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| Sunday, 29 September 2002 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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by Vimukthi Fernando
Standing 37 metres tall measuring 200 metres in length and weighing 57,449 tons the 'Orion Leader' is an imposing sight, more so at dry dock than at sea. One of the largest car carriers in the world, the 'Orion' stopped for a "new look" at the Colombo Port recently. It was the first time that Orion Leader docked for repairs, and the second time Colombo Dockyard Limited (CDL) got the opportunity to attend to a ship of such scale. CDL had the sole responsibility of giving the vessel a new coat of paint and carrying other necessary repairs. One of the 12 identical ships built by Imabari Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. of Japan, for Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) shipping lines, and named after the constelations, Orion Leader set sail on her maiden voyage on October 29, 1999. Since then, she had been cruising the world at 19 knots, without much rest, carrying her precious cargo from the ports of Japan to the ports in Europe, Middle East, USA and Australia. What is this precious cargo she carries? The idea is to carry anything that could be self driven, pushed, towed or loaded with a fork lift, say sources from Wallem Shipping Management Company of Hongkong who manage Orion Leader and two sister ships, Hercules Leader and Procyon Leader. Known as a Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) Orion Leader, is provided with the facility to load cars, trucks, bulldozers and heavy equipment, yachts, locomotive engines, tanks and even jet aircraft. Any vehicle that weigh upto 150 metric tonnes could be loaded through its stern ramp of 150 MT capacity. Equipped to carry 6,000 standard size cars, Orion Leader could be said to carry some of the most expensive cargo. With models such as Pajero, Porche, Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar and Lexes the total value of her cargo could be anything upto US $ 200 million.
If Orion's sheer size is astounding, so are the numbers, facilitating her operation. Her 12 car decks cover a total area of 60,000 square meters. Five of these decks could be lifted up to increase the deck height and load high vehicles. Two car deck lifter trucks and necessary hydraulic equipment assist these operations. Loading and unloading is made easy with the stern ramp, 2 midship ramps of 30 MT capacity and 6 movable internal rampways facilitating loading and unloading at different levels. It takes only about 15 to 20 hours to load the ship to capacity at the Japanese or European ports. Unloading takes a little less time. The cargo, which needs to be delivered without a scratch is secured to decks with a total of 36,000 pieces of lashing material of 13 different varieties. Fire, is always a threat with such volatile cargo - cars with petrol in their tanks. And the ship is prepared for fire fighting, sectioning the ship into different fire zones and with 715 fire detectors, 260 portable fire extinguishers, 111 fire hoses and a fixed fire fighting system containing 53 MT of liquefied carbon dioxide. The ship of such a size, with a cargo which is expensive but light is not so easy to manage. With a crew of only 20 persons, it might even become daunting. So, how does Orion Leader face this challenge? "She is equipped with the latest and the most modern equipment", explains S.K. Jha, the man at the helm showing Orion Leader's radars, communication equipment, two global positioning systems, dopler log, electronic plotter, fire detection systems and the ballast control rooms. In addition a dedicated staff and continuous monitoring help ease the task of the ship's captain. However, even with his experience of over 15 years in the field, this kind of ship with a hull windage area of about 5,000 square meters "needs a different and special kind of manouvering and experience, it is not that easy," he agrees. "The nine car carriers managed by Wallem Shipping Management, are in safe hands," assures H.C. Pande, the ship's Superintendent from Wallem Shipping. The safety management systems of NYK and Wallem had created a pool of experienced officers with special training on car carriers to be employed in PCTCs. How and why did a ship of such immense proportions come to Colombo, a small port in a small island nation is worth questioning. Orion Leader was in Colombo for shipside painting, packing, dent work and some engine room repairs. It is because "our company was very happy with the work of your countrymen, on the first ship that docked in Colombo for repairs," says Pande, the ship's Superintendent. On a request of their shipping agents Dev Engineering (Pvt) Ltd., one of Orion Leader's sister ships was docked at Colombo for two days a few months ago, for some minor repairs. "We had a very good report from the ship's captain" he adds. "It is easy to work here. Colombo Dockyard is a very safe shipyard and the work of your people is good. It is also easy because the language barrier is minimal. There is good corporation between the Dockyard and the ship's people" agrees Jha, the ship's Captain. He commends the hospitality and courteousness of the Sri Lankans who are "always with smiling faces and never says no to a request." "The potential of the talent and facilities of this country is yet to be exploited. There's a lot more we can do" adds Himanthe Devendre, Director, Dev Engineering who is involved in ship agency repairs, channelling and manning. "Ship repairs could become a good revenue earner for our country, if we make proper use of our resources." Well, what kind of revenue are we talking about? With the ship's supervisor, captain and the agents keeping mum, it is not at all easy to find out. But, just a hint... only the paint for Orion's new coat costs nearly US $ 100,000. |
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