The Merchant Marine Express

Amongst the joy which many will be celebrating this Sunday, I want to report that a small obstacle has to be hurdled, out here. You see, One of our engines has had a component failure yesterday resulting in a slow down which has cost us valuable hours and will push back our docking by only a couple of hours.

A governor, or electrical component responsible in regulating throttle control, has failed on “number one” diesel engine. Just as lunchtime approached on Saturday, and all of the crew sat down for a midday meal, you could hear the engine’s noise whine down to nothing! In a quick flash, all members of the engine department were out of the dining mess and into their control room assessing the problem. Minutes thereafter, you could hear the sound of the engine as the engineers’ attempts as they tried to restart the crippled engine with a high hum followed by a growl- then silence. Over and over again, the failure on the part of the engineers to get the starboard engine to restart would mean hours before it would eventually run.

By late evening, the problem seemed to be past us as the engineers were able to restart the engine and ultimately bring the ship up to a respectable twelve knots of speed.

This may be my last discharge port as I am due to fly home by next Tampa call. Five weeks have gone by and my six week work period is fast approaching. My wife, Michelle has been visiting with her folks for the past week, in a town north of Tampa, and may find the time to meet up with me in the next day or so.

Easter is just another work day for all onboard. I saw some Easter candy on one of the counter tops in the galley the other day. So I took the liberty of rewarding myself with a bag of miniature chocolate eggs. I’m sure family and friends are in most of the thoughts of the crew, today. Tonight, many of us will be within cell phone range, enough to convey our wishes before the day is through.

I want to extend a special hello to Ms. Valentina who will be a guest of my father and step mother.

Have a great day!

Tags: Chemical Explorer