The complete chief officer 28 port preparation

28 Port Preparation
28.1

Planning

A ship arriving in port without a plan is a management disaster in the making. Although
I am not too happy with the reception some shore authorities give to ships, when you
understand what they have to deal with at times you may have a little more sympathy
for their behaviour.
If there is no planning meeting on your ship at least ensure that your own
responsibilities are well prepared for.

28.2

Cargo

The most important item on your agenda will be the cargo.

You will need to submit your cargo stowage plan. Ensure that you do this in
sufficient time for any changes that are necessary to be made prior to arrival. Once
the Master has declared the stability condition he requires for sailing and arrival at
the port of destination, you can finalise your requirements and send this off to the
agent. Allow for weekends in your timings as, if your plan arrives on a Friday
afternoon, it can quite possibly lie in the agency office for the whole weekend and
only be forwarded to the port or terminal on the Monday. This does not help
anyone if you are arriving on Monday morning.
If you are on a cargo ship, you want to know what hatches they intend to start with first,
if there is an option.

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28.3 Stores
Regardless of the 3 or 6 monthly storing, there always seem to be items that are urgently
required. Ensure that your department advises you of any such stores well before the port
so that you can assess their requirement and advise the Master in case he has to obtain
the company's permission.
Some years ago, on a ship operated by a well known Scottish ship management company, the crew
kettle broke and could not be repaired. In this company every item had to be approved by head office
so I went to the Captain with my request. First I had the inquisition. Why had the kettle
broken, who broke it, why could it not be repaired, did I realise that the kettle was only
ten years old and still almost new and did I realise the cost of a new one? Then the
message was sent to the company. For the next four days, the messages went back
and forward, regarding the carelessness of the crew, the poor supervision of the Chief
Officer and the fact that we were trying to bankrupt the company. Eventually
permission was granted and a new kettle finally arrived in Singapore. It was the
cheapest possible piece of rubbish and it broke three weeks later. No power on earth
could persuade the Captain to send another message to the company. The Bosun bought one in the
end, which I told him on his leaving was quite generous. He told me not so; he had sold an old wire to
pay for it and made a handsome profit!

If you have the budget, get a list of stores required so that they can be sent to different
chandlers for the best prices.

28.4 Port Work
You might be allowed to paint overside in the port, but if you want to do this you need
to ask the port if it is allowed.

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You may also need consent for boats to be lowered and sent away, for a painting raft
or for any repairs.

28.5 Medical
Although this is not necessarily your direct responsibility, it is within the sphere of
your department. So ensure that if anyone needs a doctor or dentist that this is
advised prior to the ship's arrival.

28.6 Official Visitors
Try to obtain a list of officials or other visitors who intend boarding the ship during the
port stay. Sometimes the agent can obtain this information and you might even get a
chance of scheduling these visitors.

28.7 Fresh Water and Garbage
Fresh water is rarely a problem, except for the lengths of hose sometimes required to
reach from the water mains to the ship's tanks. State how much you want and ask the
pumping rate. This will give you an idea as to how long it will take.
Garbage is more of a problem. In theory, the port should provide garbage disposal bins at
each berth so that the existing garbage can be dumped, with the ship continuing to place
garbage in these until departure. In practice, this is rarely the case. There is often no
garbage bin and service to take the garbage away must be paid for, with the costs so high
that the operators refuse to pay, with the result that the ship sails away with garbage still
onboard. All you can do is state that you require garbage disposal facilities.

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