You Bet I'm Going Back to Sea: the saga continues…

This week, STCW is spelled BST at MITAGS

Linthicum, MD: About six months ago, I announced my intentions – with the help of some industry friends – to bring my "continuity" license into compliance with STCW requirements. That journey is now well underway, albeit somewhat slower in its execution than I would have hoped, but nevertheless on course. As you read this, I will taking my final exams for the one week Basic Safety Training (BST) at the Maritime Institute of Technology & Graduate Studies (MITAGS). That's a bit of a "leap of faith" on my part, since I'm assuming that I will get my certificate. I hope that I don't end up with egg on my face, in a week's time.

This week's BST course is not my first – or even my second – foray into the international world of Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) protocol. But when Glen Paine told me some months ago that BST would be the most appropriate and perhaps most important place to start, he wasn't kidding. Prior to this, however, and in a former life, I qualified for my ISPS mandated VSO / CSO certification at the Military Sealift Command's facility in Freehold, NJ. You see, I was going to get rich (along with several thousand other people) providing terminal and vessel security audits in conjunction with the new ISPS security code. That didn't quite work out.

More recently, I was among the first to take and complete the first long distance, computer based learning course approved by the U.S. Coast Guard for STCW compliance. That course, offered by the Calhoon MEBA Engineering School (CMES) at Easton, MD (CROWD MANAGEMENT, PASSENGER SAFETY AND SAFETY TRAINING FOR PERSONNEL PROVIDING DIRECT SERVICES TO PASSENGERS IN PASSENGER SPACES), I took while sitting at my desk in my office. Working interactively online with an instructor located hundreds of miles away, the course heralds a new era in maritime – and STCW – learning. You'll read all about this exciting and groundbreaking teaching environment in a focused article in the very next print edition of THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE.

But, this week was all about BST. I don't know what I thought I would encounter at MITAGS, but my first surprise surrounded the vast diversity contained in our class of 17 students. Comprised of 14 men and 3 women, the backgrounds of the individuals in that group could not have been more different. We had sailing blue water mariners, tugboat professionals, an AB from the Great Lakes, two tall ship sailors, U.S. Navy active duty and reserve personnel. A marine biologist headed for a six week adventure on a British research vessel found herself in need of training and no doubt, Tuesday was the first time she had ever righted an upside down liferaft after leaping into the pool from an elevated platform. She became (to her surprise) our first "liferaft captain" as we all donned the immersion suits and "abandoned ship."

Also in our class was a young (Okay, that's a relative assessment from someone like me) King's Point graduate who, after several years of commercial sailing, had decided to join the U.S. Coast Guard and was preparing to be deployed overseas in his role as a marine inspector. An active and willing participant in class, he added much to the experience for all of us. As a general statement, I can tell you that if he is representative of those who the Coast Guard hopes will bring up the standards of their marine inspection division, then we will soon be in very good hands. And, not a moment too soon.

And then, there was me. I was a little surprised to find that I was not the oldest person in the room. In fact, I think that there were three others senior to me in the class. As the week kicked off, I had hoped to keep the real purpose of my participation to myself but as I wandered up from breakfast on Tuesday, one of the other old-timers stopped me and said, "So, are we going to see an article on the class this week?" So much for subterfuge. Later, when I was struggling to drag someone into the liferaft in my gumby suit, a few close-up photographs for an upcoming article probably removed all doubt for anyone else in the course.

The BST course at MITAGS is a well-oiled machine. Monday morning always kicks off with a general meeting of all students for all classes, where Glen Paine, the Executive Director of MITAGS welcomes everyone with some key information. After that, we broke up into our individual groups. MITAGS was busy this week – the MM&P Convention was in full swing, along with some other seminars and, by my count, at least six or seven other maritime-related courses. Nevertheless, we soon got into the routine and honed in on the focused curriculum. Punctuated by a score of Shipping Operations Cooperative Program (SOCP) technical videos, the course was current and encouraged input from the class. Frankly, I can now see why it is required.

The firefighting portion of the BST course was an eye-opener for an old-timer such as myself. I learned that we do not have a fire "triangle" any longer. No, it is now called the fire "Tetrahedron." Fair enough. I also found out that STCW-mandated firefighting training far exceeds the scope of the two other firefighting courses that I took almost 25 years ago. Today, we traveled to Piney Point, MD, where we conducted the practical aspect of this module. Aside from being an exhausting day, it served notice to me that I'm no longer 25 years old and that – just perhaps – the new U.S. Coast Guard standards for minimal physical health for mariners have a place in the overall picture. Don't tell anyone, but I needed a couple of Advil tonight.

As the temperatures soared well into the 90's, we donned and stripped down from full firefighting gear at least seven times. The heat from the fires and the realistic drills took their toll on the class, especially those of us a little long in the tooth. By lunch, I had serious reservations as to whether I could complete the day's exercises, but by pacing myself (and I am not making this up) and discovering that if you fully open the air supply to your breathing apparatus, the smoke crawl and the indoor firefighting goes a lot smoother. And, I didn't mind one little bit when some classmates asked me more than once if I was "Okay." I will tell you that if that 20-something kid (and you know who you are) with the perpetual grin on his face had jogged by me just one more time in full gear, I would have reached out and slapped him (that is, if I could have mustered the energy).

On a more serious note, these are serious times for all mariners. Tougher licensing standards, including the STCW protocol and of course, the Coast Guard's new medical standards are quickly becoming just two of the key reasons why some choose not to go sea and still others are prevented from doing so. Less than four months short of my 50th birthday, I'm not in the best shape of my life, but I can still manage a ten mile hike at 6,500 feet at Mount Mitchell in North Carolina. Don't kid yourself: Today was a tough day and anyone else contemplating this type of activity should begin preparations for their BST week, well in advance of that event.

Another key lesson to be taken away from this week – I mean beyond getting a better night's sleep than I did before the firefighting practical – was that STCW is now touching anyone who goes to sea for any reason. Just as the federal government's Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) is now impacting the cop married to the registered nurse, STCW is now impacting stewards on cruise ships and, yes, marine biologists headed for research missions.

Click HERE to read the February 28th editorial announcing this STCW effort.

Joseph Keefe is the Managing editor of THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE. He is (arguably) on his way to STCW compliance. A complete analysis of his BST experience can be read in our upcoming JULY/AUGUST MARITIME EXECUTIVE print edition. Don't miss it. He can be reached at jkeefe@maritime-executive.com with questions or comments on this or any other article in this e-newsletter.