What Is the Spare Parts List on Board?
The boxed-up version of the fact that there is no shop in the middle of the sea — which spares to carry, and the minimum and ideal lists.
Carrying spare parts on board is the boxed-up version of the fact that there is no shop in the middle of the sea. The logic is simple failure statistics: the vast majority of reasons that stop an engine at sea come from three families — fuel, cooling and electrics. If you carry spares for those three and know how to change them, most cases are reduced to a ‘half-hour delay’.
The table below gives the minimum spare set.
Minimum spare parts list
Category | Spare part |
|---|---|
Cooling | Impeller and gasket |
Drive | One spare for each belt |
Fuel | Primary filter element, engine filter |
Oil | At least enough engine oil for a full change, oil filter |
Electrical | A fuse set in each amperage |
Connections | Hose clips, insulating tape, heat-shrink tubing |
Beware the trap of having the spare but no tools: a spare impeller is all very well, but without a screwdriver that fits the cover screws and a gasket scraper it is just dead weight; think through the required tools for each spare. Spares should live in sealed plastic boxes, labelled and kept dry — not in damp cardboard.
Each critical spare should be fitted and removed once ashore in calm conditions; the first impeller change should not be done in a seaway. For Care members, this inventory is kept in our records; the answer to ‘was there an impeller on board?’ can be checked by phone from the bay.