Duman Grounding Findings

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JK
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Duman Grounding Findings

Post by JK »

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau identified that a relatively minor engineering error led to the grounding of the 59,000-dwt bulk carrier Dumun (built 2010) .

A threaded rod that transmitted the rudder position of the Dumun was too short and as a result only four millimetres was screwed into a connecting joint rather than about 20mm necessary to ensure a secure fitting. Honestly, the fitter didn't notice this and think it just might be an issue???
The Dumun was fited with Mitsubishi electro hydraulic steering gear but the critical failure was to a Tokyo Keiki remote steering control system where the disconnection of the threaded rod made a pilot and the ship’s bridge team believe there had been a steering failure although the failure was to the rudder angle indicator.
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Re: Duman Grounding Findings

Post by The Dieselduck »

Oooops...
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Re: Duman Grounding Findings

Post by Big Pete »

An old story, you have to understand how the information gets to the display in order to evaluate its reliabilty against against other sources, did nobody look over the stern to see what the wake was doing or check the ships headings? So that they could evaluate if it was just a failure of the rudder angle indication system or the the complete steering system.
On one ship I was on we had a high exhaust temperature alarm for the main engine, and all the other Engineers were shouting that we had to shut down the engine, but the unit exhaust temperature was over 1,000C and the turbocharger was running normally and there was no smell of burning paint so I pointed out that steel would be melting at that temperature and we carried on, found the amplifier had failed on the temperature transmitter.
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Re: Duman Grounding Findings

Post by Wyatt »

I would have to agree Big Pete, a quick jump to a faulty conclusion made for a terrible mishap.
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Re: Duman Grounding Findings

Post by JollyJack »

Computers are wonderful for storing data temporarily and for playing games. Computers and machinery should NEVER be put together, and computers should never be allowed to operate machinery. Electronic systems are unreliable, period! Sensors go nuts (1000C exhaust temperature???), connections fail, transistors crash, diodes give up and die, resistors cook and short circuit....the list goes on and on. Never rely on anything a computer may tell you, chances are, it's wrong, especially in ship's engine rooms. Electronic components cannot withstand the heat, humidity and constant vibration present in an engine room. By the end of the second survey cycle, most of it is junk, by the end of the third, the ship is fit for razor blades, it's too expensive to renew or replace the electronic monitoring and control systems. That's when Johnny Walker and his pal Marlborough get Certificates signed in out-of-the-way ports.
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Re: Duman Grounding Findings

Post by Brad »

It is funny,

I think partly that a lack of experience has led to the loss of the KISS theory of problem solving.
Keep It Simple Stupid.
Too many times I've seen the junior engineers with the books out and spanners in hand when in actuality its only a sensor connection come loose, to which they don't even consider. Exhaust temps are the prime example, as are bearing probes. Absolutely NO other indication of a fault, yet swapping leads to the next bearing or exhaust probe to check sensor is "quick thinking!"
At least you know that they'll learn from it a bit and hopefully start with the probes and work inwards.
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Re: Duman Grounding Findings

Post by JK »

Interesting take on it, I have one better.
ISM is making for dumb engineers, for the same reasons.
( This was explained to me yesterday over lunch.)
Everything is written down in procedures, locations posted. If anything happens outside this, engineers are lost.
I have been off the ships long enough that I haven't got an opinion on it,because in my day you crawled through everything and looked for yourself, but I do know I went to a rather sophisticated ship back in the early 80s and while on watch read all of the operating philosophies of the system.When we had to do a rarely done operation, I was the only one who really knew how to do it off the top of my head.
So, has things really changed that much?
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Re: Duman Grounding Findings

Post by Brad »

Yes.
In my opinion:

Firstly, the quality of cadets that have been sent to us have been very poor, they tend to sit in the control room, take zero initiative and just ask for signatures in there ISM Training manual, no interest in what they are getting signed or why. Trying to get them to show interest or hand holding a little bit to spur excitement is a challenge for the single watch keeper, to be fair.
I’m sure they are not all this way but I haven’t seen an eager inquisitive cadet for about five years. I think they are conned into life at sea being full of great port visits, time off and high wages. Then they get onboard and once the propeller starts turning they see it’s not as advertised.
Secondly, the quality of machinery manuals has deteriorated; the makers have realized that they make more money on service calls then on printing a few more pages in the manual. I kid you not, in a manual for a Bandak Taut wire under ‘trouble shooting’ was a phone number. So reading the manual and getting a really good knowledge base for the machinery is more difficult and knowledge only comes from breakdown.
I remember when I was a cadet sailing with Mirrlees Blackstones, the manual was as thick as your leg, and read like a novel. Bolt torque was “two strong men and a six foot bar”
You do what you can.
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Re: Duman Grounding Findings

Post by JollyJack »

that's a hefty torque! Usual rule of thumb for a torque value is two grunts and a fucket.
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Re: Duman Grounding Findings

Post by Brad »

Well, it was head bolts. We had to be precise.
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Re: Duman Grounding Findings

Post by JK »

Bolt torque was “two strong men and a six foot bar”
you forgot the fat boy....

Same torque as on a boiler manhole door.

Sad to say, they don't get the concept when the ship gets into trouble, if they don't step up to the plate, people die including themselves.
Which means you don't sit in the MCR on calm days, you go figure out things because when you are in the bad one and the ship is rolling 30* you better be able to figure it out while barfing in the garbage bag.
Funny I was thinking this morning about the old 2nd engineer I started with. He was death on lost tools or people pocketing them. His comment was, that could be the tool you need when shit happens.
Maybe watching all those disaster movies from Disney has convinced a generation or two of kids that life always ends up happy and they save the day with minimum of effort.
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