Last updated Sep 24, 2022 | Communication, Life At Sea, Maritime Dictionary
C ▬ ● ▬ ● C – Code flag; Affirmative. Sound signal; Affirmative. C flag + three numerals – Course. Cab – Name given to screened shelter at wing of a navigating bridge. Caban or Cabane – Old spelling of ‘Cabin’. Cabin – Small...
Last updated Sep 24, 2022 | Communication, Life At Sea, Maritime Dictionary
B – ▬ ● ● ● B-class division – Divisions made of incombustible material and capable of preventing the passage of smoke and flame up to the end of the first ½ hour of the standard fire test. B – Code flag; I am loading, carrying or discharging...
Last updated Sep 22, 2022 | Maritime Dictionary, Ship Knowledge
A – When applied to a temperature, denotes that it has been measured from Absolute zero and is expressed in Centigrade or Celsius units. A – Code flag; Diver below, keep well clear at slow speed. A – Morse Code Alpha. ● ▬...
Last updated Sep 19, 2022 | Safety, Ship Equipment, Ship Knowledge, Ship Operations, Ship parts
There are many different types of lifeboats that merchant vessels use today. It is a vital safety appliance on board that it is mandatory to have them. That said, ships with no lifeboats, or have defective ones, are unseaworthy. Your ship may have the perfect...
Last updated Sep 17, 2022 | Life At Sea, Safety, Ship Equipment, Ship Operations, Training Tips
A line-throwing apparatus is a self-contained device that shoots a rocket projectile to a considerable distance while attached to a line. It is mostly used during rescue operations but sometimes on a ship-to-ship transfer where normal methods of contact using heaving...
Last updated Sep 12, 2022 | Jobs and Tips, Life At Sea, Safety, Ship Equipment, Ship Knowledge, Ship parts
Emergency towing-off pennant or commonly known as “fire wire” is a long wire deployed on the side of a tanker ship. One end is firmly secured on the bitts while its eye on the other end is hanging one to two meters above the water line. Ships use fire wires...
Last updated Sep 1, 2022 | Jobs and Tips, Life At Sea, Ship Operations, Ship parts
Chipping and painting are one of the simplest maintenance jobs on board any merchant vessel. I haven’t experienced a ship where this task was not on the menu during my decade of sailing. Actually, I was for most of the time, sailing on tanker vessels. And these types...
Last updated Aug 29, 2022 | Best Memories, Jobs and Tips, Life At Sea, Shoreleave
If you stay long enough in your seafaring profession, you begin to see and experience crazy and unexpected things. This happened to me in a form of a promotion. And who doesn’t like one? Well, if you were just living a carefree life on board and didn’t care much about...
Last updated Aug 15, 2022 | Jobs and Tips, Ship Knowledge, Ships
When it comes to the prevention of marine pollution, SOPEP and SMPEP are at the top of the list. They are the vessel’s response plans and procedures in case you have a spill on board. You might have seen those big (sometimes small) yellow boxes on deck marked with...
Last updated Aug 13, 2022 | Jobs and Tips, Ship Operations
A ship’s loading operation is a carefully planned activity where the cargoes are transferred from the shore terminal to the vessel’s cargo tanks. It sounds simple and it actually does. But unbeknown to most, it involves many moving parts from preparation to the...
