ENGINE ROOM CONTROLLED FROM CONSOLE
By Bob Van Leer

  (AT SEA OFF NORWAY, Aug. 17, 1993) - Our cruise ship, the Crown Odyssey, is plowing through some heavy swells tonight on our way to Oslo, Norway.

  This is the first time in the cruise there has been a roll to the ship that makes walking a little difficult. Today is Tuesday and we still have to visit Oslo and Copenhagen, but our cruise is beginning to wind down.

   This morning we had a briefing on procedures for disembarking Friday, the day after we arrive in Copenhagen. This has to be a nightmare for the cruise staff - to get more than 1100 passengers and all their baggage off the ship and heading in the right direction in just a few hours. Our schedule calls for us to fly from Copenhagen to London and spend the night there before returning to Oregon on Saturday via San Francisco.

Engine Conrol Room

  About a dozen of us arranged for a visit to the engine control room. It was a far cry from the engine rooms where I used to stand watch as a young sailor in 1945. To get to the control room we were taken into the crew spaces normally off limits to passengers. We found a wide passageway, called Singroy Avenue after the main street of Athens, Greece, on the second deck that runs the length of the ship. It is designed to allow use of forklifts.

  The engineers on watch control all the mechanical functions of the ship from a "U" shaped console with room for our party in the open end of the "U". A bank of TV monitors allow the watch officer to see all corners of the engine room and the smokestack of the ship to check for visible emissions.

  Thomas, the engineer in charge, said the ship has six Diesel engines, three on each side, and a boiler used for water heating. The two main engines are nicknamed "Father" and the next two smaller engines are nicknamed "Son". The remaining two are auxiliaries.

  The two "Father" engines are the main propulsion and can also be used for power generation. The "Son" engines also can be used for propulsion of the ship or for generating electricity. The ship's generators supply enough power for a city of 6000. Everything is controlled from the console: ballast, oil, fresh water, speed, propeller pitch and on and on.

  The watch engineer, with the flick of a few computer keys, can check levels of oil and water in tanks and do something about it. As we were watching, the twin screws were turning 120 revolutions per minute and the "Father" engines turning 400 r.p.m.

  The "Father" engines are 8 cylinder, four stroke, with a bore of 580 mm. and a stroke of 600 mm. They can generate 10,728 h.p. or 8000 KW. The "Son" engines are 6 cylinder with a bore of 350 mm. and a stroke of 380 mm. They generate 3554 h.p. or 2650 KW. The total propulsion power of the four engines is 28,563 h.p. or 21,300 KW.

  Fuel capacity is 444,862 gallons and consumes 21,295 gallons of fuel per day. At 20 knots fuel usage is 160 Kg. of fuel per running mile. The engines are started on Diesel oil but, after warmup, burn fuel oil.

Greek Night

  Tonight was Greek night. The crew of this ship is mostly Greek and tonight mostly Greek food was served and waiters were dressed in Greek costumes. The entertainment in the show lounge tonight was the "Greek Crew Show", an evening of traditional Greek songs and dances. The singers and dancers were members of the crew but their performance was professional.

  Tomorrow morning we will dock at Oslo after a 695 nautical mile run from Stockholm. Again we will have only a few hours on shore, time for one bus tour around the city and its environs, before departing to our final port, Copenhagen.