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.

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.