas for all passing their eyes through this blog.

Pict. Far TBN

Fantastic weather for shiphandling...

Yesterday, Ilha Azul sailing bound to Lisbon. Pilot boat waiting for pilot to disembark...

LOCKNAGAR

LOCKNAGAR

Hello everybody just returned from board to a rewarding leave for Christmas with family and friends.
This time I was just passing my eyes through old pictures and I found “Locknagar”, she was working at the time on the riser pull out at SBM-1 mono-buoy together with my vessel Far Centurion.
This vessel was a former PSV (Platform Supply Vessel) belonging to Farstad Shipping that’s in 97/98 have made an full conversion to Line and Riser Barge/Vessel and DP class II.
The vessel in 2001 was sold to DSND, that later became Sub Sea 7 and at the moment I lost the her trail after changing colour to red.Maybe you think why he is speaking on this particular vessel the reason is that a lot of very good Portuguese deck officers start there as DP operators and proceed theirs careers on other vessels and other companies, the last time that I had contact with her one Portuguese DP operator still working there.

Funchalense

Funchalense, now flying the UK ensign, proceeding to Viana Yard for drydock repairs.

Is it the sunset for portuguese ships?

Ilha Azul (again)

Monster waves

On one of my first posts (see below - Galp Funchal) I described a personal experience of what heavy weather can do to a ship. I have some colleague mariners with several years at sea that still do not believe in waves of 30m. I guess is just a matter of luck...or being in the wrong place at the wrong time in a ocean that is so amazingly huge. For those "non-believers", check here the latest news...

Ilha Azul and Castelo de Viana

The harbour tugboat "Castelo de Viana" (twin Z propeller/3400hp) with the ferry "Ilha Azul" on the background. Ilha Azul usually trades between the Azores Islands and is presently moored at Viana do Castelo Shipyard for a peaceful Winter...

With LOA of 99,5m and a GT of 5287t she was built in Spain in 1980 and sails under the Portuguese flag (Madeira registry). She has two engines geared to screw shafts driving 2 FP propellers with a total power of 6,472kW(8,800hp) and a service speed of 18.0kts.

Her owners have recently signed a contract with ENVC (Viana Yard) for the construction of two Ro-Ro Day Car & Passenger Vessels.

One of the ferries, with 97 m of LOA transports 790 persons and 140 vehicles, the other one for the transport of 400 persons and 32 vehicles, has 60 m LOA.

It is always good news when we have a portuguese shipyard building two vessels for a portuguese owner and, hopefully, to be operated by a portuguese crew...

Confidence

Confidence approaching the fairway buoy

Bitflower

The 2003 built asphalt tanker "Bitflower". Seen here with the sunset on the backgroung approaching berth nº1. She is a fantastic lady with superb handling characteristics and a bridge layout looking like an airplane cockpit. The kind of vessel to take me to the sea again...

Flag: Sweden
LOA: 114,6m
GT: 4936t
FS Ice Class 1A
IMO: 9263930

Radar and wave measurement (Part 1)

Last Thursday I was invited to a demonstration of electronic equipment able to measure wave height as well as detect oil slicks on the water with radar assistance. The venue took place at Aveiro Pilot Station, where the equipment had been previously installed. It consisted of a standard marine navigation radar with antenna, some extra hardware connected and a windows based software. Several pilots of different ports were present as well as some Aveiro port officials. The company representative started with a brief description of the equipment capabilities and modus operandi. Some scientific aspects were briefly discussed.

It does not come as a surprise to me that radar can be able to effectively measure wave heights and direction. We all had, while sailing, to adjust our anti sea clutter controls in order to avoid the PPI being blurred with the swell echoes. Before this adjustment is performed, is relatively easy to know the swell direction and to establish some direct relationship between the strength of the swell echoes and the swell height.

So I think it was a matter of time before someone would use common marine x-band radars as a sensor to survey ocean wave fields. The wave field images provided by the radars are sampled and analysed by a wave monitoring system that can be mounted on a ship or at coastal locations (in this case the antenna was mounted on the top of the pilot station). The measurement is based on the backscatter of microwaves from the ocean surface, which is visible as sea clutter on the radar screen. From this observable sea clutter, a numerical analysis is carried out. The directional wave spectrum, the surface currents and sea state parameters such as wave periods, wave lengths, and wave directions can be derived. To provide absolute wave heights, the response of the nautical radar must be calibrated with data from an oceanographic buoy, which, unfortunately, the company representative was unable to do. Weather conditions that day were terrible with the southwesterly wind gusting 30 to 40 knots and a 4 to 5 meter swell at the port entrance. The swell was great for testing purposes although the rain had some affect on the strength of the echoes.

As for oil slick detection it is more or less the same principle, but with the use of a different algorithm. The radar signal is sensitive to the roughness of the sea surface, which is modulated by wind speed and direction. The suppression of the capillary waves by oil from either anthropogenic sources, such as an oil spill, or from natural biological slicks, reduces the surface roughness resulting in less radar backscatter and darker image tones.

(to be continued)