Work has hit rock bottom here as well. I worked on steel hull ships and tugs for a few years, mostly research vessels. Not building them but adding equipment and renovating them, most all were ac, a few tugs were 240 dc. No conduit, all cable, all tinned conductors, many different types of cable, some with a metal sheath that makes it look like an explosion proof flexible connector, some look like residential NM cable. An example of the service on a smaller ship (300' + -) would be a 200 amp, 480 v, 3 phase shore power service through a pin and sleeve connector to three transformers below deck wired delta on the primary and a 240 4 wire secondary, the neutral is not grounded at any point in the system, referred to as a floating ground. Two pole breakers are a must for all 120 v circuits. Any penetrations through a watertite bulkhead must be done with a stuffing tube. Receptacle and switch boxes on deck should be bronze or aluminum, although I've seen FRP, PVC and stainless junction boxes used for controls on hoists and A frames. Lots of systems to keep up with, from basic ventilation of the engine room, to rudder control, to the meat freezer in the galley. The pay was good, not great, then again I'm in Florida. We took a lot of pride doing what we did because we knew the crew depended on our work 6,000 miles away from home. Once a research vessel sets sail from homeport the generators run 24/7, they can't take the risk of damaging sensitive lab equipment or anything else for that matter by tying into shore power at a third world port. These are links to basic parts:
Click here: Manning Product Lines - Pauluhn Electric
Click here: G&B Marine. Catalogs
