Field notes from the build desk
Parts & Logistics
Shipping Marine Spares to Sorong: Freight, Customs & Timing
Getting marine spares to Sorong is a solved problem when three things are respected: the right channel for the part’s weight and urgency (air freight via Jakarta or Makassar to Domine Eduard Osok, sea…
Refit Planning & Cost
Owner’s Representative: What They Do During a Yard Period
An owner’s representative is the person who stands in the owner’s shoes for the length of a yard period: verifying that the work billed is the work done, holding scope and schedule against drift,…
Refit Planning & Cost
Refit Budget Overruns: The Five Causes and How to Cap Them
Refit budgets are broken by five causes, in roughly this order: scope discovered after opening up, scope added by choice mid-project, logistics and freight underestimated, labour idling against missing parts or decisions, and rework…
Refit Planning & Cost
Planning a Refit Between Dive Seasons: A Timeline That Works
A refit that must fit between dive seasons works backwards from one immovable date — the first charter of the new season — and succeeds or fails on what happened before the vessel ever…
Survey & Compliance
Insurance Damage Surveys After a Marine Incident: Owner’s Guide
After a marine incident, the insurance process runs on evidence and sequence: notify the insurer promptly, preserve the damage exactly as it is, document everything before anything is moved, and let an appointed surveyor…
Survey & Compliance
Hull Thickness Gauging: When Steel Boats Need Ultrasonic Checks
A steel boat needs ultrasonic thickness gauging whenever a decision hangs on the state of her plate: before buying, before class or insurance renewal, after grounding or visible wastage, and on a routine cycle…
Machinery & Systems
Why Marine AC Dies in the Tropics — and How to Keep It Alive
Marine air-conditioning fails in the tropics for one dominant reason: the seawater side of the system fouls, flow drops, and compressors cook themselves against condensers that can no longer reject heat into 30°C water…
Machinery & Systems
Fuel System Troubleshooting: Water, Diesel Bug & Blocked Filters
Three enemies live in a boat’s diesel in the tropics — free water, microbial growth, and the sediment both leave behind — and almost every fuel-related breakdown traces to one of them reaching a…
Machinery & Systems
Dive Compressor Air Purity: Testing Standards & Service Intervals
Breathing-air purity on a dive boat is governed by recognised standards — EN 12021 in most of the diving world, with CGA Grade E the common North American reference — and meeting them is…
Machinery & Systems
Marine Generator Troubleshooting at Anchor: A Practical Order
When a marine generator will not start or will not hold load at anchor, work the problem in this order: fuel, air, cooling, electrical controls, and only then the machine’s internals — because on…