The Most Important Engine Room Documents a Ship Cannot Sail Without

WASHINGTON – Dimitrios Grifakis, 57, of Kallithea, Greece, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis to six months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for obstructing a Coast Guard inspection that took place in May 2010 aboard a Liberian-operated cargo ship M/V Capitola at the Port of Baltimore. Grifakis was then the Chief Engineer of the Capitola.

In a related case, Cardiff Marine Inc., the Liberian-registered shipping company and operator of the Capitola previously pleaded guilty to obstructing a Coast Guard examination and violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships. The company was sentenced in February 2011 to pay a $2.4 million fine, and to serve three years probation, subject to an environmental compliance plan that includes audits by an independent third party auditor.

According to Grifakis’ guilty plea and other court documents, the investigation into the M/V Capitola was launched on May 3, 2010, at the Port of Baltimore, after a crew member informed a clergy member, who was on board the Capitola on a pastoral visit, that there had been “monkey business in the engine room,” which involved a “magic pipe.” The “magic pipe” proved to be a bypass hose that allowed the dumping of waste oil overboard, circumventing pollution prevention equipment required by law. The crew member asked the minister to alert the Coast Guard which triggered an inspection of the Capitola.

At his plea hearing, Grifakis admitted that from about March 2009 through May 3, 2010, he repeatedly ordered his subordinates to illegally pump oil-contaminated waste directly into the ocean, most commonly through the “magic pipe.” However, during the investigation, Grifakis falsely denied having ordered anyone to pump oily waste overboard and falsified documents to hide these discharges from inspectors in ports visited by the Capitola.

Every ship that enters the U.S. is required to have an accurate oil record book that records the ship’s operation related to oil, including the handling and disposal of oil contaminated waste. Grifakis presented an oil record book to the U.S. Coast Guard that was intentionally falsified to conceal the illegal overboard discharges of oil contaminated waste. An oil record book is required under U.S. law and the International Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Ships, also known as the MARPOL Protocol, which regulates the discharge of pollutants from vessels at sea.

Grifakis also obstructed the investigation by concealing certain ship’s records and then denying that such records existed. Specifically, he concealed the Capitola’s daily sounding record, which is a daily measurement of the contents of the ship’s waste tanks. This record would have been useful during the Coast Guard’s inspection of the Capitola in that it could have shown when the levels of the waste tanks changed, which could be compared to entries in the oil record book. Sudden, unexplained drops in the measurements could have indicated specific dates when wastes were discharged overboard. The daily sounding record was not produced to the Coast Guard. Grifakis also directed other members of the engine room crew to lie to investigators and claim that the Capitola did not have a daily record of soundings.

 

The Most Important Engine Room Documents a Ship Cannot Sail Without

 

A vessel can only travel from one foreign port to another with valid certificates and up to date recorded documents. All documents in the engine room and bridge should be duly filled, checked and signed by operating officer and countersigned by managerial level officer for smooth and lawful operation of the ship.

 

1 In groups, discuss what important ER documents are there on your vessel. Write down your ideas.

 

2 Tick the names of documents which belong to the ER papers:

___	Saturday/Monday Routine Log	___	Sewage Management Log
___	Cargo Declaration	___	Oil to Sea Interface Log
___	Engine Room Log Book	___	Loading Manual
___	Certificate of seaworthiness	___	Oil record book
___	Engine Room Tank Sounding Log	___	Agreement of Employment
___	Crew List	___	Chief Engineer Night Order Book
___	Seal log	___	Certificate of Testing of a Liferaft

 

3 Find the words with the same meaning:

number record (v) comments quantity remarks signlog record (n) entry write acknowledge note (v)

 

4 Complete the gaps with the words from ex.3:

1) You should always ________ all the parameters of running machineries.

2) Let me ________ down your telephone number.

3) Cargo vessels transport large ________ of goods.

4) Fill in this form. If you have something to add, write your ________ here.

5) When you fill in the form, ________ it at the bottom and write your name.

6) The watch engineer made ________ about the failure of an air compressor.

5 Match the names of documents with their descriptions:

1)     Oil record book	a)It is used to record: ü all the parameters of running machineries (main propulsion plant, power generation system, boiler, purifier, refrigeration plant, air conditioning plant etc.) ü Any abnormal finding ü Any major maintenance for machineries ü Voyage number and “from” and “to” ports ü Running hours of different machineries for every watch ü Quantity of fuel, diesel and lube oil retained onboard ü Quantity of waste water retain onboard ü Special operation like bunkering of fuel, diesel and lube oil with starting and finish time. ü Special operation including operation of 15 ppm equipment with operational time.
2)   Sewage Management Log	b)It is one of the most important documents onboard with a written record for compliance of annex I of MARPOL. The following entries should be made: ü Maintenance operation of MARPOL equipments like OWS, Sewage treatment plant and incinerator with the type of maintenance, date and time. ü Bunkering operation including date, time, bunkering grade, quantity bunkered, port of bunkering, and retention of tank used in bunkered operation. ü Weekly retention of waste water that includes bilge and sludge system. ü Any internal bilge or sludge transfer with date and time and quantity transferred. ü Any maintenance on OWS.
3)   Oil to Sea Interface Log	c)It is used to keep a written record of soundings of all the engine room tanks including waste water tank, fuel oil and diesel oil service settling and bunker tanks.
4)     Engine Room Log Book	d)It consists of ISPP certificate, operating procedure of sewage plant, and maintenance procedure of the sewage plant. The following issues must be recorded there: ü Any maintenance in sewage plant (chlorine tablet dosing etc). ü Sample testing of sewage. ü Any discharge of sewage overboard at sea with date, time, position of ship, and quantity discharged.
5)   Saturday/Monday Routine Log	e)It is used to record working of those systems which have direct interface of oil with sea water. They normally include stern tube system and Lube oil coolers cooled by sea water system. It normally contains the following records: ü The level or quantity of oil in the system to check for any leaks. All reading is acknowledged by the chief engineer. ü Any abnormality Entry is to be done once in on a daily basis. Chief engineer is responsible to maintain this log.
6)     Engine Room Tank Sounding Log	f)Normally most of the shipping companies have a system for sealing all the MARPOL systems which include overboard lines for OWS, sewage system overboard and lines, bilge system and lines etc. with the help of seals. The following entries can be found here: ü All the seals placed onboard with an individual number. ü The date and place where the seal is to be fitted. ü The date when the seal is removed and the purpose of removal. Chief engineer is responsible to maintain and acknowledge all the records in the book.
7)     Seal log	g)All the emergency equipments such as LSA, FFA equipments and systems on board ship, which are tried out in weekly, monthly or yearly basis, depending upon equipment operation and company requirement for satisfactory operation, are recorded in this log. It includes emergency generator, emergency fire pump, emergency compressor, life boat engine, emergency stops of pumps and ventilation fans, fire dampers and other equipment and systems as per company requirement. All officers onboard are designated with particular equipment for carrying out trial operation and procedure, which are to be entered in this log. Every entry is to be acknowledged by the officer carrying out the operation with remarks and brief description of the same.

6. Ask and answer about ER documents.

Model: What is Saturday/Monday Routine Log used for?

What does Engine Room Log Book consist of?

What is Seal log?