Sharing knowledge, developing the future

Captain Andre L. LeGoubin (pictured below) is a Mooring Master, Senior Vice President of The Nautical Institute, and a keen distributor of The Navigator. We asked him why he does it

Tell us a bit about your job?
I have the most exciting job in the merchant navy! I am a Mooring Master, which is similar in many ways to a Pilot – we load and unload very large tankers that are too big to come into port. They stay offshore, we put fenders alongside, then we bring a smaller tanker that is capable of coming into port and carry out a ship to ship transfer (STS) – and we do that underway. The receiving vessel is usually an aframax, so at about 250 metres LOA it’s not that small! We steam the two vessels together at about five knots, with no tugs involved. The fenders are 3.5 metres wide, so we are stopping very, very close to the other vessel. The interaction between the two ships as you get closer is quite intense – it’s Bernoulli’s Principle on steroids. To train for this, you have to love shiphandling. It’s raw, it's intense, and it’s exciting.

How did you learn the skills for this role?
I was a Thames Pilot and I learnt a lot of shiphandling there, but this is quite different. You learn by carrying out jobs with another Mooring Master – firstly by watching, then with input from them, then with them watching while you carry out the manouevre completely by yourself. I regularly go on ships that have never done this manouevre before, and it can be really scary for the Captain – you’re doing things that look so totally wrong. However, before things gets really exciting, you’ve got at least an hour and a half on the bridge, with the other vessel getting closer, to explain what’s going on. I did have one cadet who was very worried because the instruments said we were going to have a collision – and I agreed with them, we were! If something goes wrong, I don’t mind who tells me, it could be anybody. I use the CUS words to encourage people to speak up. This is a concept developed by the airline industry. If anything is causing you to feel Concern, Uncomfortable or unSafe, don’t hesitate to speak up. This is particularly great if you have language issues on board.

What do you enjoy most about the role?
Apart from the shiphandling, another thing I love about this job is the personal interaction, working with other nationalities, and bringing together totally different people to get the best from the team. I was a very young Master and I learnt early on that you cannot do this job on your own. You have to develop a team, and that means developing and sharing knowledge, and making sure everybody has a voice.

How do you go about sharing The Navigator?
On average, I do about nine or ten STS operations a month, so I always take enough of the most recent edition for every ship, and sometimes the previous one as well. The app is great, and it can take months for The Navigator to get to me, never mind on board, but I love being able to hand over a physical copy. I always hand it to the Captain out of respect, and they can pass it on to the crew – but most of them read it first! I hand it out in the company offices, and it’s very popular there, too. 

I’ve been doing this job for eight years now, and some seafarers remember me as “The Mooring Master that brings The Navigator!” It’s fantastic to go onboard, and see people who you first met as a cadet, and now they’re third mate, or second, and they’re gaining knowledge all the time. One of the things I like about The Navigator is that anyone can contribute, on the letters page, in the interview, in the photos. I think it’s wonderful to hear from people at the very start of their careers because they are our future. How we train the next generation designates the future of the merchant marine.

ONE OF THE THINGS I LIKE ABOUT THE NAVIGATOR IS THAT ANYONE CAN CONTRIBUTE, ON THE LETTERS PAGE, IN THE INTERVIEW, IN THE PHOTOS

Does The Navigator make a difference to the way people work on board?
The Navigator isn’t necessarily worldchanging; it’s just a way of sharing knowledge, but sharing knowledge is so important. It’s sowing seeds of change. I think back to the radar edition, which had a lot of good advice, and one third mate said there was something they didn’t understand, and the team just got round the radar and talked about it. It started a conversation, and that’s what I want to see – people start questioning things, they think and they reflect. Does it make a difference? I’m positive it does. And every time we can make a difference to just one young seafarer on board, that makes it all worth it.