The proper preparation of the cargo holds of the vessel for the intended carriage is deservedly considered one of the key elements of the bulk carrier operations. Subject preparation requires very careful and thorough planning followed by the competent execution.

It shall be understood that the lack of due preparation will not only lead to the claims relating to the cargo quality, e.g. its contamination/water ingress or shortage claims, but may also result in the different contractual claims related to the delayed or failed surveys, charter-party disputes and off-hire claims.

The process of preparation of the cargo holds commences well in advance, even before the intended cargo lands on the tank top for the first time and there are numerous factors to be considered in order to ensure that the preparation has been conducted in a correct and efficient manner. Some of the cargoes may require just sweeping out of the cargo hold plus washing, while for the other cargoes such preparation would not be considered sufficient.

It is very important to have a clear understanding of what exactly is required; note that all people on board including crew members and Master shall be aware of all processes involved. To ensure smooth voyage, careful attention shall be paid to the cargo at the time of fixing. ..

Introduction; Abbreviations and terminology; Design conditions and safety systems influencing the fire behaviour; Fire protection principles in design; Establishment of design loads; Fire mitigation measures; Fire response; References. These LR Rules require a FE, i.e. Fire and Explosion Evaluation, report to be submitted.

This report is primarily aimed to serve as the assessment of the potential blast pressures and fire loadings, on the bases of the specific fire hazards that are associated with the unit's general arrangement as well as production and process activities taking place; the operational constraints are also to be taken into account. The present Guidelines should to be treated independently of the formal Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA); however, the input on ignition probabilities and leak scenarios usually taken from the QRA, are required.

Significant portion of the Guidelines has been dedicated to the basic principles of fire protection, measures for fire mitigation and fire response, that make one of the parts of the FEE and closely relate to any potential fire loadings. The Notes are intended to serve as a live document that may be changed without prior notice.

This official NK Guidance was released to be of some use for the ship owners, operators, crew members and others dealing with preparation of the vessel for the classification surveys. As the mane implies, the publication addresses the ships classed with the NK Class Society and lists the requirements of this Society, accordingly.

It will provide the point on the major survey items and all related class requirements together with the instructions on preparations that are necessary to be made in order to successfully pass alll such surveys - the documentation aspects have also been covered. The publication will also help the survey applicants, i.e. the vessel owners or their reps to carry out the surveys mentioned above fast and economically as scheduled. Of course, for details you would better refer to the applicable Rules and Guidance issued by NK.

The Guidance consists of several major chapters addressing the survey application and preparation aspects, arrangement of the surveyor's attendance, maintenance of documentation and its presentation, actual items to be surveyed, ESP (enhanced survey program), requirements applicable to the general dry cargo vessels, assessment of the coating condition of the ballast tanks, repairs etc.

The declared purpose of the Noise Code was to avoid any possible occurrence of hazardous noise levels on board vessels and also to provide required standards for an acceptable environment for seafarers. This technical document is intended to provide the owners, yards and marine surveyors with necessary guidance on how to use the IMO Noise Code, and show how to properly conduct the noise surveys; in addition, the purpose of this guidance is to provide readers with some brief description of the relevant noise parameters.

The main body of the present report provides an explanation of the applicable technical regulations within the Code. Some checklist and data tables have been provided to aid ship owners, and others, who may be willing to better understand what exactly is required from the survey and/or to witness a noise trial. The guidebook starts with some introductory information, then there is an article describing the need for the legislation that addresses the noise levels on board the vessels, and some quick review of the sound pressure levels. The following two sections provide necessary assessment conditions and noise assessment procedures, followed by the maximum noise levels and info on sound insulation. The last chapter of this document describes the procedure for the reporting on the measured sound levels.​

The process of GMDSS development has been originally initiated by IMO some ten plus years back. The reasons for developing subject system included the existing inadequacy of the distress and safety systems, and utilization of the relatively outdated systems. The main objective of this book was to provide the shipping industry with the clear theoretical description of the fundamental features of the MMS and MMSS and also to made the content complying with the requirements contained in the exam syllabus for GOC, providing detailed technical overview of the professional skills to be attained by the students passing the GMDSS/GOC course.

The publication is providing a good introduction to the individual system utilized on board ships equipped as per the GMDSS requirements. It is also seeking to point out the critical importance of proper understanding of the possibilities and also limitations of the various systems related to the coverage and range. Using this volume in combination with the ITU publications and equipment manuals will definitely enable the readers to deal with the majority of the practical problems arising during the course. The content is intended to all readers having the interest in the field of the marcom, including radio officers and navigators, GMDSS instructors, and others. It can also serve as a good teaching aid in academies and training centers.

This is a really excellent and useful publication dedicated to the GNSS and covering the whole period from their invention till today, including the very latest equipment. The content of the book is arranged in two big parts. The first part consisting of four chapters provides the fundamental technical information about these systems and it opens with the chapter relativity laws for the rates variation and GPS positioning errors that are commonly caused by the space weather effects; this one is followed by the chapter addressing the receiver biases in GP satellite ranging and standalone sat-based global positioning.

The last chapter of this pat of the book is covering the ambiguity false fixing. The second major part of the volume is dealing with the practical applications of GNSS. Here the author describe the L! global positioning system used as a monitoring tool and intelligent traffic system. Needless to say that the book will be greatly appreciated with all technical personnel somehow involved in operation, maintenance and repair of such systems and will provide them will all info they need to perform their activities. Moreover, it can be used by the students whose specialties are connected with satellite systems.

The cruisers that fought in World War Two descended from sail-powered frigates. These vessels were designed for long-range independent operation to gain information about the movement of an enemy's fleet, to raid an enemy's commerce, or to track down and defeat an enemy's commerce raiders. This led to the famous frigate vs. frigate duels of the American Revolution and the War of 1812, in which the advantage generally went to the Americans.

This was due to the stouter construction and slightly larger guns of their frigates, including USS CONSTITUTION, better known as "Old Ironsides". Generally, a successful cruiser was a ship possessing high endurance and enough speed to outrun anything bigger, enough power to defeat anything its own size. It also had enough protection to survive encounters with any number of smaller units without disabling damage. Meeting this set of requirements with steam-powered metal ships was far more difficult than with wind-powered wooden ships. High-speed from a steam engine can only be achieved at the expense of range. Unlike sail powered ships, whose range was limited only by the amount of food and water carried for its crew, steam-powered warships consumed coal or oil at rates directly related to the ship's speed.

The more armor and armament a ship carried, the more fuel it took to achieve a particular speed. Even at most economical consumption rates, a cruiser-sized ship could never achieve the independence of operation synonymous with the frigates they replaced, without the ability to refuel at regular intervals. This led to the development of networks of coaling stations in all the places a navy might expect to operate and points in between. Colonial expansion before the advent of steam had concentrated on sources of wealth, including the gold of South America and the spices of India and the East Indies. Now parts of the world that had previously been of little interest - including the coast of Africa and Pacific islands - became the objects of intense competition between expansionist colonial powers. This competition led directly to World War One.

The present historical publication is dedicated to the Kriegsmarine, which is the original name of the German Navy. Subject branch of the German Forces was actually the smallest of the three branches of Wehrmacht with which Germany started the war back in 1939, two other branches of the German Armed Forces were the famous Luftwaffe in the air and Heer on land.

At that time, the Americans, Japanese and British armed forces all had much larger and powerful navy fleets, and the German Navy rested in the second rank together with the Italian and French fleets. There were several cultural and historical factors considered the reason for such situation. First of all, the navy fleet of the Imperial Germany constructed before and during the First World War, was truly formidable and forced the British into serious expenditures for maintaining their primacy at sea. After the defeat of Germany in 1918, the Allied forces did not intend to allow Germans to build a navy fleet again as it would one day be able to challenge the Great Britain's command of the sea.

As a result, Germany had been forced to surrender all of the warships and was only left with a rump fleet that consisted of a few old cruisers and battleships... The text part of the book worked out by the naval expert Robert Stern has been supplemented with the excellent and informative illustrations by Darren Glenn.