Deck Certification

[j.sabourn]

An ambiguous question , anyone know without looking up the present situation re the Title in Question . All my certificates of worth are British and all for a steamship up until about 1980 , when believe they were replaced by ones out of cornflakes packets with little drawings showing you where the boundary’s were that you could go to. All the foreign certificates were issued on the strength of the British ones . I found the most comprehensive one was the Liberian one which states on any vessel of any gross tonnage. The steam deck certificate must surely have been replaced by power driven vessel , but can’t remember sighting such. However the British brought out probably for offshore work originally things such as a command endorsement where a second mate could go on a supply vessel as Master. Everyone knows the UK system of FG and HT or should , but does anyone know the sequence and possible decline of Britain downgrading its certification to match the likes of Panama and others. Think it was about the same era where one had to prove that one had at least 2 years at sea within every 5 years , or had to do a few weeks at a nautical school to do an upgrading of knowledge and the only proof for this was the old discharge book. Hence the importance of the old book. Cheers JS

[Fouro]

John,
Why were Junior engineers put to work on steam turbine ships without having had any sea time experience.

Fouro.

[happy daze john in oz]

But where were they to get the experience if not at sea?

[J Gowers]

Got to admit my first ship as a J/E was a steam turbine tanker and I had no experience of them but soon learned.
As a J/E you were never in charge of a watch and always had a senior to keep you on the straight and narrow.
Although I was time served I really started another apprenticeship when going to sea and I never stopped learning in the 42 years I was at sea on ships and on offshore rigs and drillships.

[j.sabourn]

#4.. Re. Rigs it took me time to get adjusted to the small dis-similar way of the likes of anchor patterns. As you know except for different types of rigs, which had more than 8 anchors with the usual 8 , the number one anchor was run from the port forward leg , where a newcomer from Deep sea would have the tendency if told out of the blue would conceivably go to the starboard forward leg. So if you were asked to stand by number 7 anchor you had to have a picture in your mind of where it was , or appear to be a dunderhead. The rigs anchors were always numbered from 1 to 8 in a clockwise direction , two to a leg if a box shaped 4 legged rig. However a crucifix rig may have had more anchors . Earlier in the North Sea every anchor had a large buoy attached for marking its position which could have sunk a small fishing boat, this buoy was used for recovery of the anchor when shifting the rig. Later the buoys were done away with and chaser wires were run down the anchor wire/cable from the rig and the supply/anchor handling vessel picked up the anchor and took it back to the rig. These anchors were rarely under 18 tons. JS
A safety zone of 3 miles was usually put around a rig for safety as said these buoys could sink a fishing boat if in collision in the dark and it was another job for the safety boat to keep such vessels away , not welcomed by the fishing fraternity as cut back on their fishing areas. But safety is safety as they say . JS

[John Arton]

https://www.mitags.org/guide-to-stcw...0endorsements.
Irrespective of nationality all marine certificates comply with the standards of training and certification of watchkeeping (STCW)
These certificates are divided into management and operational levels. Master and chief mate are management, officer of the watch is operational. Additionally certificates arefurther endorsed with limited or unlimited trading areas, engineer certification has kw limits of engine size
Also to serve on tankers (oil,gas,chemical) you will need a further endorsement. Certificates are valid for 5 years and as long as you can show 2? Years of sea service or service in a related maritime industry such as class surveyors, nautical lecturer, marine superintendent, your certificates are automatically renewed subject to refresher courses (medical etc)
Rgds
J.A

[j.sabourn]

#3. By watching Hollywood movies like “ Fire Down Below” ? JS.

[John Cassels]

Got masters F.G in 1973 and in 1979 joined a Burmah tanker as ch.off that was still Panamanian registered. Denholms sent me a Panamanian ticket without me even asking for it !.

[j.sabourn]

My Panamanian certificate I never even saw but signed an application form to receive. By the time I should have received I was away in any case. So maybe someone else made use of. ? Hope they didn’t use my photograph. JS.
Got my masters the last exam in 1963 and sailed on the pink slip until March 64 when managed to get to Newcastle mercantile Marine office to pick up where it was officially handed over , the date of getting is recorded as date of Issue and not the date of passing the exams. Which I found peculiar. JS

[Tony Taylor]

John,
Why were Junior engineers put to work on steam turbine ships without having had any sea time experience.

Fouro.

The same would apply to many joining a motorship, they may not have come across anything much bigger than a bus engine.