NI guidance: The new born officer
Kumail Raza speaks to NavInspire about his experiences as a new officer.
The weight of responsibility
You take another first step on the gangway. The early days of a newly promoted officer of the watch are challenging. As you take over your first navigation watch, you immediately feel the weight of your epaulettes. You must have taken countless actions to avoid a close quarter situation in your cadetship under the supervision of your officer of watch, but you never felt this kind of confusion before. In fact, the feeling that you think is confusion is actually the sense of responsibility. Let’s say the approximate value of the ship is $50 million. The cargo you are carrying is at least five times the value of the ship. Most importantly of all, you have 25 human lives onboard. And the whole lot is doubled if there is another vessel involved in your mistake. This is where the anxiety comes from. However, it is very common practice that stepping on the gangway for the first time is an experience never to be forgotten. The first sight of the vessel which is going to be your home for the next 12 months gives you butterflies in the stomach. You have left your hangouts, girlfriends and late nights with friends. Now your new best friends are safety shoes, boiler suits, a helmet and your very own chipping hammer.
Don’t hesitate to ask
Most newly joined officers face one common problem, or rather, mistake: being too shy to ask. Learning is a continuous process. Even DPAs and vetting inspectors need to keep up to date. For new officers, it takes a lot of effort to understand that achieving a COC means you are qualified enough to carry out many tasks– but it does not, ever, mean that you cannot ask about them. It is common to think that people onboard will judge you if they know you still need to ask for help – which is not the right mentality.
Call the Master!
It is one of the Master’s primary duties to maintain an onboard environment where anyone, especially duty officers, can call the Master at any time without hesitation. Nobody will question your competence if you call the Master in dense crossing traffic, or facing a floating fish market in South China Sea, or because a vessel is not following Colregs. In my cadetship I saw a second mate of 10 years call the Master when he could not handle a traffic situation in the Malacca Strait approaching Singapore. A fresh-promoted third mate cannot be compared with a Master who has more command experience than third officer’s total sea service. The Master will fully appreciate handing the situation to the superiors instead of jeopardising the vessel and the crew. There will be cases where it becomes your duty to call the Master if you cannot handle the situation. Far from showing a lack of competence if you hand over, it would be unprofessional and an act of carelessness not to do so.
Finding support
The basic concept of the job is not very difficult. One month is more than enough to get a feel for your basic jobs, which mainly include navigation and cargo operations. The next challenge comes when the third mates have to carry out jobs related to the maintenance of life saving appliances and firefighting appliances. Consulting the chief officer is the best option. Consulting publications might help a little, but when it comes to practical work on deck, but you will definitely require a little push from the officer in charge of safety and lifesaving appliances. Never forget that a third mate is always an assistant to the safety officer.
Unfortunately, the publications you need may not always be on board, but using social media can be very helpful for this purpose. As well as posting selfies in your bright shiny uniform, you can join groups to discuss your concerns as most of the mates who sat the examination with you must be facing the same sort of difficulties. Your course notes should also help as they should cover the theory and questions of practical work and general seamanship.
Passing it on
New borns are cute, they are funny - and at times they are irritating. But they all need guidance, time and support, as did we when we faced hard times in our learning phase. It is up to us all to provide that support, be it emotional, moral, theoretical or practical. Knowledge should be passed on to anyone who seeks it. Knowledge and guidance should be a chain reaction which should never be broken.
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