Port Engineering Technology

As mariners around the world are rightfully concerned about the stability of regular employment, reasonably fair rates of pay and decent working conditions, Ship-owners are also concerned with the current high cost of shipbuilding and the steadily rising cost of fuel. Given that they all have to eat and require shelter, from cabin boy to captain, and from secretary to Ship-owner, the necessity of wages and salaries is inevitable. Likewise, since it takes fuel to convert iron ore to steel, the resultant increase in ship building costs is a natural consequence of the expensive freight costs to transport the ore, and the high energy costs to convert the ore, largely beyond the control of ship-owners. In this age of environmentally-conscious legislation and regulation, and consequential high costs of recovery and clean-up, site restoration and compensatory damages for oil spillage contamination, Ship-owners are facing even higher operating costs by virtue of increased liability insurance premiums. Having seemingly exhausted their efforts to protect and preserve their corporate survival from overwhelming external price increases, it is inevitable that ship-owners start looking inward for possible solutions to some of these growing problems. Since the dawn of maritime commerce when the primary adversary factors were the forces of wind and waves, there was little within the purview of Ship-owners to protect their vessels, crews and cargoes from the unpredictable whims and powers of mother nature. At best all they could hope for was that their vessels were properly designed and sturdily built to cope with their arduous operating environment and capable of surviving the elements in order to deliver their cargoes to the intended destinations, and return safely home. In the course of time ship-owners learned that to ensure such survivability they had a moral obligation to repair and maintain their vessels in a seaworthy condition. This precautionary stance was essential not only to protect their initial investment in the vessel itself, but to ensure the safety of crews who manned the vessels, the safe and timely delivery of their cargoes, and hence, continuity of their primary source of income, plus the preservation of their own corporate identity as responsible ship operators. Accordingly, conscientious Ship-owners soon learned to entrust the maintenance and repair of their vessels to knowledgeable and trusted individuals who were either qualified ship building craftsmen with some sea-going experience or former mariners with some understanding of ship construction and repair. These were the forerunners of to-day's Port Engineers, and it is from these contemporary professional counterparts that ship-owners must now seek some relief from high ship repair costs.

Usually, the planning and scheduling of major repairs and conversions, including Regulatory Body inspections, are the responsibility of the Ship-owner's assigned shore-based staff member commonly referred to as a Port Engineer. Some shipping companies prefer the term Marine/Engineering Superintendent while other entities may use the term Ship Superintendent or Marine Surveyor. As such, the primary function of the Port Engineer is to act as a Project Manager, on behalf of the Ship-owner, responsible for monitoring the performance of the Prime Contractor (in a shipyard), in terms of compliance with contractual terms. He (or she) is the primary intermediary between the Ship-owner and the Prime Contractor, and the liaison officer between the Ship-owner and the Regulatory Body Representatives, including the U.S. Coast Guard and American Bureau of Shipping. In the absence of an assigned Ship-owner's Contracting Officer, the Port Engineer is also empowered to act as such. To perform his duties competently a Port Engineer requires practical experience through Trade Apprenticeships in Marine Engineering, including construction, repair and overhaul of shipboard main propulsion plants and auxiliary machinery; Technical College courses in mechanical engineering, mathematics, physics, geometry, etc; and shipboard operational experience as a Marine Engineer. Preferably, prospective Port Engineer candidates Should be experienced in, or should study the fundamental principles of Project Management. The reason for this is that unlike conventional business management, wherein traditional patterns and prescribed rules are the norm, Project Management involves a constant effort to cope with known, unknown and often unpredictable variables. Given that so many Port Engineering assignments involve travel to remote locations, wherein facilities may be few and far between and quite different from those at home base, the variables to be contended with, such as labor disputes, climatic conditions, sources of supply, budgetary limitations, language barriers and cultural conflicts, are often beyond the effective control of the Project Manager. There is no known training course that can specifically address or train a prospective Port Engineer candidate to cope with all these potential problems, but there is a professional responsibility on the part of the prospective Port Engineer, to confront such adverse conditions, and by virtue of his own ingenuity and perseverance, to accomplish his primary objectives. There is also a philosophic contrast between the relatively passive "Eight-to-Five" attitude of Home Office routine on the one hand, and the Project Manager's "round-the-clock" dynamic vigilance, on the other hand. Regardless of Home Office time tables and objectives, the Project Manager is responsible for completing his project on time, within budget, and in full compliance with specific technical performance parameters and managerial accountability. Learning to recognize the degree of adversity he can cope with, without compromising his effectiveness, is the hallmark of an experienced Project Manager.

When a typical Ship Repair Contract Work Package prepared by a Port Engineer is submitted to potential bidders (shipyards), it usually consists of the customary "contractual legalese" including a specified time frame, or required completion date; plus a compilation of Ship Repair Work Specifications on which the Shipyard Contractor bases his bids. Invariably, the work package is reviewed by a team of shipyard estimators to determine the number of man-hours of labor of the various trades involved, required to accomplish the tasks as described in each work specification, plus the estimated cost of materials and/or parts involved. Simultaneously, a second team of shipyard estimators reviews the same work package to detect errors of omission, errors of calculation (sizes, quantities, areas, etc.) and absence of explicitness that may materially detract from the basic intent or purpose. The anticipated resultant costs of this "secondary estimate" are calculated to determine the potential additional income in the event of such work being ultimately accomplished under "Change Orders", over and above the original price. However, this practice is perfectly legal since the Shipyard Contractor is under no obligation to inform the Ship-owner of the "secondary estimate" prior to the contract being awarded. Nor are Shipyard Contractors licensed to educate or train their prospective customers in the art of writing Ship Repair Work Specifications given that the Contractor agrees to accomplish the work "as submitted" within the required time frame, subsequent authorization by the Ship¬owner for the additional work identified by the "secondary estimate", may require either an extension of the original completion date or of authorization of "overtime" at 150% of the basic man-hour labor rate, to ensure timely completion. The primary objective of a written Ship Repair Work Specification for conversion and/or repair purposes is to convey to prospective Shipyard Contractors the type and extent of work to be done, and the applicable standard or criterion to which the work is to be performed. Therefore, for a ship-owner to avoid the above-mentioned additional charges, his Port Engineers should be skilled in the application of following procedures:-

1 - Proper drafting of Ship Repair Work Specifications. It must not be assumed that "The Shipyard Contractor is supposed to know what to do", since he is under no obligation to guess the Port Engineer's intent, nor obliged to do anything that is not actually authorized within the "Scope of Work" of the Contract Ship Repair Work Specification.

2 - Review each competed Work Specification with the ship's Chief Engineer, either by mail or in person, to determine accuracy and adequacy of the nature and scope of the work as specified.

3 - Ensure that the specified work conforms to Regulatory Body Requirements, such as those of the U.S.C.G. and ABS and that all parts and materials are certified for shipboard use where Regulatory Body Certification is applicable.

4 - Upon completion of each newly written Work Specification for the current Ship Repair Contract, it should be compared with the Work Specification written for the last Ship Repair Contract, for the same machinery, equipment or system, including all applicable Change Orders, to determine adequacy of the newly written version. This is to ensure that any work previous y covered by said Change Orders, in the last Ship Repair Contract, is now incorporated into the body of the new Work Specifications.

5 - During the Ship Repair Work Contract, he should maintain a daily log of all "Change Orders" Specification and their respective costs, including those called for by Regulatory Body Representatives, or for unknown additional work disclosed by an "As¬Found-Condition" report submitted by the Contractor, for future reference in drafting new Ship Repair Work Specification.

6 - In cost estimation for all current Ship Repair Work Specifications, he should remember to include the cost of all applicable Change Orders from previous Ship Repair Contracts.

7 - Record the cost and time expended in procurement or manufacture of parts or material by the Contractor, in lieu of unsuitable parts or material furnished by the Ship-Owner.

8 - Record the cost and time expended in procurement of Manufacturer's Techreps by the Contractor, due to failure to do so by the Ship-owner.

9 - Immediately following close-out of each Ship Repair Contract, conduct a comprehensive post completion review to identify and document any and all problems and ensure implementation of appropriate solutions to avoid repetition of same during future Ship Repair Contracts.

10- Compare the results of the post-completion review with the next new Contract Work Package, to identify possible repetition of errors or omissions, paying close attention to the exact wording of all Change Orders written to correct such errors and omissions.

Drafting, reviewing and finalizing a package of Ship Repair Contract Work Specifications is only one of several phases for which a Port Engineer is responsible in preparing for a Ship Repair or Major Overhaul Shipyard Contract. One of the key elements to successful project management is the development and implementation of appropriate planning by the Port Engineer, with sufficient lead time prior to the project start date, with compilation of an "Advance Planning Schedule" (APS).

"Advance Planning Schedule" (APS).

Due to the complex logistics involved in preparing for a major ship conversion or annual overhaul availability, the APS should incorporate a degree of flexibility during the formative stages in order to accommodate appropriate adjustments as required so as to minimize potentially disruptive last minute changes and costly revisions. Provision Should also be made within the schedule to give the successful bidder at least thirty days notice in advance of the Contract required start date to allow for mobilization of the required work force and facilitate advance procurement of Contractor-furnished materials and parts as required by the Contract Work Package. The scope of an Advance Planning Schedule may vary in accordance with the administrative procedures of the Ship-owner or the originating government agency involved. For instance, some Federal Government agencies start their APS twelve months in advance of the projected start date, due in part to legalistic requirements including prior specific Congressional budget allocation, and related formalities. Other factors to be considered include the geographic location where the Contract work is to be performed, prevailing climatic conditions expected during the contract performance period, the availability of specialized technical support personnel within the area, this is especially true in remote areas; and local environmental constraints. Where it becomes necessary to abrasively blast and repaint the superstructure, work may be adversely impacted by extremely cold weather or heavy rains. In areas subject to rigid environmental controls, such abrasive blasting may require time-consuming containment measures to preclude atmospheric contamination. This normally takes the form of installing a plastic tent over the ship's entire superstructure to ensure continuous containment of fugitive dust and related debris. All of this s required to ensure compliance with industrial safety and environmental regulations, State and Federal. For APS purposes the projected start date of an availability is usually designated as "A" day and completion date as "C". Thus, if the APS commences three months prior to the projected start date the corresponding milestone (M/S) will be A-90 and if the contract is awarded one month prior to the projected start date, the corresponding milestone will be A-30.

The APS document is usually divided into three columns, namely, from left to right, Milestone, Action and Event. Starting with A-90, subsequent milestones will gradually decrease in numerical index as the availability start date approaches. The Action column indicates the party within the Ship-owner staff or Shipyard personnel, assigned responsibility for a given event, and the event column describes the activity to be performed as of the corresponding Milestone, such as "Start compilation of Contract Work Package", or "Start Availability", etc. as shown in the following Example:

Typical example of an Advance Planning Schedule (Part 1)
M/S    Action         Event

A-90 - Port Engineer - Draft preliminary Advance Planning Schedule to include departmental action assignments and designation of Port Engineer-in-Charge.

A-88 - Port Engineer - Issue Advance Planning Schedule to Management and Ship's Force. Conduct on-board Operational Readiness Survey and prepare Report of Findings.

A-88 - Port Engineer - Draft additional Work Specifications based on Report of Findings. A-70 - Port Engineer - Finalize procurement of Ship-Owner furnished materials.

A-68 - Port Engineer - Develop cost estimates for entire Work Package.

A-65 - Port Engineer - Perform Quality Assurance Review for Management review.

A-60 - Port Engineer - Submit copies of Contract Work Package to USCG, ABS and to Ship's Force for review and approval.

A-50 - Port Engineer - Issue approved Contract Work Package to Contracting Officer (if any), or release solicitation to bidders.

A-35 - Port Engineer - Review bids, select and notify successful bidder, Management, Ship's Force and Regulatory Bodies. Also notify material vendors and Tech-Reps of successful bidders name and location.

A-25 - All concerned - Conduct Logistics Support Definition Conference to determine and assign in-house responsibility for logistics support of Port Engineer

A-10 - Port Engineer - Report to successful bidder's shipyard with Assistants (if any) to set up Field Office.

A -0 - Contractor - Start Availability. Convene Safety meeting to include local Fire Dept., tour of ship, to determine location of access/escape routes, fire extinguishers, fire stations, combustible storage compartments, etc.

A-0 - Contractor - Convene General Meeting with Port Engineer, Ship's Master and Chief Engineer and Contractor-designated Ship Superintendent to review Contract Work Package and Production Schedule.

C-0 - Contractor - Complete availability to satisfaction of Port Engineer and Regulatory Bodies.

C+10 - Port Engineer - Compile and submit Availability Completion Report for Management Analysis and comment.

Links
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