SOLAS | Lessons Learned

A glorious day, with a steady approach and sail down a river, through to our berthing in Aalborg, a new destination for the company. What possible could go wrong! Being docked in town meant that we would not be stuck in a container port.  A rate novelty for mid-size or any ship for that matter, as you generally are in cruise terminals that are a walk away from the main town / city centre or a bus ride depending on the local requirements.

 A benefit, of my position, was that I had been granted permission to have access to the bridge, which also included fresh coffee, and pastries. ?? Always a welcome sight, early morning. Generally, I would enter the bridge, touch base with the bridge team, and then make myself a fresh coffee, and enjoy our arrival on the bridge wing, these are glorious to experience on the older ships, although the newer designed and built have enclosed bridge wings. These are beneficial for sure; however, it is not the same as when you sail into amazing destinations and ports. Sailing into a Norwegian Fjord, or along the canal into Venice, or through the Thames Barrier to London.

 The sail up the rive to our berth, was a few hours away, we gently sailed up the river, taking in the countryside and then passing through some industry / factories built on the river for ease of transportation of goods. Now as this was a maiden all, we just happened to have some of the team onboard from our planning department, with others waiting for us pier side, to capture our arrival.

 The journey up the river was nice and steady, and we could start to see the berth coming up on our portside, in front of bridge crossing the river! All good so far, nice, and steady, we arrived at slack tide, thus enabling us to have the most amount of water beneath the keel, and when the river basically is at a stand still between the rise and fall. For this port we had to have tug assistance (in some ports this is mandatory, or a request from the ship, or they just turn up regardless – of course having to pay whether used or not)

 Now not being a deck officer, I do know that when a ship comes along side, you tend to see either some large old tractor tires, or purpose build fenders, that ensure the ships hull does not contact (hit) the quayside! Well, we were presented with what looked like 4x2 pieces of wood to soften the contact. I moved over to the other side of the bridge out onto the other wing, and witnessed, a rather calm captain, turn red, as he was obviously trying to dock the ship without having to cause any damage. Now we did eventually dock and proceeded to allow the gangway from deck one on to the dockside.

At this point, I, and another officer, made our exit, as we heard that ‘free hot dogs’ where being offered to the crew as it was our maiden call into Aalborg, as it was a tradition. As we left the bridge, all I can say is that some colourful language was exchanged between the captain and the planning team onboard, as obviously no one had done a pre-site visit to ensure the dock could safely accommodate the ship, and that ultimately it would not put the ship, its crew and guests at risk! Remember the 6 P’s, Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

 Anyway the hot dogs, where tasty and worth the wait, unfortunately the entire ships company, heard so almost every department came to the quay side for a free hot dog. Got to luv a freebie as a crew member. The captain had calmed down, at which point he explained that albeit we had arrived at high tide, the ship only had a few metres beneath the keel. Hopefully the ship does not kiss the river bed, otherwise we have to wait for another high / slack tide to depart.

 So, with the audit process continuing, and my afternoon meetings concluded, I was back on the bridge for another coffee, prior to our departure from port. Due to the lack of water beneath the hull of the ship, we had to take it terribly slow, whilst we turned the ship 180’ so we can make our way back out to sea.

The small tugboat, well that is what we were told, had taken hold of the line aft, as we prepared to leave port and sail down the river at sunset. Now this tugboat, did not look big enough to assist the ship, anyway we were assured it would be be fine.  The bow thrusters kicked in, and the ship shudder, close to the riverbed, as this nice brown mud churned up from beneath the ship, we moved very slowly and carefully from the pier, nicely squashed wooden fenders could be seen.

 A nice evening to depart, and sail out to sea, the little tugboat was puffing away and pulling hard to help the ship, am unsure to this date if the tugboat, was helping or if it was just a hinderance to the captain and his officers.

It seemed to be going well, the tugboat seemed to pull one way and then boing it bounced back to the other side like a rubber duck in the bath! Let go all lines, was heard over the radio, at which point the rope sprang back to the ship, with a crack. The tugboat gingerly made her way out of view. That is what we call a near miss! The captain, was not best pleased, however ensured we made it safely out to sea, although for the next few miles, we literally were on a go slow. It turns out that once leaving the river, the depth beneath us waly a few meters and if we went any faster, we would end up with an underwater drag, and potential scrap or hit the seabed.

 A little while later, I joined the captain in his office, and yep, we had to write up reports, especially as we were onboard doing a SQMS audit process, and needed to review documents, EVERS, and Lessons Learned from what had happened today. Free Hotdogs, allegedly the company received  rather large bill for hotdogs, so this tradition was hastly stopped!

 The cruise sector must comply with various international guidelines, processes, and procedures. These have been in place already for many years, and are way ahead of the game than other land-based entities. Many other industries, have the mindset to bury their heads in the sand and be a reactive industry vs one that is proactive.

If we do not learn from COVID, we will only have ourselves to blame, if something similar happens ageing, and we are not ready for it. A reason why the cruise industry puts the training of its crew as a constant priority vs other industry that see it as a financial hinderance and yet are the first to complain when it all goes wrong.