I worked on coastal tankers as an oiler, basically an apprentice engineer. That was in the mid-70's, when the marine environment first appeared on the radar. Ships operating in the Great Lakes were required to clear the engine bilge to the waste tank. That didn't always happen, especially at night. Often it just went over the side. I refused to do it myself, but the engineer on my watch sometimes would. It IS a safety issue in heavy seas, especially on smaller vessels. Too much water sloshing about causes you to heel, especially when light. Still, it's not the North Atlantic (been there). The Lakes are almost always calm, and you get plenty of warning if they're not. No excuse for it. Just too lazy to pump it ashore. Other things, like heavy drinking, as you'd expect. One of my engineers was a terminal drunk a few months from retirement. He never came down on watch. The 3rd was covering for him and he'd sign his name in the log while he was passed out in his bunk. So, for about three months that ship was running 1/3 of the time with a 19 yo kid alone in the engine room who had no idea what he was doing...lol. It's funny now, but it could have been a disaster. Speaking of disasters, had a few of those. Fortunately no one killed, but some pretty close calls. Ship collided a couple of times. Once with the Canso causeway when heavy wind blew us sideways, so not our fault, another in port where we rear-ended a Greek tanker coming in too fast. That one was definitely on us. Lots of other stuff - I could write a book actually.
After that I drove tanker trucks for 8 years, and those are some really scary stories. The industry has improved greatly since then (80s) but only because it was getting too dangerous and had to be done. I went back for a short time, post the improvements. Definitely safer now than when I was doing it. Some thing do actually get better:)
I would love to hear them!
I worked on coastal tankers as an oiler, basically an apprentice engineer. That was in the mid-70's, when the marine environment first appeared on the radar. Ships operating in the Great Lakes were required to clear the engine bilge to the waste tank. That didn't always happen, especially at night. Often it just went over the side. I refused to do it myself, but the engineer on my watch sometimes would. It IS a safety issue in heavy seas, especially on smaller vessels. Too much water sloshing about causes you to heel, especially when light. Still, it's not the North Atlantic (been there). The Lakes are almost always calm, and you get plenty of warning if they're not. No excuse for it. Just too lazy to pump it ashore. Other things, like heavy drinking, as you'd expect. One of my engineers was a terminal drunk a few months from retirement. He never came down on watch. The 3rd was covering for him and he'd sign his name in the log while he was passed out in his bunk. So, for about three months that ship was running 1/3 of the time with a 19 yo kid alone in the engine room who had no idea what he was doing...lol. It's funny now, but it could have been a disaster. Speaking of disasters, had a few of those. Fortunately no one killed, but some pretty close calls. Ship collided a couple of times. Once with the Canso causeway when heavy wind blew us sideways, so not our fault, another in port where we rear-ended a Greek tanker coming in too fast. That one was definitely on us. Lots of other stuff - I could write a book actually.
After that I drove tanker trucks for 8 years, and those are some really scary stories. The industry has improved greatly since then (80s) but only because it was getting too dangerous and had to be done. I went back for a short time, post the improvements. Definitely safer now than when I was doing it. Some thing do actually get better:)
Check this out:
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2022/may/worlds-most-capable-icebreakers-russias-new-arktika-class