Welcome onboard!
A typical tanker of today
On a ship today there are between 10 and 12 crew member. Captain and 3 Deck officers. At least 3 AB’s and 1 Cook. There are 1 Chief Engineer and at least 3 more engineer. Then there are an oiler. ON some ships there are 30 - 40 crew members onboard. Radio Officer, Mess man, Deckhand, Wipers, Fitters and pump man and all kinds of people.
The first thing you do when you come onboard is to find out what to do and where to go in case of an alarm onboard.
There are muster lists on all deck. On the muster list you can see what each of the crew should do in case of fire or abandon the ship. You can also see where to muster. In many cases the muster station is on the bridge or at a fire station.
There are different alarms for fire or general alarm. Each of the crew have a task at the different situations. There are fire drills onboard. Every 3 months the lifeboats should be launched and maneuvered in the sea. Every month they should be lowered to the rail.
Abandon Ship Drill
Almost all the new ship have a lifeboat of the “Free fall type”. Then it’s just for the crew to enter the lifeboat and sit down. Fasten the seat belt and then release the lifeboat.
The crew is covered in the life boat from the weather and heat. When launching the boat it dives down in the water and it surfaces away from the ship. If the lifeboat engine is running at launch we can get away quick from the ship. There can be burning oil on the water so it’s important to be able to get far away very quick.
There are sprinklers on the lifeboat as well and compressed air bottles in the lifeboat. So when the lifeboat passes trough burning water we have air in the boat for the crew and engine and we can spray water on the outside to cool down the boat.
The covered free fall lifeboat is much better than the old lifeboats hanging from the side. Impossible to launch when the ship is rolling and there is no cover for the weather or heat.
On the ship we have inflatable liferafts as well. Just throw the container in the sea and pull the lanyard and the rafts inflate.
It’s very important to make fast the release lanyard onboard before you throw the raft in the sea. If you forget that the life raft just drifts away and there is no chance for you to get it back. You also need the lanyard for inflating the life raft. A hard pull on the lanyard opens the valves to the compressed air bottles to inflate the raft.
Fire Fighting Drill
In the case of fire you call the fire department, easy enough as long as you are ashore. On a ship we have to fight the fire our selves. On the ship we have different firestations onboard. They are equipped with stuff to use during firefighting.
In the fire stations we have fireman’s outfit with breathing apparatus. These BA set’s are used for smoke diving. There are also fire hoses, axes and other stuff in the fire stations. During the drills we have to test the equipment and the equipment is checked so it’s always ready for use. On the ship we can have our fire fighting drills.
On deck we have foam monitors so we can cover the deck with foam in case of fire. There are also hydrants and fire hoses around the ship ready for immediate use.
In the engine room CO2 are the most common way to extinguish fires with since they forbid the use of Halon. CO2 take away the oxygen from the engine room. There can’t be any fire without oxygen. It’s also impossible for any living thing to survive CO2 so the engine room must be evacuated before they release the CO2 in to the engine room.
It is very important to go to the Muster Station immediately at an alarm so we can count the crew and see if any crew is missing.
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