CHAPTER 3

It was a nice trip to Kerala. Like always, I took train on my way home, along the beautiful Western Ghats. The monsoon had made the mountains green and the water bodies full.

Many of my relatives were surprised that I decided to go to Korea, a place not many heard, and some associated it with “snake-eaters”, and short people with flat nose and small eyes. I learnt later how most of these were just misinformation.

Like always I took the flight on my return journey.

* * *

“Good morning Meghnad,” I greeted as I entered the design approval room.

I startled him. He quickly composed himself and asked, “Did you enjoy your holiday?”

“Yes, I did. Did you miss me?”

He answered very chivalrously, “Yes I did. In fact not just me, there are two more people who really missed you.”

I was curious, “Who are the other two?”

“You see, we have two more people in the site team from this office apart from me. They will be here any minute.”

“All right. It will be my pleasure to meet the team members.” Not wanting to lose any precious time of learning, I asked, “You had told me about the design. Would you tell me how the whole process is done?”

“The best person who can answer your question is the project manager in the shipyard design department. However, I can give you a rough idea,” he added, noticing my disappointment.

“Do you know what is a contract specification?”

“Yes I do. Pradeep told me that it is the detailed description of all the systems and equipment in a ship,” I answered confidently.

“Good,” he said, “In addition to this document, usually running in to several hundred pages, another important drawing accompanies it. It is the General Arrangement plan.”

“Let me show it to you,” he said and walked towards the shelves. As he came with a folded drawing in hand, he added, “In case of ships like oil tankers, another drawing also accompanies the contract specification. It is the Piping Arrangement plan, about which I will tell you later.”

He took the folded drawing and placed it on the conference table. As he spread the drawing I noticed that it was a huge one, a never-ending sheet. Soon it was spread out and looked like it measured almost a meter in width and a meter in length.

When Meghnad saw my surprise, he said, “This drawing is in A0 size – 840 mm by 1188 mm, sixteen times the size of a normal A4 size paper. Most of the drawings are this size to ensure that all the details are clearly seen.”

“This General Arrangement drawing or GA as it is called contains the layout of the ship. Let me show you some of the items,” saying that he pointed out to drawing and continued, “For every three dimensional (3-D) body there are three views – plan, elevation and front/back view; all shown in 2-D or two-dimension. All the three views combined give the complete 3-D picture of the body. “

“Similarly in case of the GA of the ship, it also shows the three views. The plan is the top view of the ship at various decks or levels. The elevation is side view with the forward of the ship in the right side and the aft of the ship in the left side of the paper. Lastly the two views taken when the ship is viewed from front and back is also shown.”

While I was trying to grasp the drawing, the door to the room opened and two gentlemen walked in. As they closed the door behind them, the one who was ahead walked towards me and extended his hand. He cleared his throat and said, “Hi Smriti, I am Madan, Chief Engineer at Disha, and part of the site team. This is Thomas, our Electrical Officer on ships, and also with us in Korea Site office,” he led my gaze using his hands.

“Hello Smriti ji. How are you doing?”

“Never been better,” I replied excitedly at getting to meet the rest of the team.

“I thought Chief Engineers and Electrical Officers only work on board ships. Do you guys spend time in the site office too?” I asked to the two, shifting towards Meghnad hoping that he will reply.

“Well, normally they work on board ships. However, their experience on board is very useful to the company to operate the ships from shore office. In this case, their operational experience is very useful to the site team to ensure that our main objective of having Owner’s representative, as explained before, is fully satisfied.” Meghnad further said, “In addition to these two we have other professionals in the site team whom we will meet when we reach Korea.”

“As a Chief Engineer, my main responsibility is to take care of the inspection of machinery and its systems, attend shop trials, installation and testing on board our ship,” Madan told matter-of-factually.

Thomas added, “My role is to take care of the electrical installation including power generation, transmission and utilization.”

“What about the other professionals? What do they specialize in?” I asked Meghnad.

“We have Mr. Kim Tae Ho who is in charge of Hull structure, which includes all the steel and structural fabrication. Mr. Yoon Sang Chan who takes care of coating, which includes all the surfaces on the ship.”

“Interesting! There seem to be experts in all fields. Are ships that complicated?” I wondered loudly.

Madan was ready with his wisdom, “When we at the sea, we do not have any workshops or repair center there. So, a ship has to be totally independent from the outside world in all aspects. Because of that there are lot of machineries and system onboard and that makes it complicated.”

“All of you were involved with this drawing approval that Meghnad mentioned?” I directed towards Madan and Thomas.

“Yes. We are the most experienced officers in this office. We have also done lot of take overs,” Thomas replied.

“What is take overs?” I enquired.

“Well, when our company purchase a ship from another company or shipyard, there is a formal process when our team of officers and crew go on board the vessel and take control of operation. From that time, the ship operation becomes officially the buyers and this process is taking over,” Madan replied.

“You mentioned about experience. How many years since you guys have been sailing?” I asked.

“I have been at the sea for twenty five years. And he twenty, right? Madan directed at Thomas.

“Twenty one to be precise,” he replied.

“My god! you guys don’t look that old. Must be leading an active lifestyle,” I complimented their looks.

Even before they could elate themselves, Meghnad interjected their thought with a very acidic comment, “it must be the hair dye in action.”

I could see the irritation in their eyes; but before the silence became unbearable, I asked, “You shippies interchange the name ship and vessel. Are they one and the same? And was the term shippies appropriate for shipping personnel?”

“Perfectly appropriate, to use the terms ships and vessel interchangeably as well as the grouping shippie,” Madan smiled and replied with warmth restored in his voice.

“Shippie sounds cool; like hippie,” I laughed aloud. Others also joined in.

Once we got settled down, Thomas asked, “Did you get your visa formalities done? You see, we cannot wait for you to join us in Korea.”

“Yeah, got it done. Don’t worry we will travel together,” I replied.

“Before we go, we have to find out what else to carry - masalas, curry powder, etc.,” Madan added.

“Oh come on. How does it matter. We can survive on any food,” Meghnad replied.

“You can. You do not seem to each much. That is not the case with us,” Thomas pounced on the chance to get even on Meghnad's comment of their hair dyeing.

“Don’t worry Thomas sir. I did my research on the net and found from an Indian community in Korea that all stuff these are available,” I demonstrated my knowledge.

“Smriti! do not call me Sir. Just address me as Thomas.”

“Ok”

“And me Madan only.”

“Perfect.”