What motivated you all to join the Merchant Navy.

[Barry Davidson]

My fascination with the sea started as a young 15 year old pupil on a B&I School Cruise to the Greek Islands, aboard the 'Devonia', a converted troop carrier. This was followed by an application to join the MN, and an in person interview, somewhere close to Tower Bridge, if my memory serves me correctly.

Nobody tells a now 16 year od how to properly conduct a job interview, and I failed that portion miserably....mainly by telling the truth! (Q) Why do you want to join the MN?....... (A) to see the World? (Q) How long do you want to join for?....
(A) a couple of years will do!

I went home totally dejected but the Ocean Gods were on my side. My Mother worked two jobs, including cleaning houses. One of her customers worked for Royal Mail, and apparently, he was able to pull some strings on my behalf. About two
weeks after the interview I received a call at home, instructing me to get down to Tilbury ASAP, as there was a vessel there needing staff. I reported to the local office, collected my paperwork and was told to report to the RMS Durango, which was due to sail the following evening for Australia.

So there I was, clutching my new Seamans Book, with no training or experience reporting to my first vessel. I told the Chief Steward that I had been hired as a Lift Boy. When the laughter died away, he explained that the Durango was a cargo vessel, and not a passenger liner, therefore no lifts! Instead, I was assigned as Pantry Boy and spent the next four months in charge of the Pantry sailing from the UK to Melbourne, Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns and Bowen. Unfortunately, my seagoing days were not meant to last long. After the Durango i did two trips on the RMS 'Eden' and then a further trip with Port Line 'Port Lincoln'. At the end of that trip we returned to Liverpool in the midst of a general strike, I signed off and then could not get a placement after the strike ended. Still, it was a great experience, and one that I will never forget.
Regards to all.

[Des Jenkins]

Hi Jaime
You would have been on the Southern Cross when I emigrated to NZ, I did just under ten years at sea then went on the NZ coast spent nearly7 years on the coast. Met my future wife on the Southern Cross. We lived in Manurewa and then Titarangi where we had built a new house, left NZ fo Aus after 17 years there.
Cheers Des

[Tony Robinson]

I think it would be very interesting to find out some of the reasons that made our members decide to want to go to sea.
My story is very simple; when I was about 14 years old I met a local guy who would have been around 16 or 17 he was in denim, cowboy boots and very unusual for Inverness a suntan !! he said that he was in the Merchant Navy and that he had just returned from a 4 month trip to various countries. I just listened and looked at him and thought ,: That's for me !! Following that and talking to some of my friends we all became fascinated with this idea and discovered a number other local guys who were also at sea and they all looked so confident and cool with a certain swagger that really sold the deal to us in the end there was 5 of us who applied when we were old enough and we all subsequently tripped off to Gravesend or the Vindi then off to sea.

My journey started , far from salt water, near Toronto, Canada in 1962. I was a dismal student and my mother (born and raised in Manchester) thought some British education would be just what I needed. The outcome was being sent off for pre-sea training at Reardon Smith Nautical College in Cardiff and subsequently joining my first ship (Manchester Merchant of Manchester Liners) in September of 1963. I'll never forget walking up the gangway feeling pretty spiffy in my cadet uniform - until I hit the main deck. There I met the bosun who greeted me with "what the f--- are you" to which I replied "I'm Robinson the new apprentice". His response "a f______ Yank are you" . I corrected him with "no I'm Canadian" . That led to "you know what they do with cadets on this ship, Robinson?". The obvious answer was "no". "They give them to me and I find jobs that humans aren't allowed to do but cadets are" That was my introduction to the best 7 years of my life! The bosun and I became good mates and I learned a huge amount from him - he was an excellent seaman.

[Thomas Daley]

#50 Thomas I believe the Piper also had a deluge system which wasn’t available when required, don’t know too much about how that system works and if it would of been of any use when needed only know it was mentioned somewhere among the pile of various statements made. I never read the full reports as far as I was concerned one cannot wind the clock back and have to accept 167 men lost their lives. Let others put their minds to why. I made my judgements on the night and how people reacted and to me being on a vessel with lack of manpower and doing a job supposedly above its capability was the start for preparing for the same happening again.The vessels that took an active part in the picking up the pieces should all have clear consciences on the rescues performed on that night, I fitted out another ex supply vessel in Sunderland and advised the owner to have gas monitors fitted around the outer deck area for warning of gas Also sprinklers with fresh water for washing down oil drenched men. Also proper radios with throat mikes and headphones, and proper boat suits and other items too numerous to mention and he was an ex seaman and complied with everything I recommended. That ship was the Veesea Topaz, she wasn’t perfect by any means being an ex US gulf supply vessel , the company was Vector Offshore but hope it was a start for a better standard of safety in the North Sea. A few months later I emigrated to Australia so don’t really know the standards of today. Cheers JS.

Apologies JS for late answer. Piper and Claymore had fire pumps that automatically started in event of a fire, but, whenever 'Divers' where in the water thy were turned to 'Manual' even if work being carried out were nowhere near the suction inlets. Divers were routinely in the water so it became routine to inhibit the auto start on the fire pumps. Claymore Alpha PTW system under Elf made changes such as location of work and duration of divers in the water.
Divers work scopes were checked on work close to inlets could only be carried out under certain circumstances on the platform and St/by boat availability. Remember.....!!!...... the cost cutting years??
Platforms share a st/by boat and an extended boom with angled net to collect men in the water (No FRC) during rescue. A demonstration were carried out which were in my eyes and 100% all others a failure. Test were carried out in calm weather and full daylight, imagine same as Piper this Elf rep were asked at the Sunday safety meeting. Early 90's 'Piper' were already being forgotten about since it "Did not happen on our watch"
2012/13 in the Korean shipyards Many folk had never heard of the 'Piper Alpha' disaster it being 24 years earlier. Sad, so bloody sad.

[Thomas Daley]

Tom Daley, Looking back your posts, I see that you were on Stadive during the 'Greenpeace' debacle. I was the CRO on board at that time. I was CRO from June '94 until she was handed over to Petroserve in Agoteness in Jan '96. The Ch/Eng, Jim Wyles ??, sailed with her across to Texas and then was dumped. He phoned me some time after, looking for a 2/E ticket to accompany him on a rig tow from Norway to the far east, but I declined as I was already settled in on Balmoral FPV. I must have done something right on Stadive. Balmoral FPV served me well for fifteen years.

What a small world..... Yes, I were there for the Brent Spar escapade. Remember well the C/op putting the 80T crane hook above the Bridge/DP room. He were not very bright since he had been egged on to show his credentials and obviously he would be forgiven not sacked, he were sacked (NRB'd)
Shell security.... were you in the ECR when the helicopter dropped 2 guys back on board, ropes were sent down and some Greenpeace tried to abseil up from their rubber boats. They were blasted by st/by boats/supply boats fire hoses, one abseiler a female were knocked unconscious and had to be rescued. One boat refused to turn their water hoses onto the Greenpeace rubber boat when it came their side of the Brent Spar, heard over the radio that skipper being told "Head back in to port, you are now off-hire??
Do you remember Shell security going through the Stadive, cabins etc, looking for phones/radios since they were convinced after the crane hook job that there were comms from Stadive to Greenpeace, paranoia knows no boundaries.
The early survival capsule that Greenpeace had attached to the Brent Spar ended up being secured to one of the anchor chains of the Dyvi Stena/Stena Dee, it were fun approaching the proposed drill site 'West of Shetlands' called "Foinhaven field", still haven my (Completions Champagne) bottle from Amerada Hess. the 3 Greenpeace inhabitants decided to surrender after one female started her menstruating cycle, please for sanitary products were ignored.
Another time I remember on the Stadive were the helicopter recovery, you onboard then??
Chopper struck by lightning, landed and all passengers picked up by a passing supply boat, whose skipper decided (Salvage???) to lash it to the vessel instead of towing. Result the floatation on one side burst, chopper rolled over and sank.
Stadive divers called in to go down and recover since maybe a recovery and put back in use?? Well lash webbings etc fitted and try to raise. Load indicator started to rise then dropped to near zero. Out of the water came the blades, engine and G/box only. Next dive removed the tail section for the black box. Next dive brought a bent piece of scrap with leaking fuel tanks so list put on and firewater spraying on deck.
Where still technically employed on the Stadive, but, offered a job on the Dyvi Stena which same as Stadive went to Norway eery year where we could claim our tax back.
Can still see many faces from the Stadive, but, names elude me now since in 6 weeks turn 70.
I hope you are well and life were good as it has been to me, take care and go safe

[j.sabourn]

The most efficient piece of equiptment for saving a live body in the water is the lifebuoy with line attached and takes one man to effect a rescue. I was asked by various people on what I thought and they all had ideas about mechanical scoops for rescue purposes and I told them nicely they were full of tish. It takes men to save a life and not two or three men which you don’t have in any case to affect lifesaving by the use of gimmicks .The answer to such questions are that obvious I wonder at the mental state of some of these would be inventors hoping to make their fortunes ,it is simple as 2 Plus 2. More manpower and workable ships and not the clapped out vessels of that era. Cheers JS
I will ask one question among many more.how can a vessel which carries a total of about 30 tons of fresh water hope to administer to over 200 survivors covered in oil,the fresh water on such vessels was even insufficient for 9:crew members for 4 weeks , and had to beg off the rig for self consumption..A converted supply vessel fulfilled this problem as carried plenty of fresh water as cargo. JS

[Thomas Daley]

The Ch/Eng, Jim Wyles ??, sailed with her across to Texas and then was dumped. .

Met the former Bargemaster from Stadive in Aberdeen airport, the likeable one who married a Brazilian.
He told me about "Jim" seems he played politics and were out poli-ticked himself by some folk he tried to do the proverbial.
That is why on leaving to fly back the UK, instead of the usual return ticket only given a one-way?? Then being told a "A clerical error, of course you are coming back".
Many times playing straight does not bring surprises?? Karma in action.