Case Studies
Adèle Hawkes - Deck Officer
I write with just a few weeks' sea time left to gain and one college phase left to go before I sit the MCA oral exams. I hope the following gives an insight into the world of a deck cadet at Warsash Maritime Academy.
Where have I been?
The answer - lots of places. My first ship was a nuclear fuel transporting vessel and took me from Workington, Cumbria to Charleston, South Carolina then to Szczecin in Poland. On this trip we were chased by the remnants of a hurricane for a few days which caused things to move that would not normally have moved. One of the more memorable moments was being attacked by crockery, dividers and parallel rulers while on watch; the ship took a large roll, the mugs around the bridge sink and the equipment on the chart table shot off and hit me. I picked them up but when she rolled the other way the same items then hit the Second Officer. It was bumps and bruises all round by the end of that watch.
Some of the other more memorable and enjoyable events included the deck versus engineroom snowball fight that broke out on deck whilst alongside in Poland and bass fishing off the stern whilst at anchor in the USA.
Time on THV Patricia...
My first sea phase was completed with a stint in the Trinity House flagship, THV Patricia. This has been the most enjoyable of my trips to date despite being tasked with chipping ice off the wooden decks by hand. My second sea phase (Phase 4) was a very different story... three and a half months on board a cargo ship. It did have its plus points though, for example we spent days alongside in Auckland, Singapore, Tahiti and day trips to islands in the Pacific whilst we discharged cargo. We had monthly barbecues, birthday parties and a sauna with a plunge pool beside it. But we certainly earned them. Our cargo of organic copra was bug infested and we felt like we were being eaten alive. We also had to clean out all six cargo holds with nothing but a dustpan and broom each and an endless supply of black bin liners.
...on a cross channel ferry...
I then had six months at college before continuing my training on a cross channel ferry and discovered on that trip that passenger ships were not for me.
Whilst onboard the ferry I got a small glimpse into how very different the cadetships are between nations. The crew were predominantly Italian as was the previous deck cadet. He explained that in Italy cadets go through all the theory work first before being let anywhere near a ship, very unlike here in the UK where the college phases and sea phases alternate, with seven phases for deck cadets and five phases for engineering cadets.
...on a dredger...
About a month later I found myself in Great Yarmouth, on a pilot launch zipping out of the harbour and off to join my next ship, an aggregate dredger. I very much enjoyed my six weeks onboard the dredger and would have stayed on if I could.
What also appealed to me was that some of the banks we dredged were good places for finding fossils. Every once in a while, provided it was still daylight and the cargo had drained, the Second Officer and myself would venture onto the cargo and scour its surface for fossils, as well as put the fish that had got sucked up with the cargo back over the side. It was also on the dredger one of my more unusual bridge jobs came about. We seemed to get a large number of feathered stowaways on board, particularly on the bridge when the windows were left open, so I had the task of catching the birds (sparrows and finches mainly) and putting them out the windows. Those six weeks passed very quickly.
...on a fisheries protection vessel
As I write I am on a small fisheries protection vessel off the west coast of Scotland. Three weeks have already passed on this trip but I'm thoroughly enjoying it, it is definitely one of my better sea trips, despite the bad weather. I'm finding I'm getting more work done and being given the opportunity to do more hands on things such as taking charge of anchoring operations and passage planning than in most of the other ships in which I have served.
David Considine - Deck Officer
I am a third year, Irish Trinity House cadet, studying in the National Maritime College of Ireland.
My ship placements have made me very grateful that Trinity House have sponsored me for my cadetship. The variety of ships I have served on has been a clear advantage to me and ensured I enjoyed my sea time.
I first served 7
months on a Bankline general cargo vessel circumnavigating the globe
via Europe, the South Pacific, South Asia, and the Arabian Gulf,
including a seven week dry docking in Singapore. This was a baptism
of fire and I learnt much from this trip.
After that I spent four months on the Queen Elizabeth 2, where we had cruises around the Mediterranean, North Europe, Norway and Iceland including well into the Arctic Circle to the Svalbald Islands. This was an excellent learning experience as the standards on the bridge of that ship must be among if not the highest in the world. Also forever more I can boast about the time I hosted the captain's table on the QE2!
Then I spent three weeks on the Lord Nelson a sail training ship for the jubilee sailing trust where we sailed from southern Ireland to Portugal and then around to Spain and Gibraltar. This was one of the best experiences I had and improved my seamanship immensely. If a cadet can spend five days in a force 10 while his bunk is in the fore peak, and still enjoy himself he'll be alright in the end.
This followed by three weeks on the THV Patricia where I found the officers to all be some of the best I sailed with and extremely helpful to a still "green cadet". While onboard we experienced some very bad weather in the English channel which meant a lot of time at anchor sheltering. I still managed to take part in helicopter operations which I found fascinating.
From then I went back to college in Cork to study my academics and spent six months with principles of navigation, meteorology, ship stability and other various other subjects.
Now I'm off to Newfoundland for four weeks to study some short courses. I won a scholarship that is run between the colleges in Canada, Ireland, Sweden and Denmark. I am going to study Ice Navigation and Helicopter Fire Fighting all of which interest me.
Then
it's back home and back to collage for the safety courses.
I am very aware of the special opportunity given to Trinity Cadets in the variety of ships they can serve on. This is a major advantage and one that I know is recognized by employers as it has been mentioned to me. I have also noted that Trinity House cadets are held in very high regard wherever I have gone, and I have always tried to live up to that reputation.
Sean Collins - Engineering Officer
I gained sponsorship as an Engineering Cadet with Trinity House in 1989 following an interview at Lloyd's Chambers in London. I attended Warsash Maritime College for three years, obtaining the requisite sea time, during my middle year, on a Cunard passenger vessel, a BP very large crude carrier (VLCC) and a BP Product Carrier.
I left the employ of Trinity House in 1992 with a newly issued Combined Class 4 Certificate of Competency and a Higher National Diploma in Marine Engineering.
I obtained a berth with P&O Containers, later to become P&O Nedlloyd, and worked my way up the ranks, successfully achieving my Combined Class 2 in 1995 and Class 1 in 1998.
Leaving deep sea behind, I joined Condor Ferries in 1999, and a few years later I was promoted to Chief Engineer on their High Speed Catamarans operating to and from the UK, the Channel Islands and France. Following further promotion into the office as an Engineering Superintendent, I currently look after two of Condor's conventional ferries, the Commodore Goodwill, a RO-RO and the Commodore Clipper a RO-PAX carrying freight and passengers; both vessels operate from Portsmouth and the Channel Islands.
Since gaining my Class Certificates, I have continued to expand on my competencies, skills and commitments, being awarded an Open University Degree and a Diploma in Marine Surveying with Lloyds Academy as well as short courses such as ISM Auditor and Noise Measurement.
William Whatley - Deck Officer
A fantastic start to my career
The Corporation of Trinity House has given me a fantastic start to my career at sea.
I have recently qualified after 3 years of training. Twelve months of this time was spent at sea and unlike other companies I have had the benefit of serving on many different ships including THV Patricia and THV Galatea.
On starting my Cadetship, my first ship was the cruise ship, Minerva II which I joined in Rio de Janiero. This trip was very interesting indeed as we sailed for the Falklands, Cape Horn, Chile, San Francisco and the Panama. I signed off in New Orleans!
After a further period of study at Warsash Maritime Academy I was keen to get back to sea and knew it would be on a different ship but had no idea what it might be. For a short while it is like being a doctor on call waiting for someone to ring. Then: 'Join THV Patricia in Cowes in 2 days!' I had a great trip and enjoyed my time aboard very much indeed.
My next trip was totally different again - 5 months aboard the Shell Tankers VLCC Ocana carrying some 300,000 tonnes of crude oil. I joined the ship in Fujairah and visited ports such as Singapore, Rotterdam, Arzew (Algeria), and left the ship by helicopter in the Gulf of Mexico.
I spent a short spell on the sail training vessel, Lord Nelson, a barque operated by the Jubilee Sailing Trust. The trip started in London and we went to Middleburg, Margate and Rochester - quite different but a thoroughly enjoyable experience!
THV Galatea was my next appointment, another great trip. I learnt a lot from my time on board and it was good to see how such modern technology is used.
A few days after signing off THV Galatea I was sent to join Commodore Clipper, a cross channel ferry. This ship was running between Portsmouth, Guernsey and Jersey everyday. Whilst this may sound monotonous it provided some interesting collision avoidance situations, in crossing the shipping lanes every day.
Immediately following my time aboard Commodore Clipper, I transferred briefly to the Condor Express, an INCAT 86 fast catamaran. While I was only there for 2 days, it provided me with a huge insight into how fast ferries operate (at 42 knots).
After I had gained all of my required seatime, I returned to college for my final phase. This was 6 months of hard work, but there was a good reward at the end of it. Coming close to qualifying, I was actively looking for jobs, and I found that British Antarctic Survey was looking for a 3rd Officer. I applied and I got an interview, but there was only one problem - I would not qualify in time to join the ship. So, I brought my MCA oral exam forward by a month, passed and got the job!
My 3 years of training with Trinity House has led to this job of a lifetime - I am now exploring Antarctica aboard RRS Ernest Shackleton.
Tamsin Lambert - Deck Cadet
My name is Tamsin and I am a deck cadet, which, traditionally, is known as a gadget on ships.
I joined the Trinity House deck cadet program at the start of this year, and what a year it's been, from camping in the freezing cold in the Lake District to sailing into New York on the Queen Mary 2, life has not been dull.
One of the questions we asked each other in the first few weeks at college was why each of us chose to join the merchant navy. Most people's answers included the money, the chance to travel and the long periods of leave and family connections. For me, the first three of those answers do apply, but the short answer is that I simply can't imagine being happy in any other career.
My path to this point has been slightly longer than many people's, but the reason I am here now, is this ship, the TS Pelican of London.
I first sailed on a ship aged 16, sailing on the Pelican’s predecessor, the Astrid. After 2 months on board sailing in the 1998 tall ships race, I returned home and went back to school to do my A‐levels, going on to university and then finding myself in the working world with very little idea about where I wanted my career to go. During that time I tried all sorts of things making sandwiches managing a, wine shop, secretarial work and finally, working in a road management call centre. None of these jobs gave me the satisfaction I wanted from my work and I was wondering what to try next when a friend offered me the chance to go on a weeks sailing holiday in Scotland. That was my wake up call. Within minutes of being on the water again I knew that the sea was the answer and as soon as I got back I started saving to get a trainee place on a tall ship.
I flew out to join the Pelican in the Caribbean in march 2008, for a three month trans‐Atlantic voyage. Seven months later, having completed not only the trans‐ Atlantic but two tall ships races as well, I finally disembarked.
I had learnt a lot over those months, going from trainee crew to bosun's mate, I learnt not only about seamanship and sailing, but about my own abilities in leadership, teamwork and training. The officers on board had told me a lot about cadetships and the opportunities they could present and encouraged me to join in no uncertain terms, so as soon as I was ashore I started my applications.
Now I consider myself to have been extremely lucky at this point, not only did I get offered a place by my first choice company but I got a place in January less than two months after I'd first applied. I'd done my research on the internet and heard how others were getting on with their applications. It seemed that many people were waiting for months to hear if they'd even been considered by some companies. In fact, one company only got back to me in march, asking if I was still interested. Had this been the case across the board I would have been very discouraged, and I fear would have lost a lot of the enthusiasm I had at this time.
Meeting new people is always a little scary, but I needn't have worried with this lot, they're great. The college places a lot of importance on each new group bonding as a team and to do this they take them up to the Lake District for a camping weekend. I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn't too keen on this idea, mainly because it was January. However, our tutors kept us busy with exercises and games and we had no time to worry about the cold!
The first night was freezing cold but beautifully still and clear for our night walk, but the next morning the wind started to pick up. We did some group exercises in the morning and then were sent off in teams for a 15 kilometre walk in the afternoon. Just as it was getting dark and starting to rain the tutors called us up on the radio to say they were coming to pick us up. The wind had become so strong that our marquee tent had taken off so all hands were needed to strike camp and get everything into the vans. We got back to Fleetwood at about ten o'clock that night and were taken straight to the gym for another group exercise before gratefully falling into our warm bunks at midnight. Up bright and early the next morning, we did the rest of the weekend's games on the field in front of the college, much to our fellow students' amusement.
The term continued and Fleetwood soon felt like home. In lessons we covered Meteorology, Chartwork, Tides and Sailings, Basic Ship Construction and Cargo work, Rules of the Road, Maths and Study skills. We each found some classes easier than others and would get together in the evenings to help each other out.
We also visited a couple of ships in Liverpool, which helped with some of the concepts we’d learnt in construction and reminded us what we were aiming for too.
In addition to academic work the college runs an enrichment program, which starts with the weekend camping, and continues through the term with a variety of sports options in the evenings and sailing lessons one afternoon a week. Wetsuits are provided thankfully, and once everyone had got a hang of the basics we started racing around the lake. Birthdays were, of course an excuse to chuck someone in!
Fleetwood isn’t the most exciting of towns but we managed to keep ourselves entertained in the evenings, and the college encourages the students to organise events. As one of our group is a Scot we organised Burns Night in January, which was, of course, a chance for the boys to wear as short a skirt as possible.
Half way through the term we took a break from studies to do our short courses. First up was Firt Aid, learning how to put on bandages and apply CPR. Next was Personal Survival Techniques. Which I’d not been looking forward to; as a tall ship sailor, I have no problem with heights, but when it comes to jumping or falling off them I have a serious objection. It was only a three and a half meter drop into the pool, but my legs turned to jelly and my heart went into over drive. I did it though, three times in fact, but it never got any easier!
Next we had fire‐fighting, something we’d all been looking forward to enormously. Over the three days we learnt how to set up and put on our BA kit, used fire extinguishers and hoses on real fires and practiced search and rescue techniques in hot, dark, smoke filled spaces, it was scary sometimes, when a big flashover went over your head, but exhilarating as well. The last thing we did was a walkthrough in a space that had been totally filled with foam, which was a very strange experience, totally dis‐orientating.
In the two weeks after that we did seamanship and then boatwork, both of which I enjoyed tremendously. At the end of each week we had a practical and an oral exam. We’ll have to do these again as you can’t get the certificates for these courses until you have 6 months sea time, but it was good preparation for what was to come.
All too soon it was exam time, something I’d not had to do in a long time, but it still felt the same, the frantic scribbling of answers, the anguished biting of a pencil as the answer, that you know you know, eludes you. I’d done my revision though and my grades reflected that.
And then, we were off. My course mates were heading off to far flung destinations such Nigeria, Brazil and the Falklands, I went to Falmouth.
The Patricia is one of Trinity House’s three vessels, working around the UK maintaining buoys and lighthouses. My first few days were mostly spent painting and scrubbing as I gathered my bearings and found my way around. I soon started getting given other little jobs, such as splicing new lines onto a gangway, and within the week I was getting fully involved in the rest of the ships working life.
Getting out on the work boat to watch a racon beacon being replaced was amazing, most sailors see these buoys from a distance so it was only when we were right up next to it that I realised how big the structures are!
Most buoy work is done on the deck and I got to spend a lot of time down there with the crew, mostly just observing, but occasionally helping where I could. Although they didn’t let me wield a 14 pound lump hammer for some reason! I also got to spend time on the bridge with the officers, getting a very different view of the buoy work and learning how to use the bridge equipment to fix our position and fill out the log. I helmed the ship in a variety of weathers and situations, gaining my steering certificate as I did so. I even got to use the bow thruster and main propulsion in combination to hold the ship’s position while working.
I only spent a month on the Patricia but I certainly got to take part in and see a wide variety of work, from buoy bashing, to exercising the lifeboats, to a full helicopter operation. On top of that I had the chance to visit some beautiful places on the UK coast. OK, so Cauldy Island and Lundy aren’t quite as warm as the Caribbean, but they’re stunning, in their own windswept and rain soaked way! The crew were all extremely kind and helpful to a newbie cadet and I hope very much to return to the ship for another trip.
My second ship was a little bit bigger.
With a crew of nearly 1500, 14 decks, 9 fire zones, 26 stairways, (some with lifts, some without) 22 lifeboats, 9 deck officers and heaven knows how many more officers in the engine room, technical department and hotel department... I had a lot to learn on the QM2!
From Southampton we first went on a cruise around Norway and then returned to Southampton before heading for New York. My fellow cadet and I spent this first month working with the deck team, chipping, scraping, sanding, sealing, priming, painting and varnishing.
The ship looks immaculate, but it wouldn’t stay that way without the deck team’s constant work. We also joined them every morning and evening for mooring stations and whenever the ship went to anchor instead, we spent the day on the pontoons and boats with them.
We worked hard and that was rewarded with runs ashore, I got to see Oslo, Bergen and Hamburg for a few hours each, as well as some spectacular scenery as we ambled through the fjords and then, much to our excitement, we were given a full day to run around New York. The Chief Officer had even put it in our itinerary – Go Ashore, buy shoes and handbags. Who were we to argue?
Our second month on board was spent with the safety team. The ship has a dedicated Safety Officer who has 4 petty officers working under him. Two of whom are responsible for the fire fighting equipment and the other two the life saving apparatus. We went with them on their never‐ending rounds, inspecting and maintaining fire extinguishers, hoses, hydrants, lifeboats, BA kit and the like.
In addition to this we started taking part in fire drills, having spent the first month observing different teams in action.
When in New York this time the ship needed to open some void spaces for inspection and maintenance. Because of the dangers associated with entry into void spaces there are many checks and precautions that have to be made before, during and after an operation. We helped to set up the kit, open the space, ventilate it and once the inspection had been done, we were sent in to mop up the inch or so of water that was in the double bottom space. An inch or so doesn’t sound like much, but when spread over a wide area it amounts to quite a lot. This particular space happened to be below the engine room, and adjacent to some heated lube oil tanks, so it was extremely noisy and hot, as well as cramped.
It wasn’t all bad that month though, as the ship did a Mediterranean cruise in the latter half. I got to spend a day in Rome and a day in Florence and Pisa as a tour escort, as well as meeting up with an old friend in Gibraltar. The ship also regularly throws parties for the crew, which the Filipino lads especially love as they’ll take any excuse to get the karaoke machine out.
My last month on the QM2 was mostly spent on the bridge. I joined the 4 to 8 watch which is generally when the ship arrives and departs in port.
The bridge works a BTCC system for arrivals and departures, which stands for Bridge Team Command Control. Within this everyone has a set role such as Operations Director, Navigator, Co‐nav, etc. I was stepping into the Administrator role, and I was being thrown in at the deep end. The admin role consists of filling out the log, fixing the ship’s position on the chart, which can be as frequently as every three minutes, dealing with the telephone and ticking off and following up items on the checklist. At first it was a nightmare, but eventually it got easier, and I even managed a few moments to enjoy the view sometimes.
The ship was celebrating her 5th birthday that month with a UK cruise. This meant we were treated to several firework displays, and the bridge was a fantastic place to see them from.
I continued to take part in drills, my favourite of which was the boat drill, I got to got down in the FRC and had a go at driving it. It’s propelled by water jet so when in reverse it goes the opposite way to what you would expect, confusing, but I got the hang of it.
I also started to learn more about the ship’s stability, starting with taking soundings of tanks and using the stability computer, and then helping with bunkering. The guys on the bunker barge were really friendly and took me onto their boat to have a look at it.
Crossing the Atlantic in October brought some rough weather, we experienced 9 meter swells one day, which made the ship move about a bit and left some people a little green. I loved it though, watching from the bridge, we watched as the ship occasionally hit a wave at just the right moment throwing spray up so far it hit the windows, which, when you remember the bridge is 42 meters above the water, is quite impressive!
So what does the future hold for me?
Well, in the short term, another two years of study and sea phases. During which I’m looking forward to working on as many different types of ship as I can. After that, I’ll start working towards my mates ticket. I’ve not decided on which type of ship I’d like to work on in the long term, there are so many and I’d like to try a few more things out before I set too many goals.
It’s not all fun or easy, and there are times when you feel as if you want to jack it all in. When you’re dog tired and have to get up for watch, freezing cold on a pontoon and getting an earful from a passenger or baking hot in a dirty, wet space below an engine, you ask yourself why on earth you do this.
And the answer comes to you when you’re standing on the officers platform as you sail in to Hamburg, Lisbon or New York at dawn, or when you see dolphins leaping alongside the ship as she cuts through the water on a warm sunny day, or when you sit down with a drink and a few friends at the end of a long day, in the wardroom that’s only 100 meters from your bunk and you think, you could have been in an office all day and be facing a hour’s commute. At those moments, you remember, it’s worth it.
So would I recommend others to try a life at sea? Definitely.
