Part 1 was new distillation equipment and a new diesel engine. About a week or more in the yard…and a FINE time was had by all in Singapore. ;)
OK, repairs made and we are just outside the harbor heading to an undisclosed location. We are an Oceanographic Research Vessel (no names mentioned). I am on the bridge with headphones to the engine room and making notations in the bell log. I hear on the phones…from a bow lookout…something about line or hawser in the water…dead ahead. It flashed thru my head that if it got caught in the propeller shaft/screws…it could mean trouble.
I, personally, did not say anything…as it was not my place. Just a possibility of a line in the water. I was SURE others on the headphone circuit would say something. Alas, no one alerted the bridge and a THUMP THUMP…SHUDDER…was felt. I think someone looked aft and saw a line in the water. A check of the shaft compartment disclosed water coming in. A diver sent to look said, “Yes, there is line tangled in the shaft”. :o
So…a call to HQ was made and a short while later we were sent back to Sembawang for dry dock repairs…Part 2. We had to tie up next to a Navy ship for a couple of days before dry dock and once there, another 7 days or so. GOSH DARN…a delay in our schedule and that means another 10 days in Singapore. ;)
Guess no one else heard the bow lookout… and he never got in trouble. But he did get high fives from me…and others.
It was your place to say something, but good of you to try and dodge responsibility. I imagine you are on a USNS ship, so I’ll remember you when I pay my next tax bill, or the Union hits me up for more $ to help my brothers out.
Why even post this nonsense? The safety of your vessel is everyone’s responsibility. You should have taken action to relay that information up the food chain the second there wasn’t a reply on the coms.
Hi Jeff…Well, no. (I have been referred to in the past as a PECKERHEAD, however) After we left Singapore I did have a religious experience, similar to Saul of Tarsus. When we landed next in the Philippines a very over wight woman let loose with a gigantic fart …and threw me out of the rickshaw in which I was riding. When I awoke, I was a changed man. No more a dickhead. That was in 1977.
I had such a good time in Singapore for the shaft repair…that I have no guilt whatsoever. I will try to mitigate my behavior with a story. We tied up somewhere outboard of a USN ship as there was no room at the dock. Being a Jr. Purser I was allowed to roam their ship. I noticed 2-3 sailors, ET’s I think, tossing stuff over the side. I asked what’s what and they freely told me it was electronics/chips, etc. Reason being that this was in excess of what they were allowed and a ship’s inspection was coming up shortly. They would have been penalized if their inventory was over the allowance. What, $1000 or more? Who knows. What had they tossed previously…and in the future? How many other ET’s, RM and SK’s were doing this, Navywide?
