Chapter 3: Junk

I was right! The Tynsalls haven’t a clue about proper operating marine equipment. I suspected as much just from talking with them. They seriously over paid for some dangerously dilapidated junk, these unscrupulous sellers foisted upon them.

For example, the river going spud barge isn’t designed or suitable for ocean travel and it’s also an ancient rusted out piece of crap. It sets on blocking upside down, when I first clap eyes on it. The old bottom has been torn off. Part of the purchase price includes re-skinning or re-plating the rusted out bottom. No attention at all is focused on the badly wasted internal framing or the poor condition chines. Do I have authority over the repairs projects? Thank you. I’ll get right to work, Mr Tynsall. Listen up! Stop work immediately!

The workers and welders simply ignored me. Looking around among the red, yellow, green, and blue hardhats covered heads, I finally spy a doffed dirty white hardhat laid on a makeshift table.

A bareheaded man leaning over the table, is studying a sheaf of blue prints. Walking over to him I introduced myself as Mr Tynsall’s superintendent over the project. With complete authority to accept or reject any work contemplated or accomplished. My unhappiness with the barge repair in process is a red flag. I expressed explicitly and forcibly my objections, threatening a major lawsuit if the repair isn’t correctly and properly done. It isn’t being properly done. Work is to immediately stop until it’s sorted out. The repair contract can be awarded to a different yard. I read the sales contract on the plane!

Nothing requires Mr. Tynsall to accept the seller doing a half assed repair in the seller’s own yard using his own crew. The seller will still have to pay for the repair, even if done in a competitor’s yard.

A suit for an amount greater than the barge’s cost can be filed because of a legal principal in admiralty law called demurrage. Normally, demurrage charges are added for delays in a ship’s sailing due to slowness or delays in loading and unloading cargo beyond an agreed amount of time. However, demurrage charges can be levied for any delay of a commercial vessel.

Bridges that refused to open for ships and barges have incurred demurrage claims against the city, or railroad in authority over the bridge. Ship’s have the right of way. All bridges before being built need permission from the waterway authority to exist, and permission is conditional on the bridge NOT impeding navigation.

Demurrage claims have been filed against the insurers of companies with sunken boats blocking the channel. Demurrage can be very expensive. Run into millions of dollars. Consider a passenger liner carrying a thousand on more passengers. What amount of demurrage can they claim if they are not allowed to sail on schedule? Imagine several passenger liners locked in the same port by a sunken wreck?

Everyday Mr Tynsalls vessels are delayed before setting sail for Africa has a calculated cost. Maybe not millions but in tens of thousands of dollars. Repairs that need to be redone, or are unacceptable, cause lengthy days of demurrage claims.

This supervisor knows about demurrage. It’s not a new concept to him. Suddenly, he is taking great interest in the barge repair.

Whats a chine? Generally, it’s the seam where the bottom and sides meet, though there are designs with multiple chines. Never mind the exceptions. Regarding the spud barge, the side meets the bottom at the chine, and the chine has to be reinforced on each side with a chine log. One that isn’t rusted away like the existing chine logs.

The thirty foot crewboat? Another piece of crap, but it gets carried on deck of the barge, so I don’t care much about it’s seaworthiness. It’s just cargo. Mr Tynsall says he went for a ride on it and it runs and wasn’t sinking. I’m loading it on the barge’s stern, using it for housing the 8D truck batteries for the barge’s running lights. In the eventuality I may need to flip the barge around and tow it stern first, I’ll turn on the crew boat’s running lights. It will be loaded facing aft. If turned about, it will face forward and the lights show correctly.

The push boat isn’t in bad physical condition, but it isn’t designed for going out in big seas. The trade winds blow a steady fifteen knots when they aren’t blowing a gale or a hurricane. An eight foot swell is normal. This spud barge and push-boat will be dropping off the equivalent of a one story building about once a minute for forty five days minimum. How much shock crashing back into the water can they withstand? They are flat bottomed and don’t have pointy ends.

The AHTS (Anchor Handling Tug Supply) may require modification to house the push tug in a well or slot between arms. Speaking of which, where is the AHTS? It’s still stuck in the swamp, tied off to some trees. Been there long?

Somebody get me a ladder. Climbing aboard the crew-boat, I opened the engine hatch. A 6-71 Detroit. Checked the oil, checked the fuel, checked coolant level and the battery sparks. Started right up.

Launch that little crew-boat. We need to test run it anyway. Fortunately, it has built in lifting eyes and a few minutes of crane work has it floating in the water. Where are we going? A yard hand is appointed to accompany us and show us the way. It isn’t far.

Waiting on deck, my Chief Engineer is overjoyed to greet us. Name is Warren. Pleased to meet him too. Gave us an engine room tour first thing. Pair of 16-149 Detroits for main propulsion. Not much power but good economy and easy to service and repair. Actually each engine is a pair of 8-149 engines bolted in line for a total of sixteen cylinders. Each cylinder is 149 cu inches just as the six cylinders in a 6-71 is seventy one cu inches per cylinder. Two of these 6-71s are bolted to generator heads and one is on line producing electricity. The other is in pieces. Warren is in the middle of rebuilding it. He has been here alone for several days. He’s glad to have our company and anxious to get back ashore.