At anchor today in Stumptown
Lately departed from the grain elevator next to the Steel Bridge, the Far Eastern Marina, a bulk carrier of Panamanian registry, owned by the Far Eastern Silo & Shipping Corporation of Taipei.
The Far Eastern Marina was detained for a day and a half at Newcastle, Australia back in April for broken and water-damaged high-frequency radio equipment. I don't know about the Far Eastern Silo and Shipping Corporation of Taipei, but I personally would not want to try to cross the Pacific Ocean without these things. I mean, sure, Captain Cook did it, but I'm sure he'd agree that if you don't have to, you shouldn't.
The radio call sign for this ship, by the way, is 3FVA7, and curiosly enough, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lists the Far Eastern Marina as one of the "ships and platforms" from which it collects surface temperature data.
So again, the radio? Fix it.
Now, either the various ports in Australia have tougher standards than anywhere else, or the Far Eastern Marina just has bad luck in Oz, but it was detained there in 2002 because its engine room ventilation fire damper was stuck open, its quick-close valves defective.
I've never been on a bulk carrier. I do know, however, that this one has a Mitsubishi engine capable of propelling 75,000 tons of ship and three million cubic feet of grain at 14 knots across the ocean. Not being able to seal that sucker off in case of fire just seems scary to me.
According to Galbraith's Shipping Reports, cargo space in Pacific bulk carriers is going begging--there's too much of it. Maybe competition will force the Far Eastern Silo and Shipping Corporation of Taipei to tighten up operations aboard the Far Eastern Marina--because the ship isn't going to win any business on looks alone.
The Far Eastern Marina was detained for a day and a half at Newcastle, Australia back in April for broken and water-damaged high-frequency radio equipment. I don't know about the Far Eastern Silo and Shipping Corporation of Taipei, but I personally would not want to try to cross the Pacific Ocean without these things. I mean, sure, Captain Cook did it, but I'm sure he'd agree that if you don't have to, you shouldn't.
The radio call sign for this ship, by the way, is 3FVA7, and curiosly enough, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lists the Far Eastern Marina as one of the "ships and platforms" from which it collects surface temperature data.
So again, the radio? Fix it.
Now, either the various ports in Australia have tougher standards than anywhere else, or the Far Eastern Marina just has bad luck in Oz, but it was detained there in 2002 because its engine room ventilation fire damper was stuck open, its quick-close valves defective.
I've never been on a bulk carrier. I do know, however, that this one has a Mitsubishi engine capable of propelling 75,000 tons of ship and three million cubic feet of grain at 14 knots across the ocean. Not being able to seal that sucker off in case of fire just seems scary to me.
According to Galbraith's Shipping Reports, cargo space in Pacific bulk carriers is going begging--there's too much of it. Maybe competition will force the Far Eastern Silo and Shipping Corporation of Taipei to tighten up operations aboard the Far Eastern Marina--because the ship isn't going to win any business on looks alone.