Fire fighting advanced course on Damage Control School at Navy School (military) Alfeite, Portugal. I am the third counting from the "fire" (oil burning on top of water), helping with the hose.I was updating my curriculum vitae when it came to my mind that there are not too many professions where such a diversity of knowledge (certificated knowledge) is required as is with Merchant Marine Officers.
First we have the 3+1 years at the Nautical School, where disciplines range from the more “nautical” ones like Navigation, Communications, Oceanography, Naval Architecture, Shiphandling, Meteorology, Stowage and so on, to the more generic ones like Sociology, Economics, Maritime Law, Electronics, First Aid etc. and passing through the basic disciplines like Math, Physics, Chemistry, English, Technical Drawing and Gymnastics/Swimming and many others. All this to fulfil STCW requirements towards Certificates of Competence.
Then, to be able to climb onboard, we must possess a myriad of extra certificates that must be acquired through experience or extra shore based courses. On tankers and passenger vessels this can easily get to the two digit figures…
Let’s take the example of tankers:
Certificate of qualification to perform specific duties on tankers (oil, chemical and lpg); Operation of crude oil washing/inert gas systems certificate; Certificate of proficiency in survival craft and rescue boats; GMDSS general operators certificate; Certificate of qualification to take charge of medical care on board ships; Certificate of qualification to take charge of cargo operations on oil tankers; Radiotelephone operators general certificate; Certificate of qualification for the control of fire-fighting operations; Certificate of ARPA simulator; Radar simulator course certificate; Fire fighting advanced course certificate; Bridge resource management certificate; ISM course certificate and ISPS security officer certificate…
So, in a few words, you are required to be a Doctor, a Fireman, an IT expert, a Scientist, a Manager and also try to effectively and safely navigate your ship…
This is no news but I wanted to make a point on the ever present human error question that always arises on the aftermath of an accident. It is not possible for a normal person to control all these subjects at all the time, so the error chain will most certainly develop every now and then… helped by the increasing levels of fatigue that are being found on the investigations of such accidents.
There are no solutions for the diversity of knowledge to be mastered by Merchant Marine Officers because this is essential for the safe and efficient operation of ships nowadays. Nevertheless, there are solutions for the fatigue issue, if a different approach is to be taken by regulators… I will come back to this subject soon.
First we have the 3+1 years at the Nautical School, where disciplines range from the more “nautical” ones like Navigation, Communications, Oceanography, Naval Architecture, Shiphandling, Meteorology, Stowage and so on, to the more generic ones like Sociology, Economics, Maritime Law, Electronics, First Aid etc. and passing through the basic disciplines like Math, Physics, Chemistry, English, Technical Drawing and Gymnastics/Swimming and many others. All this to fulfil STCW requirements towards Certificates of Competence.
Then, to be able to climb onboard, we must possess a myriad of extra certificates that must be acquired through experience or extra shore based courses. On tankers and passenger vessels this can easily get to the two digit figures…
Let’s take the example of tankers:
Certificate of qualification to perform specific duties on tankers (oil, chemical and lpg); Operation of crude oil washing/inert gas systems certificate; Certificate of proficiency in survival craft and rescue boats; GMDSS general operators certificate; Certificate of qualification to take charge of medical care on board ships; Certificate of qualification to take charge of cargo operations on oil tankers; Radiotelephone operators general certificate; Certificate of qualification for the control of fire-fighting operations; Certificate of ARPA simulator; Radar simulator course certificate; Fire fighting advanced course certificate; Bridge resource management certificate; ISM course certificate and ISPS security officer certificate…
So, in a few words, you are required to be a Doctor, a Fireman, an IT expert, a Scientist, a Manager and also try to effectively and safely navigate your ship…
This is no news but I wanted to make a point on the ever present human error question that always arises on the aftermath of an accident. It is not possible for a normal person to control all these subjects at all the time, so the error chain will most certainly develop every now and then… helped by the increasing levels of fatigue that are being found on the investigations of such accidents.
There are no solutions for the diversity of knowledge to be mastered by Merchant Marine Officers because this is essential for the safe and efficient operation of ships nowadays. Nevertheless, there are solutions for the fatigue issue, if a different approach is to be taken by regulators… I will come back to this subject soon.
2 comments:
eu cheguei na terrinha, e por incrivel que pareça estava preparando um post sobre este assunto e tal como por transmição de pensamento tu escreves o que de mais real esta acontecendo no shipping mundial em termos de certificação e requesitos necessarios aos oficiais maritimos para que possam de uma forma legal exercer suas funções a bordo dos navios, eu estava lendo o ultimo relatorio do MAIB uma instituição inglesa que tem como função encontrar e estudar as causas que levaram certo acidente a acontecer, por incrivel que pareça ou não algumas conclusões alcançadas nos acidentes estudados apontam na sua maioria para causas com origem em erro humano. Directamente ou indirectamente os acidentes ao terem origem em erro humano, leva-nos a pensar que alguma coisa esta mal visto que com tanta certificação e treino os maritimos não so os oficiais de nautica mas também os de maquinas têm arcado com as culpas mais imediatas da grande maioria dos acidentes. Como é obvio outras causas forem encontradas e estudadas tais como fadiga nas tripulações, maus procedimentos e rotinas, equipamentos velhos e ultrapassados e falhas tecnicas. Como sabemos um acidente nunca ou quase nunca é originado por um só facto mas sim por uma cadeia de eventos que ao se conjugarem levam ao acidente, as consequências são sempre ou quase sempre desastrosas.
Os super-homens só aparecem nos filmes e genios normalmente não andam ao MAR, J. Saraiva
Olá José e benvindo de volta ao Atlântico Nordeste...e ao The Pilot Boat em directo sem "intermediários"!
Espero este fim de semana "postar" algo sobre a questão da gestão da fadiga, mas como sabes o espaço é nosso e por isso "dá-lhe" com força!
Abraço grande,
Daniel
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