Second Engineer on the Independent Pursuit

One of the perks of being a passenger on a freighter is a tour of the engine room. We had to ask the Captain and he had to ask the Chief Engineer and HE had to ask the Second Engineer. The answer was "Yes." After lunch one day, we met the officer, who is Indian, at the door of the engine room and he told us the rules of the visit, "You will find it difficult to hear me and to talk because the engines are so noisy, so stay close to me. Also, the headroom is dangerous because of the many metal parts, so keep looking around all the time. Finally, do not touch any part of the engine, it may be hot or oily." Also, he explained the nature of the engine room crew: "There are two Engineers and 4 Oilers, who are special crew men who keep the motors oiled and help make parts when repairs are necessary. We all have specialized training for this job. The Oilers usually stay together as a team and may stay with a single ship for many voyages. The officers move from ship to ship on almost every voyage."

So, we entered the metal door and were led down the first set of metal steps into the very noisy engine room. We first came to the machine that made fresh water from salt water. Salt water was pumped into the machine under high pressure for two reasons: first, becuase it was used to cool the engine oil and second because there was such a big demand for fresh water all day long in the kitchen and the cabins. Then we saw the engines themselves and a piston that was being repaired. We kept going down metal steps until we reached the actual lowest point where the outside hull was all there was between us and the ocean. We could see the shaft turning where it went outside to the massive propeller.

Finally, he took us into his "office" an insulated work chamber with a huge desk and all the controls for the engine lined up like a space ship. There was a library shelf of manuals above the desk. "I have to study these books all the time so I can become familiar with the engine and can improve my ranking." At the end of the desk was a tiny Panasonic laptop and he pointed to it, "That runs the entire ship," he laughed. "If it crashes, we have a spare one in the drawer."

The tour lasted about 45 minutes and we thanked him for his friendly courtesy to us. "How often do you see your family in India?" There was a photo of his wife and two children on the wall. "Oh, once a year for a maximum of four months. But usually, I sign on for three 4 month tours. I want to advance myself as fast as I can to the position of Chief Engineer where the pay is much better, and then I can tour for 8 months a year." It is fascinating to see such a highly trained man at work. We asked him how he got into the trade. "I was a mechanic engineer for an automobile manufacturer and it was a go to work every day and be bored job. I wanted the challenge of something new and so I chose this field."