http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkoAiBC6NUo

… or you can watch it directly on YouTube

FPD’s are discusssed in our ‘Lifeboat Drills – Preparing for Safety‘ DVD.

The film discusses the importance of carrying out, attending and learning from regular and safe lifeboat drills and includes advice on using FPD’s.

The film addresses the unacceptably high number of incidents in which crew have been injured, sometimes fatally, while participating in lifeboat drills. You can find out more about this film by clicking here.

The size of the world shipping fleet

• Top 20 Flag States
• World Fleet – Pie ChartWorld Fleet
• Worldwide Supply of Seafarers
• Top 20 Ship Owning Countries

The page concerned is HERE.

Nick’s suggestion of a ‘super-numerary Captain’, distanced from events but ready to take command should the worst happen, is a possible solution to consider for the future. Read on and discuss ..

“Should we be so eager to criticise and condemn those who have exhibited poor judgement or even dereliction of duty under the most testing of circumstances ? Who among us can, with any certainty, assert that they would not suffer the same collapse of character that appears to have beset Captain Schettino ? The history books unfortunately, yet unsurprisingly, are full of Schettinos.

Listening to the media reports from Italy this past week I’m sure can’t be the only one who has had an unnerving sense of déjà-vu. Ship in trouble, Captain vilified for his performance. I have a recollection of a Greek cruise accident in the past 10 years where the Captain left the ship to ‘direct operations from ashore’ whilst all his passengers remained onboard in considerable peril. Even in that most famous of wrecks, the Titanic, it is notable that in all the subsequent inquiries and in all the eyewitness accounts Captain Edward Smith plays little more than a walk on part during the unfolding tragedy and is not seen by anyone for hours – and this in a time when honour and duty were far more keenly observed than they are today.

Should we continue along the well-worn path of simply trusting in a) the infallibility of Captains and b) their courage and strength of character in the face of – often self-inflicted – adversity ? Einstein once said words to the effect of ‘to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result is the definition of insanity’. Maybe he had a point. Perhaps we should consider a new approach to post-disaster management, particularly if we’re going to let 4,000 people get on one ship. Passengers – and crew – have an absolute right to expect the very best from their senior officers and to trust to luck that your man will rise to the challenge is not much better than a roll of the dice.

Responsibility can help to focus the mind. Culpability, on the other, is likely to have the polar opposite effect. One can only wonder at the thoughts clouding Schettino’s mind last Friday night but I would imagine that ‘What have I done ?’, ‘What will they do to me ?’, ‘What will the company say ?’, ‘How did I let this happen ?’ must have figured quite prominently. Can a man who has taken his ship to the brink of tragedy really be expected to be the best person to rescue the situation with cool and rational thinking ?

If cruise ships were to carry a super-numerary Captain, one who has taken no part in the ships’ day-to-day operation or decision making processes and could in no way be held culpable for any accident that took place, wouldn’t he be better placed to exercise command and control should the unthinkable happen ? He would have the responsibility for managing the situation but without carrying the burdens of the ‘I’s’ in an emergency. It could be argued quite powerfully he would have the far more reliable and clearer judgment required by the situation. Of course contemporary experience is vital and therefore the practice would require that every Captain sail alternate tours as a Captain then as a super-numerary. Equally, such a practice would not reduce the importance of sound command and navigation decisions by the acting Captain but like it or not Captains are human, mistakes will be made and we can be absolutely sure that Costa Concordia will not be the last example we see of such incidents.

Cruise ship Captains are often regarded, unhelpfully, as omnipotent demi-gods and, like most rock stars, I have seen many who ultimately believe their own ‘press’. It’s why the media and public wail and howl so when one is found wanting of the honour and fortitude we romantically assume they all have. It is hardly surprising that a man like Schettino has been described as having an ego. I can barely think of one I sailed with that didn’t fit that description. With adulation comes ego, with ego self-belief and with self-belief an unhealthy sense of infallibility. All cruise companies, understandably, actively promote and cultivate this Captain worship and thereby, perhaps unwittingly, increase the risk factor of a Captain getting too big for his boots. I suspect few of us would be immune to hundreds or even thousands of people every week treating us like royalty – or better. As a Radio Officer I used to get dressed in my finest uniform once a week and take a bow in front several hundred fresh faces then go on to host a table in the dining room and am all too aware of the little ego thrill that can bring. Multiply that a thousand-fold and you come close perhaps to what a Captain experiences day-in day-out.

I am reminded of a conversation I had with my 5 year old son a few years ago. My daughter, then about 2 and a half, had been crying for some time at that volume and pitch only a youngster can sustain. Unable to calm her down my blood pressure was reaching hospitalisation levels. My son was sitting next to us, seemingly oblivious to the incessant noise and I asked him if his sister’s crying wasn’t driving him mad like it was me. He simply shrugged and said ‘I don’t mind’ and went back to fiddling with whatever toy had his attention. He was neither culpable nor responsible for his sister’s troubles and consequently felt no stress or anxiety at the sound of her wailing and went about his business as if she wasn’t even there. How I envied him that day.”

Thank you Nick.

Apologies for the poor quality image, a better one is on its way!

We’re pleased to tell you that we’ve reached an arrangement with the European Harbour Masters’ Committee to freely distribute a copy of their excellent DVD ‘The Missing Link, improving the mooring process’ with every copy purchased of our own Mooring Operations training DVD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Acvb6vGYJBk

“The aim of this film is to make the mooring process safer and more efficient and to prevent damage to terminal equipment and vessels. This is important to ship crews, linesmen, pilots, ship owners, ship masters, ports, Harbour Masters and terminal operators.”

The EHMC film shows the entire mooring process, from the production of a mooring line up to the vessel coming alongside, from the basic rules for a mooring plan to safe working loads and maximum holding capacities.

“The mooring process appears to be the forgotten link in the nautical chain. This became evident during the making of the EHMC Video the Chain, a film about strengthening the whole nautical chain through a greater awareness of all its’ links.
Mooring activities are a concern because of the number of accidents, the diminishing nautical skills on board ships and at terminals and the apparent lack of knowledge of all the components that affect safe mooring.”

The two films compliment each other perfectly, so we were very pleased when EHMC agreed to allow us to distribute their message to a wider audience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7HXy_kjIi0

To order your copy of ‘Mooring Operations – One Small Slip’ and receive a free copy of ‘The Missing Link, improving the mooring process’, you can either buy direct from our website or contact Nick Brown on +44 (0)1375 489 790 or sales@walport.com to discuss a fleet discount for multiple-copy purchasers.

Mooring operations continue to injure and kill. You owe it to yourself and your crews to give them the best possible training. Today.

The video’s the Chain and the Missing Link are both initiatives of Ben van Scherpenzeel for the European Harbour Masters’ Committee (EHMC), Regional Committee of the International Harbour Masters’ Association (IHMA), www.harbourmaster.org.
Please contact Ben van Scherpenzeel with any comments or questions; scherpenzeel.ehmc@harbourmaster.org
To obtain extra copies or information about the European Harbour Masters’ Committee please contact Ingrid Römers; romers.ehmc@harbourmaster.org.

“The only fact that is certain in the Costa Concordia disaster is the universal truth of all maritime disasters… human mistakes were made by multiple individuals.”

This is worth reading, not just from the point of view of considering both sides of the story, but for the discussion of the Human Element issues involved in the incident as a whole.

Recommended reading for anyone genuinely interested in the issues surrounding the accident.

“Critical thinking is important in the process of learning from our mistakes. There were a great deal of bad decisions made last Friday night, however a number of other decisions made by Captain Schettino, Micky Arison and most certainly the ship’s crew, saved many lives that day.”

The article is HERE.

The opinion expressed is close to my own feelings on the subject, hence my decision to publish the text:

“The Costa Concordia has been on her side against the Italian island of Giglio for about one week now. This incident is the last in a long line of such tragedies, which date back to the Titanic and include such names as Andrea Doria, Herald of Free Enterprise, Estonia, Arkadia etc. however, there has not been such an incident which is, most definitely, the result of human error.

The captain of the Costa Concordia – Francesco Schettino, has already admitted that he was sailing away from the recommended course, for various reasons. The owning company Costa Crociere has also quickly distanced themselves from the causes of the disaster, also blaming human error. Meanwhile, the Captain has been arrested and placed under house arrest pending court proceedings. He also appears to have abandoned the ship before all passengers were safe, with a rather bizarre comment that he “tripped up and fell into a lifeboat” – sounds a bit ‘Ismayesk’ to me.

(For those too young – this refers to J Bruce Ismay, the owner of the Titanic, who managed to obtain a place in a lifeboat, while so many passengers stayed on-board and faced certain death. He eventually committed suicide).

The fact that the Costa Captain has now proved to be inadequate at his job at a time when his expertise was most required, beggars the question – ‘How did he get the job in the first place and how did he get a command?” – Surely Costa Crocier’s personnel department (sorry HR) must look at their procedures for both recruitment and promotions.

As this week ends (Friday January 20^th) it appears that the search for survivors is over and it is simply a recovery operation for the remaining missing people, which will now be dealt with – a hard task for the Italian navy divers (who have come out of this tragedy with flying colours and the highest praise.)

There have been so many comments from people to bring in new procedures to prevent this type of incident happening again. It was easy with the Titanic – there should be sufficient lifeboats and life rafts on-board for all passengers and crew, and the Herald of Free Enterprise – there should be monitoring equipment on the bridge to show that the front door is closed. In both cases new maritime laws were introduced. But how can you legislate for human error? All you can do is make sure the personnel on-board the ship are adequately trained and adequately assessed for the owner (and passengers) to be confident that the ship is in good hands.

Many pundits are also questioning the size of the modern-day cruiseship – are they too big for an effective evacuation to be. Obviously, if a vessel goes onto its side, the launching of lifeboats becomes harder – if not impossible. Two points – can lifeboat manufacturers come up with an answer? Or can ship designers come up with a way by which the vessel does not go onto its side. After all, the gash in the Costa Concordia’s side was of little difference to the gash on the Titanic. So how did the Costa Concordia roll over while the Titanic went down by her head?

Although this is the first major disaster occurring in the cruiseship industry since such large vessels have been introduced, the effect upon the cruise industry is sure to be enormous. Immediately, the share price in Carnival Cruises fell by some 20% and many pundits were predicting that the cruise industry will lose some US$85-90m in cancelled bookings. That is inevitable and it will be up to the cruise ship operators as to how to redress this problem. There will certainly be more emphasis (if that is possible) placed on life boat drills in the immediate future.

So what will happen to the wreck? The first task will be to remove the ship’s fuel oil to prevent any environmental problems if this oil leaks. The next task will be to salvage the ship. Many believe she can be salvaged and repaired (the Exxon Valdez suffered massive damage to her bottom area – but was repaired). But who is going to book a cruise on a ship which has sunk once?

Therefore, salvage is the only answer – this operation likely to involve cutting the ship into pieces and removing those pieces from the area one by one. This is likely to take many weeks, if not years – so the wreck of the Costa Concordia will be a reminder for many months to all those who sail– never take the sea for granted!”

I think the key point here is “never take the sea for granted”. It must be remembered that a cruise ship is first and foremost a ship, and a hotel second. Operators, crew and passengers forget this at their peril.

Chris Young

“On the afternoon of 8 January 2011, the passenger vessel Volendam was alongside in Lyttelton. Some of the crew were carrying out routine maintenance on one of the starboard lifeboats when at about 1400 the forward lifeboat fall wire parted and 2 crew members fell into the water; the lifeboat remained suspended by the aft lifeboat fall wire.”

I won’t go into the details of the incident here, you can read the report summary HERE and download a PDF copy of the report from HERE, but the following points (taken from the report) are of importance to all vessel operators and crews:

Key lessons:

• A wire rope is only as good as its weakest part. Unless an inspection covers the entire length of the wire, a thorough inspection has not been made.
• Wire ropes in a marine environment require frequent and thorough lubrication to prevent corrosion; otherwise other measures will need to be taken to prevent premature failure of the wire ropes.
• When selecting a securing point for a safety harness, consideration should be given to its vulnerability in the event of other catastrophic failures.
• A personal buoyancy device should always be worn when working outside a ship‟s rail.
•  Robust job hazard analysis (JHA) can prevent injuries and save lives, but only if the procedures that result are then followed by the crew.

Having myself been in a davit-stowed lifeboat during filming of our Lifeboat Drills training film, I can vouch for the advice about wearing a buoyancy aid. Although we were as certain as we could be that the equipment was safe, neither I nor the film crew were prepared to take the additional risk.

I would recomend that anyone involved in vessel management or maintenance reads the report and passes on the lessons to their crews.

]]> http://www.walport.com/public/blog/655/12th-asia-pacific-manning-training-conference/feed/ 0 http://www.walport.com/public/blog/649/a-new-report-available-from-sirc/ http://www.walport.com/public/blog/649/a-new-report-available-from-sirc/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:11:36 +0000 Chris Young http://www.walport.com/public/blog/?p=649

New Shipboard Technology and Training Provision for Seafarers

There is a new report available on the Seafarers International Research Centre (SIRC) website.

Titled “New Shipboard Technology and Training Provision for Seafarers” the report looks at how seafarers deal with modern shipboard technology and their needs as regards suitable and effective training.

You can download a copy of the report from this page.

Authored by Prof. Helen Sampson and Dr Lijun Tang and funded by The Lloyd’s Register Educational Trust* Research Unit (The LRETRU) the paper covers topics such as:

• The identification of training needs
• Training Adequacy
• Computer Usage and Training

“In tackling the underlying causes of such ‘human error’, training has a key role to play. This is generally the case with regard to the provision of cadet training but is also of relevance to the on-going training of seafarers at sea (including pilots). One of the challenges for maritime education and training (MET) colleges ashore, and for ship management companies, ship owners, and crew supply companies, is the introduction of new technology aboard many vessels.”

Some of the technology discussed includes:

• Global Positioning System (GPS)
• ARPA/RADAR
• Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS)
• Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS)
• Main Engine Manoeuvring and Control System (MEMCS)

The report is a worthy read, and well worth the time for anyone interested in the subject of effective maritime crew training. Once again, you can download a copy of the report from this page.

As well as this new report, there is a wealth of research available free on the SIRC website. I recommend you pay them a visit …