The maritime community in eastern Canada, more specific in Saint Lawrence River is where we are going to start our voyage of discovery. This part of the voyage into the Great Lakes is very active since there is a lot of traffic on the Saint Lawrence River that doesn’t go any further up river than Montreal. Many of the ships are simply to large to enter the Seaway locks system and go further into the Great Lakes. This is by no stretch of the imagination the only place where there are ships. There are many more ports on the east coast of Canada. You also have ships coming and going on Canada’s west coast in places like Vancouver Island and the main land coast. We will get back to the various locations later in another post.
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.
Technorati Tags: Maritime Community In Canada, MAritime Community in USA
Tags: Maritime Community in Canada·Maritime Community in USA·Service demand for marine
February 5th, 2010 · General
What does the term “Ship Spares In Transit” really mean? Free movement of “Ship Spares” for ships in international trade. First of all we have to understand how import shipments are handled when it comes to Customs in the various countries. Most countries have a particular set of laws for taxes and duties that apply to import of various products. A ship in international trade is exempt from paying any of these taxes and duties to the various countries that they will visit. If it was their home country Custom can levy in most cases the various taxes and duties that are applicable. If the ship is carrying a foreign flag they are exempt from those taxes and duties. This term “Ship Spares In Transit” basically indicates to Customs that the parts are destined to go onboard a foreign flag vessel and are just transiting the country, meaning arriving as freight and depart as parts onboard the ship (end-user)
The flow of “Ship Spares In Transit” is international and relative very high volume. Some parts of the world have more than others but that is due to ships trading patterns. Ship spares processed this way are usually moving fairly fast and Customs in general are very accommodating the keep the delay at bare minimum.
There are a variety of companies specializing in this kind of forwarding and trading and most of them are very good at their job and well connected around the world.
Tags: ship spare parts·ship spares in transit
January 14th, 2010 · General
Martin over on Dieselduck wrote the other day about OEM parts and how easy it was to be fooled with pirate parts passing as OEM parts.
I tend to agree with Martin on this subject but I will add a few things to it. The people that have pushed the market into this situation are mostly ship management companies. The way I see this all happening is simply a matter of money. As always, money talks!
When the request for parts or stores is sent to the company head office they in turn request a price bid from 3 suppliers. In most cases the lowest bid will get the order to supply. It should also be said that lowest bid is not always the best for us on the ships. Many of these things can be contributed to people in purchasing not having enough experience to deal with these issues.
In my current position as purchasing officer for a supply company I see this happening all the time. A request doesn’t turn into order unless it is competitive in pricing. This in turn has allowed for substandard products to enter into our market. If you want to have the order you have to supply a product that “can” do the job but at a cost that is acceptable to the management company.
Where we all have to be vigilant is where we allow these products to be purchased and used. Consumables are one area where these substandard items are used a lot. Spare parts for certain equipment should not be allowed to be substituted at all in my opinion. There is too much at risk doing it. I personally think that you can get away with using sub standard products when it doesn’t affect the safety of the ship or its operation. Example being an overboard valve. You would not use an inferior type valve in place for a certified quality product and risk having it all fail on you while at sea. This is maybe an extreme example but it could happen. Ask at same time; Who certified the valve and How? On the other hand you don’t need a high cost fancy flush valve for a toilet.
Tags: ship spare parts·Spare parts
December 11th, 2009 · General
Shipping bulk cargo wintertime in north Atlantic means that your cargo most likely will be exposed to severe weather conditions while crossing the open sea. What can you do in order to have maximum protection for your cargo? Sometimes a charter requirement to the ship is demanding the use of hatch cover tape. The reason for this is that the joint between the various sections in the outside hatch cover is where most of the leaks occur. This is considered being the weak point of the hatch. Most hatch covers on ships are folding type. It simply means that there are multiple sections in a hatch cover and when it opens it simply folds like a paper so the storing space required while open is minimum. The storing space for the open cover is usually in between the various hatch openings. While a hatch cover is open you can easy see the condition and also the type of joint it has between the each section. Usually they are overlapping and the bottom section comes with a fairly heavy-duty rubber gasket that receives the overlapping part of the other section. Additional to the weight of each hatch cover section there is also a mechanical securing. All sides and top has a mechanism called hatch cover cleats, that helps pulling it all together and securing it properly. Hatch cover tape has been around for many years and will most likely continue to be in demand for this particular use for many years to come. It is a very cheap insurance for your cargo and relative easy to install. Most ship crews are familiar with the application. Choosing the right type of tape for a particular application can sometimes be a problem. It is very important that the right hatch cover tape is chosen for your application. The side of the hatch should have a different tape from the one used on top. Sufficient use of heat when installing the tape makes for very good adhesion. For some tips on installation go to THIS article. Some additional tips can also be available by contacting the editor. Most of the major supply centers have this type of product available usually on relative short notice.
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December 2nd, 2009 · General
When your ship is calling ports in the cold north it is good to feel safe that your lifeboat engine will start if need be. There are a variety of preventive measures that you can take and it all adds up to a more secure lifeboat.
Let us start with the starting battery. When a battery is fully charged and exposed to 0 deg F it has only 40 % cranking power. It is at 100% cranking power when the temperature is 80 deg F. To prevent this loss of cranking power we can install a heated box for the battery. Using a heated box we must have a thermostat to prevent over heating. We can also install battery thermal heating pad. This is a thermal pad that wraps around the battery. It is available for most sizes of batteries.
For the engine we can heat the oil pan in a similar way. There is a silicone heating pad made for this purpose and it comes with adhesive backing and can be glued to the oil pan. The availability for these heating pads is in 220v and 120v. For the oil pan size depend on the volume of your engine oil. Max watt output that I have found so far is 400W.
These two small modifications to your lifeboat will greatly improve your chances of having a trouble free voyage in the cold north.
If you need any more information, feel free to leave a comment with your contact details.
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