CARGO WORK

Sweat & Ventilation:

Humidity: Qty. of water vapours in atmosphere.

Absolute Humidity: Mass of Water Vapour contained in a

sample of air.

Rel. Humidity: Percentage ratio of Actual water vapour contained

in a given sample of air, to the max. qty. of water vapour that the
sample can hold.
R.H% = Present qty. of Water Vapour X 100
Max. Possible at that Temp.
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Saturation & Dew Point:

If a sample of air was progressively cooled, its R.H. would
steadily increase i.e., the air would become relatively
more moist. At some temp. the air would become wet i.e.,
its R.H. would become 100%. The air is then said to be
saturated & the temp. at which this occurs is called the
Dew point temp. of that sample of air. Dew Pt. of a
sample of air would depend on its temp. & Rel. Humidity.
Sweat is formed when the water vapour in the air
condenses out water droplets when cooled below its dew
point.
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 Both Rel. Humidity & Dew Pt. are found by using Hygrometer or a
psychrometer & reading on one axis & diff. between wet & dry readings
on the other axis. The pt. of intersection gives the Rel. Humidity & dew
pt.
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There are 2 types of sweat:

Ship’s sweat
Cargo sweat.
Ship’s sweat is formed when a ship goes from a warm
place to colder places. The air in the cargo hold is warm
but the air surrounding the ship is cold. The cold air cools
the ship’s structure & the warm air inside the hold which is
in contact with the ship’s sides & deck gets cooled below its
dew point. This causes it to give out water vapour which
condenses in the form of water droplets on the ship sides &
deck. This side’s sweat may run down or drip onto the
cargo.
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Cargo Sweat: Cargo sweat mostly occurs when

ventilation is carried out while going from a cold to a
warm place. The cargo is cold & the incoming air is
warm, when coming into contact with the cargo, is
cooled below its point & water droplets condense on
the cargo. In such cases ventilation should be
restricted until favorable conditions are obtained.
If hold temp. < dew pt. of outside air, restrict
ventilation.
If hold temp. > dew pt. of outside air, ventilate freely.
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Example: When ship is coming to India from Europe, in

winters. The ship, cargo & air in the hold are initially very
cold. Within a few days of the ship’s departure from Europe,
the vessel enters warmer regions. Though the temp. of air
outside is then much higher than before, the cargo in the
hold takes a week to increase its temp. by even a couple of
deg. Cel. Hence the temp. of the air in the hold is very low
due to its contact with the cold cargo & will most probably
be well below the dew pt. of the outside air. If ventilation
was allowed, the air entering the hold will give off its
moisture which will condense as sweat on all cold surfaces
in the hold & is liable to damage the cargo.
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Under these circumstances, hold ventilation has to

be restricted nearly throughout the passage until the
temp. of the air in the hold is above the dew pt. of the
outside air.
On sophisticated ships carrying highly perishable
cargoes, where ventilation has to be done even
under the circumstances mentioned earlier, de-
humidifying units are fitted whereby the air entering
the hold is dried before hand so that sweat does not
form.
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Ventilation may be done by natural or forced

Ventilation (By Ventilator fans).
In natural ventilation, the wind is caught & funneled
into the hold through large mouthed ventilators.
Thorough Ventilation: air is passed over the
entire area of the hold right down to the bottom, This
is done by trimming (turning & directing) the
leeward ventilators into the wind & the windward
ventilator away from the wind. The greatest air flow
rates are achieved with thorough ventilation.
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Through & Surface Ventilation

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Surface Ventilation:- is carried out with the

windward ventilator turned into the wind & leeward
turned away from the wind. This is necessary for
certain cargoes such as coal where only the surface of
the cargo is to be ventilated for the purpose of
removing heat, gases or odours.
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Ventilation is ideally achieved by forced ventilation.

Mechanical blowers are fitted in the ventilation ducts
& the system can be switched on at will even in
conditions of no relative wind or rain, unlike natural
ventilation. Thus cargo ventilation & removal of heat,
gas, odours etc.. Can be carried out throughout the
voyage.
The ventilation system consists of one or two blowers
each in the forward & aft part of each hold. The
blowers are reversible i.e. they may be used to “blow”
or “exhaust”.
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Surface ventilation is carried out by fwd. & aft blowers in

opposite directions, while through ventilation is carried out
either with one or one set of blowers stopped & the other
running or with all the blowers in the same direction
(ensure there is an inlet or outlet for air in this case
otherwise excess vacuum or pressure in the hold may
result). It is possible for a drying agent to be fitted in the
duct whereby the air is dried before entering the hold. It is
not then necessary to measure dry & wet bulb
temperatures which can be measured automatically &
displayed. The dew point & moisture content of the drying
agent may also be indicated.
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 A hydrometer or areometer is an instrument that measures the specific

gravity (relative density) of liquids.

A hydrometer is usually made of glass, and

consists of a cylindrical stem and a bulb
weighted with mercury or lead shot to
make it float upright. The liquid to test is
poured into a tall container, often a
graduated cylinder, and the hydrometer is
gently lowered into the liquid until it floats
freely. The point at which the surface of the
liquid touches the stem of the hydrometer
correlates to specific gravity.
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Inspection of Cargo Spaces, hatch covers, Ballast Tks:

All Enclosed Spaces like Cargo Spaces, Void Spaces & Ballast Tanks have to
be regularly inspected/maintained. Planned inspections and regular
cleaning / repairs would be best for ascertaining top shape of the ship’s hull
and its components.
However, it is proven that over a period of time the ship’s steel deteriorates
structurally, and if left unchecked, can worsen to serious framing and
compositional defects with sometimes causing loss to ship, even lives.
Ballast tanks in particular, contains all the pre-requisites for Corrosion i.e.
Iron, Moisture & Oxygen and hence these are most vulnerable on the ship.
Ship’s have planned Maintenance System, in compliance to which, these
spaces are required to be inspected at regular intervals. If any coating
breakdown or pitting or cracking of Paint is observed, these should be
corrected in good time to ensure that metal is kept suitably strengthened.
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At the end of the inspection, an Inspection Reports needs to be made

by the Responsible Officer with detailed report on all the
strengthening members in the tank, condition of tank coating,
information on any deformation that is noticed & photographic
evidence in order to keep a record on the state of tank.
Apart from the inspection by Ship’s Officer, an inspection by
Classification Society or other Recognized Authority needs to be
carried out during every Dry dock to ensure the state of tanks.
All company’s procedures/ checklists, regarding Enclosed Space entry,
should be adopted before entering these spaces as these spaces are
extremely dangerous due to inadequate ventilation/lighting.
Several casualties have happened in past during the inspection of these
spaces, due to people not following the correct procedures during man
entry.
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A watertight door prevents the passage of water when exposed to a

head of water. A typical head of water for a ship could range from 3-
10 metres. A weathertight door is designed to be located on the
deck of a ship above the waterline, where they can be subject to the
adverse weather conditions experienced offshore. Weathertight doors
are also designed to withstand brief submersion experienced from
green seas. This means a weathertight door can withstand a small
head of water (generally no higher than the height of the door).
Watertight doors are tested using a pressure tank where a hydrostatic
pressure can be applied to the door. The door is generally pressurised
form the inside as this is worst case scenario.
A weathertight door is generally tested with a high pressure hose,
which is directed at the seal. In both cases no leakage can be present.
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Hatch Cover Inspection:- Hatch covers contribute to a great extent towards the Watertight
integrity of the tanks. A defective Hatch cover may not only be a threat to the Cargo but also
would adversely effect the Watertight integrity of the ship.
There are several methods of carrying out a test on the watertight integrity of the hatch covers.
Testing of Hatch Covers
It is advised to test the water tight integrity of the hatch cover by different methods. A simple
light test involves closing the Hatches and battening down all the cleats and keeping a person
inside the hold. If there is any visible sign of light, then the hatch is considered to be defective.
Three other methods to check water tightness of hold covers are:
1.       Hose water Test:
In this test a water spray from a nozzle of 12mm diameter is sprayed over the joint of hold and
cover from a distance of 1m to 1.5 m with a pressure of 0.5 m/ second water jet.
The limitation or drawbacks of this test is that it requires two persons and hatch cover to be
tested must be empty.
The leakage if very minimal cannot be identified by naked eye and cannot be performed in sub
zero or cold weather.
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2.       Ultrasonic Test:

The Ultrasonic testing is a more accurate method of testing water tightness of hold
and its cover. In this system an ultrasonic generator is kept inside a closed and intact
cargo hold.
A sensor of that unit is passed all over the compression joint and any low pressure
area or point detected by the instrument can be a leakage point.
Few drawbacks of this instrument is it is not normally kept onboard and qualified
person is required to perform this test.
3.       Chalk Test:
This is the oldest or most traditional method for testing hold cover compression, but
it cannot test the water tight integrity of the hold.
A layer of chalk powder is applied all over the steel back of the hatch and then the
hatch cover is closed and tightened to its normal values.
The impression of chalk on the rubber packing is then studied to check lack of
compression point shown by gap in the chalk marks.
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Dock Labour Act, 1934:- The Act was introduced against accidents of workers
employed in loading/unloading ship. It attends to Health, Safety & Wealth concerns of
Indian Dock Labour. The Act was passed by the Central Government in order to boost
the morale of Indian Dock Labour and increase the productivity by taking care of their
Health, Safety & Wealth.

(1) This Act may be called the Indian Dock Labourers Act, 1934.

(2) It extends to the whole of India.

(3) It shall not apply to any ship-of-war of any nationality.

Inspectors -
The Central Government, may, appoint such persons as it thinks fit to be the
Inspectors for the purposes of this act within such local limits as it may assign to them
respectively.
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Powers of Inspectors -
An Inspector may, at any port for which he is appointed –
(a)      enter, with such assistance (if any), as he thinks fit, any ship, dock,
warehouse or other premises, where any dock work is being carried on, or
where he has reason to believe that any dock work is being carried on;
(b)      make examination of the ship, dock, lifting machinery, cargo. gear,
stagings. transport equipment, warehouses or other premises, used or to
be used, for any dock work;
(c)       require the production of any register, muster roll or other
document relating to the employment of dock workers and examine such
document;
(d)      take on the spot or otherwise such evidence of any person which he
may deem necessary;
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Accident & Dangerous Incident:

An accident which has resulted in a disability of Dock Laborer,
shall be informed to the Dock Labour Inspector within 4 hours
of such an incident.
If the accident has disabled the worker for more than 10 days,
his relatives (in addition to the Inspector) must be informed.
In case of a fatal accident, Nearest Police station & DM (in
addition to above) shall be informed.
In all cases of accident, Injured person must be given first-aid
& thereafter conveyed to Hospital.
Where any accident has resulted in death of a dock labourer,
notice in writing shall be sent to the authorities above.
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Following Dangerous Occurrences shall be informed to the

Dock Labour Inspector:
Collapse/Failure of Lifting Machinery used in raising/lowering
of persons or goods and breakage of ropes, chains or other
appliances forming a part of Lifting Machinery/Crane.
Collapse of any wall, floor, gallery, roof, platform, staging &
means of access.
Bursting of Pressurized vessel.
Explosion of Pressurized receiver used for storage of gases,
liquids or solids.
Explosion or fire causing damage to any room or place, in which
dock workers are employed.
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CSS-Code of safe practise for cargo stowage and securing:-
A moving ship may be exposed to roughest weather during the course
of her voyage.  The forces created by ship’s movement give rise to the
majority of securing problems. 
Appropriate measures & Cargo Securing Procedures needs to be
adopted for reducing the impact of forces so produced. In this regard,
IMO adopted the Code of Safe Practice for Cargo Stowage and Securing
(CSS Code) in November 1991
 Purpose
Provide an international standard to promote the safe stowage and
securing of cargoes by:
Drawing the attention of shipowners to the need to ensure that the
ship is suitable for its intended purpose;
Providing advice to ensure that the ship is equipped with proper cargo
securing means;
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Providing general advice concerning the proper stowage and

securing of cargoes to minimize the risks to the ship and personnel;
Providing specific advice on those cargoes which are known to
create difficulties and hazards with regard to their stowage and
securing
Advising on actions which may be taken in heavy sea conditions;
and
Advising on actions which may be taken to remedy the effects of
cargo shifting.
In providing such advice, it should be borne in mind that the
Master is responsible for the safe conduct of the voyage and the
safety of the ship, its crew and cargo.
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General Principles
All cargoes should be stowed and secured in such a way that the ship and
persons on board are not put at risk. 
The safe stowage and securing of cargoes depend on proper planning,
execution and supervision.
Personnel commissioned to tasks of cargo stowage and securing should be
properly qualified and experienced.
Personnel planning and supervising the stowage and securing of cargo should
have a sound practical knowledge of the application and content of the Cargo
Securing Manual.
In all cases, improper stowage and securing of cargo will be potentially
hazardous to the securing of other cargoes and to the ships itself.
Decisions taken for measures of stowage and securing cargo should be based
on the most severe weather conditions which may be expected by experience
for the intended voyage.