Singapore Accident

That study was 2 years after I retired. I and many others could have told them the same 10/12 years previous to this. I found one way round this short manning re bridge was to promote one of the ABs to Bosun/2nd. Mate. When I did this off my own bat which am quite legal to do, they made sure I had another watchkeeper on subsequent ships. When one reads these reports its like teaching your granny to suck eggs, they are always very pompous and supercilious as though they think they have discovered something, you expect to hear them shout Eureka I have found the fault, which everyone knew before they starting spending the taxpayers money on trying to find el dorado. Will anything be done, as we are now out of the practical side of it, my feelings go to those still at sea, however they should be old enough to shout enough is enough when they reach the point they think it should stop.The ball is now in their court, although they do have the added worry of employment held over their heads, which the shipowner has used often in the past and will most likely continue to use. Regards John Sabourn

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Captain Kong

Hi John,
Most ships these days do not have a seperate Chart room as they did many years ago..........

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Morning Brian. That observation was not directed at you , but was an initial reaction to the video.

Experienced many "cowboys " in my time , hence the words. They are nothing to do with anything you've
written.

Well Brian, it's also like this. Usually both bridge wing doors are shut, the windows are tinted, often with an additional plastic film on the inside (anti piracy). Some of the consoles are quite high when compared to a small, say, Filipino Officer and the Officer may not be easily visible. On some ships the Officer maybe seated at their work station, partially surrounded by Radars, ECDIS and various displays. The Bridge is designed to be operated like this.

Not answering the VHF, many reasons, generally down to operator error, wrong channel, volume turned down, not speaking English, listening to multiple channels/VHFs especially if English is not your first language.

So it is not always possible to always to tell if a Bridge is manned.

All the best
Andy

If the "NAVIGATOR" is on watch and is awake there is no reason whatsoever not to see another ship forard of the beam, or indeed abaft the beam looking for overtaking vessels.
I have never seen tinted glass on any ship. I always thought it was prohibited. The new cruise ships, QM2, Queen Eliizabeth, Rotterdam, Statendam and so on do not have tinted glass and again an open chart room within the wheelhouse.
Again at night an Aldis lamp shining through the wheel house and all around the Bridge still see no one. VHF Should alway be open on Channel 16 at all times. It is the calling and distress channel,
Now if these people are hiding behind consols what kind of a safe navigation watch are they keeping.???

Now if these people are not answering the VHF, not keeping a good look out, hiding behind some kind of consol, head stuck inside a RADAR not seeing any targets, , Wheelhouse lit up by a searchlight and ignoring it, they may as well be turned in asleep. They are totally useless and dangerous.
. What would you suggest to a "navigator" who refuses to alter course when he is the give way vessel? because the Captain is in bed and has told him"do not alter course for anyone."
I get out of the way.
These idiots do not need defending.
The first thing I always taught new Apprentices was "Never trust anyone outside that glass window."
Cheers
Brian.

Brian,
I am not defending anyone, I am saying it is very difficult to tell if a Bridge is manned or not when viewing it from the outside.

You are correct about it's illegal to have tinted windows, my mistake, perhaps it is the thickness of the glass or the plastic film on the inside that gives that impression.

Cheers
Andy

Judging by the gibberish these weren't British crewed ships. This is the one reason I won't sail on a ship unless there is a British Master and qualified British Officers on the Bridge and qualified British Officers in the Engine Room.

In the US of A one can sometimes see a commercial van with a sign like "How is my Driving? call 1 800 ''' ''''"" Have never made such a call although I have been tempted to do so. Perhaps I should have.

One case at sea on a twelve knot vessel with a moron overtaking on my port quarter and after many five short blasts I peeled of to starboard as I had plenty of room. Sending him two short blasts and a very long one. Looking up the owner's address a letter was sent to him with a copy to my owners. Never heard anything about it.

It was day light and the ship belonged to a well known US flag operator.

I have already in one post described on one foreign flag vessel I went mate on where the yugoslav master wanted me to go on focsle and do some chipping and he would keep a look out of his port as necessary, and my reply to him. When you see this first hand you have no option to believe. I too was sceptical about this, but not anymore after that experience, and of course other practices carried out. Brian is quite correct in what he says.unbelievaable as it may sound. Regards John Sabourn. I have also mentioned on quite a few previous owned foreign vessels I brought out of lay up in Singapore, they had a warning buzzer in masters cabin which went off, if the officer of the watch did not push a button on the bridge at frequent intervals, presumably to show he was awake. Cheers JS.

As sad as it seems the next ferry across the western section of he Channel that has the mate on watch asleep , fortunately with a quartermaster / lookout , will not be the first

At least the old fashioned way which most were brought up with, the lookout on focsle (fine weather) answering the Bridge Bells every half hour and reporting the masthead and sidelights as burning bright, everyone was aware that people were awake. I still find it hard to envisage these huge moniliths with a very small crew, where the watchkeepers consisting of maybe 2/3 men, must be like a ghost ship in the early hours of the morning, long empty alleyways and deserted decks. Give me smaller tonnage any day, at least you didnt have to go too far to put someone on the shake if needed, even though you got the usual moans and groans. I know on the larger tonnage most had phones in their cabins, how easy is it to be off the hook. John Sabourn Remember the old voice pipe, guaranteed to wake the dead with its piercing whistle. JS