Marine Report 236, Independent investigation into the engine room ...

addition to two very high frequency (VHF) radios, the equipment includes two
satellite communications (Inmarsat-C) terminals.
From September 2006, Baltimar Boreas had been chartered by Ok Tedi Mining,
Papua New Guinea (PNG). The ship mainly carried cargoes from Australia for use
in the PNG mining industry.
The ship’s crew of 10 consisted of the master, two mates, two engineers, three able
seamen, a fitter and a cook. The master was Ukranian while the remaining crew
were Filipino nationals. The two mates kept a watch-keeping routine of six hours on
and six hours off. At sea, the master assisted them by keeping watch from 0800 to
1200. The two engineers worked in the engine room during normal daytime
working hours with one of them on call at other times for UMS operation.
The master started his seagoing career in 1976 and attended a maritime college in
Latvia. He held unrestricted qualifications for a master and had sailed as master for
the previous seven years on different types of ships. He had been employed by the
ship’s managers for the previous four years and had joined Baltimar Boreas, for the
first time, four months before the incident.
The chief mate started his seagoing career in 1986 and held qualifications for a
master issued in the Philippines. He had sailed as chief mate for the previous eight
years and had been on board the ship for 10 months.
The second mate had been at sea since 1979 and held qualifications for his rank
issued in the Philippines. He had sailed as second mate for 13 years, the last six
with the ship’s managers. He had been on board the ship for more than six months.
The chief engineer started his seagoing career in 1975. He held qualifications for a
chief engineer issued in the Philippines and had sailed at that rank for the previous
10 years. He had joined Baltimar Boreas in Newcastle two days before the incident
for his first assignment with the ship’s managers.
The second engineer had been at sea since 1974. He had sailed as second engineer
for nine years and held qualifications for his rank issued in the Philippines. He had
been on board the ship for 10 months.
1.2 Diesel generators
Baltimar Boreas’s electrical power is provided by three electrical generators, each
of which is driven by a MWM (Motoren-Werke Mannheim) TBD-234 V8
turbocharged eight cylinder diesel engine (diesel generator) developing 212 kW
(Figure 2).
The diesel generator fuel system (Figure 3) includes a feed pump to supply marine
diesel oil from the service tank. Fuel at low pressure is then supplied via flexible
pipes (hoses) and a duplex filter to the fuel injection pump. To keep the injection
pump cool, more fuel than is required for injection purposes is supplied with the
surplus fuel returning to the service tank via an overflow valve and hoses. All of the
system’s low pressure fuel lines are hoses with a braided wire outer layer and an
internal fuel resistant rubber hose.
The high pressure side of the generator fuel system consists of solid drawn steel
pipes. The injection pump supplies fuel via these high pressure pipes to each
cylinder’s fuel injector.
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