Merchant Navy College Assignment.

[Keith Tindell]

Good luck Ben, keep us all informed , probably be able to do it by email aboard now, whatever we wait to see how the modern ship board lives are, make us all wish we were 50 years younger again, regards kt

[Gulliver]

All the Best BEN for the future! Wish I was going again.

GENER8 NAUTILUS.jpg

HERE's your Link

Gulliverbonvoyage.jpg

[Keith Tindell]

I have no knowledge of this type of vessel at all, i know some members have worked this type of ship, so what size of crew would she have now ?, how long would she be alongside discharging ?. These things were not sailing in my day of tramp ships, so just interested, regards KT

[j.sabourn]

My little knowledge of tankers were 2 clean products carriers and if remember consisted of 26 tanks more or less 3 abreast with an additional 4 abreast right forward which were on a separate pumpline system than the 26 tanks and separate pumps (steam) for discharge. They were not double skinned hull wise either like they are today I believe. The 4 separate tanks were for the carriage of kerosenes and paraffins. The others for refined cargoes such as Jet A1 and 2, and naptha type cargoes, refined petroleums. The 26 tanks when discharging were through a joystick control through an after pumproom the pumps being started from the engine room. The forward pumproom had individual pumps for each tank usually started by the pumpman.
The monster on screen wouldn't have a clue but depending on date of build should think a lot is automated, and she wont have a big crew. Tankermen will know more, I never considered myself as such. Cheers JS

[Captain Kong]

When I was on those big ones 250 to 300,000 tons we had 26 men. It was easy.

Master, Chief Officer on day work, three Mates watch keeping, one Sparky, Six ABs, 3 in watches and 3 on day work,
four engineers, one Electrician, one CH Steward, one Bosun, one Pumpman, three Mechanics,
one Steward. two Cooks.

I believe they can now be down to around 12 men.
.
We started to have extra crew members flown out to Las Palmas to join an inward bound to Europe tanker to assist with an extra Mate on Watches for the Channel transit, and the Discharge , inward and outward and leaving in Las Palmas again. and also an extra crew based in Dubai to join outside the Gulf by helicopter to assist in watch keeping and loading in the Gulf Ports. then returning to Dubai outward to await the next vessel.
Cheers
Brian

[j.sabourn]

Thats roughly how it started off with me Brian think we had more ABs though this was 1972 though. Arriving Japan with a full cargo of Naptha, they took the Chief officer off, and the pumpman was also sent home so I became the Chief officer but also the watchkeeper as the first mate, so where as before it was a fairly easy job it suddenly appeared as something different. The only one it didn't make any difference to was the old man he just carried on as norm. This was my first tanker and first trip also on such, was a fast learning curve. Which I have now practically forgotten about. They told me I was being groomed for going master on a big white elephant that lay up the Norwegian fiords and never did a voyage for them,looking at that photo makes me wonder of how the mate would have survived on his painting maintainance which was also expected in those days. Cheers JS

[John Arton]

Here is the website of the vessels owners.
Gener8 Maritime - Home
She is managed by Northern Marine, part of the Stena Group, based in Glasgow.
Northern Marine Group​ | NMG | Ship Management Company
They have a very flash and large office there, I have actually visited them and can vouch for their excellent coffee and tabnabs.
Nearly all Brits there in the Management team, supers. etc. Reputable outfit that has an excellent reputation. They manage a wide variety of vessels.
I believe the core of the management team grew out of Denholms Ship Management as a number of people I met there were ex. Denholm Ship Management.
The Greek Guy who set up the ownership group, his name is very familiar and sounds like the Greek guy who brought out C.P.'s chemical fleet and contracts back in 89. He was heavily into crude oil tankers even in those days.
These ships can easily load and discharge 30-40 thousands T.P.H. and port time is more likely to depend upon the shore facility to send and receive the cargo.
As for crewing levels, to cope with the International Regulations concerning work/rest hours and port security, there would be a crew of around 20 on a vessel that size with possibly a couple of cadets in addition.
InterManager to Look into Minimum Manning Levels | World Maritime News
rgds
JA

[j.sabourn]

Re. the crew manning in the video seems to me they have been arguing about this and doing the same so called surveys for the past 30 years and the only thing that has changed is the people doing them. The first thing to do is to get this out of peoples heads the minimum manning is only as everyone knows, is for taking the ship from A to B. Get that planted in peoples noggins especially the shipowner and we might get somewhere. They have used that description minimum manning for long enough, the people who really know the score and have lived with it all these years that the minimum level manning has been abused, are fed up with the short sightedness of various shipowners, and also those in government bodies that let them get away with it. Every ship on every different trade should be manned safely, doesn't matter about the size of the ship that is immaterial in most cases. Seriously undermanning can cost lives and has in the past which I am well aware of. JS

[Captain Kong]

What they were doing in ESSO in the early 1980s was trying out having the ships sail on the ocean passages with a very reduced manning, but sufficient for that passage and then another crew flew out to assist with the coastal navigation, berthing , loading/discharging and outwards again.
So that is why a crew were based in Las Palmas and another in Dubai.
The Ocean Passage then from Europe via the Cape to the Gulf would take up to 8 weeks on slow steaming, so that is why it was an expensive item with a full crew,
Accountants work it out in their Office but do not have work with that system.
Occasionally we had Office Staff sailing with us for up to four months to evaluate what went on and how to save money.
Cheers
Brian

[Captain Kong]

looking at that photo makes me wonder of how the mate would have survived on his painting maintainance which was also expected in those days. Cheers JS


Hi John
regards maintenance and painting, we sometimes had a work squad on board, while certain jobs were completed.
One Company Niko Verken of Las Palmas sent half a dozen Niko workers out to us and they chipped painted all the decks and engine room, even used them when mooring etc. then when the job was completed they flew somewhere else,
Brian