5MOSAIC - big expansion plans announced for ‘sister ship’

11 ‘The Family’ drop in

12 Visitors from Vietnam

19CraneSIM Docks in

Vietnam

13 The Winds of Change- the offshore power revolution creates challenges

21 Getting to know Bo - new chief instructor talks about first MT encounter

15 West African

Pilots do their homework

23Julie Broberg looks at Piracy - old and new

contents

18 Where’s Frank?Our roaming instructor sends us photo clues

27Featured Courses and booking link

30 Poopdeck - a

sideways look at life

eSeaEDITORIALMOSAIC - The Bigger Picture If the ambitious MOSAIC project had been a Hollywood movie it would have been a blockbuster. During the 15 months since it opened it has surpassed all the producers had ever dreamt of and like all blockbusters it has demanded a sequel – welcome MOSAIC II.

The sequel will be on the simulator screens of an entirely new theatre of learning in Svendborg some point late next year (see over) and it’s a fitting major announcement in an eSea which has a high degree of simulated content.

Indeed MOSAIC has had to split its time over the past few weeks between being a teaching arena and a showroom.

Pilots from West Africa navigated for hours, visitors from Vietnam videoed away expression-less until a simulated storm had them reeling, rocking and reaching for the door with smiles of amusement and amazement and then there was the visit of members of the Møller–Maersk family for many of whom the simulation suites were a revelation and highlight.

There’s also a strong global spread as many of us prepare to head off somewhere for a summer break with reports on our crane operations teaching on a quayside in Vietnam and our roving instructor Frank Madsen’s got himself into a very remote location.

If you are also heading off we’d like to offer a photo challenge to see who can find the oddest or most innovative use of a container. The best will be included in the next issue when we look at how we’ve adapted them for training purposes.

Svendborg, July 2011

The industry-leading MOSAIC complex, which officially opened its doors only fifteen months

ago, is to have a ‘sister ship’ which will broaden and complete Maersk Training Svendborg’s ability to create the world’s most effective offshore learning platform. The major focus of the 50 million DKK project is drilling, the whole picture being completed with the addition of crane and engine room simulators.

This second phase was not in the original planning schedule but has come about through the undoubted success of the Maersk Offshore Simulation and Innovation Centre – true innovation. It is also another example of true cooperation within the A.P. Moller–Maersk group, this time with Maersk Drilling who initated the development and are funding the project together with a grant from the A.P. Møllerske Støttefond.

So what is currently a patch of green lawn on

the north eastern side of present structure will quickly become a complementary building which will create the ‘complete’ offshore scenario. Oil men will be able to work in harmony with the seafarers putting their technical knowledge to the test and pushing their human resources to the fullest. In a year’s time, on an area the size of three tennis courts, there will be a facility which can reproduce virtually any offshore and deepwater drilling arena on the planet. /contd on Page 8

MOSAIC II

New Challenges

New Horizons

Super simulator to have sister ship

‘After the Macondo incident last year, together with Maersk Drilling, we launched phase one in deepwater well control and there we saw the human factor had a lot of influence in negative outcomes – that is something we’ve known for years but it underlined that there’s been a lot of focus on technical training and perhaps too little on the human aspects,’ says Operations Manager, Tonny Moeller.

It’s one of the bonus aspects of the original MOSAIC set-up that beyond highly technical operations the simulators are able to create out-of-the-comfort-zone scenarios which puts rig and seafarers in situations they hope they never will encounter.

‘We can go from the most solidly technical courses right through to assessing potential captains, OIMs, chief engineers and drillers ability to lead and make the right decisions.’ Says Tonny who added ‘We are also planning with Maersk Supply Service regarding the introduction of an engine room simulator where, in conjunction with the present MOSAIC, we can do a lot more than we can today, such as creating offshore-related emergency situations.’

It will be the most modern drilling simulator in the world, both down hole, well control, but also topside where we together with Maersk Drilling will cater for their new rigs and drill ships and with the engine room simulator we can train the maintenance crews on the semi-submersibles on DP together with the DP crew, the drilling crew, crane drivers so that we put them together in an exercise or do it separately,’ added Tonny. Even Tonny is unsure of what MOSAIC II, as it is presently called, will look like. ‘We’ve got the

list of functionalities and requests out with about half a dozen builders and architects. We wait to see what they come up with – we expect they will throw a couple of issues up which we haven’t considered.’

The first MOSAIC took a little longer to set sail than planned. The building was completed a little ahead of schedule but the brainpower that drives it, the simulators feed by 120 powerful computers, took a little longer than anticipated to complete. Not that that was a bad thing.

‘We put a tremendous amount of development into it, two to three years, and we ended up with the best anchor handling simulator in the world, no doubt. It was a huge job but we got what we wanted . . . and a lot more. The next project is not the same, the simulator is, contract pending, coming from Drilling Systems in the UK and I’d say that already it is approx 80-90 per cent finished, so we have less than 20% of the development to do,’ says Tonny.

New areas such as crane simulators will take a little longer to develop, but they are all part of the whole and the desire to end up with the most complete training environment.

‘It is in the functionalities that you judge the result – everyone can build a nice building, put in simulators, but it is the functionalities that mark it out what you can achieve – it is not about being clever or flash, it is about the participants taking the most from every hour, minute and second they are here. The key to this is in the instructors knowing how to achieve this through understanding every aspect of the equipment and operations. /contd Page 10

Photo story - from top left to bottom right, from day one to day 731, opening day of MOSAIC, 24 February 2010

As Tonny pointed out to members of the Møller-Maersk family during a recent visit to the centre, the area of grass which for a decade has only seen grass cutters and dog walkers will shortly become one of the most testing professional arenas in the industry. The day that Tonny is most looking forward to is when crews from various aspects of the twin occupations, drilling and offshore supply, work on individual projects and then come together as one complete team.

Above - behind the scenes, entering the 360° Bridge A Karsten Haegg explains the Towmaster program

Below - Nguyen records the scene looking aft Meeting with the MT Group

Twenty-two members of the Møller–Maersk family visited the Svendborg facilities in June. Following an introduction from CEO Claus Bihl about what MaerskTraining has achieved over 30 plus years and the direction the organistion is heading globally today, they spent several hours touring the three buildings. They visited, and tried, several of the maritime and drilling simulators and left after lunch expressing a very positive view of what goes on at Rantzausminde.

Putting us in their pictureTwo executives from the major Vietnamese oil company, PetroVietnam, visited Maersk Training Svendborg in order to gain a precise view of our approach to training. Nguyen Tien Hung and

his colleague Ho Ngoc Yen Phoung spent two days at the centre.

Above - behind the scenes, entering the 360° Bridge A Karsten Haegg explains the Towmaster program

Below - Nguyen records the scene looking aft Meeting with the MT Group

trail mouse over photo for fuller description

There’s a b u r g e o n i n g

market out there. The offshore wind farm market. As power providers turn their attentions to renewable sources, more wind farms are being contracted. With complaints from residents regarding noise and other concerns from onshore wind farms, these providers are looking offshore - where winds are steady and there are no neighbours to be bothered. The size of the turbines is increasing as well, so the scale of the equipment needed to handle them is growing accordingly.

Winds of Change - and Opportunity

by Julie Broberg

Specialized companies are building an entirely new breed of vessels in order to handle the increasing size of today’s wind turbines and offshore wind farms. They have a need of know-how from the maritime and oil industries, with their experience in dynamic positioning (DP) and jack-ups, as well as drawing upon years of experience in safe offshore operations.

Maersk Training Svendborg, is using MOSAIC, to create a course for these specialized purpose-built vessels. Building on the knowledge of experienced towmasters for the jack-up rigs and their extensive DP experience, they will provide courses for personnel on the new specialized windcarriers. The early windcarriers were repurposed barges and many didn’t have DP, so the new vessels equipped with DP have a learning curve for the crews.

On a good day, crews may do as many as four or five moves and they need to know how to quickly and efficiently use the DP to get into position for the lift of the towers, nacelles, hubs and blades and when to go off DP.

Courses will, among other things, includesimulations of weather conditions, various bottom conditions and when to change state on the DP. The courses will be aimed at DP operators, captains, senior deck officers and installation supervisors.

With years of experience from the maritime and oil industries, Maersk Training can assist operators new to this burgeoning industry in developing procedures for safe operations and then custom-make courses to train personnel in the company’s own procedures - helping ensure a safe and efficient operation for all concerned.

Additionally, MTS is looking to cooperate with one of the companies which has new windcarriers recently delivered or on order, in order to create a state-of-the-art model of one of these specialized ships for the simulator. The technology could be based on the jack-up rig model already in the simulator today, so minimal changes are needed to quickly have a working model of one of the specialized windcarriers up and running.

Click here or turn to page 27 for a list of specialist wind

Outside it was 15c and raining, an almost tolerable Danish summer’s

day, whilst inside a Nigerian pilot was over five and a half thousand kilometres north of his home, yet he recognised every bay and promontory as the vessel approached Apapa Quays in the port of Lagos. Only the buildings on the waterfront we missing, hence Wilson’s observation, ‘it’s just how God left it.’

Anyway the delightfully aptly named Wilson Waterway and colleague Mike Imoh didn’t have time to spot landmarks, their entire focus was on facing a three knot current and getting a larger vessel than they had previously handled alongside the Apapa quayside, safely.

In a second simulation suite at MOSAIC, two other Nigerian pilots, Nove Egbune and Bramwell Taiwiah, were in the middle of the same real-time exercise whilst in Simulator A, Rasheed Popoola and the equally aptly named James Quayson were steadily entering, Tema, Ghana.

“It’s justhow Godleft it”

West African pilots get to grips with

ultra-large vessels

Wilson Waterway calls for tug

assistance

story continues on next page

Click here or turn to page 28 for course description

. . . It’s Just How God Left ItAll six were on a pilot course, in every sense of the word. In conjunction with SafMarine, Maersk Line were introducing the two teams from West Africa to MOSAIC’s Marine Ship Handling course, five intensive days of theory and practice culminating in ripple-accurate simulation exercises.

‘We could have had the buildings on the coast, but top priority in getting this course ready was in creating the exercises in the “business area” for these guys, the water,’ explained maritime instructor Lars Østergaard. The simulation suites are driven by 120 powerful computers and they can accurately portray conditions anywhere on the planet, added to which can be over 70 ship’s architects drawings of vessels.

Meanwhile in suite D, Wilson and Mike were paying the penalty for being just a knot too fast on the approach and had been reset to

begin their approach once more. Take two was more cautious, too much so, they drifted out of the channel. Reset. It was quite tense.

In real life what is it like to be a pilot, taking charge of a huge unfamiliar floating mass of metal with a valuable cargo?

‘With Maersk vessels,’ James explained en route to Tema, ‘you know the equipment is good, the engines respond as they should – that is not always the case, which makes life a bit more difficult.’

So what does it take to be a pilot? Mike, still outside of Apapa, summed it up with one word, ‘courage’ – before directing the assisting tugs to ease the vessel home.

As the participants prepared to say goodbye to 15c and now dry and hello to 28c with thunder and rain, there was general agreement that the five days had been rather special and incredibly valuable.

Where’s FrankOur globetrotting Chief Officer Frank Madsen is about halfway through his turnus programme. If he goes much further he’ll be coming back!

Roam mouse over pictures for clues.Answer on Page 29

Answer on page

It was never going to be easy, a Dutchman talking English to an

interpreter who then relayed the message in Vietnamese to a class of four and then reversed the process before the Dutchman knew exactly what was happening.

‘I subconsciously knew it before hand, but not until this training session did I fully recognise the amount of information you gain from an immediate facial reaction. Normally I know if what I’m teaching is sinking in, pretty well immediately, but here it was difficult to estimate if they were on my track,’ says Johan van Berkel, chief instructor in Crane Operations.

Johan was a three hour drive south of Ho Chi Minh City and sitting in the air-conditioned metal box which was to be his second home for two weeks, CraneSIM 01. No stranger to the specially fitted out container in which he has conducted training in Morocco, Oman, Bahrain, Rotterdam and Malaysia, he was now finding the training language triangle a little odd.

‘To be honest after day one I thought this wasn’t going to happen. I just thought that they were missing the point and I’d serious doubts,’ he explained, ‘however the next morning when we revisited what I’d gone over they’d picked it all up – I was very impressed.’

Much of the transformation Johan believes could be put down to the fact that the Vietnamese are a bright, young and ambitious nation and that there is a willingness to learn because they see the great potential for personal and family development. Perhaps it is the by-product for having been in a regime and a region which values discipline.

A different approach‘In most places you hand out the textbooks and at the end of the day they stay on the desk that they were placed on – here the translated versions were taken home and obviously devoured overnight,’ Johan added. ‘The interpreter still baffled me a bit, I’d say three words and five minutes later he’d reach the end of the translation.’

Not Lost in Translation

Johan was at Cai Mep International Terminal – CMIT - about an hour away from the nearest city, Vũng Tàu. A new container port, the area itself has a long history of visiting vessels, in fact Vũng Tàu means anchorage, marking the fact that European seafarers have been regular visitors since the 14th century. Today it is a city of over a quarter of a million and recognised as a rather beautiful corner of Vietnam, not that Johan had any time to sight see – ‘the traffic in Ho Chi Mihn City terrified me, to see hundreds of mopeds directly facing each other at traffic lights and when they go green they just swarm into each other miraculously avoiding collisions – there appeared to be no road rules, just guidelines, like pass on the left, and that was it. As a pedestrian you somehow have to get across this sheer mass of disorganisation.’

The four participants on the Train-the-Trainer course were the cream of a crop of new crane operatives who’d earlier gone through the Maersk Training AssessSIM program – a laptop simulator which as the name suggests enables companies to select the most suitable candidates. They were then sent to PTP in

Malaysia for hands-on training. Now they were sitting in CraneSIM 01 ready to learn how to take the next and subsequent generations of crane drivers to the demanding levels of competence and safety needed on today’s terminals. Courses taughtThe courses Johan coached them on were Ship-to-Shore (STS) and Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) cranes and they will have until August to train in the CraneSIM before it becomes a piece of cargo and itself is uploaded at CMIT. After that they will use surplus crane availability time to train.

Despite the translation ‘loop’ everything went smoothly. ‘I left feeling very confident that Cai Mep’s future crane drivers’ will receive the very best education through the qualified trainers - it was a hard, my concentration level was stretched to its limit but in the end it was all very satisfying,’ Johan concluded.

‘I just thought they were missing the point and I’d serious doubts’

Left to right:CraneSIM 001 arrives - ‘Docked’ and connected

Students at work - Successfully certificated

Click here or turn to Page 27 for course description

Inside Looking Out

It’s not such a unusual occasion to find an

employee at Maersk Training who was introduced to the establishment as a student and then came back to teach, but the arrival of Bo Grønhøj is different and represents a strong symbol of the way the centres are moving. Clearly the open door is now swinging both ways.

Just over two years ago the decision for Maersk Training to become a commercialised buisness unit rather than an in-house facility, meant opening the doors to companies that might have previously been seen just as competitors. The benefits were multiple, not least the broadening of the knowledge-base through seeing how different companies tackled the same issues.

Bo Grønhøj’s introduction to Maersk Training came when he was with Torm.

‘I was on the SPAR course (surviving piracy and armed robbery) and was very impressed with the intensity and knowledge of the team,’ says Bo who is now responsible for the course along with, in his role as

Chief Instructor, every other course in the Safety and Security Department.

He has spent the past three months getting his feet under the table and becoming familiar with

the very broad portfolio of courses lying on that table. I was not surprised by the breadth of the courses, nor the quality. In fact it is the quality that most excites me – we’ve a Rolls Royce product here, but it is how

Inside Looking OutfromOutside Looking In

we make that available to customers more generally that is the issue,’ says Bo, adding ‘Everyone might like to have a Rolls but only need, or can afford a Skoda to get about.’

What it might take is a certain amount of re-jigging, shortening a course here, merging there – but then that’s what we should be about and I know then that’s what we should be

about and I know from having been on the outside that flexibility in constructing courses has always been a feature here,’ says Bo who had just come off his first major course as a MT instructor, that of Safety Ambassador.

He wasn’t daunted by standing up in front of a group of senior captains and masters, ‘In fact as a Master myself I really enjoyed being in amongst them; the biggest challenge was the greatest pleasure. ’ Maersk Training has a dedicated sales team, but all instructors sell – that’s because customers often seek precise information and that comes best from the ‘horse’s mouth’ – so Bo is getting used to multi-tasking. ‘I’ve a number of hats, manager, teacher, innovator and salesperson, so life isn’t boring. In fact I’m quite buoyant because unlike my last job I don’t face four hours travel every day – half an hour in the car from door to door is quite an energy boost,’ he underlines.

Bo stood up and looked out the window at the morning sun turning Svendborg Sound silver – ‘there can’t be many better places to work, or learn,’ he observed – from the former outsider now inside looking outwards, safety seems secure and security safe at Maersk Training.

Click bar for Safety Ambassador course description

Piracy is big business in both the romantic Hollywood setting and the harsh reality of today’s seaborne pirates – type ‘Pirates’ into Google Images and in less than the blink of an eye nearly 32 million images become available. Julie Brobjerg takes a look at how an 18c Dane dealt with it and how we react to it today.

P i r a c y -Myth & Reality

In 1724, a 16-year-old Danish sailor named Hark Olufs, aboard the Hoffnung, a ship owned by his father, was captured by Algerian pirates and taken to Algiers. The Danish slavery fund wouldn’t pay his ransom since the vessel sailed under a Hamburg flag and his family lacked the money to free him, so he was sold on the slave market in Algiers, which was a bustling place in those days. He spent the next years in the service of the Bey of Constantine, Algeria, actually rising through the ranks to become the Bey’s treasurer and eventually Commander of his Life Guards.

Hark Olufs eventually fought in the battle for Tunis as Commander in Chief of his local Algerian calvary and was freed for his efforts, eleven years after his capture. He headed home to the island of Amrum (part of Denmark at the time, but belonging to Germany today), shed his conversion to Islam and settled down to write an autobiography of his adventures. You can visit his grave to this day in Nebel on Amrum.

Things have changed since those days. Today, we don’t hear of crews that have been held by pirates joining up with them or otherwise participating in the pirates’ culture. In other words, there is little Stockholm Syndrome among hostages today. Communications have changed as well - we often know almost immediately that a ship has been taken

by pirates, whereas in Hark Oluf’s day it took months before his family even knew of his fate.

What we tend to hear today about piracy are stories of high ransoms paid and dramatic rescues and the capture (and unfortunately often the release) of pirates by various navy vessels patrolling the Gulf of Aden. Or we hear about things like how Jacob Stolt-Nielsen, one of Norway’s largest shipowners, recently suggested sinking the pirates’ boats on the spot “with mouse and man” as had always been done.

But the truth is that piracy is a murky issue - jurisdictions, legislation, laws, international waters, international

/contd over

bodies, national waters, national navies, private multinational companies - it all blurs and makes doing something about piracy a difficult thing indeed. But the fact remains that international trade depends upon countless ships passing through the Gulf of Aden every day and business goes on. But we can’t forget that there are actual flesh and blood men and women sailing those ships.

That’s where Maersk Training’s SPAR (Surviving Piracy and Armed Robbery) course comes in - remembering the individual who may find themselves on the front line of piracy. The course came about in 2005 in the aftermath of an unexpected piracy incident off West Africa. Initially, it was only for senior officers who sailed for Maersk. Today it’s different and 40 - 50% of the course participants are officers from other shipping companies.

As is obvious from the name, SPAR aims to prepare officers for surviving a piracy or armed robbery attack. It takes them

through some of what they can expect from the initial moments of the attack, through the first days and weeks, the potentially long period of captivity to the eventual ransom drop and/or rescue. A security specialist and a psychologist team up to teach the course, so both the security and the psychological aspects are covered.

Ole Månsson, the security trainer on the course, said that many students come to the course expecting to learn how to fight the pirates, but that’s not what the course is about. They all leave realizing that resisting and fighting the pirates is not the solution if they want themselves and their crew to survive the attack. Månsson said also that they are seeing a professionalization of the pirates. They’re no longer just a couple of guys with a boat and a long ladder - they’re being recruited and trained. This means they’re even more dangerous than they were, but it also means they’re no longer really injuring people unintentionally.

P i r a c y i m a g e s , negative and positive

1. A ’Volvo’ boat in action 2. Detained pirates 3. Pirates paid off with wine 4. A SPAR course being conducted onboard 5. A Piracy conference at MT

One of the unfortunate consequences of piracy in the Gulf of Aden is the proliferation of security firms offering their services to shipping companies worldwide. Ole said that if all of those security firms were actually employing former special forces folks as guards, then the world’s militaries had trained a lot more special forces than anyone previously thought. Unfortunately, not all of them really are trained special forces personnel and having badly trained security onboard is almost worse than no security at all.

Ole said he teaches one SPAR course per month on average. For each course, he prepares a two hour security briefing using the latest available information. For example, NATO recently released information that vessels which have armed guards onboard are not being attacked. He also tells crews not to save private information on their mobile phones - the pirates have been known to use the

crew’s personal contacts to their families - calling wives and families directly from the crew member’s own phone - to pressure ransoms being paid.

Ole Månsson in class

The course discussion between the officers about these issues as well as their experiences and what they’ve heard is invaluable to everyone involved.

In general, the SPAR course doesn’t focus and what’s right or wrong as far as solutions to piracy are concerned, it focuses on the individuals involved and how to equip them, especially

psychologically, to handle a hostage-taking. Studies show that the better trained you are for such a situation, the less trauma you suffer afterwards. The students learn that a whole range of emotions and reactions are normal along the way. For example, if the captivity is prolonged, nearly everyone has suicidal thoughts at some point. Learning that this is a normal reaction can help a person not to act on those thoughts. The more they learn about what to expect, the more confidence people have that they can get through such an ordeal.

Today’s captives may not be pressed into piracy or other service by their captors, but piracy on the high seas is still affecting individuals. It’s as much of a factor as it always was and like his grandfather, who was a naval officer in the late 1920s confronting piracy in the South China Sea, instructor Ole Månsson is doing his part to equip today’s crews to handle piracy and armed robbery attacks.

Click or turn to Page 28 for course description

Safety Ambassador Recommended admission level: Masters only. The objective is able to promote and motivate officers onboard to enable them to run safety initiatives. The Master will also evaluate the need and content in a proper risk assessment and understand Company Safety Policy.

Contents include:• Introduction to the Safety Ambassador’s daily work.• Introduction Situational Leadership as a tool to lead his crew.• Prepare an action plan of how to use the Safety Ambassadorship in daily work.• Understand the specific responsibility regards Risk Assessment.• They will learn how to conduct a safety campaign at sea.• Safety Ambassadors, though ultimately responsible, will be able to delegate certain safety issues

Duration: Two days. Participants: Max. 12

Train the Trainer - CraneSIMOn competition of the programme, as an approved instructor, you are primarily the ambassador for the course and the Maersk Training Crane Operations department and for the whole CraneSIM concept. Course durations vary depending on precise target and content and to a limited degree can be tailor-made for an individual port’s requirements.

The Train-the-Trainer programme can only be conducted by a delegated and qualified MT instructor and the certificate which enables you to be in charge of courses carried out in the CrainSIM is not permanent. A decision whether or not a revision course is required will be taken by the chief instructor should there be a considerable period between training periods, taking into account possible updates to the software and equipment.

As an instructor you need social and communicational skills. This means you associate easily with other people, respecting them regardless of culture, religion or gender. Patience and flexibility are keywords for an instructor. It is vital that you can motivate and coach people, not being afraid to give or receive criticism and be able to handle it positively.

Maersk Training Esbjerg currently delivers to the wind industry- High Rescue and Evacuation- Basic Fire Fighting- First Aid- Sea Survival- Boat Transfer- Confined Space- Lifting and Rigging

- Slinger banksman - Siemens Wind Power Level 2-3- Vestas 8 hours first aid (subject to final approval)- CCNSG Safety Passport- Manual Handling- First Aid at Work (may only be delivered in the UK)

Featured Courses - Descriptions

SPAR - Surviving Piracy and Armed RobberyThe course is intended for all owners, operators, masters, officers and personnel with security duties working on vessels and rigs that are operating in countries, or transiting waters, with a potential security risk. Selected shore personnel who visit vessels and Crisis Team Members will also benefit.

Course participants through classroom education, role-playing and practical group exercises, gain knowledge, insight and a perspective that enhances their ability to act appropriately in acute critical situations during piracy or similar events. The course is specifically focused on delegate’s own behaviour and that of fellow crew members.

Contents include:• Behaviour during attack, in hostage and kidnapping situations• Crises and catastrophe psychology, including aspects and characteristics of the ”acute criticalsituation”• Psychological first aid on a buddy level and professional intervention• Approaches to enhance the prospect of survival during piracy• Initiatives to prevent criminal acts (attacks)• Q’s and A’s in relation to the psychological aspects of piracy

Duration: Three days. Participants: Optimum 12

Ship Handling PilotsRecommended for pilots, harbour masters and captains. The participant should have taken a bridge resource management course that covers, as a minimum, the elements of STCW. They will gain experience in manoeuvring a specific type of vessel. Arrival and departure in various weather/current conditions and with and without tugs will be practised in a full mission simulator in the areas specified and agreed with the client.

This course is conducted in English and includes:• Presentation of the specific vessel• Practical ship handling exercises in a full mission simulator• Course specific requirements and needs from the participants can be incorporated in the exercises• Basic manoeuvring theory with focus on the effects due to size and engine power of the vessel• Calculation of wind/current, and their influence on manoeuvring• Case studies and accident analysis • Bank suction effect and vessel interaction • Effects such as wake wash, squat and shallow water influence• Turning and planning of turns• Planning of the berthing operation• Practical ship handling exercises• Use of tugs• Contingency awareness• Use of relevant and current Maersk Line procedures; GSMS

For booking information click on sales@maersktraining.com

So where is Frank?

He was in Karratha, about 1500 km north of Perth,Western Austrailia

PoopDeckThe learning platform isn’t always necessarily level or obvious. To prove this I’d like to introduce you to two recent visitors to MT Svendborg, Godfred and Kehinde. From Ghana and Nigeria respectively they were here to observe and help as their compatriots took part in the five-day ship handling exercise for pilots as featured on page 15. They left having learnt a little of the history of the Maersk Story without opening a book or sitting in class.

Svendborg is a pretty, rather delightful place, with, when it is open, an attractive downtown and in summer a bustling harbour. It also has, according to Godfred and Kehinde, an aged taxi driver who doesn’t get out much.

Their lesson began after a stroll along the harbourside following a fine meal – a taxi home to Maersk.

At the top of a hill the driver, whilst slowing down and pointing out of the window, mutted something about Mr Møller’s house. ’No, no, the Møller-Maersk centre.’

Very shortly afterwards the cab took a hard left turn and pulled over. It cost a lot less than the taxi they’d taken to the restaurant, but hey that’s life. On getting out they couldn’t help but notice a couple of big buildings, but nothing resembling the hotel.

Maersk?’ they queried through the cab window – with the driver responding with a series of nods and then pointing to a road sign some 30 metres back. As he drove off, they walked to the sign. ”A.P. Møllersvej” it read. Close to the original home of the family and the first location for the training centre, but, unknown to them, still 6 kms from their respective beds.

Now G&K are resourceful fellows, they had not ventured out without slipping the MT Mini Guide in their wallets. I’m not quite sure how mobile signals work, but I suspect their phonecall to Svendborg taxi bounced up to a satellite over the Equator, down to a billing centre 5,500 kms away in Lagos, back up to the satellite and then into the office of Svendborg Taxa, three kilometres away.

The operator spoke excellent English.

”Taxi, from?”

’A.P. Møllervej.’

”Taxi to?”

’The hotel, Maersk Training.’

”How will we identify you.”

’How many Africans do you get standing under the A.P. Møllervej sign at ten thirty at night?

”With you in three minutes.”

Richard Lightbody,rli039@maersktraining.com