Cruise ship

[jimmys]

If the members follow the link to the white list they will see what countries fully comply with IMO concerning certification and training

http://www.imo.org/conventions/conte...5&topic_id=289

Not very good reading.

regards
jimmy

[happy daze john in oz]

Cruise I was on here last August and every time we went to eat be it self seve or the restaurants we had to use a hand cleaner first. just a simple squirt of some form of disinfectant. Some of the cruise ships here have disinfectant pads in the air conditioning system, but not sure what that does. Must say all the cooks wore disposable gloves at all times.

[jimmys]

Hi John,

I am in a number of Glasgow area hospitals with my wife and they all use similar dispensers to which you describe. It has an alcohol base smell. All the nurses hand wash regularly wear disposable gloves, and they are all now moving to this uniform they call "scrubs", a green sort of smock and trousers and washable ward shoes.
They are having great problems keeping infections down and that is in a hospital environment.
A cruise ship a lot more difficult. I think as has been said training is the answer. But can you train the punters, I dont know.

regards
jimmy

[robpage]

Food industry has used alcohol dispensers for years , Gel or wipes . Does the local Enviomental Health still inspect these ships in prt . Portsmouth used to check the ferries regularly ?

[jimmys]

I am not sure what happens now, a lot of the inspection and survey of ferries has been given to Class (Lloyds etc). At the time I worked for the MCA, in service inspections of ferries were carried out by teams. A team usually consisted of a Nautical, an Engineer and the Inspector of Ships Provisions (ISP). For south coast ferries the team came from somewhere like Liverpool, Newcastle or Glasgow.
The ISP looked at Galleys, dining areas, bars, fridges. The Nautical started at the top and through the log books and interviews picked up accidents, illnesses etc. I started at the bottom and looked at the systems of the ship with the Chief or Second. The other two called me if needed.
You should note these type of Inspectors are different in law, no one has a right to silence or not to supply all necessary information to them. Information coming from these teams cannot be used to prosecute anybody, it can only be used for ship and passenger safety.
The Inspectors can detain the ship or issue prohibition or improvement notices to the Master. These teams can be used on any ship in UK ports. Foreign flag or not.
The Nautical is usually an Examiner of Masters and Mates and he goes through the deck department like a dose of salts, with the three of us it did not take long to find problems. We did not need Environmental Health to tell us what was wrong with ships.

regards
jimmy

[happy daze john in oz]

All cruise ships sailing from Oz are subject to full inspections by the health authorities. But thta does not stop people getting sick, bloods come on board with infections, some of which are hard to get rid of in a confined space such as a ship.

[robpage]

The time spent in the food processinbg industry where one mistake can close a plant forever and kill a few along the way , has give me a good insight o a few of these bugs including E-coli . The inspectors only see what a good system lets them see , you don have to be an epidemiologist to see the pattern . When you are feeding thousands , and we used to produce over a million units a week , a small mistake is a killer of hundreds . One man not washing hands properly , and very few actually do properly including me , can kill . I have a
natural suspicion of underpaid men , with a concern for costs , corners get cut easier . I after ten years of Asian crews and ten years + of british xrews , know that despite being an argumantative awkward bunch , the old British seaman used to do his job properly , ith a few moans , but it was done right . with other crews they moaned less but I dont think they were as efficiemnt . I could be wrong , things do change !

Rob

[happy daze john in oz]

One of the major problems today is the pristine society. Every thing now comes wrapped to the nth degree, there is no chance for the kids of today to build up a natural resistance to disease as they are so wrapped in cotton wool they never get the chance to become imune to anything. We survived because we did get the odd complaint but got on with it and got over it. As a esult I would say that we are fitter than many half our age and less likely to pick up some of thses odd mystery complaints.

[Neville Roberts]

you seem too be right John, I saw a report in the paper not long ago that the kids today are kept too clean and are not exposed too the bugs that we were , so not building up resistance too them. but up too about the 60,s the child mortality was quite high, a lot of families lost a youngster before they reached the teens.thats one of the reasons that we seem too be living longer now.

[jimmys]

Just another thing of interest. The old materials for fittings IE. coppers, brasses and close alloys actually have an effect of killing germs even if they are not cleaned. Modern plastics do not have this and need to be continually cleaned.
I see the Cunard vessel Queen Victoria heading from UK to New York has an outbreak. About thirty cabins so far. A punter has stated they are having trouble with the bogs. Cant flush, where have we heard this before. GovUSA say they cannot berth at NEW York if it gets to epidemic level 15% of punters. Following the OZ lead keep them out if infected. They are cleaning all public spaces, must be dirty!!!

regards
jimmy