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(I'm a 3rd Asst Engr. I just upgraded my license to 2nd, but I'm still sailing as a 3rd.) Maintenance is staggered because there is only so much room for peop

(I'm a 3rd Asst Engr. I just upgraded my license to 2nd, but I'm still sailing as a 3rd.) Maintenance is staggered because there is only so much room for people to work in inside the engine room. For most ships, it would be cheaper for the company to pay for the crew than lose out on shipping contracts due to being in port for maintenance. Engineers can detect a lot of problems that machines can't, be it unusual smells, sounds, vibrations, temperatures, etc. Sure there are probes that can detect vibrations and temperatures, but they would have to be placed everywhere (not just the hundred or so usual spots), and then they have to be programmed. I use a handheld device to measure vibrations on running machinery. It's only as good as it's programming, and it's not that good. Additionally, hoses burst, o-rings leak, filters need changing, etc. We don't have machines today that can fix those problems on the fly. My last ship I was on was Diesel Electric. It was incredibly automated, yet still we had MAJOR problems because some circuit boards died.

hengheng 12y ago
One of my father's friends did maintenance on large bucket wheel excavators in the GDR. He told how they added sensors and electronics in the late 80s until the electronics failed as often as it helped, so humans remained indispensable -- if only to tell false positives from actual defects. There seemed a clear point of marginal utility in automation.
acchow 12y ago
> "Additionally, hoses burst, o-rings leak, filters need changing, etc. We don't have machines today that can fix those problems on the fly." Lots of these things could be happening on airplanes but generally don't. Why can't we get airplane-level reliability on ships?
- fancyketchup 12y ago
  Probably because we aren't willing to pay airplane prices and do maintenance on airplane schedules. I suspect that a container ship usually takes longer to travel between two ports of call than an airplane is legally allowed to go between inspections.
- omegant 12y ago
  They happen regularly! That's why you have checks between flights, no mater how short the flight. Daily, weekly, monthly and by cycles(flights) or hours maintenance. You have leaks, breakage, electronics get fried, conexions get loose. Aircraft parts are numbered and tracked they hace a limited live span depending the function. I can not imagine an airplane wirking properly and safely without all this care.
- bane 12y ago
  Airplanes have pretty low reliability - multiple maintenance man hours per flight hour. But their time in-transit, equivalent to time between ports for a ship, is measured in hours, not weeks.

hengheng 12y ago

One of my father's friends did maintenance on large bucket wheel excavators in the GDR. He told how they added sensors and electronics in the late 80s until the electronics failed as often as it helped, so humans remained indispensable -- if only to tell false positives from actual defects. There seemed a clear point of marginal utility in automation.

acchow 12y ago

> "Additionally, hoses burst, o-rings leak, filters need changing, etc. We don't have machines today that can fix those problems on the fly." Lots of these things could be happening on airplanes but generally don't. Why can't we get airplane-level reliability on ships?

fancyketchup 12y ago
Probably because we aren't willing to pay airplane prices and do maintenance on airplane schedules. I suspect that a container ship usually takes longer to travel between two ports of call than an airplane is legally allowed to go between inspections.
omegant 12y ago
They happen regularly! That's why you have checks between flights, no mater how short the flight. Daily, weekly, monthly and by cycles(flights) or hours maintenance. You have leaks, breakage, electronics get fried, conexions get loose. Aircraft parts are numbered and tracked they hace a limited live span depending the function. I can not imagine an airplane wirking properly and safely without all this care.
bane 12y ago
Airplanes have pretty low reliability - multiple maintenance man hours per flight hour. But their time in-transit, equivalent to time between ports for a ship, is measured in hours, not weeks.