How To Fill The Marine Log Book?

Record keeping is an important aspect of the life of a navigating officer as well as a marine engineer. There are various types of records which need to be maintained. From the perspective of the ship's engine room, the engineers need to keep a clear record of machinery parameters, running hours and several other things. This has been done traditionally using paper daily log books, although with the increasing use of computers on ships, these daily log books might be totally replaced with electronic log books, but currently these paper books are in popular use. Moreover, whatever be the media for recording, the prime importance is of noting down the relevant information at a place for future reference and retrieval as and when required.

Engine room log book is also an important document in case of accident and this gives the clear picture of the engine room working condition and the situation existed in the engine room. Normally this is filled in by the junior engineer of the ship.

In deck log book all the entries regarding navigation and charts are mentioned.

The official log book is only for the official entries made by only captain and chief engineer about the crew and their behaviour. In case of any discipline related problem is encountered with any crew, it will be recorded in this log book.

Main Engine

1. Timing of Watch (1200-1600; 1600-2000; 2000-0000)
2. Fuel lever settings (notches)
3. Speed setting of air
4. Engine load
5. Engine Revolution counter
6. Average rpm
7. Flow meter reading
8. Main Engine fuel consumption for 4 hours
9. Main Engine all units Exhaust temperature
10. Main Engine all units pcw & jcw temperature
11. Main Engine fuel oil inlet temperature
12. All coolers sea water inlet/outlet of air, lube oil, piston and jacket cooler temperature

1. Sea water pressure
2. Jacket cooling water pressure
3. Piston cooling water pressure
4. Lube oil pressure (bearing, crosshead, cam shaft)
5. Fuel oil pressure
6. Air bottle pressure (1 & 2)

1. Turbo charger rpm
2. Cooling water in & out temperature
3. Air cooler in & out temperature
4. Pressure drop across turbocharger air cooler filter to judge the blockage
5. Air temperature in and out of the turbocharger
6. Exhaust gas temperature in & out

1. Heavy oil service and settling tank temperature
2. Thrust bearing temperature and pressure
3. Stern tube temperature and pressure
4. Sea water temperature
5. Engine room temperature
6. Main engine sump level

1. Suction pressure and discharge pressure of refrigerent
2. Lube oil pressure
3. Lube oil suction and discharge pressure
4. Air inlet and outlet temperature

1. Meat room
2. Fish room
3. Vegetable room
4. Dairy room
5. Handling room

1. Jacket cooling water in & out temperature
2. Condensor sea water in & out temperature
3. Shell temperature
4. Vaccum pressure
5. Ejector pump pressure
6. Distillate pump pressure
7. Feed line pressure
8. Flow meter reading for fresh water

1. Exhaust temperatures of all units
2. JCW temperatures of all units
3. Alternator forward and aft bearing temperatures
4. Scavenge air pressure and temperature
5. Air cooler in & out temperatures
6. Lube oil in & out temperatures
7. Sea water in & out temperatures
8. Turbo charger of auxiliary engine exhaust temperature

1. Heavy oil service & settling tank readings
2. Diesel oil service & settling tank readings
3. Cylinder lube oil storage and Daily tank reading
4. Main engine crank case lube oil storage tank reading
5. Auxiliary engine crank case lube oil storage tank reading
6. Stern tube Gravity tank (high/low) tank readings
7. Stern tube aft & fwd seal tank level

Most of the readings and entries shown above can also be taken from the ship's control room, although it is advisable to take local readings. Yet these readings can be compared to those of the remote indications. This will also give an idea about the variation in the two so that in case of any large deviations, necessary checks can be performed. Also in case of rush hours such as maneuvering, the engineers would know the actual readings if they are familiar with the deviations in control room and actual readings.