Operating Manuals

Tripartite 2008

Beijing

8-9 November

WHAT WE SAID

• Contrary to Aviation the number of designs of ships and their mechanical installations is practically unlimited

• Maintenance manuals very much differ in their format and content depending on manufacturer who have each their own approach on description and part systems

• Shipyards do not prescribe standards for manuals from their suppliers which makes system integrating of different equipment more difficult to operate

• The emergence of new “Greenfield shipyards” will only exacerbate this pattern and increase safety risks

THE PROBLEM

• ISM makes planned maintenance systems mandatory

• Computer hardware is cheap and is now used routinely both ashore and at sea

• Shore is however heavily tasked in time for training and for inputting

- Maintenance routines

- Spare part lists

• Ship training on board is made difficult, even more so when English is not the language of either the reader or the writer of the manual.

TO EVERY PROBLEM hopefully A SOLUTION

A POSSIBLE SOLUTION

• On board manuals are standardized both in format and terms and cover only for the actual equipment on board

• The manuals are translated in the basic crew shipping pool languages (far East )

• The manuals are also made in electronic form

• The spare part list is made available electronically in a standardized internationally recognized standard

STANDARDIZATION

Manuals to cover

- Description and scope of equipment

- Operation

- Maintenance

- Troubleshooting

- Spare part list

Spare part list to have both Manufacturer Part Number and also Part

Number corresponding to number on equipment plan or subpart drawings which are reproduced in an onboard manual.

What we agreed

• Class accepted that there was a need to standardize format, which it was prepared to do, but that it could not control the details of the content which should remain suppliers responsibility.

• BIMCO agreed to take the lead on this item:

- report progress on developments in IMO,

- illustrate a few cases.

1st example

Vendor drawing of

VIBRATION MONITORING SYTEM

Issued for construction 2000. 11.9

Issued as finished plan 2001.05.21

Some remarks

• First page has address Telephone and Fax but no e-mail address.

• The first section has no index or table of contents.

• On the second page the text describing the alarm functions is meaningless.

• The drawing reference box is not filled up. This is repeated throughout the pages of the manual.

• In general the manual is an installation manual directed to the shipyard not the ship.

More remarks

• On the third page the heading does not give a clue of the content. The scope of supply incorporates information of no use to the ship's crew. The content is more addressed to the shipyard and includes tools and standard components

• In the following pages (4,5,6) the installation information is helpful to the yard but has nothing to do with the actual vessel.

• Again on the following pages the information, although it may contain some useful information is primarily addressed to the shipyard.

• The last pages describing the cable connections and installation tools are included are of no interest to the ship's crew.

2nd exampleMain Engine lubricator spares ordering

• Two sister-ships built a few months apart by a first class shipyard.

• Requirement for cylinder lubricator parts.• After long exchange with manufacturer it is

established that ship no. 2 has model corresponding to plate P90307-0012.

• Ship no. 1 built prior no. 2 orders under plate P90307-0012.

• Manufacturer now asks if it is not under plate P90307-0015 (presumably edition 0015 comes after edition 0012).

SHIPYARD AND MANUFACTURER SHOULD KNOW WHAT THEY HAVE SUPPLIED ON BOARD

3rd example pressure vacuum valves

• The drawing/manual refers to a range of various, but similar systems. It is not clear which system is fitted on the particular vessel.

• Some of the drawings are not relevant to the installed equipment.

• Some drawings have no page number and they may become missing without the crew knowing.

• There is no plan of the system installed on board and how many units are fitted.

• No spare parts list with part numbers.

• A lot of information relates to installation.

Among the installation drawings a conformity certificate is enclosed in the manual but, it only refers that it can be used in potentially explosive atmospheres. They have not checked the specific apparatus.

2nd part is referred as instruction manual

• The content is of general nature and not specific to the system on board. Again it appears that this is aimed for the shipyard installation personnel and not the ship's crew.

• At the end of the manual there is a parts list of general nature. There is no clear correlation between the parts listed there and a specific drawing.

• There is no information about maintenance, calibration or troubleshooting.

4th Example

• Main burner for oil fired boiler

• Long list of spareparts

• Nice drawings

• No references between the two...

5th Example: Boiler drawing

IMO

IMO

IMO

Manuals

Questions?