Assist in taking bunkers from ashore.

12/9/13

Highland Prince

Mearns Quay

Aberdeen

Day Work

The chief engineer requested we take bunkers in Aberdeen on the 12/9/13 to keep tank levels high
and to ensure a good supply of fuel oil for our charterer’s offshore platforms. There was already
420m3 of fuel oil aboard and there was space to take another 390m3 on-board and still conform to
company regulations of only filling fuel oil tanks to 85% capacity. The day before arrival in Aberdeen
port an order for 390m3 of fuel oil was sent to our suppliers. Upon arrival in Aberdeen the vessel
was made secure and we awaited the bunker man to arrive. During this time the chief engineer
began filling out the company’s procedural checklist for wet bulk transfers in port (example in
workbook). Once the bunker man arrived he made his way to the ECR and filled out his company
checklist this was cross reverenced with our checklist and they were both signed by chief engineer
and bunker man. While the bunker man was in ECR he was given a UHF radio for communication
with the ECR and confirmed the emergency stop procedure. Before leaving the ECR the bunker man
confirmed the amount of fuel oil to be loaded, ships capacity and amount on board at the time.
Once everyone was happy the bunker man left the ECR to commence fuelling. At this time the oil
record book was filled out with the amount on-board before bunkering and which tanks the bunkers
will be going into, also record the fuel sulphur content and time bunkering starts. The deck crew was
requested to secure the shore hose to the ship’s cargo manifold on the Port side midships, as this
was confirmed as done and everyone was happy the bridge was contacted to ensure they were
happy to take bunkers aboard. Once this was confirmed the fuel oil cargo page was opened in the
ECR computer system and the flow meter was reset to 0, the valves to tank 6 starboard were then
opened. The bunker man was then contacted and asked to commence bunkering on gravity only to
begin with, at this the deck crew opened the deck manifold valve and allowed fuel oil to flow into
our tanks through the flow meter. As soon as it was confirmed we were receiving fuel oil in tank 6
starboard we contacted the deck crew to confirm there was no leaks and upon confirmation of this
the bunker man was contacted and requested to start his pump. As we received conformation of the
pump running, the valve to fuel oil tank 6 portside was opened and fuel was allowed to flow into
both tanks simultaneously. The chief engineer then explained the use of the high level alarm on the
tanks and I set the alarm to sound slightly before the level reached 85% capacity. From this point on
I watched the levels on the tanks to ensure there were no unexpected problems under the
supervision of the chief and second engineers. Once these tanks high level alarms went off we
maintained a watch and as the level reached 85% the valve was closed and Tank 5 port was now
opened and fuel flowed in, once again the high level alarms were set to just below 85% capacity.
Again I kept watch on the tank levels under supervision of the chief and second engineers. Once we
reached 390m3 fuel oil taken aboard the bunker man contacted us and confirmed his pump was
stopped and if our deck crew could close the manifold valve and remove the fuel hose. Once this
was done the bunker man returned to ECR and returned the UHF radio and delivered the paperwork
and fuel samples for our own records. The procedural checklist was then completed. The oil record
book was now completed confirming amount of bunkers taken aboard and total amount in tanks
after bunkering and finally signed by OOW.