NAUTILUS P01 NOVEMBER 2009.qxd - Nautilus International

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November 2009 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 29 SHIP EQUIPMENT Tapping in to a new way to make onboard savings UK firm helps ships to make significant reductions in their water use… 0 Water is something most of us take for granted — and it is particularly easy to see it as something of an infinite resource when you are at sea onboard your ship. However, Ecocamel — a UKbased ‘water technology manufacturing company’ — is helping shipping companies to chalk up some substantial savings by making more efficient use of their shipboard H2O. One of the first vessels to demonstrate the benefits of improved water management is the UKflagged passenger ferry Norman Spirit, owned by the French firm LD Lines, which sails every day between Portsmouth and Le Havre. In September this year, following an energy audit and preliminary sample testing by Ecocamel, chief engineer officer Jim Bate decided to complete a retrofit of all 160 cabins, crew quarters and galleys by installing the company’s aerated shower heads and fitting flow regulators on all taps. The subsequent savings were dramatic. ‘The early results indicate that we are saving a staggering 65% of the water we use — a saving of around 38.5 tonnes of water per day, or 14,000 tonnes a year,’ said Mr Bate. The saving in metric tonnes alone will enable LD Lines to carry an extra 40 tonne lorry on every run, which will give additional turnover of more than £200,000 a year for the company. 0 Ecocamel designs and manufactures watersaving showerheads which use aerated technology — firstly restricting water flow to seven litres a minute, then inhaling air into the water stream to give an invigorating full flow shower experience. The old showerheads fitted on the Norman Spirit gave a flow rate of 15 litres a minute — Ecocamel uses just seven litres a minute, therefore more than halving usage immediately. After retrofitting the ship’s showers, attention turned to the taps. The flow rate of taps on Norman Spirit was very high, with many taps flowing at 27 litres a minute. Ecocamel makes flow regulators which when fitted to taps reduced the flow rate to five or seven litres a minute whilst still giving a good rinse and wash. The Ecocamel technology replaced the existing units which were installed when the ship was built in 1991. No other water-saving or energy-saving devices were installed or fitted. Stena Line has also retrofitted one of its Irish Sea ferries — Nordica — with Ecocamel showerheads. Chief engineer officer Bob Adams says: ‘In comparison with our existing showerheads, the Ecocamel produces a 32% saving on water usage, giving the Nordica a saving of up to £ 4,230 per annum Ecocamel tap aerators and flow regulators can reduce water consumption by more than 60% off the cost of water shipped on board, which is very impressive. ‘Our crew say that the Ecocamel has a better flow and a better showering experience that the old units,’ he added. ‘We have retrofitted 115 berths with Ecocamel hand-held showerheads.’ 0 The company says that one of the key benefits of installing its watersaving technology is that it gives a very quick return on investment. In the case of LD Lines, average savings made on water are running at 65%. The cost of the annual water bills before the Ecocamel installation was €25,000. The cost of a complete ship retrofit with water-saving technology was €3,000, leaving projected annual water costs of €7,500. The total annual savings of €17,500 generated a return on investment in just two months. In the case of Stena, the cost of installing 110 Ecocamel showerheads was £1,664.50 and projected annual savings are £4,237 — so payback and ROI will be five months. The Stena Nordica is one of the smallest ferries in the Stena fleet, and according to company management, bigger savings will be made on the vessel when tap aerators are fitted. Both ferry companies are now considering retrofitting their entire fleets. 0 James McDonald, from Ecocamel, says: ‘Our technology is inexpensive and low-tech, yet offers massive savings on water and energy costs, tonnage and ultimately on carbon footprint.’ Norman Spirit chief engineer Jim Bate adds: ‘Over the past three years the Norman Spirit has used on average around 55 tonnes of water per day, at a cost of €25,000 a year. Retrofitting all of our cabins and facilities with Ecocamel products has cut our annual water costs to around €7,500 — and to achieve this we spent £2,700. ‘Furthermore, we expect that we will also show significant savings on our fuel and energy costs,’ he adds. ‘LD Lines has a strong environmental policy and we are absolutely delighted that our work with Ecocamel will have a huge positive impact to reduce our carbon footprint and help the environment.’ Ecocamel offers a water and energy-saving audit to ferry and shipping companies. g For more information: contact Ecocamel Ltd by email info@ecocamel.co.uk, Office tel: +44 (0)20 8211 3666 or visit www.ecocamel.co.uk Many seafarers we note are under the illusion that to qualify for the 100% foreign earnings deduction, all they have to do is spend 183 days out of the country on foreign going voyages. Many have found to their cost, when investigated by the Revenue that it is not that straightforward and of course it is then too late to rectify. Make sure you are not one of them by letting Seatax Ltd plan your future claim step by step. Can you afford not to join Seatax? Seatax offers advice on all aspects of Personal Taxation with special emphasis on: ★ All aspects of self assessment ★ 100% Claims ★ Non Resident Claims ★ Completion of Income Tax returns ★ A full Tax service for Mariners’ spouses, starting from £25 ★ Now including online filing for speedier settlement OUR FEES ARE AS FOLLOWS: Annual Return ............................................................................................................ £165.00 including VAT at 15% No commission charged on refunds gained. NAUTILUS UK members sailing under a foreign flag agreement on gross remuneration can obtain a 10% reduction on the above enrolment fee by quoting their NAUTILUS UK membership number and a 5% reduction on re-enrolment. Write, or phone now for more details: “ Early results indicate that we are saving a staggering 65% of the water we use ” Jim Bate Chief engineer Norman Spirit Elgin House, 83 Thorne Road, Doncaster DN1 2ES. Tel: (01302) 364673 - Fax No: (01302) 738526 - E-mail: info@seatax.ltd.uk www.seatax.ltd.uk Seatax 16 x 4.indd 1 16/4/09 14:21:08
30 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | November 2009 MEMBERS AT WORK Retiring Wightlink master Capt Mike Bechley tells Sarah Robinson about his five decades of working at sea... Mike closes a long career in UK shipping I One of the problems we face in recruiting young seafarers today is that so few British children have had any contact with ships and the sea. Not so for Wightlink master Captain Mike Bechley, who knew all about long-distance sea travel from an early age. Back in the 1950s, Mike’s civil servant parents relied on the British India line to reach their jobs in far-flung parts of the Empire, and he says he always knew he wanted to go to sea: ‘It never really occurred to me to do anything else’. The only question was, would it be the Royal Navy or the Merchant Navy? A visit to Mike’s school from a British India recruiter settled the question. The itchy-footed teenager eagerly seized the opportunity to get out on the waves as soon as possible: ‘I liked the fact that they didn’t require pre-sea training; just O Levels.’ Once onboard ship as a British India cadet, he found that he had to start at the bottom. ‘There’s more to cleaning and maintaining toilets than you might think,’ he smiles. ‘I get cadets to do all those jobs now too. Scrubbing bulkheads, parking cars… you don’t want to be telling other people to do things you haven’t tried yourself. It’s important for training to be practical, not just academic.’ Mike’s work as a cadet and third officer with British India cargoships involved three round trips a year between Japan and the Gulf. www.marinediplomas.com Marine Engineering Surveying Yacht and Small Craft Surveying So far, so good, but after a few years, it was time to use his training for something a bit more unusual. In the 1960s, British India set up an initiative to take ordinary children to sea for educational cruises. With the phasing out of National Service between 1960 and 1963, there was less of a need for military transport, so British Marine Diplomas Marine Industry Surveying Wightlink master Capt Mike Bechley looks forward to his retirement Picture: Courtesy of Mike Bechley Second Level Diploma Cargo Surveying India converted some troopships into floating schools, complete with dormitory accommodation for pupils, classrooms, lecture theatres/cinemas, libraries and deck space for sports. There was also cabin accommodation for teachers and independent cabin passengers. I Probably the best-known educational cruiseships were the Uganda and Nevasa, and it was these vessels that Mike joined as a third officer in 1969. He spent five years cruising around Scandinavia and the Mediterranean with hundreds of children and their teachers. One teacher, Anne, made a particular impression, and she and Mike ended up getting married. By 1974, Mike had worked his way up to staff second officer with British India, and decided to move his career forward by joining P&O Cruises as first officer. Two enjoyable years on the Oriana followed, but then came some difficult news. Anne was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), an unpredictable neurological condition where sufferers can experience disabling attacks affecting their vision or mobility. Even when well, Anne would have been ineligible to travel with Mike as a spouse due to insurance restrictions, and it was clear that he First officer Mike Bechley (centre, with beard), stars as King Neptune in a mid- 70s 'crossing the line' ceremony on the Oriana Picture: P&O archive “ I wouldn’t have stayed a Nautilus member if I hadn’t been a satisfied customer ” needed to find a post which didn’t involve long spells away. The answer lay in the south coast ferries. In 1976, Mike became chief officer with P&O Ferries Southampton, then joined Townsend Thoresen (later P&O European Ferries), where he served as second officer, chief officer and eventually master until 1993. Many readers will remember the 1980s as a turbulent period for industrial relations in the ferry sector, and indeed Mike had some experience of Union negotiation work, spending two years as a liaison officer. But he says that, despite the poor reputation of P&O industrial relations nationally at this time, his local contact with the company was ‘quite cordial and gentlemanly’. Mike also felt happy with the service provided by the MNAOA union and its successor NUMAST. ‘I managed to do some damage to a ferry one dark and stormy morning in Portsmouth, and it was very reassuring to phone the Union legal officer for support — even though fortunately it turned out the company were OK about it.’ I One of Mike’s companies, Townsend Thoresen, is unfortunately now remembered mainly in connection with the 1987 Herald of Free Enterprise disaster, involving the loss of 193 passengers and crew. Although Mike was not serving on the Dover ferries, he felt the aftershocks of the incident, in which a ferry took on water and capsized because the bow doors had been left open after leaving port. Numerous problems of design, communication and management were identified in subsequent investigations, and Mike feels that the incident had ‘as much of an impact on the industry as the Titanic.’ Some may have lamented the increase in regulations and paperwork that ensued, but Mike just felt glad that safety standards had been improved. I In 1993, P&O Ferries rationalised officers’ conditions to require longer spells away from home, and Mike — who now had a son, Neil — decided to come ashore. He became a port meteorological officer and then a weather router, both with the UK Meteorological Office. The work included installing meteorological equipment on ships, offering advice and checking logbooks. ‘It’s a job that isn’t found so much these days,’ he explains, ’because of computer forecasting and the internet.’ But the knowledge he gained is still useful, he says, particularly as he was encouraged to take an Open University BA degree in environmental studies and geography. Mike returned to sea with Wightlink ferries in 1995. He had enjoyed success with the Met Office and had won a number of awards for his work there, but he admits that the civil service pay did not match up to the salaries on offer to seafarers. The Wightlink job was perfect, as he was able to go home every night, and he could continue his studies, eventually Mike Bechley spent several years on the educational cruiseships Uganda and Nevasa as a junior officer completing his degree in 2000. He has found the degree useful for seafaring as well as for meteorological work: ‘Apart from anything else, it teaches you to write a mean report.’ I Captain Mike Bechley is due to retire from Wightlink at the end of this month. He has been a seafarer — and a Union member — for 47 years. ‘I wouldn’t have stayed a Nautilus member if I hadn’t been a satisfied customer,’ he stresses. In recent years, he has attended the Nautilus Pensions Forum several times, and hopes to continue to have an input into the MNOPF pension scheme during his retirement. Looking back on his five decades at sea, he notes that one of the main changes has been the move towards multinational crews. Communication has therefore become a major issue: ‘Does a common language mean a common understanding?’ Cruiseships have also hugely increased in size since his days on the Oriana: ‘I’m not sure I’d like to drive one of those now.’ And he feels it’s a shame that seafarers have fewer opportunities to go ashore in different ports these days. Despite these well-known drawbacks to the modern seafaring life, Mike says he would recommend a career at sea to young people. ‘It’s mentally and financially rewarding.’ His own experiences show that difficulties in maintaining family life can be overcome, and he welcomes that fact that spouse accompaniment is now more widespread. So is the captain going to maintain his links with seafaring during retirement? Er, not exactly! He will be keeping up his Nautilus membership, but he now looks forward to trying his hand at something quite unrelated: ‘I’m going to be a volunteer with the Watercress Line, the preserved steam railway in Hampshire.’ Good luck to him — it just shows that experienced seafarers can turn their hands to anything. f For more on the Uganda and Nevasa, see the SS Uganda Trust: www.ssuganda.org.uk
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