According to the article there are shark jaws and pin box…
[QUOTE=rjbpilot;82301]It’s all about securing the contracts…they had to have them DP to be considered…[/QUOTE]
Then the BS in this industry is getting deeper all the time. Soon we’ll be wearing fall protection when we sleep in the top rack cause we might fall out of our bunk and go boom! Effing nonsense!
[QUOTE=tugsailor;82300]Also, they probably want a few vessels to get some of their crew DP certified on.[/QUOTE]
Fucking Christ if their guys get DP time just for being on a DP boat…I am beginning to get really pissed off at this shit. You have to be “ON DP” to get DP time credit in the book! A little at the dock or off DP is ok, but not ALL OF IT!
[QUOTE=Fraqrat;82294]I watched the Ocean Wave being built at Bollinger while we there undergoing conversion work. The captain and I were wondering why it would be DP as well. Here are a few shots before it was launched. I’ll see if a have some more and add them later.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the photos Fraq…I am going to assume that the last two will be Z-Drive boats. I can’t see how on earth you could get DP2 with props and no stern thrusters?
btw, interesting use of the railroad trucks for a launching cradle but I would have thought that Bollinger would have installed them right before launch? Oh well, the ways of the Bayoo never cease to amaze!
If I remember correctly we were told the other vessels will have two bow thrusters. The props and nozzles stay the same.
[QUOTE=Fraqrat;82314]If I remember correctly we were told the other vessels will have two bow thrusters. The props and nozzles stay the same.[/QUOTE]
How the hell can any vessel qualify for DP2 with only props unless one of the bow thrusters is a dropdown (maybe it will be but???)
C.captain, youa re wrong again! Crowley isn’t clueless.
So Why DP2?
NB: I first wrote this post with crowley’s name all over it but I changed all mentions to “the company” for the simple fact that “the company” is not alone in using these tactics!
The answer seems obvious to me. This industry is increasingly being run by people who got straight A’s in their MBA program but have never operated a ship before. And these types of people realize they are clueless (not that they would admit this to anyone) so they look for “expert” opinions in the form of certificates and stamps of approval. The class societies know this, which is why they play along collect their stamp fees.
“the company” probably went to class and said “Listen, we don’t need DP2, these tugs have operated safely without it for years, but we do need the stamp get contracts for the tug. What’s the least amount of shit we need to buy to get it?” Class probably told “the company” then they negotiated down from there.
“the company” also realizes that stamps are a great way up day rates. When a customer is looking for a tug they can say “We can give you a tug for $$ dollars per day which will work ok for you but if you pay us $$$$$ per day you can have a dp2 tug. The regular boring tug works fine 99% of the time but do you want to be caught with your pants down when that 1% situation happens?”
It may also be an insurance requirement but IS definitely a cover your ass situation. If a new DP2 tug gets in an accident then “the company” can tell the uscg investigator that “We spared no expense to provide safety systems on that boat, here’s our dp2 class certificate to prove it. The causes must be something outside our control… Have you run a drug screening on the captain?” AND it works the other way too. When an old tug gets into an accident “the company” can say “Yes we know the tugs have problems but we already have the solution, DP2. We are just having difficulty getting companies to contract those more expensive boats.” Then the uscg adds one line to the incident report that dp2 might have saved the day and insurers immediately start requiring the dp2 stamp.
So, c.captain, you are wrong. “the company” isn’t stupid and this news has nothing to do with ship-handling. It’s just smart business!
This is also the reason companies give high $ jobs to college boys. Their MBA “stamp” weighs more than our silly license because it’s backed by the reputation of a distinguished universally where ours is only backed by the centuries of master mariners who came before us.
AND… the mba kids don’t base decisions their decisions on experience or capability. They don’t call company and boss’ decisions stupid either (only because they don’t know enough about ships to recognize stupidity) . The make decisions based on revenue alone and, for that, people like the ceo of “the company” love them.
P.S. The beauty of this system is no one needs to do any work to make money or cover their ass. The DP equipment companies just need to collect a few quotes from ship captains about how DP2 is the best thing since sliced bread. They take these quotes, omit the fact the quote came from a MODU, not tug, captain and give them to the marketing team to sell to “the company”. “the company” buys the equipment then copies and pastes then gives the same quotes to their marketing guys to get contracts for the tugs. Then, when an incident, happens they use the same quotes to prove that DP2 has a “track record of safety”. No one in this chain of B.S., NO ONE, ever thinks to call the ship captain who gave the quote to ask his opinion.
P.P.S I wouldn’t advise “the company” to do anything different because I like the fact that an American company is providing us, the captains, with new boats and new contracts. What more could we ask for?
[QUOTE=c.captain;82307]Fucking Christ if their guys get DP time just for being on a DP boat…I am beginning to get really pissed off at this shit. You have to be “ON DP” to get DP time credit in the book! A little at the dock or off DP is ok, but not ALL OF IT![/QUOTE]
I attended a weeks long Konesberg school earlier this year. One of the chiefs that was supposed to be taking the first boat out of the yard was in the class with me. So Crowley has already been sending thier guys to school for the DP. There were some mates in the DP basic course from Crowley at the same time.
John, I am remiss! You are of course correct that I am applying the fallacy of the common sense of a mariner and neglecting to realize that it is Crowley Maritime Corp. that is buying these boats! A more “corporate” maritime corporation has yet to be born upon our shores. Hell, they even put out a press release when as junior assistant janitor is promoted to senior assistant and more levels of QHSE management is yet to be found on the planet. I am certain that there is an junior assistant air quality audit manager for the Unalakleet office who has a cubicle, a telephone and the entire 27 volume set of Crowley Corporate Policy, QHSE, Operations, Emergency, Psycho-Behavioral, Personal Grooming & Hygiene Manuals! The JAAQAM for the Unalakleet office disseminates & distributes air quality directives from Corporate HQ and writes press releases which must go to corporate PR and legal first for review and authorization and then automatically gets sent to every newspaper, magazine and website in the known universe for publication. The latest being "Mayor Middy Johnson (yes, that’s the mayor’s name) awarded an engraved plaque to the staff of Crowley Maritime’s Unalakleet offices for collection and disposal of the most inebriated natives during the village cleanup day! A gala event was held in the civic auditorium where the Kings Point Marching Band led by Director Captain Kenneth R. Force USMS played polka favorites for the many guests in attendance which included Crowley’s assistant subregional HQSE manager for the Nome Borough who answers to the regional HQSE manager in Anchorage who answers to western division VP HQSE in Seattle who answers to corporate senior VP for HQSE in Jacksonville. Not one of them of course does a goddamned thing but send emails to each other all day long all blaming someone else, sends out press releases and attends gala public relations events.
Now that’s American corporate business for you! It’s why we’re A#1 everywhere in the maritime world!
Huzzah!
[QUOTE=ChiefRob;82323]I attended a weeks long Konesberg school earlier this year. One of the chiefs that was supposed to be taking the first boat out of the yard was in the class with me. So Crowley has already been sending thier guys to school for the DP. There were some mates in the DP basic course from Crowley at the same time.[/QUOTE]
Please for the love of God, someone tell me that they’ve added staff at the Nautical Institute to check the veracity of the DP logbooks that get sent in and that their holding up the issuance of certificates until proof that time logged was actually on DP? Please someone defuse this powderkeg about to go off…HELP ME NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE AND WE ALL GO UP TOGETHER!
Whoa easy Cap you goin off the rails today!
10,880 HP. & even though it is classed as DP2, the DP system is RARELY used…its a tugboat!
[QUOTE=BMCSRetired;82253]ECO has one, the FORTE’. It is DP2 with Voith-Schneider drives with around 9,000 hp and stabilization through the V/S drive. It works at a field for PETROBRAS in the GOM.
As they drill deeper they can’t lay pipelines so they need FPSO’s or VPSO’s or whatever those things are called and/or SPM’s.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Bayrunner;82258]I know little about GOM ops and even less about DP stuff but what I do know is [I]thats a sexy fucking tugboat[/I]!
:D[/QUOTE]
What he said.
Nemo
[QUOTE=Fraqrat;82333]Whoa easy Cap you goin off the rails today![/QUOTE]
Not to worry Fraq…I’ve found my Pinkies and the Krakken has returned to a somewhat comatose somnambular state deep in the depths…
…only for now though. He can reawaken and rise again at anytime so be vewy, vewy quiet!
[QUOTE=Mikey;82319] Funny story actually (sort of) hidden in those photos.[/QUOTE]
I’m guessing you are referring to why it is back in a dry dock with new paint in spots:o…
I’ve been on it an it does have shark jaw tow pins other than a cramp engine room it’s a sweet tug