A lot of changes in the various elements of operating a ship has made different. There are a multitude of factors involved and the stress level has gone up a lot. Regulations has been added and changed, technology has progressed and made it possible to reduce crew onboard but it has also made it more stressful for those that are onboard. Security issues around the world has changed and made it harder accessing a support network that used to be available on short notice, just a phone call away. Ship crews used to be able to move around fairly freely while in port. They could have a few hours off the ship and get away from the stress.

Today’s sailing time of 3 months is still a long time in today’s standard. After it’s completed and you are on the way back home things are looking up.

In marine transportation there are two main categories of ships. Those two main categories are “Dry Cargo Ships” and “Liquid Cargo Ships”.

Under category of “Dry Cargo” we have two main categories and they are Dry Bulk Cargo and General Cargo. Under Liquid Cargo Ships we have again two main categories and they are Crude Oil Tank Ships and Parcel Tank Ships.
Crude oil tank ships are generally very large ships and they carry mostly raw crude oil, meaning a un-refined oil directly from the oil well. A parcel tank ship carries smaller amounts of refined products and other liquid cargoes. There are tank ships that also carry liquefied natural gas.

So what is a “Tanker”? I guess that you now can answer that question and if not, the answer will be in Karen’s next article, for sure.

So it would be great to have a place for the families to hook up. A place where a wife can talk to other like minded women in same position. Husband out at sea and the wife alone at home with the kids and the Dog. Idea exchanges, support and tips for the various trials that pop up.  Chances are that a women have gone through the same somewhere in world. Children grow up very fast and the time shouldn’t be wasted on trivial stuff. Get right to the mater of things and connect with people in the same boat as you. I could become a very good place for support from within the maritime community. Being inactive is not good.  Chances are that things will usually get better with some support and advice.

What does a ship chandler do? A ship chandler or ship supplier is a company that specializes in accommodating the request for stores and spares to the ships. This is a very broad term and it covers a lot of different product categories. It can be anything from Tomatoes to Engine Pistons and Nuts and Bolts.

 A ship Chandler usually works directly with the Ship Manager or Ship Owner. A large part of Ship Supplier work is simply sourcing of products used onboard the ships. Today the world is the shopping ground for ship suppliers. Anything can be sent express to just about anywhere in 3-5 days. This speed of service has been a blessing and also made it possible for the ship owner to have his ship replenished with stores at just about any location in the world.

 The speed of the ships has also made in necessary to increase the speed of deliveries. In order to accomplish this most owners or managers are preparing any requirements well in advance of ship arrival. Ship arrives, get the stores delivered and shortly after are underway again. A ship supplier locates a product that has been requested by the ship staff. This product is delivered to the vessel at first opportunity. The charges related to this service are then invoiced to the owner or manager.

In dealing with a multitude of owners from all over the world it can be a task at times to keep track of the owner or managers credit rating. Many of the ship chandlers are gambling large amounts of money on their customers and some of them loose it at times.  There are a few people specializing in collection of overdue billing but it is usually the ship chandler them self that has to do the collections.

To most people the ship agent will be the one that takes care of clearing the ship in and out of port. He becomes the ships local representative when it comes to Government and customers. In some cases you can find two ship agents handle the ship while in port. It is usually an agent representing the shipper and one representing the ship owner. In this case the shipper is the one that pays for his cargo to be sent with the ship owners ship. In other words he is the customer. In high value shipments there is always a good idea to have a representative present during the loading of the vessel to look after ones interest.

A ship agent will take care of all the paper work that goes with taking a ship in and out of port. The ship agent will look after all fees that are due to the port and long shore men. These are the people doing the actual loading or unloading of the ship. He will make sure that the local customs office is kept up to date with all custom transactions. He will coordinate the requests that come from the people he is representing. It might be a demand for doctor appointments for some crew members. It might be a demand for visa from a joining crew member that want to joint the ship while in port. A lot of the work that an agent is doing is also done before the ship comes to port.

Underlying responsibilities are much more than this and the boarding clerk that physically handles the ship might do a lot more than this if he also looks after the shippers of the cargo. There are a lot of details that we will not cover in this article but it is safe to say that a ship agent can be a very busy person.

In this brief introduction to the Marine Agent in the Maritime community in Canada we have just touched base on this subject and we do intend to write more about it at a later date.

Electrical work like rewinding of a electric motor can be done ashore and does usually require a shop facility that can handle this kind of work. Most ships have electricians on staff that can handle most of the regular general electrical requirements. However it can be situations that are just to demanding for onboard repair to be done.

In port of Montreal there are many companies capable of doing ship repair work. There are also companies that are subcontractors working under a ship repair company. This kind of company is in most cases a highly specialized company within a certain area. Many times, a job requires the service person to go with the ship while continuing to do the job. In the area of Montreal this is very common, as the vessels will in many cases only be transiting to or from the Great Lakes.

So here we have covered some of the work that a ship repair company is doing. The main thing though is that most of them a re very skilled at their job and are doing great jobs.

How do you find that right ship repair company for the job at hand….

As an example; if I want to put a parcel onboard a ship while she is transiting the Seaway, I will have to inform and get permission from the Seaway authority with the consent from the ship master. The master has to present to the Seaway Authority a list of personnel that will be attending the ship while in transit. All personnel entering onto Seaway property must conform to their regulation for security and safety.
The flow of cargo to and from the Great Lakes port all have to enter into or exit the Seaway System and locks in Montreal, Canada.  Some cargo ships built for the Great Lakes are never exiting as they are on regular trade routes within the Great Lakes and have no need to exit. Some cannot exit as they are too large for the Seaway Locks in the Welland canal and also in the locks between Lake Ontario and Montreal. These ships are mostly dry bulk cargo ships transporting coal and other commodities within the Great Lakes. The crew and officers on these ships are of US and Canadian nationality.

In the latter years we have seen increase in barge traffic on the lower “Lakes”, mostly handled by push boats. The cargo is mixed of dry and liquid bulk.

Foreign ships entering into the Great Lakes have to conform to Saint Lawrence Seaway regulation. To verify and approve a vessel, a joint USA and Canada inspection is performed in Montreal on the first voyage of the navigation season. The ship and crew are inspected and approved for the season. However a inspector is still verifying the ship while in first lock on each voyage inbound Great Lakes. Since the international ballast regulation came into effect and also since a joint Canada/USA ballast control system came online for the Great Lakes, verification at same time as Seaway inspection is also done. The US and Canadian Seaway Inspectors are filling out a ballast report conforming to both US and Canadian regulations. Vessel will have to keep log of all sampling of new ballast to make sure that salt level is sufficiently high.

Note Following:

As a website completely independent of Government and Shipping companies, Maritime Community is planning to put some time into writing about the various segments of the Saint Lawrence River and Great Lakes, the companies and technologies involved in this area.

Having a lot of ships moving around in the local waters means that there has to be a very active and well-organized maritime community that can offer the back up and service that these vessels will need. There is always need for repairs and supply of just about anything available under the sun. The service people in the maritime community have to be available on relative short notice. It’s not like in the industrial sector where all stops at days end. Ships continue to move around the clock.
People live onboard these ships and they have to make sure that the ship can continue to operate around the clock. That is their job. Engineer will look after the engines and other mechanical work that has to be done. The navigation officers will make sure that they move safely from port to port loading and unloading the cargo they be hired to transport.
In Montreal, the demand on fast service is very common as this is the place where you have the first lock entering into the Saint Lawrence Seaway and things tend to happen very fast. Ships that enter into the Seaway for the first time might have some problems that are usually ironed out very fast. The demand for continues movement while in the Seaway is quiet high.

This light introduction to the demand for service speed in Montreal is just the beginning of a series of articles under way covering the Maritime Community in USA and Canada.

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