Blackout Recovery Procedure on a Vessel (short instruction)

A blackout on a vessel is a complete loss of electrical power, which affects all systems and equipment dependent on the ship's power supply.

This situation can be critical, affecting the vessel’s propulsion, navigation, communication, lighting, and safety systems. Blackouts can occur due to various reasons, including mechanical failures, fuel supply issues, overloads, or faults in the electrical distribution system.

Automatic Control System (Power Management System) of Electrical Power Plants

Automatic Control System for Ships Electrical Power Plants. The automatic control system is designed for controlling turbo- and diesel-driven electric generating plant, predominently onboard ships.

The purpose of the automatic control equipment is to ensure that the power demand of a ship is generated in an economical manner and also to ensure that any faults occurring will not cause damage to the machinery.

During fully automatic operation the equipment carries out starting, synchronizing and load sharing on one or several diesel alternators as the power demand increases, as well as disconnecting and stopping the diesel alternator in the event of excessive power being available.

Power Plant Control System Operation of Central Unit

Adjustable level detectors determine at which busbar load a generator shall start or stop. According to the starting sequence, selected with push-buttons at the front, start and stop orders are distributed to the basic units.

These orders are delayed one minute in order to prevent actions by temporary load variations. The delay will be bypassed when a fault occurs on a running set, overload is detected or a controlled load is required.

The unit also determines whether or not the number of connected sets is sufficient to cover the required load under normal conditions. In this case a signal to the units will permit a set with a non-critical fault to be disconnected and stopped. This signal will also permit a requested controlled load to be connected.