Simulation

Harnessing the power of coffee, I'm sitting in between two Pratt & Whitney PW 200 turbofan jet engines struggling but determined to get all my thoughts written down. Bloody exhausted; that’s how I feel after two weeks in south Florida. What I pictured as a relaxing series of training courses for work intermingled with a little scuba diving and beach barbecuing turned into an all out social extravaganza that left me lacking sleep, solitude and sobriety. No sense in complaining though, I was having such a swell time that I almost extended my mini vacation down south. A meter of new snow in the White Mountains dissuaded me however and so I'm headed home to get into my foul weather gear and spending a few days riding chair lifts.


As per usual it’s been a busy first six weeks of vacation. Perhaps my coping mechanism for feeling cut off from friends and family when I’m at work but I routinely over schedule my vacation in order to visit as many people as able by car, plane or any other conveyance necessary. Maintaining a social network of friends has always been something I have expelled a considerable amount of energy doing. It certainly has it’s rewards as I get to watch the children of friends grow and celebrate birthdays and keep track of what amazing stuff other mariners I know are up to.

The training courses, a constant theme for merchant mariners, were a mixed bag. I have spent months in union sponsored training since finishing my bachelor’s degree and receiving a third mates ticket. Under the International Maritime Organization’s licensing structure in order to have upgraded from Second Mate to Chief Mate I was required to take several months of upgrade courses. The cost of attending these courses is akin to a year’s tuition at a state university and luckily for me was inclusive with my union benefits.

For any aspiring officer outside of a union or without company sponsorship the courses are prohibitively expensive and represent another roadblock to advancing up the ladder, especially for hawespipers like my younger brother. At least the quality of instruction, most of which is review for anyone recently coming out of a maritime academy, has been good. Since I wrapped up my upgrade business two years ago I now mainly attend either renewals like radar and breath alcohol testing or company required training such as Fast Rescue Boat.

This time around I had the chance to spend five consecutive days in a 360-degree full mission bridge simulator. The course, designed for masters, is solely focused on ship handling and was both challenging and humbling. I was a little disappointed that my performance was far from flawless but having the chance to dock, undock, and maneuver multiple ship models in one of the worlds most sophisticated (And expensive) maritime simulators was incredible.

One of the benefits of simulator based training is the ability to spatially orientate oneself prior to commencing an exercise. Pictured above is the port of Freeport Texas where we were tasked with docking a 100,800 DWT LNG tanker. By shifting our vantage to a birds eye view it enabled us to see just how much room there was beyond the vessel for turning within the basin.

This model is also a great example of how a pilot organization can use simulator "Modeling" to improve the design of ports. The pilots from this particular locale recommended new depths and widths for the channel and turning basins to the Army Corp of Engineers based on their experiences with this simulator.

Providing pilots the ability to test different harbor arrangements with multiple ships in all kinds of weather conditions prior to beginning large and expensive dredging or construction project is a huge benefit. It is also a revenue stream for the simulator where as providing two mariners five days of non stop simulation surely was not a big money maker.

Above is a view of the bridge console complete with all the instrumentation needed for ship handling. In this case we're bringing a 40,000 DWT tanker alongside the berth at Drift River using an offshore anchor to control the bow in a four knot ebb current. The use of the anchor in ship handling was a foreign concept for me but a tried and true method for our instructor, a retired ARCO Captain.

Since two of the students never showed up to the first day of class it was only myself and one other student, a classmate from college, receiving invaluable pearls of wisdom from a former master. No matter how sophisticated the simulator it would have done little good for us without the instruction, feedback and criticism of a mariner who spent his career handling the worlds largest crude oil tankers afloat. After handling a 150,000 DWT VLCC in Long Beach harbor docking an 11,000 foot Maersk Container Ship in the port of Miami didn't seem so difficult. Especially with the help of two very large tractor tugs and a 3000 horse power bow thruster.

The second week of courses began with a CPR/AED re-certification followed by a Medical Person In Charge refresher. Towards the end of the week a mind numbingly boring drug test collector and breath alcohol testing certification left me loathing power point presentations.

The medical refresher course was excellent and very necessary having received no additional advanced medical training since my initial PIC course in 2004. While I have had a little practice at suturing and at diagnosing the rare appendicitis the insertion of catheters, nasopharyngeals, gastric tubes and I.V.s are all skills in need of constant honing. I would never want to feel rusty at this stuff when a sailor is entrusting me with medical treatment prior to or in lieu of evacuation.

Now that I have a new stack of embossed certificates and a few more frequent flier miles I'm reluctant to spend any more of this particular vacation in the classroom. I'm pleased to be headed for home with no obligations or plans on the horizon. I'm doing my best to take a lengthy break from work to focus on some of the aspects of life I haven't paid enough attention to over the last couple of years. While it does feel strange to just lounge while several of my neighbors are unemployed or just scraping by it feels good to simplify the stuff of life that sustains me.

Fast Rescue Boats

Last week I had to take a break from all the fun I was having up in New England to attend another professional training course. Normally these classes take one or two weeks, include a lot of power point and sometimes a little bridge simulator action. I've now taken months and months of required courses to upgrade my license and keep my certificates current. Gone are the days of a single radar re-certification course once every five years (Way before my time).

Thanks to the International Maritime Organization homogenization of seafarers a Merchant Mariner now attends mandatory weeks of training courses during their off time. If your in a seafaring union as I am than you are rarely reimbursed for being there. At least the cost of this burdensome ongoing education is covered by the union's benefits plan. This last course though was a pleasant departure from the normal week long session of classroom instruction and desktop exercises; the formula normally used to complete pages and pages of "Competencies" needed to prove the student meets the international standard for another course certificate.

Unlike the license upgrade courses I completed two years ago the Proficiency in Fast Rescue Boat course is not yet required as an endorsement on a mariner's STCW certificate. Instead it is normally mandated by shipping companies that have fast rescue boats installed on their vessels which includes all passenger ships. I was taking it in preparation for each one of the vessels in my company installing a fast rescue boat.

The course took place in hot and sunny Fort Lauderdale over four days, half of which were spent in the water on two eight meter RHIBs (Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boat). One fast boat was propelled by twin 175 horse power outboard engines, the other by a 375 horsepower Cummings diesel jet drive. Both of these boats could get up and go in a moment's notice and required white knuckle grips when turning at high speed.

Fast rescue boats are characterized by having powerful propulsion, self righting capabilities, and a high degree of maneuverability. They are normally constructed of fiberglass or aluminum for weight savings and rimmed by an air and foam filled sponson to provide buoyancy.The hull form is known as a deep V which allows the boat to rise from the displacement mode at slow speeds to a planing mode just like any speed boat. Both of the boats we used represented the larger size of fast rescue boats, the longest allowed being 8.5 meters. The rescue boats I have used are usually 4-6 meters in length.



The rescue boat provides two primary uses on board a ship. The first is to retrieve persons from the water whether they fell from your own vessel or you are taking part in a rescue operation. Secondly the boat can be used to gather and assist less maneuverable life boats or life rafts. Either or these missions require a trained crew and a prepared boat to be safely lowered and recovered from the water in heavy weather day or night.


During the course we practiced recovering persons from the water, transferring perons from boat to boat while making way, high speed maneuvers, towing, righting capsized rescue craft and conducting search patterns. Most of the training took place in the open ocean during daylight, with warm water and 1-2 foot seas; ideal conditions for any rescue boat operation.

Of course as this past weekend proved when the swell from Hurricane Bill took the life of a 7 year old girl in Acadia National Park rescue missions normally do not take place in benign conditions. Even the Coast Guard with a 47 foot motor life boat, a helicopter and a fixed wing aircraft took three hours to recover the girl in the 12-15 foot seas near Thunder Hole.

With all luck I'll never need to use a fast boat for anything more than touching up the draft marks.

VSO

One thing a mariner has to get used to in this modern age of endorsements, international competencies, and over regulation is the unending onslaught of certificates you must earn. These emblazoned pieces of paper, kept in the briefcase or back pack you wouldn't dare check with the rest of your luggage on the plane, are carried around the world with you. Without them you would never be able to prove that you are legitimately licensed to perform your job at sea.

Since I finished my four years of maritime academy college I've earned 17 different certificates, 10 of which were required for my upgrade from second to chief mate. Being a member of a union the training was provided at no cost but I have never been financially compensated for the travel to and from the schools nor the four collective months I've spent away from home attending these courses.

With that in mind I'm now attending one of the few remaining courses necessary to carry on my duties at work. Ironically the certificate I'm earning is for a Vessel Security Officer, a post I've all ready held at work for the last three years. Initially when I was designated in writing by the Company Security Officer as the VSO, I had never received any actual classroom training.

Over the course of that first voyage though I read through every scrap of security relevant policy on board and realized that my primary job as a VSO was to keep the paperwork in order proving that we were complying with our ship security plan. Actually carrying some of the security requirements such as roving patrols and pre-departure contraband/stowaway searches were things of pure fantasy given the limited number of crew and STCW work hour restrictions.


As with all overburdening regulatory requirements we face at sea I did the best I could with my security duties emphasizing the importance of being vigilant and prepared to the various crews I worked with. Operating in hostile waters, such as the Gulf of Aden, without arms, escorts, or any other tangible way of repelling boarders convinced me that even with the best security plan or lectured crew, we would stand little chance if ever faced with an armed and motivated security threat.


Of course this was all just on the job self training, a.k.a. experience, and had nothing to do with my actual legal ability to perform the duties of a VSO. So thanks to the coast guards implementation of mandatory VSO training I again find myself spending a few more days of my vacation taking more courses to do a job with added responsibility for the same pay. Added on to the hassle is the task of going to my local Regional Examination Center to apply to have the certificate "endorsed" on my STCW certificate via the National Maritime Center in landlocked West Virginia.


Of course it's not all bad. The class, the shortest I've had, is only two days, and getting a group of officers together for a week allows you to collaboratively learn how different organisations approach the same security policies and problems. It also high lights the differences out here between government funded or contracted ships and commercial ships, especially in the resources available to mariners who are responsible for making their vessel a "Hard Target".


Among the highlights of the course was having an F.B.I. agent guest lecture. I was surprised to learn how much jurisdiction the F.B.I. has on ships world wide. As long as the F.B.I. can prove that a single American is on the ship, operates the ship, or owns a single share in the shipping companies stock, the F.B.I. can investigate and prosecute crimes on board.

With over 12,000 agents worldwide the F.B.I. is the lead agency in dealing with terrorism attacks involving American flagged ships, even overseas. The F.B.I. is also actively vetting not only the names of every mariner, citizen or foreigner entering domestic waters, but also works with foreign crewing agencies to counter terrorism and human trafficking on ships.

All good stuff to know if you're responsible for discouraging terrorist attacks on your ship.