STCW Basic Safety Training

10.-21.01.05 Maritime Training Center Rostock

 

Every seafarer must run through an obligatory maritime safety training program before he/she can go to sea. With me now crossing the border between sailing as hobby and becoming a professional sailor I also had to take part in these classes. The training covers all kind of major hazards that you might meet while working aboard a seagoing ship. Two interesting weeks packed with drills about abandoning the ship and fire fighting of which you can see the photos below. But also you learn a lot about safe working practices, general behavior on ships and social responsibilities inside the crew and with passengers or other people who go to sea with you.

The Free Fall Boat, a special life boat which is mainly used on tankers, oil platforms and modern cargo ships. 
The idea is that the complete crew enters the boat, shuts the door and abandons the ship.
After falling from a height of 10m. 
Inside the boat.
Exercise for working with the BA sets. The "cage" consists of connected cubes of 90x90x90 cm with all kinds of doors, hatches, valves, narrow spaces, etc. and is about 15m long. It is pitch dark with artificial smoke, noise and temperatures up to 120°. The idea is to simulate the situation you find when fighting a fire in the engine room, cargo spaces or elsewhere inside a ship.
The tube - a 2m lone and 60 cm wide tunnel inside the cage to get through with all the BA equipment.
Our group in immersion suites - ready for the water games in the 2° C warm Baltic Sea.
First attempts to swim after jumping into the water.
Opening the life raft - which of course unfolds upside down...
Righting the life raft.
Employing a powder extinguisher towards a real fire.
Fighting a real fire in the "burning container" with the hose pipe in full fire fighting clothing and breathing through the BA set.

 

 

photos T. Falke, AFZ Rostock