22 1/2 Degrees

Week 3

Monday 25th September

Well its the start of week 3 now. Spent much of the weekend revising but managed to slip out on sunday for a bit of a pub crawl. We took the ferry over to Hamble which proved to be a good plan. The ferry is very small and very pink,


Then we returned to Warsash and went to the Rising sun for a few more beers. Watched the QM2 sail out and then tried to catch some crabs, got a few and to serve us right one bit me on the finger.

This morning we have had Bridge and Deck watchkeeping. We learnt about some of the different lights that ships show and what angles they are visible from. 22 1/2 degrees is the key figure to remember as most are visable from right ahead through to 22 1/2 degrees abaft the beam on either side (or on one side or other for port/starboard lights). The stern light is visible from right astern to (yes you guessed it) 22 1/2 degrees "abaft the beam on either side"! - or 67 1/2 degrees either side of the stern (same thing!) This was all really drummed into us and we will be tested on it next wednesday, along with Buoyage, Flags, Distress signals, nautical terminology ("arr jim lad" & "avast me parrot" etc etc)and reporting sightings (eg "its 2 points f'rod of the starboard beam" etc). This is only one subject, we also have tests on all our other subjects (Wet cago opps, dry cargo opps, shipboard working enviroment, ship and port opps and ship maintanence) so lots to be learning! Oh and back to the lights, we were told that half the time you don't know what your looking at anyway as it could be a star, buoy, anchored ship, rowing boat, long ship/short ship, or even a motorbike on a cliff top!

adiós

Would you enter a space if you knew there was a madman with a machine gun inside?

Thursday 21st September
Just a quick post before I go off to my dry cago lesson. Yesterday was quiet, only one lesson where we learn't ship stability. Various angles of list/lull and centres of gravity and buoyancy. Quite fundamental when loading/unloading cargo and also in achieving the correct trim (keeping the vessel level(ish) fore - aft). We were shown these pictures as an example of when it all went wrong.

This ship overturned after using its onboard crane to swing a large cargo over the ship and into the hold. She had ballasted on her port side! - click the pic for a bigger view
This container ship doesn't look very stable to me!

Today we have had a lesson on entering enclosed spaces and maintanence of the ship. We watched a video where entering an enclosed space was likened to entering a room with a madman and a machine gun inside! 200 people die every year from entering enclosed spaces on ships that have not been correctly vented, or that have toxic fumes inside. Luckily for us a cadet is usually thought to be an ideal candidate for all the horrid jobs! Dont worry though there are loads of safety procedures in place!

red is for port green is for starboard (except in the USA)

Tuesday 19th September

Yesterday we learnt all about the international code of signals which is a flag for every letter Alpha through to Zulu. They are all different colours and patterns and all have different meanings from "I've got a pilot onboard" to "I am on fire and have dangerous cargo on board, keep clear!". We have to learn them all along with the Morse code for each letter and the phonetic(Thanks Grandad for teaching me those years ago it reduces my workload!). We will be tested on them in week 4. Today in the same lesson (Bridge and Deck watchkeeping) we learnt all about buoyage and how it varies around the world (typically the Americans have a different system to the rest of us!!). We were informed that this was the only lesson we will have on buoyage throughout our cadetship so we all payed attention! We have to be able to recognise all shapes and colours of buoy (there are loads of them!) and know what they mean, what light they show, and what pattern this light flashes.
Its all rather confusing as the differences between them are sometimes subtle and often the meaning is reversed if they are in a different part of the world. It all boils down to how we and our US counterparts speak. Whereas we would say "Keep the Port Marker to port" the Americans would say "Pass to port of the Port Marker" hence the confusion! We have also been learning about all the red tape we will have to complete at sea in order to maintain the ship and her crew. Ships officers evidently become very good at filling in paperwork. It would appear the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) in all their wisdom think that Navigating and managing the ship is not enough of a workload as we will also have to produce, risk assess, and sign a permit to work every time a sailor needs to change a light bulb. One which he has probably changed many times before. I am not really a fan of "risk assessments" etc but there are many many deaths each year when seemingly simple tasks are carried out without the correct equipment or safety gear. So perhaps I wont begrudge it too much. After all changing a light bulb at home is easy, changing a rusty navigation light up a 20ft mast on a platform thats rolling and pitching cant be very easy.

Life at Warsash

Thought I'd post a little about what it is like to be living here at Warsash Maritime Academy. All induction cadets live on the campus which is quite a small area, most share cabins but I have a single cabin. Of which here are some pics!

The food is in a large canteen overlooking the water, which serves breakfast (0730 - 0830) lunch and dinner (1715 - later some time - I'm always hungry enough to go when it opens!) Also on campus are the teaching rooms and simulators, the engineering workshops, fire fighting school, watersports centre, seamanship training centre and of course the bar!
Most of the cadets seem to have disappeared for the weekend so its pretty quiet here today. I've been watching the ships go by from my window which looks out over the shipping channel into southampton. Also noticed lots of yaughts out it being a weekend.

Right, just wanted to post the pics really so will write more when there is more to write!

Do you all realise you have joined the most dangerous profession in the world?.....

Friday 15th September

Today we had the morning off, other than the muster for roll call which is done every morning at 0830. After lunch we had a lecture on ship and port operations, we learnt about the structure of ships and how different lengths require different build techniques, we were shown some slides of dry docks (Grandad if you read this I think one of them was Richmond dock in Appledore as the new bridge over the river could be seen in the background) some of them had ULCC's(Ultra large crude carriers) in them which are the most massive things I have ever seen. They can be up to 450M long. We learn about the flammability and Volatility of different fuel cargoes including crude oil, methane and diesel oil. We were also told how dangerous these are if they come into contact with people. They are all given a minimum PPM (parts per million) rating which states how much of the product may be present in the air before it is safe for humans to go in. eg Petroleum has a ppm of 300 so its relatively safe whereas benzene (which is present in most fuels) has a ppm of 1, so don't go near it!! However we were told that we will not have access to these products when on board. - Unlike when our lecturer first went to sea (he is now a retired captain) when it was a regular occurrence for crew to be ill from effects of the cargo. We also learnt that the LNG (liquefied Natural gas) carriers transport their cargo in liquid form at -160 degrees C or there abouts. This means that if you were to dip your hand in it then it would drop off! There has never been an accident with cargo spill in an LNG carrier (In over 5000 voyages) and so they are amongst the safest vessels in the world. - this is because they took data from all crashes at sea and placed the tanks in such a position that they could not be penetrated if the vessel was to collide. Of course avoiding collisions will be quite a major part of my job once qualified. I also heard today that I may get my own cargo watch during my first sea phase, overseeing the loading or unloading of crude or refined oil products. Anyway I have just read this back to myself and it seems really boring for someone else to read. Sorry!
Oh and one of our tutors cheerfully told us that we have joined the most dangerous proffesion in the world with more deaths per merchant seaman that any other jobs. So I recon we'll all be paying attention at the safety courses!

If you could read what's on the screen please..... Done? ok, now I will read it to you

Thursday 14th September

Day 4 now, Still enjoying it, Tuesday and yesterday were mainly taken up with lectures, although wednesdays we only have one so lots of spare time! Lectures are informative although it seems the prefered method of teaching is to read a powerpoint presentaion to us, I find this a little odd as GCSE English was a requirement fo us to start the course and therefore we are all capable of reading it for ourselves. This morning we were given an introduction to the NVQ section of our course (this runs along side of the HND and is basically us proving to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Merchant Navy Training Board that we are competent in the practical aspects of being an officer of the watch.). We have been given a huge folder for our NVQ called a portfolio which we will fill in whilst at sea, its evidence gathering really. Its very specific about what tasks we must undertake before the box can be ticked!
Just getting ready for a cabin(room) inspection now, so better tidy things away.

Started, Here, Present, Now where do we muster?

Sunday 10th September

Well I have arrived at Warsash Maritime Academy, got here at around 2:15 and joined the huge queue to get my room key. I was told I am one of the lucky ones to be allocated a single room, its certainly nicer than I was expecting! I have a view over the river Hamble and Southampton water - and of course the lovely Fawley power station! The room is quite large and has a desk, a chest of drawers, a big wardrobe, a bed, two chairs, a bookshelf on the wall and a sink with mirror in the corner. Oh and its called a “cabin” - gotta get that right! Most of the other first year cadets are sharing accommodation in rooms with bunk beds in the other block (shackleton), I am in Blyth Block. So far I have been in the Bar which is quite large with a pool table, darts board, outside seating area and great views over the water. The beer is £2:20 a pint. I am yet to see any sign of Clyde Marine (my sponsoring company) or any of their other cadets, but we have a meeting with a company representative tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully I should hear then exactly which company I will be doing my sea time with.

Monday 11th September

Up at 6 and early into the shower, which is very necessary as there are only a couple on my corridor. Then down to breakfast at half seven, with my 5 day meal card I can have a cooked breakfast, toast and a drink. Everyone was in their uniforms this morning, a real mix match of styles and colours etc, some of the lucky ones have branded stuff paid for by their companies. We had one of those PowerPoint presentations this morning by the head of the professional studies department, seems like a nice chap, unfortunately he just read out the words as they appeared on the screen which is really annoying not to mention quite offensive as I think we can all read! We then were lead to another room where we met our course tutor, also a perfectly pleasant lady, although she then proceeded to tell us everything we had already heard in the presentation this morning. We have been given our timetable for the next six weeks, It mostly consists of what is known as UPK (under pinning knowledge). This takes up the first three weeks. Then week 4 is an examination week. Week 5 is EDH (efficient deck hand) where we learn how to tie knots and other basic seamanship. Then finally weeks 6 is taken up by all the short courses which together make Basic safety training, these include Basic fire fighting, and how to use life rafts etc. After this we had a tour of the campus, which we have already seen having been here two days. It is quite small but has all sorts of departments, we were given a tour of the engineering department which has a huge building with all sorts of machinery and engine room simulators. We also saw the fire fighting school and the water sports centre.
This afternoon We had a meeting with the Clyde Marine training manager, he seems to be very friendly and helpful so I think we should get along ok with him for the next three years. He gave us all an envelope with a letter inside telling us which company would be sponsoring us through our cadetships. I have been assigned Chevron which I am really pleased about as they are a huge company and have nice modern ships and English (or American) speaking crews. Chevron by the way are a huge oil company who own others such as Caltex and Texaco so I will be sailing on tankers. Not sure where I will be a sailing yet, but chevron have interests in the USA and Canada, Norway, Denmark, UK, North sea, Canaries, and most places actually. See www.chevron.com .