For those who are Engineers and sail deep sea this is old and familiar news.
But there MAY be somebody here that find this an interesting excursion around the Engine Room of a modern 43000 DWT Bulk Carrier:
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The guy (Chief MAKOi) making those videos is very good. It would be worth anyone considering this occupation to watch them.
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Iām a tug/osv guy, so this was very interesting to me. Thanks for sharing.
i started watching it, wondering where all the minions were that polish and paint all day !!!, maybe if it was us flagged iād watched more.
Yes heaven forbid that you should be contaminated with ideas that a foreign crew on FOC ships can keep an Engine Room clean and functioning without an American in sight.
Maybe the ship is American owned and managed? That could be an acceptable explanation for such hard work and efficiency. 
no american flag carries enough manpower to keep the engine room like that. Iāve seen some immaculate 30 year old american tankers that were in ānewā condition, thx, to american crews but iāve also seen panama flags: their engine rooms were also ānewā but ā¦ they only looked like it !!! h ah hahaha
ombugge, Itās not a racism thing or anything like that, itās just that being familiar enough with big engine rooms I just donāt find much to relate to. Itās like trying to relate to the āengineersā that ran the bases in iraq, they were mechanics and engineers, but sort of ā¦ from a different perspective or something.
I have BEEN on some 30 year old ships with engine rooms that was in immaculate condition, clean, incl. hand rails, with the copper and brass polished.
On one ship when doing 32 year Special Survey the DNV Class Surveyor insisted on testing the generators at max load, just like on sea trial in the Oslo Fjord in 1938. (Seen here):
The Engine room crew consisted of 2 Norwegian Engineers, 3 Singapore Chinese Engine Drivers and 2 Kanaka Greasers.
The Chief Engineer did his weekly inspection in white coverall and white gloves. God help the crew if there were a spot of soot or oil anyplace were it shouldnāt be.
On another ship doing 20 year Special Survey at the old Keppel Shipyard in Singapore:
The Senior Lloyds Surveyor said;āWhen I looked down in the Engine room and saw it to be immaculately clean, with the brass polished, I knew they didnāt have too many problemsā
Actually, the crews are no larger than those on their US flag counterparts.
No, not racism, but maybe ignorance about the shipping world outside USA (??)
Iām amazed that so many here appears to just accept that something like 99% of ships in the world are somehow inferior to those few built, owned, operated and manned by Americans. (The oldest fleet in the world on average)
Doesnāt it strike you as odd that all those foreign ships are āFOCā registered, built at shipyards that donāt care about quality, manned by uneducated ā3rd World Villagersā on slave wages and operated by unscrupulous foreign people that care nothing about safety and the well being of their crews?
Yet they appear to have a better safety record than US flag ships,manned by the best mariners the world have ever seen. (??)
PS> Most of the US deep sea ships are foreign built, owned and operated by US subsidiaries of large foreign shipping companies.
Those built in the US in the last decade or more are built at foreign owned and operated US yards from foreign design drawings and with foreign machinery and equipment.
Now Iām waiting for the accusations of being an ignorant foreigner that know nothing about the American reality and anti-American. (May the music begin)
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He makes really nice, well thought out videos with good production values. I enjoyed his time-lapse trip through the Bosporus.
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Yeah, I am going to have to carve out some time to watch all of his videos. Well spoken and knowledgeable. . . oh, and interesting, too. I also have to agree with ombugge in this case. Most vessels that I have been on in the past 30 years have NOT been US flag. Some I have ridden for surveys, or while offshore on repairs, most surveyed dockside. Overall, I have found little difference between vessels based upon their flag. Some of the best AND worst ship I have ever boarded were not US flag. Likewise, some of the best and worst were US flag.
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When the company I worked for took over a re-flagged PCTC one of the first things they did was request that the CG amend the minimum manning certificate (COI on U.S. flag ships) from three unlicensed engine crew to two.
CG agreed so while the foreign crew had three unlicensed in the E/R on a new ship we had two on the same ship after it had gotten a little older.
A little off topic but worth sayingā¦In the realm of ship operations I have seen manning reduced from 36 on my first ship to 19 on my last. A lot of this was a result of automation and different plants (steam vs diesel) which is not necessarily a bad thing. At some point in time the question must be asked, are the crews viewed as just operators or are they maintainers as well? If the former, anything beyond minimum maintenance gets done by shoreside vendors. The office should not be surprised or blink when they see the bills, If the latter the crews need the means to do the work. Sometimes companies will utilize riding crews that arenāt considered ācrewā to do maintenance. On most US Flag ships this runs counter to work jurisdiction rules in most union contracts unless it is modification or clearly exceeds the ability of the crew to perform.
I will add that if the crew is the āfull packageā, work as a team, and work smart. One would be surprised what they can do. I did not believe in kicking the can down the road or leaving things for the other guy. I also thought if we are fixing something we have fixed before(fixing a fix) there is an issue with our maintenance, operational procedures, or equipment. If that can be resolved we can allocate manhours to other things.
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wrt the engine room video, very similar layout, equipment and appearance to my last PCTC, both the E/R and control room. Our main was 8 cylinder, the one in the video is a 6 cylinder, otherwise very similar.
Interesting video. I donāt see why you couldnāt keep a plant, especially one this size of seemingly very reasonable age in this condition under the US flag. From my experience the US ships often simply need a bit more painting to look quite sharp, and tankers and large OSVs are often already there.
The engine room layout in the video is very similar to just about any slow speed diesel plant that I have surveyed/operated. Just the size of the main engine is different.
I was speaking in relative terms. The difference between the E/R, the control room and the steering gear room on the ship in the video and the last PCTC are small compared to the difference between my old ship and other ships.
I have seen a lot of CHIEF MAKOi videos and he does a good job, of the videos that is.
I have been on new ships whose engine-rooms looked just like this one, but not for long. He may have a superior method for operating and keeping the engine-room in such pristine condition. I think the key to this mystery is that he is on a bulk carrier. I mean they can get up to a week in port. Plenty of time to carry out maintenance and clean up after engine overhauls. On container ships you get say 12 hours in port. During this time you bunker fuel, lube and cylinder oil and carry out a unit overhaul / survey. There is no engine trials as in the past. The trial is the departure from port. The next day at sea there is a general clean up but the engine cannot be cleaned or painted when running as good as when it is stopped. Ask any Engineer. Back to CHIEF MOKOi. I think his coveralls came with the engine. He looks like one of those guys in the washing machine ads on tv showing the housewife which brand of washing powder to use. Or maybe a male nurse in a Lunatic Asylum. Not a speck on his coverall. After the video he might change into a more work looking coverall and help out with maintenance. I generally done inspections, log books and other clerical work from 8am up to noon. After lunch until 3pm I helped out with maintenance. Then from 3pm to 5pm I usually sent and replied to official emails. I donāt want to knock this guy because he seems knowledgable and Iām sure very capable. These are just my comments. Any others?