Ramp up your operations with attention to detail.

A towboat operation can be described as a system that is made up of many parts and procedures that are controlled by the people onboard.  There is very little found on a boat or barge that does not have some sort of a function to help make the system work.  Our company procedures make a foundation for it all to work with a goal of a safe and productive workplace.

In all, there is much that needs to be attended to with detail and precision.   

There is a saying that "the Devils in the details" which expresses the idea that whatever one does, it should be done thoroughly; for example, details are important. 

In this issue we will look at a few small details with the goal of stimulating your ideas for more ideas that can then be shared with the fleet.   

What are your ideas? Pass them on to each other, to the port captains and to the rest of our team.

Port Capt Jerry Casagrand discusses Steering system emergency procedures with assembled crews from several Higman boats.

Use the right fastener.

Check the pivot pin on the steering and the flanking rudders follow-up arms.  The pivot pins on the follow-up arms should be made up of a stainless steel bolt fastened with a stainless steel nylon lock nut.

Think "stainless steel" when looking at these pins.  Occasionally a mild steel bolt and nut has been used to connect the follow-up rods.  Mild steel will eventually fail due to salt water corrosion and should be replaced with stainless steel.

The proper connection should look like this:

Nylon lock nuts differ from a standard hex nut in that they have a nylon insert secured within the nut.  When you install the nylon lock nut onto a bolt, the nylon insert wraps around the threads and locks the nut in place. This gives a nylon lock nut a distinct advantage over a lock washer when the bolt is subject to vibration, as the nylon lock nut is unaffected by vibration.

Other connection combinations:

Jam nuts.....some of the pivot joint connections on our boats are made up with jam nuts.  These are acceptable as long as they are made up of stainless steel. 

"Jam nuts"

A jam nut is commonly used as a type of lock nut, where it i s "jammed" up against a standard nut to lock the two in place.

Mild Steel nuts and bolt......Find a rusting bolt and nut, and you know it is made of mild steel.  By using a mild steel bolt passing through a stainless steel pivot joint, galvanic corrosion is set up especially in the presence of salt water.  This type of joint is not acceptable and should be replaces with stainless steel as soon as possible.

Give it an extra push!

The lowly dipstick on a pump engine can stop a barge transfer cold at a dock.  How can that happen?

Prior to starting the pump engine, the crankcase oil level is always checked.  Inserting the dipstick back into the tube needs to be done with care and attention.

Push that dipstick all the way down.  If the dipstick is not firmly seated in the dipstick tube, base pressure in the crankcase can cause engine oil to sputter out of the tube and onto the deck. 

A simple overlook of a minor detail now leaves us with an oil spill on deck.  The cargo transfer is stopped, cleanup commenced and reports are filled out.

SMART Institute Members convene at Higman Training Center

Two of our Higman San Jacinto College interns, Colton Hendrick from M/V Belle Chasse and Blake Snapp from M/V Annapolis, participated in this event and made a positive impression as we educated the group about how we are striving to acquire more educated employees at Higman and in the towboat industry as a whole.  Captain Chris Jourdan and Steersman Kevin Bingham of M/V Gordon A. Keenan, as well as Captain Dwight Whittington, assisted with the question and answer session.  

Captain Chris Jourdan, Captain Dwight Whittington and Steersman Kevin Bingham during Q & A Session

The purpose of SMART is to enlighten and expose high school teachers and counselors, as well as college counselors and faculty, of opportunities for valuable careers in the maritime industry.  The Institute is involved with four aspects of the maritime industry: Ports and Logistics, Vessel Operations, Ship Building and Repair, Pleasure Craft.

San Jacinto College Interns Colton Hendrick and Blake Snapp.  Thank you Jeannie Peng-Armao of San Jac for the photo.

 Wednesday, 15 May, 2013 -  8:35 AM

"DEAR BLOG,

THIS MORNING WOKE UP TO THE BOAT BOUNCING AROUND.  FIRST THOUGHT WAS "BAD WEATHER."  I KNEW TODAY WAS GONNA BE A GOOD DAY!! 

0530 COMES AROUND. JUST MAKING IT TO THE WHEELHOUSE TO START STEERING.  WINDS WAS DOING 7-10 MPH AND THE RELIEF CAPT JUST MADE LYDIA ANN INTERSECTION.  THAT WAS THE REASON FOR THE BOUNCY WAKE UP. EVERY THING SEEMS TO BE GOING SMOOTH AT THIS POINT. 

ABOUT RIGHT AROUND INGLESIDE, THE CAPT WANTED TO TAKE OVER THE STICKS BECAUSE OF HIS PREDICTION THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE ROUGH. WELL HE WAS RIGHT!  BROKE WIRES OFF THE STARBOARD SIDE. SO ME AND THE DECKHAND GET SUITED UP AND HEAD OUT ON THE BARGE. THAT'S WHEN I LOOKED UP WITH THE WIND BLOWING FROM THE PORT SIDE INTO MY FACE ABOUT 40 MPH AND SAW THE SEAGULLS TRYING TO FLY IN THE WIND TO GET AWAY FROM ME AND THE DECKHAND. THEY WERE TRYING SO HARD THAT THEY WHERE CRASHING INTO EACH OTHER AND JUST FALLING TO THE DECK READY TO ATTEMPT IT AGAIN.  I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING. SO I KNEW IT WAS GONNA BE A GOOD DAY. 

MORAL OF THE STORY IS: FIND WHATEVER U CAN TO KEEP A SMILE."

Good ideas need to be shared, refined and become "Best Practices". A "Best Practice" is defined as a method or technique which shows results superior to those achieved with other means, and that is used as a benchmark.  In addition, a "Best Practice" can evolve to become better as improvements are discovered. 

This column is dedicated to sharing the best practices developed while operating your tow. Each issue we will outline a "Best Practice" sent in by the fleet.  Share your Best Practice by sending to Gordie.

This week's "Best Practice" is sent in by Captain David Jones of the M/V CALCASIEU:  

"During our last pollution drill the crew decided to move our spill kit from storage on the second deck and place it on the main deck near the stern.  

This made the spill kit drum quickly accessible should a spill occur from the fuel loading manifold on the main deck or steering system leak on the aft deck."   

BOTH INTERNATIONAL & INLAND A vessel towing astern in an operation which severely restricts the towing vessel and her tow in their ability to deviate from their course shall, when making way, show __________.

a. the masthead lights for a towing vessel
b. the lights for a vessel restricted in its ability to maneuver
c. sidelights, stern light and towing light
d. All of the above

BOTH INTERNATIONAL & INLAND You are underway in a narrow channel and you are being overtaken by a vessel astern. The overtaking vessel sounds a signal indicating his intention to pass your vessel on your starboard side. If such an action appears dangerous you should sound __________.

a. five short and rapid blasts
b. three short and rapid blasts
c. one prolonged followed by one short blast
d. one prolonged, one short, one prolonged, and one short blast in that order

BOTH INTERNATIONAL & INLAND A vessel which is fishing is required to show sidelights and a stern light only when __________.

a. anchored
b. underway
c. dead in the water
d. underway and making way

BOTH INTERNATIONAL & INLAND The lights required by the Rules must be shown __________.

a. from sunrise to sunset in restricted visibility
b. at all times
c. ONLY from sunset to sunrise
d. whenever a look-out is posted

BOTH INTERNATIONAL & INLAND A vessel is overtaking when she approaches another from more than how many degrees abaft the beam?

a. 0.0°
b. 11.25°
c. 22.5°
d. 45.0°

Distress Flares at sea in 1912 

While watching multicolored July 4th rockets explode overhead the other night, a friend of mind told me an interesting story about the sinking of the HMS TITANIC and the color of the flares fired by the crew to summon rescue.

Since the Titanic went down on April 15, 1912 with the loss of 1,500 lives, there has been much speculation on  why a nearby ship did not respond to the signals flares fired by the Titanic.  

The steamship SS Californian was only six miles away from the sinking Titanic that night.  This ship had stopped for the night after encountering a large field of ice, waiting for daylight to navigate through it.

At 0045 that morning, crew members on the SS Californian saw a flash of light in the sky.  At first the Californian's watch officer thought it was a shooting star but a later saw five rockets fire into the sky from a nearby ship.   

The watch crew woke the Captain and reported the rockets. The Captain asked if they had been company signals which were traditionally colored rockets.  The watch officer said that he did not know.  

SS CALIFORNIAN

Company signals were rockets of specific colors used to signal other ships from the same shipping line.  In 1912, use of wireless communication was still new on ships so company signals were still widely in use.  The Californian's radio operator had turned into bed and was not awoken to listen for possible distress signals.

The conversation ended with the Captain of the Californian telling his watch officer to notify him if anything changed and to try and contact the distant ship with the Morse code lamp. 

The Californian remained unaware of the sinking Titanic until the morning.

It was not until 1948 that the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) convention changed international regulations requiring that distress signals be "rockets or shells, throwing red stars fired one at a time at short intervals."   

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