Testing the Mooring Winches

Chief Officer Andre van Schoonhoven sent us the latest photos from the yard. They’ve just completed testing of the mooring winches — the machines that pull the ship to the dock and hold it in place. Here’s how Andre described it:

The mooring winches were tested for their rated power. Rated power is 52 tons of bollard pull, and we got them up to 57 tons on the strain gauge. (Note: a bollard is the strong post on a pier that the mooring line is attached to.) That means they can pull an object of 125,400 lbs!

The test also provided the opportunity for Rolls-Royce, manufacturer of the winches, to adjust all the settings on the electro motors and their control stands.

The winches are equipped with so-called self-tensioning modes, which means that if the strain on a mooring line gets above a certain setting, the winch will pay out the line, rather than breaking it, and when the strain gets lower, it will automatically heave in again.

The testing is performed by putting a steel cable on the winch drum, and putting the other end around the bollards on deck, with the measuring device in between.

That way, the bollards get tested at the same time.

UPDATE: In response to a question from a reader, Andre gave us the lengths of the anchor chains and mooring lines:

The mooring lines are 220 meters long, tip to winch line, manufactured by Lankhorst Sneek. The anchor chains are 364 meters long.

An Artsy View of Eurodam’s Engines

Chief Electrician Ed van Weijen sent us these updated images of Eurodam’s engine room and engine control room. Who knew he had an artistic side as well?

The ship will derive its power from four 12-cylinder V-type and two eight-cylinder (above) in-line engines.

The engine control room, at the heart of the ship, looks like it’s nearly complete.

Chief Officer Andre Tackles a Weighty Subject — The Anchor

A while ago I wrote an article about the anchor and mooring gear, now here’s the follow-up.

Eurodam’s anchors have arrived. To show the size, my height is 186 centimeters (6 feet, 2 inches), so the picture with me standing next to the anchor gives you an idea of its size.

The anchors each weigh 10,580 kilograms, or 23,276 lbs! Each anchor will be attached to 13 lengths of anchor chain. One length is 15 fathoms, or 90 feet long. The attachment of chain to anchor, and for the lengths to each other is done by using connecting links, also know as kenter shackles.

The shackles come in four parts — two halves, one center piece and a locking pin. That way, you can also disconnect it in the future.The reason for this is that the first few lengths of chain are used the most during anchoring.

If they are worn past the allowed specifications, usually after about five to sx years, during the drydock period of the ship the first length is put all the way at the end, length two becomes one, three becomes two, and so forth. That process is called end-for-ending.

The last length of the chain is connected inside the chain locker to a pin, and is called the bitter end. More a rope worker’s term than a knot term, the reference is to the end of a rope that is tied off, hence the expression, “to the bitter end.”

UPDATE: In response to a question from a reader, Andre let us know hos long the anchor chains are: 364 meters.

Rijkaart: Ship Is Preparing for Sea Trials

Pieter Rijkaart
ENB had an opportunity to chat with Blog Board member Pieter Rijkaart, director of newbuilds for Holland America Line, yesterday. He returned from the shipyard last week, and says things are progressing, though he admitted that as the ship enters the last few months of construction, it’s normal for everyone to start to “feel a bit of stress.”

We asked him to talk about the sea trials that are coming up March 28-30 and April 5-9. He told us that following the first, short trials, the ship is relocated to the yard at Trieste, where it is drydocked for six days while the underwater part of the hull is cleaned and painted.

“During sea trials we test all of the technical functions of the ship, the propulsion, the hotel equipment and water distillers, we test all the equipment on board,” said Rijkaart. “For the main diesel engines we conduct what we call an endurance test. We run them at full power for eight hours. If, for some reason, we have to interrupt the test, we make the shipyard start over again.”

He explained that during sea trials, the shipyard still owns the ship and it is a yard captain and executive officers who are in charge. The hundred or so Holland America and Carnival Corporation employees on board can only observe. However, there are about 700 yard employees and subcontractors working throughout the trials to continue with the interior outfitting.

One of the most important parts of the sea trials are the speed trials.

“The contract specifies that the ship is to be capable of a certain service and maximum speed,” said Rijkaart. “We also conduct stopping tests, where we go from full ahead to a dead stop in the water. We simulate problems, such as maneuvering with one propeller — or in this case one Azipod — out of service.”

He said they test steering with one Azipod unit and a number of other scenarios designed to test for stability, maneuverability and safety. They lower lifeboats and perform anchoring tests.

All of these tests are conducted under the watchful eyes of the class society that certifies the ship, in this case, Lloyd’s of London. All the normal functions of the ship are tested and certified as well as emergency and unusual situations any ship at sea could encounter.

But perhaps the most important hours are reserved for the Holland America officers — who will actually be responsible for running the ship when it enters service — to take control and “handle the ship by themselves to start to get used to it,” said Rijkaart.

Safety First: Checking the Fire Detection System

Chief Officer Andre van Schoonhoven sent in this photo of Third Officer James Cook and a colleague testing the fire-detection system. “Only 4,000 detectors to go …,” wrote Andre.

The Engine Room Is Looking Good

Eurodam Chief Electrician D.E. van Weijen sent us these photos of the engine room. Aside from a few coils of unconnected wiring, it looks ready to crank up and go.

Getting Wired on the Bridge

Blog Board member Chief Officer Andre van Schoonhoven is back from vacation and sending us some interesting photos from the shipyard. Today he shows us the bridge and the … looks like millions … of wires that lead from somewhere to here — the command center of the ship.

Chief Officer Weighs in on a Heavy Topic — the Anchor and Mooring Gear

Eurodam’s chief officer and Blog Board member Andre van Schoonhoven sent us some new photos and some very technical information on the ship’s anchor and mooring gear:

The mooring equipment is an important part of the ship’s equipment, since it’s used for tying up the ship in port, which is the whole idea of cruising. It also had to be finished before the float out, to tie the Eurodam up at the fitting-out pier.

The anchor-handling equipment is not yet completely finished. Below is a photo of the roller assembly, which still needs to be welded to the deck. The chain (or anchor cable) will roll over this, and it leads the cable from the hawse pipe (the pipe leading from the deck to the anchor housing in the hull) to the cable lifter (or gypsy). The gypsy is visible in the background and is driven by an electromotor. This is the same electromotor that drives the mooring winch next to it via an additional gear. That gear makes the gypsy turn slower than the winch, however, at much greater strength.

The roller assembly is in the foreground and the gypsy is in the background.

The mooring lines are also sometimes called hawsers. The interesting thing is that this is one of the first things that became regulated in the shipping industry under influence of the class societies. Being able to anchor and moor ships safely, even in extremely adverse weather conditions, enhances safety, and that directly influences the insurance premiums charged.

Holland America Line is a member of the Lloyd’s Register class society. Lloyd’s printed the first Register of Ships in 1764 to give underwriters and merchants information about the condition of the vessels they insured and chartered. The top classification of A1, from which the expression meaning first class or top of the line is derived, first appeared in the 1775-1776 edition of the Lloyd’s Register.

The chain locker where the anchor chain is stored and the hawse hole through which the chain is fed.

The numbers, weights and sizes of the anchors, chains and hawsers are regulated by the tonnage for equipment, as obtained from the following formulae:

Tonnage under upper deck equals LxBxDxC/100, with C representing the coefficient of displacement taken at 0.8 of the molded depth, with 0.75 as a maximum (basically, how much the shape of the hull varies from true block form). Addition for superstructures equals lxbxdx0.75/150.

Thus, the class society (Lloyd’s Register in our case) uses these equations to arrive at the Equipment Number. You then use the EN to look up in a table exactly the number, sizes and weights for anchors, chain and hawsers for a ship.

Traditionally ships were anchored using large hemp hawsers called cables. In 1836 the use of iron chains had become so common in the English merchant service and their superiority so well recognized, that the underwriters ceased to charge a higher insurance rate for vessels using iron chain. In 1840 side welding of chain was introduced in England, and from that time English chains of 1-7/8 inches and larger have been side welded.

Lloyd’s Register of Shipping augmented its rules in 1846 so that thereafter all chains of classed vessels were tested and stamped on each end to indicate load capacity. In 1853 Lloyd’s rules made it mandatory that, before a vessel could be classed, the test of the chain cable had to be certified, and in 1858 Lloyd’s issued rules regarding the length and size of chain cable. Lloyd’s progressively stiffened their rules regarding methods of manufacture and testing, resulting in the Anchors and Chain Cables Act of 1899, which with only a few amendments is still the basis of present-day testing procedures.

Something is missing from this picture ….

Some more historical dates about chain anchor cables:
1808: Wrought-iron cables are first recorded. They were made by Robert Flinn, a blacksmith, and used on the ship Ann & Isabella.
1813: Iron cables are recorded with other particulars of the ship.
1834: Lloyd’s Register rules state the length of cable to be supplied, but do not mention sizes or tests, however, they call for a reduced length for iron cables compared to hemp cables at a 6:7 ratio.
1846: Rules specify that cable must have been tested and have the test load stamped on it. The surveyors were to see the certificates.
1853: Certificates of test of chain cables are required to be produced prior to classification.
1856: The rules state that the length and condition of chain cables were to be ascertained by removal from the locker at each special survey.
1890: Lloyd’s Register rules sets a table of minimum weights for cables.

Sustainable Teak for Decking Comes from Thailand

Teak is a fast-growing, renewable resource. This is a forest of 2-year-old trees.
Not too long ago, we ran a post courtesy of Blog Board member and Eurodam Chief Officer Andre van Schoonhoven about how they install the teak decks on the ship. That prompted a question from a reader about where the teak decking comes from.

Andre found the answer for us: “The teak comes from Santi Forestry in Thailand, and is shipped under coding Green Point 5, which means it comes from an ISO-certified [International Standards Organization] plantation, where for every tree cut three new ones are planted and then later thinned out.”

Santi Forestry has been around since 1972 and focuses on the efficient use of harvested timber to extract the maximum product from the raw material as well as responsible environmental stewardship. Here’s how the company describes its practices on its Web site:

All of the products are manufactured from forest trees grown in managed and sustainable yield programs, preferably from Southeast Asian countries. Every shipment of logs is carefully inspected during the procurement process to identify and classify its origin, form, grade, and defects. Only logs from qualified sites with quality that meets our standards are selected.

SFG supports sustainable forest management and other forest conservation programs. We also support efforts in Southeast Asian countries that promote forest certification and development process, in line with ITTO, the Forest Stewardship Council, and ISO standard for sustainable forest management. In addition to protecting the source of our raw materials, the SFG’s quality production methods and ingenious product design ensure a minimum usage of the natural resource for maximum benefit.

Lifeboat Davits Put to the Test

Left, the weight is connected to the davit arms. Right, the breaks are tested.

Recently we performed both static and dynamic weight tests on all of Eurodam’s lifeboat davits to ensure they pass the SOLAS regulations (Safety of Life at Sea).

For a tender it is:
Maximum number of persons on board: 150
Weight of maximum number of persons: 150 x 75 kg (165.35 pounds) = 11,250 kg (24,802 pounds)
Fully equipped lifeboat: 12,350 kg (27,227 pounds)
Total: 23,600 kg (52,029 pounds)

The test is done at 1.1 times the weight they will carry to ensure the complete construction is solidly connected to the side of the ship (the davit arms themselves are tested at the factory at 2.2 times the weight they will ever have to carry — so much stronger).

The yard connected to the lower blocks a big steel box that is filled with water so it totals the desired weight: the weight of the box and the water 23,600 kg (52,029 pounds) multiplied by 1.1 = 25,960 kg (57,232 pounds).

The weight is read by the crane driver, who has a strain gauge in the control cab of the crane. He radios the information down to the people on deck. The crane then slacks its hoisting wire so the davits take the strain. This is called the static test.

For the dynamic test, the manual brake on the winch is lifted and the box is lowered the same way you would lower the lifeboat (or tender, in this case). The lowering speed is then measured, since this needs to be between .75 and 1.30 meters (2.5 and 4.3 feet) per minute. If the boat lowers too slowly or too fast, the centrifugal speed control brake needs adjusting.

Then, after about six seconds the manual brake is thrown back — full force — and the lowering stops. This is rather spectacular, with the box bouncing up and down, and the bulkheads where the sheaves are connected flexing back and forth. Nobody envies the man who has to operate the brake!