Ocean Vessels and Large Ships

Large ships such as container ships, tankers, bulk carriers, cruise ships, and Lakers are significant contributors to air pollution in many of our nation’s cities and ports. There are two types of diesel engines used on large ships: main propulsion and auxiliary engines. The main propulsion engines on most large ships are "Category 3" marine diesel engines, which can stand over three stories tall and run the length of two school buses. Auxiliary engines on large ships typically range in size from small portable generators to locomotive-size engines.

This page provides general and technical information on EPA’s coordinated strategy to address emissions from large ships, including ocean vessels and Lakers, flagged in the United States and in other countries. EPA’s coordinated strategy includes:

· EPA domestic actions under the Clean Air Act; and

· U.S. Government action through the International Maritime Organization, including:

o Designation of Emission Control Areas for U.S. coastal waters; and

o Adoption of new international standards for all ships in global waters.

Combined, these actions make a comprehensive program that is expected to significantly improve U.S. air quality and public health.

 

Answer the questions:

What ships are the contributors to air pollution?

What engines are used on them?

How bid the engines can be?

What does U.S. government do to prevent air pollution?

What regulation must you follow to prevent air pollution?

 

Situation: You are applying for a job and you are interviewed in the company. The agent asked you what are the advantages and disadvantages of water tube boilers compared with fire tube boiler?

Grammar Task:

Put special question to the sentences.

1. The walls are blue. (What colour?)___________________________________________

2. The sun is in the sky. (Where?) _____________________ ____________________

3. The captain is my (мой) father. (Who?)_______________________________________

4. The cargo is not on the ship. (Where?)________________________________________

5. That girl is my sister. (Who?)_______________________________________________

6. My father is a navigator. (What?)___________________________________________

7. Those young men are cadets. (What?)________________________________________

8. This text is about tall ships. (What...about?)____________________________________

 

Examination Card № 8

Read the text and answer the questions:

 

We've all noticed it. The filthy black smoke kicked out by funnels on cross-Channel ferries, cruise liners, container ships, oil tankers and even tugboats.

It looks foul, and leaves a brown haze across ports and shipping lanes. But what hasn’t been clear until now is that it is also a major killer, probably causing thousands of deaths in Britain alone.

As ships get bigger, the pollution is getting worse. The most staggering statistic of all is that just 16 of the world’s largest ships can produce as much lung-clogging sulphur pollution as all the world’s cars.

Because of their colossal engines, each as heavy as a small ship, these super-vessels use as much fuel as small power stations.

But, unlike power stations or cars, they can burn the cheapest, filthiest, high-sulphur fuel: the thick residues left behind in refineries after the lighter liquids have been taken. The stuff nobody on land is allowed to use.

Thanks to decisions taken in London by the body that polices world shipping, this pollution could kill as many as a million more people in the coming decade – even though a simple change in the rules could stop it.

There are now an estimated 100,000 ships on the seas, and the fleet is growing fast as goods are ferried in vast quantities from Asian industrial powerhouses to consumers in Europe and North America.

 

Answer the questions:

What do people notice?

What causes the smoke?

Why is the pollution getting worse?

What do people do to prevent air pollution?

What is MARPOL?

Situation: You are a Chief Engineer and your apprentice wants to know more about advantages of a turbine over a reciprocating engine. Tell him.

Grammar Task:

Put special question to the sentences.

1. The parents are at home. (Where?)___________________________________________

2. The cargo-plan is on the table. (Where?)_______________________________________

3. The sails are white. (What colour?)___________________________________________

4. This is a navigating bridge. (What?)__________________________________________

5. The women are in the yard. (Where?)_________________________________________

6. That woman is a doctor. (What?)____________________________________________

7. That man is a motor-man. (What?)__________________________________________

Examination Card № 9

Read the text and answer the questions:

Pirates seize oil tanker, kidnap crew near Nigeria

November 03, 2011 — LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Pirates seized an oil tanker off the coast of Nigeria's southern delta, kidnapping the crew in a bid to steal ship's cargo in the latest hijacking targeting the region, private security officials said Thursday.

Gunmen boarded the MT Halifax as it sat in waters off the coast of Port Harcourt, the main city in the oil-rich Niger Delta, the officials said. The pirates took over control of the ship and sailed off into the waters of the Gulf of Guinea, and are holding onto the crew as they offload the crude oil in the ship's hold, the officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press as they were not authorized to discuss the seizure with journalists. It remains unclear how many crew members were taken or if any have been injured. The Halifax, registered in Malta, is managed by Ancora Investment Trust Inc. of Greece. An employee who answered a telephone call to the company's office in Athens declined to comment Thursday, saying someone would be able to discuss the hijacking Friday.

A profile of the ship on Ancora's company website identified the nationalities of those onboard as Filipino and Indian, with an Italian ship master. Commodore Kabir Aliyu, a spokesman for Nigeria's navy, declined to immediately comment.

 

Answer the questions:

What happened with oil tanker?

What did pirates do?

What did they want?

What nationalities were on board a ship?

What must the crew members do to prevent piracy?

Situation: You are examined in the company. You were asked to tell about the ways of cleaning lube oil in a diesel ship.

Grammar Task:

Change sentences into indirect speech

1. The radio announcer said, "In this broadcast (радиопередача) we'll tell you about a great discovery made by the polar expedition".

2. The polar explorers said, "Our intention (намерение) is to reach the North Pole."

3. The announcement on television said, "This space flight is a new victory of the Russian science and technology."

4. My friend said to me on August 25, "My dream (мечта) has been realized. I've become a cadet of the Leningrad Makarov Nautical College."

 

Examination Card № 10

Read the text and answer the questions:

MARPOL tanker

Category 2 tankers will be phased out in 2010 the latest, depending on the year of delivery. With MARPOL tankers, it is not allowed to use ballast tanks as cargo tanks. This has reduced operational spillage drastically. The downside is designs based on MARPOL spill more oil when damaged than a preMARPOL tankers. This is due to several factors:

1. as ballast tanks could not be used as cargo tanks anymore, cargo space was lost. To compensate for this, tanks were made taller, which means that more oil is spilled before hydrostatic balance is reached,

2. a MARPOL rule is that 30 percent of the side shell in way of the tanks of a MARPOL tanker should be non-cargo. The cheapest way to reach this is by making these tanks as narrow as possible. This means that centre tanks became extremely large, so in case of damage, the amount of spillage increased,

3. in a preMARPOL tanker ballast tanks were also filled with inert gas, as these were also used as cargo tanks, which reduced corrosion. Ballast tanks of MARPOL tankers are not protective this way, causing structural failure by corrosion on the Erika, Castor and Prestige,

4. the painted area tripled, increasing required maintenance and corrosion in case this maintenance is done poorly.

Answer the questions:

What is MARPOL tanker?

Why were they built?

What are the peculiarities of the MARPOL tankers?

How does MARPOL deal with oil spillage?

What must you do to prevent oil spill?

 

Situation: You are a Chief Engineer. A newcomer cadet wants to know more about the path of the lube oil through a diesel engine. Describe it.

Grammar Task: