As a commercial crab fisherman, Captain Hansen needed the right lubricants to keep his vessel running smoothly, so he turned to Chevron Lubricants to help him succeed.
Discuss your occupation, where you’ve been and your role on the boat/vessel:
I am a commercial crab fisherman fishing the Waters of the Bering Sea in Alaska. We have fished King Crab, Opilio Snow Crab, Baird Crab, Blue King Crab and Codfish using our pots. My roles on board the vessel started with being the bait boy, called the greenhorn, then moving on to being the cook, as well as working on deck, then on to being chief engineer and Co-Captain.
What kind of problems were you having before you started using Chevron’s lubricants? Did you try other products?
In 2005, we had a complete overhaul done on our main engine at 20,000 hours in Seattle. We left for fishing and found we were having massive engine failure during the season. We went to the closest harbor and called my mechanics in Seattle to order replacement parts for the ones that have been worn out and have them shipped. We received the parts and after putting everything back together again fired her up and she ran well. A week later we ran into the same issue: loss of power and nothing but black smoke so then we decided we needed to have the mechanics come up and take a look at what’s going on. We limped all the way back to Dutch Harbor 2 days traveling. Mechanics were there to meet us, tore the engine down and M3 mechanics were standing there scratching their heads not being able to figure out why the engine was wearing down so bad, so fast. They came to the conclusion maybe it was a mixture of different parts from different companies wearing out faster. This is when one of the mechanics had his 15-year old son with him as an intern, looked at me and asked what kind of oil I use in this engine. I told him I was using a competitor’s product and he said, “No, you should be using Delo 400 15-40”.
So, at this point, we were over $150,000 in the hole due to lost fishing time, fuel and parts. I figured we had nothing more to lose and we completely changed all the oil—the oil in my supply tanks and other engines as well. We changed the parts, went out fishing and she has run like a charm ever since! Later down the road after the TV show Deadliest Catch started, somebody from Chevron had inquired what kind of oil we use and we told them Delo 400 15-40 and also just told the story about the engine failure and how she’s running fine now. So Chevron figured they have a living testimony of the average common working man with a product that has proven itself out in one of the most dangerous occupations in the world. So, I started doing some testimonial appearances for Chevron promoting their products, only because I believe in it and I’ve seen it work. We were due for another complete overhaul on the main engine, only this time we had gone 4,000 hours over our recommended rebuild and Chevron decided they wanted to do a video testimony of the teardown, taking a big risk not knowing what the inside of the engine looked like after 20000 hours. As the parts were coming out the mechanics were saying they looked pretty much like the day they went in as well as the other parts that had wear seemed like it had stopped after switching to Delo. A Main engine rebuild for me is over $100,000 so being able to reuse parts that were still at an extremely good condition not only saved us time on the tear down and rebuild, but also saved me thousands of dollars, and that’s crucial when you own your own business. I need equipment like ours to hold up in the severe weather conditions that we fish in. You don’t want to lose power when you’re battling 30 to 40 foot waves and have six men’s lives at stake. I’m just thankful that we found a product that has helped us succeed and go much further than we would have without it.
On which parts of the boat/vessel do you mainly use the lubricants? What are you trying to prevent?
I use a long list of Delo products from stem to stern. We’ve gone on to use the Clarity synthetic hydraulic oil, due to severe cold conditions in the winter, as well as the extended life coolant for all of my engines. We have one propulsion engine and three generators, all that have to be in good working order. Not to mention all the shafting, pumps, cranes, anchor winches that need heavy-duty grease to protect from wear and corrosion. Eliminating failure at sea with a good product and preventative maintenance minimizes risk of down time, lost fishing time, which can run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars in our industry, and even death.
What is the most exciting part of your job?
I think everything about my job is exciting. I think the most exciting part is after you set all your gear and you’re getting ready to start hauling for the first time not knowing what is in it or if you’re even on crab, it’s almost like Christmas morning. Also, working on-deck through a storm with hurricane-force winds with waves crashing over the side is an adrenaline rush like no other! Plus seeing pots half full of king crab maybe value $8,500 to $10,000 a pop is pretty freaking exciting!
Where are you traveling to next?
Right now I’m in Florida trying to thaw out LOL… the boat is actually up there [Alaska] now doing salmon in Prince William sound. We’re just getting geared up for King Crab in October and then the nasty chain of events will continue for the next year!
For more information, visit http://www.chevronlubricants.com/.