The complete chief officer 6 the chief seaman of the ship

6 The Chief Seaman of the Ship I ho basic skill of the profession is not navigation, it is seamanship An embarrassing word today when, in the defined functions or areas of knowledge for the granting of certificates under STCW, there is no function of 'seamanship' So, where and when are we training the modern officer in seamanship? Certainly not In the 4-6 week module at nautical college before you come to sea which leaves the seatime on ships, of which a total of year will be spent before becoming an officer Of that time onboard, regulations say that months should be spent on the bridge, leaving months to learn the basics of seamanship before becoming an officer Your time as Third Officer will be spent in dealing with the safety equipment in addition to watchkeeping duties, and as Second Officer your time will be consumed with charts, publications and paperwork, which will leave little time for advancing your knowledge of the practice of seamanship There are some companies that recognise this as a problem and try to fill the basic gap with their own schemes, but unfortunately such companies are few and far between On many ships, despite the efforts of those onboard, training is not adequate as trade patterns, passenger comforts (especially on ferries and cruise ships) and the reduced or minimal manning of the whip all restrict what can be done For these reasons, basic seamanship training, the foundation of the profession, can be sadly lacking and neglected 6.1 Ship Knowledge There are two phases of ship knowledge to consider The first is general seamanship, which is applicable to any ship regardless of type The second is the ship knowledge pertinent to a particular ship It will be expected that you have a general knowledge of the cargo systems for the ship you are on The workings of the hatches, cranes, pumps, anchors and stability should all have been part of your training in the past, both at sea and in college 35 In this application of seamanship you could have a problem, particularly if you have been trained in a country with no pre-sea training and you have had little experience on deck as a cadet This could well have created a considerable gap in your knowledge and, while you may have the theory, you will not have the practice If this is the case, not be afraid to ask You may display your lack of knowledge but you are showing your common sense in dealing with the problem, not causing damage or, worse, endangering personnel by your lack of ability The Bosun is the obvious man to lean on and you will not have been the first Chief Officer to throw yourself on his experience With regard to the practice of the ship, the other officers of your department may have valuable knowledge and this you should also draw on In fact, it doesn't matter who you ask if it benefits your ability and, therefore, your department and the ship Finally, not be wary of asking the Captain If you not know something or have little or no experience of a task or action you are expected to accomplish, then tell him You might get a scathing remark, but hopefully you will also be told how to what is required Simple rope work can leave a good impression 36 Don’t forget your seamanship library This is essential reading regardless of your experience as none of us knows It all Thomas Stowage', Jack Isbester's 'Bulk Carrier Practice" and the many tanker and chemical books that are available are all required for your cargo knowledge A good seamanship and ship maintenance manual is also essential for your study Combine the books with the practice, and with willingness to listen and take advice, and you will get a head start on the path to becoming a competent Chief Officer Here is a small tip If you can a little fancy rope work or make a good stitch in canvas work, you will be amazed at how impressed the crew can be You probably know very little about either in reality, but seeing the Mate making a Turk's Head or a canvas cover for a book on the bridge quickly has them spreading tales of your seamanship prowess It doesn't take long to learn a few seamanship items such as these Of course, far more impressive would be your ability to inspect a wire splice and, if you are not satisfied, showing them how to it properly! Make sure things are done properly There are many aspects of seamanship still required, regardless of how modern the ship is Know what is correct and not tolerate the incorrect You know the correct way to throw a heaving line, or should do, so why should you allow a crew member to throw it the wrong way? When lashings are put on, make sure It is in the correct manner Mooring ropes should be put on the bollards properly If you have brass on the bridge or in the accommodation then have it polished If you not have enough men or time for this, then paint it Anything is better than unpolished brass What I am trying to illustrate here is that you should establish your intolerance of slackness and poor seamanship Once this is done, you will see a marked improvement in the general aspect of your department and in their attitude to you 37 Of course, if you took over an excellent department in the first place, possibly the hardest situation to inherit, then you will carry on maintaining it You must read your ship like a book Just as a book is constantly telling you different things, as a Chief Officer you should notice what is not correct on your decks A daily walk round in the morning is essential Just because something was right yesterday does not mean it is right today With an understanding Captain you might be able to walk round in the afternoon as well, not only to see your ship but to see the work that your crew have been doing 38 The old adage was that a ship was judged by its boats Not so long ago, some hips still carried the Captain's gig and he was rowed ashore in places like Aden, showing off the smartness of the boat and crew Agencies in places like Hong Kong also competed in the appearance of their boats Ships and their crews' abilities can no longer be judged by such displays or even the outward appearance of the ship However, the good order of the boats and the crews' ability to use them is still vitally important The maintenance of the lifeboats and rescue boat, if you are fortunate to have one, must always have priority over other work If your Captain allows them to bo lowered to the embarkation deck at sea, that is excellent Many not or the company regulations state that this is not to be done This puts pressure on your schedule in port as that is when these boats must be lowered 39 Permission to launch boats must be obtained in most harbours and I would make a point of automatically asking the Master to request this in every port, provided you are not port hopping once a week or more Either way, you should aim to have one of your boats in the water at least once a month and a boat lowered to the embarkation deck at least every two weeks This is for you to decide and, out of courtesy, advise the Master of your intentions, particularly if you are the safety officer Think of your job as being to ensure that the Master has his boats well maintained and in good order, with a crew well trained in launching them and in the use of them Enclosed lifeboats can only be used in calm conditions in harbour or you may never get them back For stern launched lifeboats there is now a tendency to recommend not launching for exercise This is nonsense Of course they have to be exercised and the crew launched in them to give confidence in the boat and its abilities in case the necessity arises for doing it for real I used to launch these regularly in harbour without any problems If you have a rescue boat it is essential that it is exercised regularly with the same crew You will have crew who are supposed to have been trained in its use, but be careful here The training that they have received is very basic and carried out in calm conditions Choose the crew with care Those who are in the crew, and the minimum is three, should have received basic training in the use of the rescue craft Apart from that, it is useful if they can swim as this will give them more confidence in the boat It is essential that you have first-hand experience of their abilities and this can only be achieved by you going away in the boat with them Regardless of your experience, they will look to you for guidance in boatwork because of the assumption that you cannot have been promoted to Chief Officer without having acquired a reasonable knowledge of it This, as you know, is not so if you come from a nation that has abandoned 40 pre-sea training If this is the case, and you have junior officers that have had this training, you might be better off asking them to assess and train the boat crews Either way, your crew must be capable of taking the rescue boat away in a seaway and somehow you are going to have to achieve this At least by regular boatwork they will gain confidence in their abilities and in the skills of lowering the limit, taking it away and recovery Ensure that at all times when the rescue boat is used the crew are wearing their survival suits and inflatable lifejackets and that they have full communication with the ship With regard to the lifeboat/rescue boat, this is a different matter While you must exercise them in still harbour conditions, it is not possible to exercise them in a seaway owing to the difficulty of recovery At times you will find recovery in the harbour difficult enough What could save you considerable problems is having rope pennants that can be used to hook onto the falls and onto the boat, so the boat can be recovered using these without the difficulty and dangers of having to engage the falls directly onto the lifeboat The lifeboat can then be off when up in the davits and the falls re-engaged It was thought that an engineer should always accompany the lifeboat when it was sent away, but this is not necessarily the case All crew should be able to operate the engine and there is no reason why one of the deck or engine ratings cannot be trained sufficiently well to operate the engine correctly After all, the engines are no different to those on thousands of leisure boats and those owners not seem to have too much trouble! Take time to examine the lifeboats for getting stretchers inside and for adequate ventilation Many of them fill with engine fumes if the doors are secured, which they have to be in heavy weather Also, it is very probable that the engine noise prohibits communications inside and the engine controls cannot be reached by the coxswain Some of the designs are atrocious Although the boat is equipped with oars, it is most likely that these cannot be used properly through the ports provided in the hull as quite often they will have to be put into the holes from the outside and the draught of the boat makes the oars' angle of entry into the water too steep to be effectively controlled Have the crew try to use them and then at least you will know if they are useless It is wise to know the limitations of your boats before you have to use them for real 6.3 Boat Maintenance While the maintenance of the boats will be listed in the maintenance schedule, the specific crew members doing this maintenance are not Considering the importance of these boats to you, I suggest that you consider ensuring that the same crew members are responsible for doing this task There are solid reasons for this They become familiar with the boats and the equipment and they become more responsible in their work ethic if they know that they can be held to account for any deficiencies In addition, an officer should frequently inspect the boats, a good time being at the regular boat stations when the officer can give instruction in the equipment and its use to assembled crew Ensure that there is an established routine for running up the engines of all your boats regardless of type and, if you carry spare outboards, the same must be done for them 41 Don't forget your battery checks, every week without fail Your lifeboats will have oars and in open boats these can be used, with crews exercised in this These are also provided for enclosed boats, which is a bit like providing sails for your ship Even so, they must be maintained and this means occasionally oiling them, especially in open boats where they are exposed to the sun Make sure that your rowlocks are still in place on their chains These chains are subject to rust and may need replacing From experience, rowlocks without chains disappear 6.4 Boat Stores and Equipment The boat stores have to be checked frequently, particularly the favoured theft items Pilfering from the boats goes on not just from the shore workers but from your own crew Stupid as it may seem, even the ships on standby and rescue in the North Sea, where the men absolutely depend on the fitness of the boats, encounter this problem It is tempting to lock the access if it is an enclosed boat I agree that this is a good idea in port but, if it is done, you must ensure that the boats are immediately unlocked on sailing If you have open boats you may believe that all the stores should be removed to a nearby locker However logical this might sound, you cannot this or accept it being done The boats are required to be instantly ready day and night, and that means that all the required stores have to be in place The open boats should not be covered I know there are many reasons why a cover seems a good idea, but I assure you the delay in getting the covers off on a stormy night could mean the difference between getting off or going down with the ship If you have covers, while you keep them off at sea, they can be put on prior to arrival in port For some strange reason, while the regulations require us to have fishhooks in the boat, boats are not designed with a toilet and there is no mention of sick bags or lavatory paper In the average enclosed plastic boat, after a few hours, things are going to be extremely messy, particularly in high seas With no bilges there is the question of what we are supposed to with our waste matter, but meanwhile it might be an idea to ensure that each boat at least has a supply of lavatory paper end bags 42