On the night of September 14, as the residents of Shanghai listened to the sound of the storm rushing outside their windows, a heart-stopping battle against typhoon was raging over the sea less than 100 kilometres to the south of Shanghai.
If we digress from the main theme, typhoon might be seem as a treasure. Every time there is a strong typhoon, there are articles on the internet that say things like "Please don't complain". In fact, we have accepted this perspective for a long while. Typhoon is the blessing of nature. Without typhoon, there would be no everlasting blossoms in the beautiful Spring City Kunming, nor the lush grasslands in Inner Mongolia. Although the residents in the south-eastern coast of China suffer from typhoons severely, many actually look forward to the approaching of typhoons - not only for the abundance of fish and prawns, but also for the filling of reservoirs. In this sense every typhoon is coming with good intentions.
However, for maritime industry, typhoon is not welcome. The heroic scenes of thrilling waves only exist in movies and fantasies. I believe all those who are engaged in maritime transport would crave for all years of peace. Every typhoon is given a gentle and friendly name such as Dujuan, Yutu and Hato. All these names are embodied with people’s respect even flattering towards typhoons: you may come but only at the right time please. However, Typhoon No. 12 showed no appreciation since the day when it was given the name Muifa. After writhing in the southeast sea, it rushed over to Hangzhou Bay, our main sailing region, with firm strides. For a moment, seven tankers of Sinochem-Stolt Shipping and two tankers of Vidapore were exposed on the path of tenth-grade wind girder of Typhoon Muifa. No way out! The only thing we can do is to summon up courage and take it head on.
The Company immediately published the instruction on typhoon precautions and each tanker carried out safety checks against typhoon in a timely manner. A steering committee at company level was established for unified command. GUO Yun, Deputy GM of Shipping BU, took on command and other responsible personnel also took turns to take charge. On the night of September 14, as the residents of Shanghai listened to the sound of the storm rushing outside their windows, a heart-stopping battle against typhoon was raging over the sea less than 100 kilometres to the south of Shanghai.
All the industry insiders would agree that sailing along the coast of China is formidable. If you visit HIFLEET or shipxy.com and search the distribution density of the tankers alongside southeast coast (the Trypophobia alert). Many professional schools have set the courses regarding the avoidance techniques and methods when sailing among a large number of ships. However, no school can teach any techniques regarding shipping in the crowded southeast coast of China. Even those veteran captains who have rich experience in shipping in China should be timid and overcautious. No mistake is allowed during shipping at sea. As typhoon Muifa approached, ships of all sorts and sizes surged into Hangzhou Bay and waters of Zhoushan Islands to take up positions to avoid the typhoon. It is never easy to find an anchorage berth.
The professional skills and measures against typhoon are not common sense of our ordinary people, such as the ways to drop and weigh the yaw checking anchor or how to avoid the winding of anchor chains. Some of the skills that are rarely used in daily work require unified command and report. It is necessary to predict the ocean wind and currents of each tanker at different time point accurately based on the location of the typhoon center and the tidal time. It is also indispensable to give action instructions against typhoon accurately. During the ten-hour activity against typhoon, each tanker has provided the information regarding the wind and sea condition and discussed on their anti-typhoon experience. They used to experience the tension awaiting the typhoon. They also have experienced the tranquility in the eye of typhoon. They also used to encounter the fierce gale after the typhoon crest. When everything is hushed into peace, a captain said during the conclusion session via WeChat, “thanks to our competent team and detailed plan, it is a natural result that we could gain the success.” Nine tankers, namely, Baiyang (white poplar), Hongfeng (red maple), Zitong (purple tung tree), Ziluolan (violet), Zidingxiang (lilac), Qiuhaitang (begonia), Nanyanglan (South Seas orchid), Yulan (yulan magnolia), Yunshan (dragon spruce), danced with Muifa late at night. A scene never before seen in history is presented. Safety is about being prepared, and being well prepared is the only way to achieve the goal of essential safety that the company is pursuing.
Our success in response to Muifa is a good start. Even the fiercest typhoons are passers-by. We need to master the seasonal characteristics and essentials to shelter ourselves from typhoon. It is a long-term accumulation of experience and skills to take safety actions in response to typhoon. As with other safety work, we never let up.
