Subsection 7.2.3 Logbooks
The Engineering Officer of the Watch is responsible for maintaining several logbooks. Every ship will have an Engineroom Logbook, an Oil Record Book (ORB), and if not automatically logged, a Bell Book. In addition, the TS Patriot State also maintains a Maintenance Log.
The Engineering Log, ORB, and Bell Book are vital, legal documents and should be handled accordingly. They serve to document the operations carried out aboard ship, and should answer the questions: who? what? where? when? and why? Logbooks will be used by the Coast Guard in any accident, casualty, or spill investigation. A properly filled out logbook may be able to exonerate you, while a fraudulent one might convict you.
When filling out logbooks, entries are to be printed legibly, using a black pen, and no erasures are permitted. If a mistake is made, a single line should be drawn through the error and the correction entered and initialed. Entries must be maintained contemporaneously with the events they describe. Wash your hands before filling out the logbook, and keep the logbook clean. Sign the logbook at the end of the watch.
The Engineering Log is a complete daily record of important events and data pertaining to the operation of the plant. The log includes operational details such as:
- the average watch speed in rpm,
- the total engine miles steamed,
- fuel, water and lube oil on hand — received, expended,
- the status of the engine, boilers and principal auxiliaries, and
- important temperatures, pressures, etc.
The watch rpms are computed to the even hour at the end of the watch. Fuel oil meter and shaft counter readings should be recorded at arrival, departure, stand-by, FWE, and at the end of the watch. Entries are normally maintained only for machinery and systems that are on line. The entry for machinery and systems that are off line is a dashed line.
The remarks section of the log book is used to record non-routine events, such as:
- accidents resulting in personnel injury or death,
- emergency drills, including all equipment tested during the drill,
- equipment tests such as the emergency diesel, steering gear, throttles, etc.,
- bunkering, including amount and FO characteristics,
- non-routine starting and stopping of equipment, changes in plant status, and
- machinery or systems casualties or damage.
0900 Examined and tested primary and secondary steering gear, whistle, internal communications equipment, telegraph, and shaft alley watertight doors. 1435 Tested emergency generator. Observed steady state temperatures and pressure readings. 0730 Tested main propulsion machinery ahead and astern. All found in good order.
Bell book.
The Bell Book is a chronological record of orders pertaining to the speed of the main engine. It shows the time that each order directing a propeller speed is received and the meaning of such order. Most ships today are equipped with automatic bell logging equipment
Oil record book.
Cargo and passenger ships are required maintain an Oil Record Book Part I (Machinery Space Operations) by Federal [33CFR151.25][#CFR] and MARPOL 73/78 regulations. The Oil Record Book contains a record of all movements of oil or oily water that occurs aboard the vessel. Tankers are subject to different, more extensive rules, and must maintain Part I and also Part II (Cargo/Ballast Operations).
Oil Record Book are available from the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office or Marine Inspection Office. The latest version of the ORB is Revision 11-16. You should always use an up-to-date ORB, because older versions do not reflect the current laws. Even though the ORB is used aboard the ship, it technically remains the property of the U.S. Government.
You must make an entry in the Oil Record Book whenever any of the following machinery space operations take place:
- ballasting or cleaning of fuel oil tanks,
- discharge of dirty ballast or cleaning water from fuel oil tanks,
- disposal of oily residues (sludge),
- discharge overboard or disposal otherwise of bilge water that has accumulated in machinery spaces, or
- emergency, accidental or other exceptional discharge of oil or oily mixture.
The law establishes several requirements for maintaining an Oil Record Book. ORB entries must be fully recorded without delay after each operation. Each completed operation must be signed by the person in charge of the operation, and each completed page signed by the master. The ORB must be kept aboard for a period of at least three years, and readily available for inspection at all times. Legally the ORB is the responsibility of the Master of the vessel, but the day-to-day entries will be made by the engineering watch officer.
Maintenance of the Oil Record Book is serious. Here is a press release from the US Environmental Protection Agency.
(10/13/05) A.P. Moller-Maersk, A/S, of Denmark, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a half million dollar fine on Sept. 26 by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Moller-Maersk, which operates a fleet of more than 200 vessels worldwide, was also ordered to develop and implement a fleet-wide environmental compliance program. The investigation began on May 25, 2004, when members of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office discovered waste oil in the overboard piping of the Motor Vessel Jane Maersk during a routine inspection. Further investigation by the Coast Guard and EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division also uncovered evidence of false entries in the ship’s Oil Record Book. The false entries in the book concerned the operation of the ship’s incinerator which, in part, is used to burn waste oil sludge. In a related court action, Johnnie Nielsen of Copenhagen, Denmark, who is the ship’s second engineer was sentenced to four months’ community confinement for his role in concealing and destroying key documents in anticipation of the Coast Guard inspection of the Jane Maersk. Nielsen further admitted that he had observed engineers on other Moller-Maersk vessels hiding the same key documents prior to pending inspections. Failing to properly maintain an Oil Record Book is a violation of the MARPOL Treaty, which is designed to prevent pollution from vessels that can, among other things, represent a threat to fish and other aquatic life. The case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service and the San Francisco Office of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division with assistance from the Coast Guard Pacific Judge Advocate General’s Office. It was prosecuted by the U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco.
