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31 Jul 2015 / United States, Houston

Small fish in sea strainers

Between April and October, Houston Ship Channel has very large schools of menhaden, krill and small fish within its banks. This has caused almost daily incidents which occasionally result in vessels without power anchoring in the channel. These sea creatures can clog up and reduce the flow of seawater though ships' sea strainers, which in turn can have an adverse effect on the cooling median for main engines, generators and auxiliary equipment. Houston pilots say that with proper planning from engineering personnel, the issue can be resolved in a few minutes rather than several if the crew is not prepared. They therefore strongly recommend that the following preventive actions be taken: - Verify that main high and low sea suction strainers are clean before transiting. - Have spare clean strainers available in the event the baskets need to be pulled for cleaning. - Have the necessary tools in place such as chain-falls, sockets, and impact wrenches for completing this task. - Ensure that engineering personnel are familiar with crossing over and securing the sea water cooling systems if need for cleaning. - Consider switching from low to high suctions before beginning transit in the ship channel. - Have extra personnel rested and readily available for the transit if needed to assist. - Ensure that the duty engineers are closely monitoring sea water cooling systems, especially for spikes in cooling water temperatures, and are familiar with the operational parameters of those systems. For information about operations in the USA contact GAC North America at [email protected]

If quoting any content from Hot Port News, please cite GAC Hot Port News as the source.

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