What Makes a Good Yacht Engineer? Part 2.

View from the Captain’s Cabin

Continuing from the first article in the series on what ingredients go into the making of a good yacht engineer, last week I spoke to several prominent captains in the industry to get their view on the matter.

The relationship between the chief engineer and the captain is a crucial one on any yacht, perhaps more so than any other relationship. Most of us have our own opinions on what makes a good captain, but it hasn’t really been until recently that it crossed my mind what makes a good engineer from a captain’s point of view. Work ethic? Transparency? Willingness to get the first round in?

While I worked on cruise ships, I did hear a story of a particular captain who got involved with one of the female cast members who, and this was common knowledge in the crew bar, was into more spicy relationships behind closed doors.

She had been seen on more than one occasion on the captain’s deck, which was notable as ordinarily she had no business to be up there and had spent the whole evening talking to him at a crew party, which got tongues wagging in the crew bar.

One morning at around 3 am, the engineer on the 12-4 watch in the control room had a call from the captain’s cabin and was surprised to hear on the other end of the line the aforementioned cast member's voice, who asked him breathlessly to send a locksmith up to the captain’s cabin. “Whatever for?” the engineer asked, understandably confused. “Just bloody send one!” he heard the captain shout from somewhere in the background.

He did as he was asked, of course, and duly woke the locksmith and asked him to go up to check. It turned out that the captain had been handcuffed naked to the bed and had somehow accidentally swallowed the key. Luckily for the captain, the handcuffs were not of quality stainless steel, so the locksmith was able to break them quickly while the cast member thoughtfully held a small hand towel embroidered with the name of the cruise line over the captain's private parts.

So perhaps a good engineer from at least one captain’s point of view is one who has strong lockpicking skills?

Here’s what the captains had to say:

“I’ve worked with the good, the bad, and the ugly. The really good ones become close friends of mine. The technical knowledge is paramount, that goes without saying. If you don’t have the technical knowledge, the ability to come up with the solution, you have fallen at the first hurdle really.

They must be calm under pressure. There is nothing worse than an engineer who is flapping or is showing that they are out of their depth. You need someone who is calm and can process a difficult problem in a logical manner.

The ability to communicate information is so important, not just to me but to the deck crew, to the interior crew about how the systems work, how the blinds work for instance. What engine checks do we need to do on the tenders? That basic information, an engineer has got to have the ability to pass over to junior crew and takes it seriously. It might be obvious to them as a seasoned engineer, but to a junior crew member, these might be totally new concepts. And then you must be able to communicate right through up to the captains, owner, and management. Having my engineer convey complex engineering problems and solutions to an owner is so important and so important to me as a captain. If you can communicate that in a proper manner, then solutions can be sought, funding, whatever. If you struggle to pass that information across, they will see right through that.

A good engineer hangs out in the crew mess, so knows what’s going on with the crew, and they have been able to support me as a captain not only in the engineering department but right across the board.”

— Captain, 70m MY

“For me, coming from the commercial side, the old oil and water thing not mixing is becoming a lot less relevent, and it needs to be, especially in yachting where the dynamics are so, so different. Ultimately, the biggest thing for me is transparency; we are all one team, we all want and need to keep things operating, and if there are breakdowns, be transparent. If you are getting close to single point failure, then for sure the captain needs to know.

Sometimes in the past that hasn’t happened, they work as a close-knit team, and doing their best to keep things running, and that lack of communication up to the captain or the bridge team can cause frustration. And that is on both sides because the bridge team can also forget to communicate, which causes frustrations downstairs.

As a captain walking in the control room, everybody seems to go on edge a little bit. I like when the yachts I’m on, everybody can just chill out and get on with their work. I’m not there checking on anything; it’s a great opportunity to get a feel of what’s going on, either from a technical perspective or just get a feel of how the department is running. As a captain, I like everybody to feel they are comfortable when I walk in a room. Generally, the engine room teams are tight. I’ve been on boats when they protect the chief; they don’t want the chief in any kind of trouble or interfere with their agenda. So, the chief engineer has got to ensure that everything's transparent — if the chief is being cagey about what goes on in the engine room, that will cascade down throughout the team. But if the chief is frank and open, then the rest of the team will, and it just delivers a much better atmosphere and operationally makes the boat more efficient.”

— Captain, 120m MY

“I think above all else to have the character to be a truly “good” crew member that fits in, work-wise and socially with all departments and the captain. This means respecting others, including the captain’s authority. It's also good if they have a diverse and solid marine engineering experience and qualification.

Ultimately to achieve true longevity, I find that having a background as a professionally trained marine engineer is best. I find with engineers with a commercial background, they are likely to achieve greater longevity. An engineer without longevity is a potentially risky and expensive crew member. I also think it’s imperative to have the curiosity and willingness to acquire skills outside their comfort zone, particularly in areas like AV/IT, where systems become more complex. They should understand that willingly assisting in non-engineering areas such as mooring, water sport setup, loading provisions, etc., is a lot more fun than sitting in a control room and will contribute to a great team spirit, which is one of the most rewarding aspects of any workplace. Engineers can often be the ones not to partake in this. And lastly, if they are on rotation then they be friends with the other rotational engineer, to communicate and share information, without any rivalry – they have to be on the same wavelength.”

— Captain, 50m MY

“For me, I need someone with strong communication skills. They have to be able to communicate in a way that is without getting into conflict. They can often be spiky, not all the time but they can be. A good engineer, as well as having technical skills, must be able to be part of a team; they are as much a part of this boat as anyone else, but they are not the whole boat.

Having said that, they must be able to stand their ground too, especially when it comes to shipyards and contractors; they must be able to stick up for the boat. Most of them do, but I’ve had one or two that were a little too accepting of the shipyard, but it's possible that comes with experience.

A good engineer, for me, has your back as a captain. They trust what you are doing and support it."

Captain 120m MY

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It seems that communication really is key (to the handcuffs!). Marine engineers are generally trained to understand, operate, and maintain the vessels they sail on, as well as to be able to analyse and solve complex technical tasks while in difficult circumstances. I certainly never heard of any mention of communication skills during my training – perhaps there are these days. And if not, maybe there should be?

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