A 15-year old ship had one of its genset’s engine vibration damper damaged. It was not the viscous sealed type. It used elastomer or rubber compound bonded to two steel discs and metal brackets with one disc connected to the crankshaft. The rubber compound was failing. The ship had only two gensets so the ship could not sail until the new vibration damper that was ordered arrived and that would take three weeks.
The ship was fully loaded and ready for voyage. The top management has ordered the ship to sail, so attempts were made to try and repair the vibration damper by renewing the rubber compound which is not a part of the standard operating procedure. Even though engineers should not be attempting such a repair, but this desperate situation required some desperate measures and fix.
The usual ship repairers were called and, as expected, none of them had any idea how the damper worked or it could be repaired.
The country of that port rarely imported spare parts for private motor vehicles and buses so the local enterprises were forced to manufacture their own spare parts from shell bearings and piston rings to cylinder head gaskets, 0-rings and flexible rubber mounts. Incidentally, that country has some buses converted from WW II military vehicles still running in 2016!
A marine engineer would hardly go to a small car workshop for marine engine repairs, but the Fleet Manager did so because the local marine repair firms and local shipyards could not or would not repair the vibration damper.
Through one small car workshop, he got in contact with a rubber vulcanizing shop that produced rubber flexible mounts and other rubber seals used on motor vehicles. And with the help from these non-marine workshops he finally managed to replace the damaged rubber compound of the vibration damper, in the process learning that rubber will not adhere to steel but to copper so the steel discs had to be copper coated.
Suffice to say, the damper was temporarily repaired and without any torsional vibration analysis the genset was run on load without any unusual vibration indicating that the repaired damper controlled the harmonic frequencies. All the Fleet Manager needed was for the genset to run for about 12 hours on load. He sailed with the ship as supernumerary to help ensure the other continuously run genset did not fail and to keep a close watch on the repaired genset, when it was run, which was only during manoeuvring periods entering and leaving port. It was run for a total of about eight hours, first to Singapore and then on to Hong Kong, when the new damper was installed. However, the attending Class Surveyor warned the Fleet Manager not to attempt such repairs again, but he got the ship maintain its liner schedule.
Conventional Marine repairs do not work all the time, thus, such off-beat ideas and creativity are required to run ships during the good old days. The present era is completely commercial where people hardly come out with bold ideas and creativity. A Good old seaman would definitely relish when his attempts to rectify a problem succeeds.
That gives a seafarer the pride when he can handle every problem onboard.
We thank Mr. Tin Tun for contributing an excellent story with a moral in it.
We are sure that everyone has such nice stories to share.
Why not take a break from your stressed life and recollect some good stories and share it with us!
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About the Author:
A fully qualified Steam & Motor marine Chief Engineer, with 8 years as Chief Engineer on cargo liners and over 30 years ashore as Fleet Manager and a Marine Surveyor in Singapore. Not to forget, anyone with Singapore Certificate of Competency should have been passed through him – a Chief Examiner at the MPA, heading Examinations for Engineers. One of the very few old men, who has witnessed steam reciprocating engines and the modern day electronic engines.
