Our ship delivery captain Piet Smit has delivered many vessels over the years. Time to hear about his delivery of the Bahia San Carlos Easydredge 2700 TSHD. The voyage was from the Royal IHC shipyard in Kinderdijk, The Netherlands, to Mexico. Here is his story …
EASYDREDGE 2700: MANAGEABLE SHIP TO WORK WITH
It is a trip of around 5,000 nautical miles across the North Atlantic Ocean from the Netherlands to Mexico. This time I was asked to sail the Bahia San Carlos Easydredge 2700 from Royal IHC, Kinderdijk, to Veracruz in Mexico. It is a dredger and, as the name suggests, it is a manageable ship to work with. The Bahia San Carlos is a newly built ship destined for the Mexican navy. This is why four Mexican sailors joined us on the journey. The Mexican crew consisted of a Commanding Officer, his Second in Command, a bosun, and a chief engineer. The Commanding Officer did not speak English that well, but with the help of his Second in Command, the communications went well.
The ship left from Kinderdijk. Apart from doing the required surveys, we worked on the International Safety Management (ISM), International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS), and on reflagging the ship. Unfortunately, for personal reasons I was not able to sail the first leg of the journey to Las Palmas. I would like to thank Captain Frank Hilgevoord for taking over this leg for me.
THE TRANSFER CEREMONY
I rejoined the ship in Las Palmas. Once we had bunkered, we left for Mexico. During the journey, Chief Engineer Roy Hollander did his utmost to make the Mexican Chief Engineer comfortable. He did this by jointly testing the required procedures. With the full crew, we also carried out the Man Overboard Drill. The crossing went very fast. It even went so fast that I was able to give the Commanding Officer the chance to manoeuvre the ship.
We brought the Bahia San Carlos into Veracruz, Mexico, perfectly on our ETA. The onshore staff was not yet ready for us so we had to drop anchor outside the port until late in the afternoon. There were also some restrictions because of Covid. Luckily the Mexican crew could disembark, though the rest of us had to wait. The ship was cleaned the next day by a group of Mexican seamen. The last details were worked out for the transfer ceremony. After consultation with Royal IHC, mainly with Jan Willem Stuurman, the project leader, the transfer was quickly signed and we could disembark.
After that the Indonesian crew could also head home. Roy and I stayed in Veracruz for a couple of days, in case we were needed. On our last evening we were invited by the Mexican navy for a big buffet on board the Bahia San Carlos. We were thanked for our good service and for delivering the ship.
This was the fourth Easydredge ship delivery by TOS. All in all it was a good trip and I enjoyed working with the team. I would like to thank the professional and expert Indonesian crew. I would also like to thank Roy Hollander and Thies Kegge, Myron van Dam and Jeroen Tromp from the TOS team. And finally, I would like to thank Jan Willem Stuurman, the project leader at Royal IHC, for the good collaboration. On to the next ship delivery!
YOUR DESTINATION IS OUR CHALLENGE
We are experienced in the relocation of all types of vessels. For an all-in price and with clear terms and conditions, we take care of flag state registration, certification, ISM and instruction of the new crew in preparation of handing over the vessel.
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