Merchant Navy College Assignment.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Ben.
Never got to go through all the studying so can't comment. Enjoyed my 16 years on deck and wouldn't have changed a day of it. Good luck and hope you enjoy your time at sea as all of the crew on this site did. Let us know how you get on.
Cheers Des

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[Ben Dennison]

Hello all,

I'm typing this message on board Stena Superior while anchored in Singapore. What a ship! Definitely worth a google if you have chance...She's beautiful. I joined last week and managed to get 5 days in a 4* hotel right in the centre of Singapore while the ship was delayed. Absolutely loved the city although $13 for a pint seemed a little extreme and has taken away the majority of this months wage haha!

It's great to be out the classroom and on the sea. The Crew are excellent and i'm pleased with the quality of officers on board, so far everything seems set up for a much more pleasant trip than my last. WiFi on board is also brilliant which is an added bonus!

Hope you are all well and i'll be sure to keep you posted with updates if i get chance. Look forward to hearing from you all, and if anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks, Ben.

[Keith at Tregenna]

Thanks for the update Ben,
hope all continues to go well.

Regards Keith.

[Ben Dennison]

Hello old friends,

It’s been over two years since my last post so I believe now is a better time that ever to give you folks an update.

It feels great to tell you all that now I’m a fully qualified officer having passed my orals in Liverpool towards the end of last year. It took two attempts, but i passed on the second try. The feeling of receiving my officer of the watch certificate can’t be described, most probably one of the happiest moments of my life!

My first attempt (at the orals exam) was a complete disaster and it really knocked my confidence as I felt like I was wrongly failed over something really silly, this was difficult to understand (why someone would deny me a ticket after such a silly question) and it really made me consider how a change to the curriculum/oral test should occur.. I feel that so much outdated content is included and a real shift should be undertaken to help ensure British officers are completing the course fully prepared for modern ships, not the ships that our lectures sailed on decades ago. I understand this opinion may be controversial and I’m not saying that basic seamanship should not be taught Eg- cel nav, nautical maths, sextants but why should we spend multiple days learning about dericks on 1950 cargo ships when very few are still knocking about.

I confidently think that if our older teachers did a contract on a modern day ship they would certainly promote the use of ecdis training, ship handling, col regs/collision avoidance + various other topics that I believe are far more important. However, Im sure most of you are aware the shipping industry is very reactive rather than proactive which leads me to believe we may have to wait for the next big disaster to happen before we see any changes.

I have just read through the whole thread and I must admit it brings a smile to my face looking back to 2015, when I was a 17yo sixth form student completely oblivious to the adventure that lied ahead of me. I write this post as a 22 year old 2 weeks away from joining my first ship as an officer.

Although, I’m unsure on what precisely made me decide merchant navy was the career I wanted to pursue, I really hope that you guys can appreciate how your answers to my initial question most likely influenced me greatly. I would like to Hugely thank you all for this. A lot of the people I met at college/sea were influenced by fathers or family who sailed however, I was one of the small minority of people who were essentially jumping in a the deep end, and as strange as it sounds all of you managed to fill this “father” role by describing to me roughly what life at sea was like and I’m eternally grateful for this.

To conclude, I’d like to share some great news I received recently. My company NMM have decided to send me to what I would call one of their flagships ‘stena crystal sky’ an 300m LNG tanker which many people in my company dream of sailing on. Fingers crossed, this will be the first vessel I sail on as an officer, I’m so chuffed about this!

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I hope this update reaches you all in good health and You’re keeping safe during these difficult times.

Ps- I apologise for such a lengthy message. Also, If there’s anything I can do for anyone such as answering questions or, even visiting one our ships if it happens to be visiting a local port, please do get in touch.


Many thanks,

Ben Denn J/O

[Doc Vernon]

Hello Ben
Thank you for the post and letting us know how things went.
That sounds great and i can imagine you joy of getting the pass, and now being able to persue in real time something that you wished and worked for ,so very good luck in your new found Career ,i am sure you will have many many Years of good practice and one day we may yet see another post from you with a Promotion ! Captain perhaps!!
Cheers go safe and Enjoy the High Seas!
Nice Ship !

[j.sabourn]

Ben , every generation had your thoughts on old fashioned ways and methods. In some of ours were examiners who were sailing ship men and the likes of boxing compasses in points and quarter points seemed crazy to some of us. you will find as you progress through your career every little bit of knowledge you can retain may be useful in the future for situations you may find yourself in. Never scoff at knowledge , believe what you must and stick with it. Job satisfaction is the main thing for the type of work you do, no matter what you do. You have the verve for it and hope you stay with it. The best of luck to you and and all others who think as you do .Best Regards JWS.

[Ivan Cloherty]

Ben, first and foremost thank you for your consideration for getting in touch, it is appreciated, secondly congratulations on your achievements and I hope your new vessel meets your dreams. As the other ancient mariner says we also considered some of the learning and questions in our times surplus to modern day requirements (in our time) but not only was it a brain exercise it will (although you may not believe it now) prove useful in circumstances you cannot currently envisage. Of the 55,000 vessels currently sailing around the world over 50% still have derricks using the old Union-Purchase system, much quicker than cranes in most cases on light cargoes, although you may never sail on such a ship, your ingrained knowledge may help others who do at some unexpected time in the future.

Happy sailing and welcome to a happy band of brothers (and to be pc ..sisters) who enjoyed traversing the worlds oceans, even though at times we wished we were somewhere else, but have memories a shore wallah cannot envisage or cherish.

Cheers

[John Arton]

Glad that Ben is enjoying his time at sea and seeing new parts of the world.
Some of his comments regarding lecturers are a bit off though as they can only teach what is laid down in the STCW syllabus as interpreted by the MCA with content administered by the SCA.
As regards orals, colregs were and always will be the backbone of orals for O.O.W. certificate.
ECDIS FAMILIARISATION is mandatory but can be done onboard by CBT, the biggest problem with it is how different manufacturers systems and display are presented, in a similar manner think how different radar manufacturers used different symbols and controls to operate their equipment, especially so with the introduction of ARPA.
As regards Derrick use, as Ivan rightly pointed out there are many vessels, not just cargo ships, that are fitted with Derrick's. I have seen modern tankers and bulkers fitted with Derrick's for hose handling and /stores and spares handling. A knowledge of Derrick work and the forces involved easily translates into correct use and maintenance of cargo cranes.
As to old fashioned lecturer's the ones I worked with only 8 years ago were all young 30-40 year olds in the main and came from a wide background in shipping but as said previously you can only lecture in what the syllabus require. You can use your experience and knowledge to enhance your lectures with personal experience on many subjects to make the lectures more than just dry teaching following syllabus requirements.As for ship handling that is extensively covered in the Mates syllabus.
Rgds
J.A.

[j.sabourn]

I think Ben will do ok, he has a mind which he uses maybe wisely or unwisely as the case may be. He will find his feet in his own way and make his own decisions the way it should be on any ship. He will soon learn that a shipboard life offers many decisions and this will come with his seatime. One of the hardest jobs in any close environment is managing men , for the pc men = both sexes . He will also learn this maybe easily or the hard way, but is all part of the learning curve. He. Will have to learn to use people , who will also try to use him. I am still a true believer that this should be learned at sea before certification , but the modern way has to be accepted. I am just pleased that I lived in the era that I did , even though I complain about it at times , maybe I just like moaning . Cheers JS

PS ref. To the price of beer in Singapore he must be. Drinking in the hotels where it was always expensive . Is half the price in the sidewalk cafes in the Chinese and Indian community areas. One of the beauties when I stayed in Singapore working from Australia conditions , crews taking ships back there always got 3 days RNR in a hotel all paid and were given $100 dollars a day spending money , previous to my coming out to Oz it had been 5 days. but conditions must have been on the downward slope even then, I doubt today they still exist . Anyone know ? JWS

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Congratulations Ben, hope you always have a safe passage and good food as it maketh a man. Climb the ladder but at all times enjoy.
Cheers Des