Ships at Anchor

If you live near a Port, then chances are that you’ve seen at least one or two large ships just sitting at anchor outside the port. Have you ever wondered what is happening on those ships when they are just sitting there? Well, in this article, I will go over a little bit of what happens on ships when they are just sitting around like that.

Going to Anchor

How does a ship even get to anchor? Well, it is pretty much the same process as pulling into port, except instead of pulling up to a pier, the ship pulls into a specified position and drops the anchor. The same goes for when a ship is getting underway from being at anchor. I will give a step-by-step example of this process:

The day prior to going to anchor, the engineers and deck department will work together to complete all necessary testing that is required before an evolution (maneuvering, going to anchor, or going into port). Again, some of these tests include testing the forward/reversing of Propeller, running the Emergency Diesel Generator, testing Bridge-to-Engineroom communications, testing anchor equipment, steering gear testing…etc.
The ship calls out the ‘Maneuvering Detail’, which is an official evolution that declares that the ship is in ‘Maneuvering’. This means that the Pilot will be on board up on the bridge, the Chief Engineer will be in the Engine Control Room, extra engineering equipment will be online for redundancy purposes (i.e., typically an extra Electrical Generator will be online in case of failure of one of the other ones). The ship then maneuvers to its destination.
Once the ship arrives at the destination (where it will be anchoring), the Deck Department will drop and set the anchor. Once everything is secure, the Ship’s Captain will Secure (end) the Maneuvering Detail, and people will go about their normal day (if it is during normal working hours) or knock off (if it is outside of normal working hours).

Why would a ship be Anchored?

Why do ships even go to anchor? Below is a list of a few reasons why ships will be at anchor as well as a brief explanation of each:

Waiting for a Berthing – Ships need to onload and offload cargo. However, there are only a limited number of parking spaces on the pier, or ‘Berthings’, that a ship can park to do this, as it needs the proper equipment to offload (cranes for a Container ship, or oil onloading/offloading equipment for a tanker). Therefore, ships may have to wait anywhere from a few hours up to a few weeks to be able to offload its cargo.
Waiting for Cargo - The cargo a ship is meant to transport may not yet be available for pick up. Therefore, it is often cheaper for a company to pay for anchorage as opposed to having the ship wait for its cargo pier-side.
Waiting for Tasking - A ship may not have a current task or anything to do yet, but it’s got to go somewhere, right? Often, a ship will be awaiting tasking from its company so it will be sitting at anchor until it is told what to do.

Engineering Plant Status

Surprisingly, from an Engineering perspective, there is still a lot going on while a ship is at anchor. Yes, typically the main propulsion system and its associated equipment are (in general) not running when a ship is at anchor. With that being said, the ship will keep these systems online if the currents are deemed to be strong enough to push the ship even with the anchor down. This is called ‘dragging anchor’. In this case, the main propulsion system being online will give the Deck Department the ability to maintain the ship’s position. Should the current be calm, and the main propulsion equipment shut down, the Engineering Department still needs to keep the lights on, the HVAC/Refrigeration System running, the potable water system flowing for the crew, and the sewage system operational. How do they do this? Simple, they just don’t shut these systems down when at anchor.

What do the Engineers do all Day?

Despite the look of it from shore, where the ship is just sitting there, work usually doesn’t slow down too much for the Engineering Department. Engineers ALWAYS have something that could be done. Some of these tasks include, but are not limited to:

Making repairs on the equipment they are responsible for such as stopping any small leaks/issues that may be present.
Repairing, Preparing, or rebuilding spare parts, pumps, valves to be used should the current online equipment fail.
Taking care of daily treatment, testing of various things around the engine room (boiler and potable water testing comes to mind)
Ensuring equipment is clean and running properly by making rounds and wiping down equipment as needed.
Pumping down the bilges/bilge pockets and making sure things are dry.
Troubleshooting and Fixing equipment that is not working as it should.
Building/Making spare parts in the machine shop
Building items in the machine shop to assist with cleanliness of the engine room, such as flange or bottle racks, for example, to hold flanges or bottles secure while at sea.
Perform daily/weekly/monthly maintenance on equipment that is not currently online. ** Side Note on ‘Swing Circles’ ** If you live near a port where ships are at anchor, you may notice that in the morning a ship is pointing one way, but in the evening the ship is pointing the other way. What is that all about? Well, the currents are always changing with the tides. So, if a ship is at anchor, it will rotate around that anchor with the currents. The current will push the ship around so that it is pretty much always facing the way that the current is coming from. Interesting tidbit there eh?

Recap

Hopefully we were able to shed some light on what is happening on the ships when they are at anchor. Although it may seem calm from afar, it can often be far from calm when onboard. As stated before in previous articles, ships are difficult, heavily industrial work environments that always have something going on.