M/V Buxmelody in Port Klang, Malaysia

M/V Buxmelody in Singapore

M/V Buxmelody in Laem Chabang, Thailand

Technical details

The ship:

The NSB M/V Buxmelody was built in 2008 by the company HDW-Gaarden GmbH, Kiel, Germany.
It was originally baptised to the name "M/V Maruba Maxima".
Later on the name has been changed to "M/V Buxmelody".

Ship owner is the German company NSB (Niederelbe Schifffahrtsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG).
The freighter is currently leased to the company OOCD and sails mainly in the Asian and Indian territory.

All crew members on board were from the Philippines.
For the passengers on board the language was English.
It was a friendly atmosphere on board and we felt welcome at all times.
The cook served (especially for us) a mix of European and local food of good quality; not spicy at all.

The ship offers 3 cabins with space for up to 5 passengers.
2 cabins measure about 29 m2. They have a spacy living room and separate bedrooms with two twin beds measuring 90 cm each.
1 cabin measures 16 m2 and has 1 single bed. It is a combined living and bedroom.
All cabins have private facilities with toilet and shower. The living rooms have writing desk, sofa, side table, fridge, TV and an audio system.

The electrical system delivers 240V/60Hz on German standard Plugs.

The ship is equipped with an outdoor swimming pool, a well-equipped fitness room (bicycle, cross-walker, work-out machine a.s.o.).

Since the ship has no elevators it is not suited for walking impaired persons.

Organising and going on a trip like this ...

There are several Cargo-Companies offering trips on cargo carriers all over the world.
It is best to contact one of the specialised travel agencies and get all organised through them.
One must be flexible with regards to timing and route. Ships are often delayed due to congestion in harbours.
Some ships may skip or add ports on their way depending on the availability of cargo.
They even cancel whole trips if there is no freight to ship.

Our travel Agent was:

Globoship
Neugasse 30
3001 Bern

Web:www.globoship.ch

Our contact was: Urs Steiner
Mail: info@globoship.ch

Details of the NSB M/V Buxmelody

Floor Plans Overall

6th Superstr. Deck / Nav. Bridge Deck / Wheel-House

Main command desk: Navigation monitors, main motor and bow thruster control.

Communication desk.

Steering and alert desk.

Navigation control and weather control desk.

Piracy information and alerts.

Special maps are kept with information on pirate attacks.

5th Superstr. Deck / Cabins (Captain, Chief Engineer, Pilot, Passengers)

Owners cabin (our cabin): Living room; Bedroom; Officer's laundry;

Our badges.

4th Superstr. Deck / Cabins (Officers, Engineers, Passengers)

3th Superstr. Deck / Cabins (Officers, Engineers, Electrician, Crew)

The right picture shows all the security installation on this deck.

2th Superstr. Deck / Cabins (Crew)

The right picture shows all the security installation on this deck.

Party area with swimming pool and BBQ.

The main live boat can carry 32 people and can be either softly watered or if necessary fast released.

Additional life rafts and an auxiliary life boat are also ready to be launched.

1th Superstr. Deck / Party Deck (Officer's Mess, Crew Mess, Kitchen, Pantry)

The kitchen, the officer's mess and our dining table in the officer's mess.

Cofferdam Deck / Utility Deck (Offices, Gym)

The gym or hobby room..

Anti-piracy measures. All doors to the outside are normally closed, even at sea.

(Winches and Landing Gear) / Poop Deck and Forecastle Deck

Under Floor Decks

Control Room

The control room; Main engine control.

Main engine RPM; Rudder control; Heavy fuel tank level gauge.

Viscosity control of lubrication oil; Pressure and temperature control of fuel, lubrication oil and compressed air.

Alarm panel; Main parameter control and adjustment panel; Power generator control (1 of 3).

Tank control of fuel, lubrication oil, bilge-, fresh- and ballast-water.

Main engine upper 2 floors: Piston head; Cylinder injection pump.

Exhaust; Turbo chargers.

Main engine lower 2 floors: Emergency motor control panel; Common alert panel.

Main engine cooling: The sea-water pump pumps 450 m3/h salt-water at 1.6 bar to the heat exchanger and the fresh-water pump pumps 180 m3/h at 3 bar through the motor.

Lubrication oil heating, cooling, filtering.

HFO fuel must be preheated before it can be burned. The heater heats up to 11.9 m3 HFO per hour.
Since the HFO is heated with the engines coolant, the main motor must be operated with standard diesel fuel until the HFO reaches the right temperature.

The main diesel motor is started by compressed air. The compressor is able to generate 145 m3 air at 30 bar per hour.
One should not forget that there is no clutch between motor and propeller.
The motor has to be stopped every time the propeller has to be stopped or if the gearbox has to be switched from forward into reverse.
The gearbox only has 2 gears: forward and reverse.

Workshop and tools for the main engine.

Lower part of a spare piston, fuel injectors and other tools

Steering gear. From this position the ship can be steered manually should the systems on the bridge and in the control room fail.
Electric power and hydraulic systems must be working for this to be possible.

Three power generators driven by MAK diesel engines; Special tools and workshop for generator maintenance and repair.

Fuel pre-heater for the diesel engines of the power generators.

Emergency power generator. It is a completely independent system, has its own diesel tank and can be started by battery or even man power.

The electrician's workshop.

Air condition unit; Intake temperature; Output temperature

Fresh-water generator. The evaporator can produce 22 m3 in 24 hours. The boiler is driven by main engine coolant.

The biological sewage treatment plant can process up to 7.4 m3 of black-water per day. The tank itself holds 2'000 l (2 m3).
Vacuum toilets like the ones known on plains are used on board to minimise the amount of water to be treated.

Fire hydrant water pump and vacuum/pressure gauges.

Laundry; Incinerator (Garbage burner).

Water analysis station.