January 12, turned out to be a very long day, followed by a very long night which continued into the 13th. For all of us with no exemption of rank or status. The only thing I had to make sure was that the watch standing officers had sufficient rest before they started their operational watches. You cannot have tired people on watch duty. My day started at 5 am. in the usual way as the last day yesterday was still a regular dock day although the ship complement already started the cleaning up. During the day container by container was lifted off the ship, the carpet protection removed and the dust and grime chasing commenced. Some contractors were already leaving the ship having completed their work but most of them remained on board for finishing up and because it was easier to take them back to Fort Lauderdale. While this was all going on, my thoughts turned towards getting out of the dock.
As part of the dry dock work entails overhauling the main engines, I always leave the dock with the aide of tugboats. You never know if there are last minute adjustments needed and that would then delay departure. So better safe than sorry. Thus during the meeting with the Dock master (the man who raises and lowers the dry dock) a schedule was decided upon which included notice to pilots and tugboats. And then the waiting began. Before the all clear is given for the dock to be lowered, there is a walk–about with the ships owner and the shipyard to see if the ship is ready. E.g. all tank plugs are in and secured (in dock the tanks can be drained by taking out a plug in the bottom of the hull) and there are no other obstructions and leakages. In the mean time dock yard personnel starts to clean up the dock floor. Again the ship cannot be lowered until the whole dock is clean. Both the shipyard supervisor and ships captain sign an environmental declaration stating that nothing will be released into the environment when the ship is floating up. This cleaning of the dock took much longer than the dock master had expected, so we had to wait and wait. In the mean time work could continue to go on the aft section of the ship, as well as the clean up and more and more waste containers were off loaded. What we could do here we did not have to do in Ft. Lauderdale. Finally by 22.00 the all clear was given and the water was slowly released into the dock. The dock was then being filled to 5 meters of ships draft. The ship was now still standing on the blocks but all the inlets are then under water and the ship can return to it’s own power from our own supply of cooling water. At this depth the engineers make a round to see if all the valves are properly closed and the sea chests are water tight.
In the mean time the deck department starts returning the lifeboats which had been stored safely away from the ship as during dry dock the davit arms in which the lifeboats hang had to be weight tested to ensure that they would be able to carry the load incase the boats would have to be lowered with a full complement.
The davit load testing is done by hooking up big bags with water to the davit arm. The weight of the bag is on average 1.5 times of the maximum weight that under operational circumstances would be applied to a davit arm. The testing is carried out by a company expert under the watchful eye of a Lloyds Representative and the deck officer lifesaving.
This picking up of the boats always takes a while and has to be done in the period that the water level is at the same height as it was when the boats where lowered on arrival. That way the boats can directly move under the falls into position. As soon as all were back onboard and everybody onboard was happy with the situation, the final gangway was released from the ship and the dry dock descended to the level that the ship was floating free. Then the engines were started, the thrusters tested and as all were operating properly the ship was ready to leave and so we did. By 4 am we sailed out of dry dock and went at once full speed for Fort Lauderdale. By 5 am. we were safely in open waters and I could take a nap for two hours, it had been exactly a 24 hour day.
It is 68 miles from pilot station to pilot station so with speeding up and slowing down we picked up the Ft. Lauderdale pilot at 08.30 and were docked by 09.30. Then the disembarking of all the contractors started; we lowered a few of their containers and started getting rid of all the protective stuff from the dry dock. Once that was done we started loading for the 70 day South America and Antarctic voyage. This is also the reason why we sail at 11 pm. tonight instead of the normal departure of 5 or 6 pm.
While the loading was going on and the ship was being prepared to receive our guests, the engineers had an unusual issue at hand with the fuel oil that was to be loaded. Fort Lauderdale has a beautiful underground fuel transport system, so no bunker barges are needed but the whole system is based on regular Florida weather. Which we do not have at the moment, it is very cold for Florida standards and that means that the fuel cools down considerably while going through the pipes. Hence what normally takes about 5 hours to load, now took about 9 hours. During fueling there is a licensed engineer in the bunker break and a licensed engineer in the engine Control room to ensure a safe transfer. So two engineers were stuck with it for the extra time, time they could have spent on better things. But that is normal cruise ship life there is always something un-expected cropping up, during what is normally already a busy day.
However we were ready to receive our guests by 1 pm. and to start our Grand Voyage around South America and Antarctica. The aft part of the ship that was added in dry dock is still off limits. The interior will be completed en-route as planned but the rest of the ship was back in normal state. As the loading was finished just after 10 pm. I was able to pull out a bit earlier and set sail for our first port of call Key West. We are all glad to be back at sea.
Some addiotonal photos from the last day of dock:
Retrieving the anchors. They had been painted before, now the sailors finished the side that has been resting on the dock floor when the anchor chain was slowly being heaved in.
The propellor blades nice and shiny and the rim of the stern thrsuter freshly coated.
The new section of the aft ship completely in place and the balcony dividers awaiting the attention of paint crews.
Ready to go back in her element.
January 15, 2010 at 5:59 pm
In the past when you referred to your stern thruster I assumed it was athwart ship – a port to starboard tunnel like a bow thruster – instead of facing aft. Or is this more like a tug boat Kort Nozzle and able to swivel perhaps up to 360 degree’s?
Thanx,
Greg Hayden
January 18, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Why thank you Captain! That was some beehive activity high and dry above the “ground”. It reminded me of the time I ran around in a “boiler suit” at 3 quick-built projects in Estonia. There is one big difference though – no one ever gets paid for high quality work on those sites. So to see you had not felt anything of the 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti? This year I have troubles finding a brochure in town on “Voyages of Discovery” – – as if there is no money on this West Coast. Totally frustrating. One of your colleagues came with his craft also on the 12th of Jan. The downtown core is buzzing with crew on time off, some even wanting to shop at the nearby FLEE MARKET! Safe sailing, Captain!