Who's navigating? Like father, like daughter: life on the ocean wave

Navigation officer, Anna Carofano, discusses how her father’s career inspired her to follow her sea-faring dreams, what it’s like to work on a cruise ship and how fatigue can often be the biggest threat to effective situational awareness

What interested you in a career at sea?
You know the saying, ‘follow in your father’s footsteps’? Well, that’s what I did! My father is a bosun on board ferries and I have always been fascinated by his job. I think he found it hard at first to have his only daughter away from him, but I’m sure that now he is very proud of me! I love the sea and I love to travel and share my culture with different nationalities, so this is the perfect job for me.

What career path has led to your current position?
I started at nautical school when I was 13. After finishing my studies, I sailed on a chemical tanker as a deck cadet. I remember my first day on board, when I was the happiest person in the world, but also the most scared! After working for a while on tankers, I joined the cruise ship family, where my life changed completely, once again.

What do you like best about working at sea?
Usually on board ship we have more than 100 different nationalities and thanks to this, I now know more about many different cultures and mentalities. Working for a cruise ship also gives you the chance to explore different parts of the world and to share some amazing experiences with other people. What a wonderful job!

How does your current position differ from your previous role?
I’m currently a Third Officer, which is very different from being a deck cadet. When you are a cadet, your goal is to learn as much as you can because, once you are in my current position, there is far less time to ask questions! We usually have three Third Officers on board, who must all be in different watches with senior officers. During the watches we must focus and be able to multitask without being worried to speak up and give our opinion as necessary.

What do you think is the biggest threat to good situational awareness on board?
When an officer is affected by fatigue or an overdose of information, this can lead to a lack of situational awareness. Eliminating tiredness is impossible, but monitoring how people are coping with it is the best way to avoid accidents. On our ship, fatigue levels are monitored continuously, making sure that everyone has enough hours of rest, opportunities to spend time with other people and the chance to go out and explore the ports we are visiting.

How do you personally ensure you practise good situational awareness?
I try to maintain high situational awareness by knowing what is going on around me and using the three ‘levels’ of perception, comprehension and projection. I always ask myself: ‘What is happening? What does it mean and what might happen next?’ Today’s bridges are highly advanced with lots of screens and information, but I always remember to watch what’s going on outside in the ‘real world’ as well, and to share my thoughts with the rest of my team.

What do you think the wider maritime industry could do to help navigators hone their situational awareness skills?
The maritime industry is doing a lot for young navigators, improving our skills with specific training and investments in our future. What could be improved further, however, is the background. We only begin much of our main training after our time as a cadet, which doesn’t allow us a lot of time to understand what situational awareness is like in a real-life situation. It would be much better to learn more about situational awareness during nautical college, even before joining a ship for the very first time.