Ferry Stripdown: Drydock of PRIDE OF BRUGES: TV Documentary....

[Captain Kong]

It is not too bad Tony, When you have done it a few times it really becomes easy.
As I said before, using a Load Master Computer helps to prevent disasters such as the `ENERGY CONCENTRATION`
Cheers
Brian.

[Tony Wilding]

Thank goodness for modern Technology, a real safeguarding piece of equipment, so necessary on a oil tanker of the size today, was it a british invention ?

[Chris Allman]

using a Load Master Computer helps to prevent disasters such as the `ENERGY CONCENTRATION

Does it help when drinking alcohol too

[John Arton]

Gulliver
Many thanks for the articles on this ship. I would have thought that at her age she would have had at least a basic loadmaster computer on board. Its owners were quite well respected so it was the mates fault not to get his ships stress down by ballast etc, despite the rather awkward discharge requirements. The mate and captain should have between them worked out a load/discharge plan that would have taken into consideration the requirements to part discharge in France and any changes that the charterer made en route should have led to a change in discharge plan to compensate for these changes and if they could not be accommodated then it should have been up to the Master to let his owners and charterers know and that what they were asking was putting the ship in danger. Worst case they should have refused to discharge the way the charter wanted but not forgetting that the mate was at fault for not putting ballast in the ship to reduce stress.
If a owner/charterer demands that you discharge in such a manner that the ship is overstressed and cannot be counterbalanced with ballast to reduce stress then the captain has a duty to refuse to comply with their wishes. I have had a number of arguements over the years with terminals wanting to change the order of discharge of certain parcels of chemicals that would have left us dangerously stressed and always won out as head office always backed me up.
On a further note.
I was on a Cape sized bulker discharging grain in Rotterdam when the Energey Concentration sister ship came in and berthed opposite. She had been met by Dutch officials and crew right out at the beginning of the Maas Approach who boarded her and took over everything from then on with the actual ships crew just being used to drive winches etc. The whole discharge and inerting etc. was carried out by a team of Dutch officials and experts and they did a heck of a job as they had very little time to prepare. The crew just stood around watching them.
rgds
Capt. John Arton