Marine Electrotechnology

1. Classification societies, statuary authorities, rules (M.M.D., I.R.S., Lloyds, det Norske Veritas  etc), IMO regulations, electrical power in  ships - old & new systems, advantages & disadvantages of both, ranges of voltages used, generation & distribution switchboard arrangement.

2. Types of electrical machines used on board the ships, constant speed pumps, variable speed pumps, winches, windlass, turning gear, types of starters, arrangement of speed control.

3. Various alarms systems & indicating devices.

4. Electrical steering machines - motors, starting arrangement, safety devices, type of pumps, etc.

5. Special codes for tankers & passenger ships, regarding electrical machines, power distribution, wiring, etc.

6. Maintenance schedule for electrical equipment, testing & periodic survey of equipment, electrical fires, causes, precautions & prevention.

7. Navigation lights, emergency switchboard, arrangement for shore supply, preferential tripping arrangement system, earthing - insulated earthing & resistance earth system.

8. Special requirements for fuses, types of fuses used in marine practice, insulation of wires.

9. Electric propulsion - types of systems, advantages & disadvantages, machine characteristic, protection & ventilation control arrangement, etc.

10. Impressed current system for anti-corrosion devices.

11. Semiconductor devices, D.C. amplifiers, magnetic amplifiers, rotating amplifiers, synchroscope, tacho-generators, transistorized logic control circuits.

12. Feedback for damping stability.

Marine Refrigeration & Air-Conditioning

1. Properties of Refrigerants:

Direct & indirect system of refrigeration, primary & secondary refrigerants, desirable properties of primary refrigerants, standard conditions, refrigerants in marine use, comparison of properties & suitability for different applications, critical temperature & its effect on the performance of carbon-dioxide machines in tropics, properties of brine-density, specific heat, freezing temperatures, pH value.

2. Refrigeration Plant Equipment:

Characteristic & constructional details of reciprocating, rotary & centrifugal compressors, marine applications & comparative study, safety head & other safety devices on compressors, capacity control methods, forced lubrication, properties of lubrication oil, lube-oil tests, oil separators, crankshaft seal, condensers, design considerations, construction, materials, piping materials, receivers, refrigerant gauges, evaporators- dry & flooded type, design considerations, shell & tube type, extended surface tubes, pipe grids for dry direct expansion system, evaporators for battery of air cooling systems.

3. Plant Operation:

Complete refrigeration circuits with operating safety controls for direct expansion plant & brine cooling systems, plant operation-automatic starting & stopping, pump-down control systems, loss of pressures, temperatures, etc, charging system with refrigerant, low side & high side charging, pressure testing, pumping a vacuum, dehydration, purging air from system, drier & moisture removal, methods of testing for leaks, soap suds, halide torch, electronic leak detectors, precautions, methods of defrosting of air coolers/evaporator coils, hot gas method, warm brine lines, air refreshing for fruit or other cargoes, temperature required for different cargoes, schedule of routine preventive maintenance of plant, troubleshooting - compressor short cycles, system short of capacity, head pressure too low, head pressure too high, suction line frosts back to compressor.

4. Comfort Conditions:

Heat production & temperature regulation in Human Body, conditions affecting human comfort.

5. Special Features of Marine A.C. Plants:

Need for air conditioning on ships, special design features.

6. Accommodation Ventilation:

General, statutory rules for ventilation, exhaust air, return air, ventilation systems, duct system, air cleaning, sound attenuation, testing & balancing the system, operation & maintenance.

Naval Architecture

1. Geometry of the Ship & Hydrostatic Calculations:

Ship lines, displacement calculation, tonnes per cm, immersion, coefficient of form, wetted surface area, similar figures.

2. Calculation of Area & Volume:

First & Second moment of areas, Simpson's rules, applications to the area & volume, Trapezoidal rule, mean & mid-ordinate rule, Tchebycheff's rule & their applications.

3. Stability of Ships:

Statical stability at small angles of heel, calculation of G.M., metacentric diagram, inclining experiment, free surface effect, stability at large angles of heel, curves of statical stability, dynamical stability, angle of roll, stability of a well sided ship.

4. Resistance & Powering:

Frictional, residuary & total resistance, Foude's law of comparison, effecive power calculations, ship's co-relation factor (SCF), admiralty co-efficient, fuel co-efficient & fuel consumption.

5. Longitudinal Stability & Trim:

Longitudinal bending moment, moment to change trim by one cm, change of trim, change of L.C.B. with change of trim, change of trim due to adding or deducting weights, alteration of draft due to change in density, flooding calculations, floodable length curves, method for determination of floodable lengths, factors of sub-division, loss of stability due to grounding, docking stability, pressure on chocks.

6. Strength on Ships:

Curves of buoyancy & weights, curves of load, shearing force & bending moments, alternate methods, standard conditions, balancing ship on wave, approximation of maximum shearing force & bending moment, method of estimating bending moment, longitudinal strength, moment of inertia of section, section modules.

7. Propulsion & Propellers:

Definitions, apparent & real ship, wake, thrust, relation between powers, relation between mean pressure & speed, measurement of pitch, cavitation, propeller types, fixed pitch, ring propeller, Kort nozzles, Voith Schemder propeller, general theory of propeller action, theory of screwed propeller, momentum theory, blade element theory, law of simulitude & model tests with propellers, propulsion tests geometry, geometrical properties of screwed propellers, ship model co-relating ship trials.

8. Rudder Theory:

Action of the rudder in turning ship, force on rudder, torque on stock, calculation of forces & torque on non-rectangular rudder, angle of heel due to force on rudder, angle of heel when turning, types of rudders, model experiments, turning trials, area & shape of rudder, position of rudder, stern rudders vs bow rudders.

9. Motion of Ship on Waves:

Theory of waves, trochoidal waves, relationship between line of orbit centers & the undisturbed surface, sinusoidal waves, irregular wave pattern, wave spectra, wave amplitudes, rolling in unresisting media, rolling in resisting media, practical aspects of rolling, anti rolling devices, forces caused by rolling & pitching, heaving & yawing.

Ship Construction

This subject covers:

1. Introduction:

Principal types of vessels, names of different parts of ship, special terminology.

2. Ships Strains:

Structural strains in ships, hogging & sagging in still water & waves, racking, direct effect of water pressure, indirect effect of longitudinal bending, panting, pounding, local loading, docking strains.

3. Materials:

Materials used in ship construction, standard sections used for riveted & welded constructions, types of welds used, welded constructional details, weld testing, review of available materials from considerations of mechanical, constructional & economic aspects.

4. Frames:

Frames & their functions, transverse & longitudinal systems of framing, dimensions & spacing of frames, position & method of attaching of ordinary frames, intermediate frames, web frames, deep frames, inter coastal frame, bevelling of frames, advantages, spacing & method of attachment of longitudinal framing, longitudinal framing method for construction of oil tankers & bulk carriers, combined framing systems.

5. Double Bottom:

Types of keel, construction of flat plate keel, bilge keel of single plate & double plate type, advantages, sizes & methods of double bottom construction, solid & open floors, longitudinal girders, inner bottom plating & margin plate, bilge bracket, preservation of surfaces inside the tank, testing of tanks, boiler, engine & thrust block seatings.

6. Shell Plating:

Function of deck beams, sections used for beam & factors governing beam sizes, beam brackets, attachment of beams to ship's side, hatch-end beams, camber of beams, function of shell plating, identification of plates, coffin plate, boss plate, sheer plate, stealer plate, bulwark, various methods of securing shell plating, disposition of butts, welded versus riveted shell seams, functions of deck plating, attachment of deck plating, openings in deck plate, method of compensation, cargo holds, hatch openings, methods of compensation, hatch corner constructions, securing devices, different types of hatch covers, refrigerated hold construction, insulation.

7. Bulkhead:

Functions of bulkheads, strength bulkhead, sub-division bulkhead & tank bulkhead, number of bulkhead in a ship, ''Margin of Safety'' line, construction of transverse & longitudinal water tight bulkheads & connections of bulkhead stiffeners, compensating liner & horizontal bracket, corrugated bulkhead, swash bulkhead, openings in bulkheads, testing of bulkheads, cofferdams, permeability, floodable length curves, factor of sub-division, SOLAS convention, water tight door construction & closing arrangements.

8. Pillars:

Functions of pillars, size, arrangement & super positions of pillars, types & methods of attachment for pillars subjected to compression or tension, functions of girders & their attachment.

9. Stern Frame & Rudder:

Function of stern frame, type of stern frames for single & multiple screw vessels, cast & fabricated frames, materials for construction & tests, method of attachment to the ship, types of rudders, advantages, area & shape of rudder, construction of single plate rudder, its support, construction of double plate rudder, balanced rudder, its support, rudder bearers, steering aids, center guide rudder principle, Pleuger active rudder, Voith Schneider propeller.

10. Stern & Bow:

Different types of sterns & their advantages, construction of counter & cruiser stern, attachment & construction of A-bracket, spectacle frames & framing in way of boss, new construction, plate stem, bulbous bow, advantages, construction, structural arrangements in fore part of the ship, panting & pounding arrangements, collision bulkhead, anchor & cable arrangement.

11. Shipyard Practice:

Mold loft, fabrication, assembly.

12. Free Board & Tonnage:

Principle dimensions, definitions of ship terms, international regulations, load line markings, conditions of assignment, classifications, general definition of tonnage, under-deck tonnage, gross tonnage, net tonnage, exemptions, deductions, dead weight tonnage, propelling power allowance, canal regulations, IMCO.

13. Special Ship Types:

Bulk carriers, ballast capacity & piping, grain carriers, OBO carriers, LNG & LPG carriers, methane gas carriers, tankers for carrying liquid sulphur, container ships, lash ships, passenger vessels, dredgers, tugs, special purpose vessels.

14. Ship Surveys:

An outline knowledge of ship survey rules, functions of ship classification societies, surveys during construction of the vessel, periodic surveys for retention of class, tonnage certificates & their purpose, load-line, period & conditions of validity of certificate, requirements of annual survey, surveys subsequent to re-floating a vessel after grounding.

Marine Auxiliaries

This subject includes the following topics :

1. Engine Room Layout: 

General layout of main & auxiliary machinery on steamships, motor ships & electric propelled ships.

2. Pumps & Pumping Systems:

Types of pumps, marine applications of reciprocating, centrifugal, rotary, gear, screw displacement; mono, axial flow propeller type, turbo multistage feed pumps, hydraulic balance, pressure, governing & emergency cut-out, etc. Function of air vessels, care & maintenance of pumps, emergency bilge pump, laying out procedures for bilge, ballast & oil fuel piping systems, classification & statutory rules governing above. Filling & transfer arrangements & precautions, oily bilge separators & prevention of pollution of sea by oil, domestic fresh water hydrophone system, main & auxiliary steam piping system, sea water cooling systems.

3. Deck Machinery:

Cargo winches, mooring winches, capstan, towing machines, anchor windlass, description & operation.

4. Evaporators:

Construction details, materials used, vacuum evaporators, flash type evaporators, safety fitting, efficient operation, methods of improving efficiency, use of diesel engine cooling water as heating medium & layout of the arrangement, maintenance, salinity of evaporated feed, automatic control of salinity.

5. Oil Purification:

Oil purification systems, principles & construction of self cleaning centrifuges & Filters, Clarifiers.

6. Compressors & Blowers:

Design considerations & construction of multistage reciprocating air compressors, rotary blowers, turbo blowers, ventilation blowers, emergency air compressor on diesel ships.

7. Steering Engine & Gears:

Design considerations & construction of steam, electro-hydraulic (ram type & rotary vane type) steering engines. Principe & construction of variable delivery radial & axial displacement, control from bridge - telemotor & electric control, safety devices, emergency steering, Care & maintenance.

8. Shafting & Propellers:

Design consideration for thrust, tunnel & propeller shafts, construction of Mitchel Thrust Block, description of different types of stern tube bearings, shaft bearings, method of shaft alignment, sighting by light & optical telescopic methods, methods of fitting & removing propeller. Propeller nomenclature, fixed pitch propeller, controllable pitch propeller, modern developments in propellers, ring propellers, contra rotating propeller, overlapping propellers, materials, repair technology.

9. Dry Docking:

Necessity of dry docking, periodicity, methods of dry docking, precautions before & after flooding, docking inspection & routine overhauling of under water hull & fittings e.g. stern tube, rudder, valves, etc. Performance of ships after dry docking, testing of anchor chains.

10. Stabilizers:

Working principle, types of stabilizers & their description.

11. Engine Room Working Equipment:

Engine room cranes, safety requirements & precaution for operations, lifting chains & tackles, testing & survey requirements for the same.

12. Other Shipboard Equipment:

Incinerator, sewage treatment plant, engine room cranes, chain block, tackles, anchor chain, their testing & survey requirements.

Marine Engineering Drawing

This subject is the same as the Engineering Drawing in any Degree course. It contains same procedure of drawing on sheet, but not on computers.

This subject contains assembly drawings of simple marine components in Orthographic Projection from Isometric views, viz :

• Bilge Suction Strainer
• Cylinder Relief Valve
• Oil Fuel Strainer
• Diesel Air Starting Valve
• Parallel Slide Stop Valve
• Ballast Chest for Oil or Water
• Feed Check Valve
• Gear Pump
• Starting Air Pilot Valve
• Automatic Valve for Starting Air Pilot Valve
• Burner Carrier
• Reducing Valve
• 4-stroke Piston & Rod
• Upper Piston & Rod
• Full Bore Safety Valve
• Fuel Valve
• Stern Tube & Tail Shaft

These are the few components which are to be drawn in Marine Engineering Drawing.

Training as a Cadet

In this blog I am going to explain the training and syllabus for the PGDME/GME/TME course: 

    The training consists of various subjects. Some of them are theoretical, while some practical & there will also be workshops of different departments. In order to complete the 1 year course, the candidates must pass in all the subjects, practicals as well as the vivas.

It is also necessary for each candidate to complete the total number of hours as specified by the university or the college, failing to which, the candidate will not be eligible to get the CDC certificate.

Following is a list of subjects that a candidate must study during his/her training:

1. Marine Engineering Drawing
2. Marine Auxiliaries 
3. Ship Construction
4. Naval Architecture
5. Marine Refrigeration & Air-Conditioning 
6. Marine Electrotechnology 
7. Marine Internal Conbustion Engines 
8. Marine Boilers 
9. Seamanship & Lifeboat
10. Ship Operation & Management
11. Fire Prevention & Its Control & MARPOL, ISO/ISM
12. Marine Control & Automation
13. Boiler Chemistry Lab 
14. Electrical Lab 
15. Seamanship Lab
16. Marine Control Lab
17. Mechanical Lab
18. Workshop 
19. Communication Skills

     The subjects will be divided into 2 groups, one for each semister. Different colleges will have different combinations of these subjects in each semister, but every college will complete these subjects during training. Some institutes may even have more subjects, which i have not mentioned, but these are the basic subjects covered in all the institutes. Exams will be conducted after each semester on the subjects & it is mandatory for all candidates to pass. There will be a viva voce for each lab & workshop.The time duration for each semester will be different in different colleges.

Further, I have explained in brief the syllabii that will be covered in each subject.