Universidad Nacional Experimental Martima del Caribe

Vicerrectorado Acadmico
Coordinacin de Idiomas
English VI. Maritime Engineering
Operations

Unit VI. Facing bad weather conditions at sea

Speaking
Have you ever experienced a storm, typhoon or cyclone?

Write words related to weather conditions at sea.

Vocabulary.

Fare wind and calm seas- this is what a seafarer hopes for when he is sailing at high seas.
However, nature is bound to show ups and downs, and rough weather may hit a vessel in
open sea with no time to react. Even if there is a practice of sending pre weather warning
to ships for route change or speed alterations, every seaman has experienced high swell,
an unfriendly side of the sea.
Time is a critical factor for reacting in a situation like rough weather. If a pre warning
is available with the ship, then staff can do the preparation; but if the warning period is
short or if there is a sudden struck of rough waves and bad weather then handling of the
ship depends on the knowledge, training, skills and, team efforts of ships staff.

Match column A with column B

Column A
1. What is sea state in your position?
2. What is the barometric change in your
position?
3. What maximum winds are expected in
the storm area?
4. Is the sea state expected to change?
5. What is the latest warning?
Column B
____ Maximum winds of 6 knots
____ Its expected to change in the north
____ Abnormally high tides are expected
within the next hours
____ Heavy swell in my position
____ The barometer is falling rapidly
Grammar
Weather forecasts for shipping

Predictions and the future can be expressed in a number of ways. The most
common auxiliary verbs are: shall, should, will and would. It is also possible to use
can, may and must in similar ways. To expect and is/are expected are also commonly
used in making weather predictions. For example:

a. Visibility is expected to increase by mist / fog / snow / dust / rain.

b. Maximum winds of 3 / 5 / 7 knots are expected within a radius of 3 /6 kilometres

Now, complete these sentences with the phrases in the box.

to be - is expected - will bring - is going - will become

1) Pressure ________________________ to increase.

2) Open sea ________________________ rough.
3) The weather ________________________ to be fair.
4) The wind is expected _____________________ variable
5) The tornado ________________________ heavy rain and strong winds

It is very important for a seafarer to know what

to do in rough weather situation so that mistakes
can be avoided and in minimal time, ship can be
prepared for rough sea.

Some basic precautions have to be taken when in rough weather:

Steering control

In open sea, vessel is normally in auto pilot. It is advisable to change over to hand
or manual control to avoid excessive hunting of the rudder.

One person should go and check all the oil levels, linkages and other important
parameters of the steering gear in the steering room.

If one motor is running, switch on other motor and run both of them together to get
maximum available torque to turn the rudder.

Sufficient man power including senior officers to be present in the bridge.

Machinery control

If engine room is on UMS (unattended machinery space) mode, man the engine
room and make sure sufficient man power is available.

Monitoring all the parameters of the main propulsion plant and auxiliary power
plant machineries.

After getting rough weather warning, all the spares in the engine room are to be
stowed and lashed properly.

In bad weather, propeller will come in and out of water and will fluctuate the main
engine load. Hence rpm is to be reduced or main engine control setting is to be put
on rough weather mode.

Always make sure for correct sump level of all the machineries as during rough sea
ship will roll, resulting in false level alarm which can even trip the running machine
and lead to dangerous situation in bad weather.

Level of all the important tanks is to be maintained so that pump inlet should not
loose suction at any time.

Stand by generator is to be kept on load until the bad weather situation stops.

Water tight doors in the machinery spaces are to be closed.

Sky light and other opening are to be closed.

All trays are to be avoided from spilling in event of rough weather.

Other common precautions

It is to be instructed to the crew not to go out on open deck in rough weather.

All the deck items like mooring ropes, lashing equipment, drums etc. are to be
stored and lashed properly after their use.

All openings in the deck for cargo and other spaces to be kept shut.

All opening to the accommodation to be kept shut.

Shaft tunnel and other internal access space are to be used to go to steering room or
other compartment.

Every one must be aware of his/her duties pasted in the muster list.

Elevator to be switched off as during rolling and pitching trip may occur and can
cause trapping of the person inside.
 Always wear all the PPEs (personal protective equipment) and use railings and
other support while walking through any part of the ship to avoid trips and fall.

Be alert and work in team.

Fundamentally, what holds a ship up in good or bad

weather is its buoyancy. A ship floats because the volume of
water that it displaces equals or is greater than its weight.
The more buoyancy a ship has in proportion to its weight,
the greater its freeboard and the higher it floats in the water.
Most important, freeboard enables a ship to recover after
being slammed by a monster wave.

Glossary
Buoyancy. The tendency of certain materials and certain shapes
to float on top of the water. The degree of an objects capacity to
float on top of the water; as in: That hull has a lot of reserve
buoyancy.
Reserve buoyancy. The attribute of certain hull shapes having
ample freeboard to keep their buoyancy or even exhibit extra
buoyancy when put under stress in heavy seas or when heavily
loaded.
Freeboard. The vertical distance between the water and the
gunwale What
of a boat
do you know about these terms?

Speaking and writing

Look at the pictures below.

What do you know about the vessels movements?

Do the weather conditions at sea have an influence on the vessels movements?
What are the commonest accidents that could happen when having rough weather?
Unit VI. Facing bad weather at sea
Read.
Situation. By six oclock the barometric pressure had fallen to such a level that Mr.
Guiness sent a cadet to wake up the Master, this being one of the requirements noted
down in the Night Order Book.
a. Complete this conversation with the phrases in the box.

wind seems to be freshening quickly the barometer has dropped - strong gale were
running Ill be on the bridge shortly force eight all secured as they should be
check all the lashings on deck

Cadet: Sir! Sir!

Captain: Yes, what is it?
Cadet: Message from Mr. Guiness, sir. _____________________________________.
Its now 29.3, sir.
Captain: Very well. Tell the Chief Officer that ________________________________
Cadet: Yes, sir.

This morning there will be several orders which will be given because of the coming
bad weather.
Chief officer: Good morning, Boatswain. ____________________________ into a
storm.

Boatswain: Morning, sir. Thought we were in for a bit of blow from the look of the sky
last night.

Chief officer: Yes. ____________________________________________. Double

them up if you think they need it. Are the derricks secured?

Boatswain: ____________________________________________, sir. No loose gear

left on the deck, either; I thought this was coming and got it cleared away.

Chief officer: Ah, good. Heres the captain. Good morning, sir.

Captain: Morning. _______________________________________, Mr. Guiness.

What force is the wind now?

Chief officer: Um, _________________________________ : fresh gale. Getting on to

force nine: ____________________________________.

b. In groups, discuss and answer these questions.

1. Who is Mr. Guiness?

2. Why should the Captain be informed about the situation?

3. Who is the boatswain?

 c. Act out the conversation after being completed and checked.

Look at the chart. Analyze and simulate a radio communication taking into
account the IMO-SMCP.

Denmark Strait

Area Forecast - Issued: 2000 UTC Wed 05 Jun

Wind: Southerly or southwesterly 5 at times in east, otherwise variable 4.

Sea State: Slight or moderate in east, otherwise moderate or rough.

Weather: Rain, drizzle, fog patches.

Visibility: Moderate or poor, occasionally very poor.

Complete the following sea note of protest with the words in the box.

cargo rolling awash courses weather reduce bad high met pitching

Notary Office:
Genoa, Italy

I ____________________________, Master of the M/V ___________________

under the flag of the Republic of Croatia, owned by __________________, Croatia,
Gross Tonnage_________________, Net. Tonnage _______________, sailed from
Rijeka, Croatia on ___________________, to Genoa, Italy, via Venice, Italy with a full
load of bulk wheat of __________________ Tonnes. (Completion of this part is optional)

During the voyage the vessel _______________with stormy ________________ and

______________ seas, the ship suffered _______________ and _______________
heavily shipping water fore and aft and spraying overall. Hatches and vents were
continually ______________. The vessel was obliged to _______________ the engine
speed and to change her ________________.
All precautions were taken to save the ______________ and the ship but nevertheless,
fearing damage to the cargo during the ________________ weather, I state the present
sea protest, reserving the right to extend the same at the time and place convenient.

Witnesses:
1. ____________________, Second Mate
2. ____________________, Chief Engineer,
Master
3. ________________________

The Notary Office

SMCP
IMO-SMCP
AI/3 Safety Communications

AI/3.1 Meteorological and hydrological conditions

.1 Winds, storms, tropical storms, sea state

. 1 What is wind direction and force in your position / in position ... ?
. 1.1 Wind direction ...(cardinal points), force Beaufort ... in my position /in position ... .
. 2 What wind is expected in my position / in position ... ?
. 2.1 The wind in your position / in position ... is expected
~ from direction... (cardinal points), force Beaufort ... .
~ to increase / decrease.
~ variable.

. 3 What is the latest gale / storm warning?

. 3.1 The latest gale / storm warning is as follows:
Gale / storm warning. Winds at ... UTC in area ... (met. area) from direction
...(cardinal points) and force Beaufort ... backing/veering to ...
(cardinal points).
. 4 What is the latest tropical storm warning?
. 4.1 The latest tropical storm warning is as follows:
Tropical storm warning at ... UTC. Hurricane... (name) / tropical cyclone
/tornado/ willy-willy / typhoon ... (name) with central pressure of ...
millibars/hPascals located in position ... Present movement... (cardinal points) at ...
knots. Winds of ... knots within radius of ... miles of centre. Seas
smooth/moderate/rough/high.
Further information on VHF Channel ... / frequency ... .

. 5 What is the atmospheric pressure in your position / in position ... ?

. 5.1 The atmospheric pressure in your position / in position ... is ... millibars/hPascals.

. 6 What is the barometric change in your position / in position ... ?

. 6.1 The barometric change in your position / in position ...
is ... millibars/hPascals per hour / within the last ... hours.
. 6.2 The barometer is steady / dropping (rapidly) / rising (rapidly).

. 7 What maximum winds are expected in the storm area?

. 7.1 Maximum winds of ... knots are expected
~ in the storm area.
~ within a radius of ... kilometres / miles of the centre.
~ in the safe / dangerous semicircle.

.8 What is sea state in your position / in position ... ?

.8.1 The smooth/moderate/rough/high sea/ slight/moderate/heavy swell in my
position / in position ... is ... metres from... (cardinal points).

.9 Is the sea state expected to change ( - within the next hours)?

.9.1 No, the sea state is not expected to change (- within the next hours).
.9.2 Yes, Is the sea state expected to change...(cardinal points)
is expected (- within the next hours).

.10 A tsunami / an abnormal wave is expected by ... UTC.

. .4 Abnormal tides

. 1 The present tide ... is metres above / below datum in position ... .
. 2 The tide ... is metres above/below prediction.
. 3 The tide is rising / falling.
. 4 Wait until high / low water.
. 5 Abnormally high / low tides are expected in position ... at about ... UTC / within ...
hours.
. 6 Is the depth of water sufficient in position ... ?
. 6.1 Yes, the depth of water is sufficient in position ... .
. 6.2 No, the depth of water is not sufficient in position ... .
. 6.3 The depth of water is ... metres in position ... .
. 7 My draft ... is metres - can I enter / pass ... (charted name of place)?
. 7.1 Yes, you can enter / pass (charted name of place).
. 7.2 No, you cannot enter / pass (charted name of place) - wait until ... UTC.
. 8 The charted depth of water is increased / decreased by ... metres due to sea state /winds.

"...If the wheelhouse is the brain of the ship,

the engine room may be called the heart of the
ship".

W. Somerset Maugham "Mister Know-All"