Q1) What are the important points to be considered for preparation of maintenance

schedule of machinery?

A1)

Maintenance recommendations are based on industry standards and experience.

However, equipment and situations vary greatly, and sound engineering and management
judgment must be exercised when applying these recommendations.

Other sources of information must be consulted (e.g).,

 Manufacturer’s recommendations,
 Unusual operating conditions,
 Personal experience with the equipment in conjunction with undermentioned maintenance
recommendations.

Preventive Maintenance
Preventive maintenance (PM) is the practice of maintaining equipment on a regular schedule
based on elapsed time or meter readings. The intent of PM is to “prevent” maintenance problems
or failures before they take place by following routine and comprehensive maintenance
procedures. The goal is to achieve fewer, shorter, and more predictable outages.

Some advantages of PM are:

• It is predictable, making budgeting, planning, and resource levelling possible.
• When properly practiced, it generally prevents most major problems, thus reducing forced
outages, “reactive maintenance,” and maintenance costs in general.1
• It assures managers that equipment is being maintained.
• It is easily understood and justified.

PM does have some drawbacks:

• It is time consuming and resource intensive.
• It does not consider actual equipment condition when scheduling or performing the maintenance.
• It can cause problems in equipment in addition to solving them (e.g., damaging seals, stripping
threads

Despite these drawbacks, PM has proven generally reliable in the past and is still the core of most
maintenance programs.

PM traditionally has been the standard maintenance practice.

The maintenance recommendations are generally based on a PM philosophy and should be

considered as “baseline” practices to be used when managing a maintenance program. However,
care should be taken in applying PM recommendations. Wholesale implementation of PM
recommendations without considering equipment criticality or equipment condition may result in a
workload that is too large to achieve. This could result in important equipment not receiving needed
maintenance, which defeats the purpose of PM management. To mitigate this problem,
maintenance managers may choose to apply a consciously chosen, effectively implemented, and
properly documented reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) program. Whether utilising a PM,
RCM, or condition-based maintenance (CBM) program, or a combination of these, scheduled
maintenance should be the primary focus of the in-house maintenance staff.2 This will reduce
reactive (emergency and corrective) maintenance. Scheduled maintenance should have a higher
priority than special projects and should be the number one priority.

Reliability-Centered Maintenance
RCM programs are gaining in popularity. The goal of these programs is to provide the appropriate
amount of maintenance at the right time to prevent forced outages while at the same time
eliminating unnecessary maintenance. Implemented properly, RCM can eliminate some of the
drawbacks of PM and may result in a more streamlined, efficient maintenance program. RCM
seems very attractive in times of diminishing funding.
Some features of RCM are:
• It may be labor intensive and time consuming to set up initially.
• It may require additional monitoring of quantities, like temperature and vibration, to be effective.
This may mean new monitoring equipment with its own PM or more human monitoring with
multiple inspections.
• It may result in a “run-to-failure” or deferred maintenance philosophy for some equipment which
may cause concern for some staff and managers.
• It may require initial and later revisions to the maintenance schedule in a “trial-and-error” fashion
depending on the success of the initial maintenance schedule and equipment condition.
• It should result in a more manageable maintenance workload focused on the most important
equipment.

RCM is not an excuse to move to a “breakdown maintenance” philosophy or to eliminate critical

PM in the name of reducing maintenance staff/ funding. However, to mitigate problems associated
with a PM program, maintenance managers may choose to apply a consciously chosen, effectively
implemented, and properly documented RCM program.

For a viable RCM program it must:

• Be chosen as the maintenance philosophy by management.
• Be implemented according to generally accepted RCM practices.
• Be documented so that maintenance decisions are defensible.

Condition-Based Maintenance
This program relies on knowing the condition of individual pieces of equipment.

Some features of CBM include:

• Monitoring equipment parameters such as temperatures, pressures, vibrations,, etc.
• Testing on a periodic basis and/or when problems are suspected such as vibration testing, and
performance monitoring.
• Monitoring carefully operator-gathered data.
• Securing results in knowledgeable maintenance decisions which would reduce overall costs by
focusing only on equipment that really needs attention.

Drawbacks to CBM include

• it being very difficult and expensive to monitor some quantities.
• It requires knowledgeable and consistent analysis to be effective; and also condition monitoring
equipment and systems themselves require maintenance.

Because of these drawbacks, it is nearly impossible to have an entirely CBM program.

Combination of Condition-Based and Preventive Maintenance

A combination of CBM and PM is perhaps the most practical approach. Monitoring, testing, and
using historical data and PM schedules may provide the best information on when equipment
should be maintained. By keeping accurate records of the “as found” condition of equipment when
it is torn down for maintenance, one can determine what maintenance was really necessary. In this
manner, maintenance schedules can be lengthened or perhaps shortened, based on experience
and monitoring.
Q2 Why high frequency equipments are put on low mode during bunkering operation?

A2)

Radio Equipment
The use of a radio equipment during bunkering operations is potentially dangerous.

Medium and High Frequency Radio Transmissions

During medium and high frequency radio transmission (300 KHz-30 MHz), significant energy is
radiated which can, at distances extending to 500 metres from the transmitting antennae, induce
an electrical potential in unearthed ‘receivers’ (derricks, rigging, mast stays, etc) that is capable of
producing an incendive spark.

Transmissions can also cause arcing over the surface of antenna insulators when they have a
surface coating of salt, dirt or water. Therefore, it is recommended that:

• All stays, derricks and fittings should be earthed. Bearings of booms should be treated with
electrically conductive grease (such as graphite grease) to maintain electrical continuity or suitable
bonding straps installed.
• Transmissions should not be permitted during periods when there is likely to be a flammable gas
in the region of the transmitting antennae or if the antenna comes within the shore hazardous
zone.
• Main transmitting antennae should be earthed or isolated whilst bunkering alongside the berth. If
it is necessary to operate the vessel’s radio in port for servicing purposes, there should be
agreement between vessel and terminal on the procedures necessary to ensure safety.

Among the precautions that might be agreed are operating at low power or the use of a dummy
antenna load which will eliminate all radio transmissions to atmosphere. In any case, a safe system
of work must be agreed and implemented before energising such equipment.

VHF/UHF Equipment
The use of permanently and correctly installed VHF and UHF equipment during bunkering,
operations is considered safe. However, it is recommended that the transmission power be set to
low power (one watt or less) when used in port operations
Q3) Why are extra reinforcement provided at the end of the “spurling”and “hawser
pipes”?

A3)

Hawser Pipe - A tube through which anchor chain is led overboard from the windlass wildcat on
deck through the ship side. A doubling plate is fitted around it at the forecastle deck and a chafing
ring at the ship side.

Spurling Pipe - a pipe or tube through which an anchor chain passes to the chain locker
below the deck of a ship

Both the hawser and spurling are provided with extra reinforcement at the end of the pipes
to prevent chafing while the anchor chain is passing over it with the weight of the anchor
and cable hanging on the other end.
Q4) Give a brief of the tariff composition concerning the dry-dock of a vessel

A4)

Cost estimation plays an important role in order to keep a check on a ship’s dry docking budget
and to ensure a sensible quotation for the whole repair work. There are three important aspects of
ship repair cost estimation:

 Cost Groups
 Cost Parameter
 Work Breakdown Structure

Cost Groups:
Cost grouping in an integral part of cost estimation wherein the whole repairing process is divided
into parts for the ease of cost quotation and work completion within the stipulated time. Cost
groups also help to divide and assign work to different segments of the repair yard and to get
individual quotation for each one of them, making the whole process smoother and manageable.

Cost grouping is mainly done on the basis of ship’s department. For e.g. deck, engine, electrical
etc. Details of things included in each of these department are as follows:

Engine Room
 Main engine and propulsion machinery
 Boilers
 Engine room tanks
 Auxiliary Machinery
 IG System

Deck
 Accommodation area
 Navigation equipment
 Anchor and deck machinery
 Cargo gear
 Hull, rudder and tail shaft
 Cargo tanks, fuel tanks ,ballast tanks , and slop tanks

Automation
 Controls and automated systems
 Instrumentation jobs

Electrical
 Motors
 Panels
 PLC’s
 Main Bus Bar modification
Electrical jobs in all areas of the ship

Cost grouping is an excellent way to stream line the process of cost estimation and to avoid errors
related to costing while planning a dry dock.

Cost Parameters
Cost parameter is an aspect of cost estimation which defines the total number of elements that are
to be included for the final project cost. Cost parameters specify the limit and scope of activity
during the repair work.
Cost parameters help in analyzing the scope of the work and also helps in considering each and
every aspect taken into consideration for the dry dock.
Examples of cost parameters are:
 Dry docking fees and repair yard cost
 Agency cost
  Classification surveyors’ cost
 Cost of the stores
 Repair and maintenance cost
 Damage repair cost
 Cost of necessary spares

Work Breakdown Structure

Work breakdown structure is an extension of cost grouping which further helps in distribution of
jobs and procuring cost estimation for each job.

Work breakdown structure helps estimating the time needed for whole process, including period of
repair, dry docking period and lead time. It helps to figure out additional job quotations that would
be required during the repair work. Based upon these parameters, quotations are asked for repair
and spare from different agencies/yards, and eventually the best suited quotation is selected.

The work breakdown structure also helps the chief engineer to decide what all jobs can be handled
by the ship’s staff within the stipulated time in order to save repair costs. This eventually helps in
making the final quotation that is to be sent to ship yards.

A general breakdown of the structure would include

Engine room
 Maine engine and turbine
 Jobs on auxiliary machinery including generators, auxiliary condensers, steering system
and engine room pumps and pipes.
 Work on auxiliary boiler without re-tubing
 Boiler survey, soot blowers, and chemical cleaning
 IG System
 COP control and valves
 Safety equipment
 Radio and navigation equipment
 Machinery and instrumentation controls
 Electrical work including motors and switch boards

Deck Side
 General expenses
 Anchor and chain
 Hull anodes and sea chests
 Tail shaft
  Painting
 Steel / shell
 Ballast tanks internal inspection / survey & anodes
 Accommodation
 Cargo gear, deck machinery
 COP and stripper pumps
 Tank washing machines and pipes
 Hydraulic pipes and valves
 Steel damage

By taking all the three parameters mentioned above into consideration, optimum ship repair cost
estimation can be reached using the resources and manpower available on board ship.

The above consists of the tariff composition of drydocking the vessel.