Sadly, my Dad fell critically sick in 2009, so I flew home to be with him and he passed away only a few weeks later. But, this was the kick I needed to make a career for myself. I got in contact with a lady called Jo Carrol, from the Ship Safe Training Group. I found my sponsor in P&O Ferries and made my way up North to start my nautical training to become a Deck Officer at the South Shields Training centre in Newcastle.

Attending South Shields Marine School, studying to become a Deck Officer was the very start of my maritime career. After qualifying, I spent a few years with P&O Ferries and DFDS, but the highlight was working for Seabourn when I was able to visit countries and ports I had never thought possible. If I had to choose, my favourite port was Bequia, an island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

After a few years though, I hung up my epaulettes to pursue a career in shoreside marine operations with Saga Cruises. It was a great experience and I was involved in designing cruise itineraries, managing port turnaround operations and representing the company at industry events such as Seatrade, International Cruise summits and CLIA.. It was brilliant to be part of the team who saw in two new ships - the Spirit of Discovery and Spirit of Adventure. 

One of the standout moments when working for Saga took place early one morning in February 2020. when I was at the gym. I received a call from the Captain of Saga Sapphire stating that COVID-19was present at their next port and asking what we wanted him to do. Two weeks later, the world stopped. Luckily we had both vessels in the UK and managed to seek refuge in the port of Tilbury. We successfully repatriated all crew and laid the vessels up. Sadly, I became a COVID-19 statistic as the job market destabilised, but luckily managed to walk straight into Viking Maritime Group as a Maritime Safety Instructor.

Training was never really something I thought I would pursue as a career, but also something I didn’t realise I was quite so passionate about. Covid effectively forced my hand and a phone call from Mark Jaenicke resulted in an invitation to the Maritime Skills Academy (MSA) to see just what they do. Sitting in on a few courses, I could see the instructors enjoyed what they did - I loved the way they interacted with the class, the good humour, teamwork, and they were so knowledgeable about their subjects. It felt like being back at sea. 

My role has evolved since joining MSA and so has our reach. Be it one day courses in Gibraltar, ship or port visits globally - even spending a week in the jungle in a town called Tagaytay in the Philippines delivering a fire course in 90% humidity conditions one week, and a typhoon the next! I do enjoy the travel and having the autonomy to grow the Maritime Skills Academy into what it is now. 

A typical day at MSA starts with a coffee and a team catch up, to run through who is leading what course, room allocation, and any assistance required. The team then sets up the Fire Ground, preparing breathing apparatus and cylinders, plus PPE for the delegates. The pool cover is removed and Liferafts or rescue boats prepared, life jackets and immersion suits inspected and laid out ready to be worn. If we are on the boats, we drive down to Ballast Quay in Dover Port and sling out the Fast Rescue Boats or Totally Enclosed Lifeboat, issue PPE and, in the winter months, extra layers and coats! 

If an instructor hasn’t been assigned a course to lead or assist, then the behind the scenes work starts - there’s always something to do! We continually update our courses to ensure they are industry leading and in line with current legislation and M-Notices. Any changes are submitted to the MCA as part of our approval process. If paperwork is up to date, we can focus on our own Continuous Professional Development; this could be in the form of online courses, off site courses (such as Working at Height with our partners at Guardian), or setting up a range of scenarios involving injured casualties or tricky situations, and working out how best to safely resolve it. I also try to make sure I take any opportunities to keep in contact with our clients and represent MSA at a host of events and working groups through the year.

One of my favourite parts of the job is having the autonomy to steer the training pathway. This is a real highlight, and a good example is creating an operational fire fighting course that can be delivered during the port stay of a vessel. Locations for this are currently Dover and Gibraltar. I also really enjoy getting involved with the training when the diary permits. There’s real satisfaction when leading a course, to see the crew walk away either having learnt something new or remembering something that they had forgotten.

Medically speaking, I’ve dealt with a range of different situations, but one stands out from my time at sea. We were discharging cars and freight on a wet evening in Dunkirk, out on the top deck, when I received a call from the Bosun to say there was a car coming down the ramp to me with its hazard lights on as the driver wasn’t feeling very well. 

I managed to speak to the driver who could only manage few English words, but as she was holding her heavily pregnant belly, was in tears and in severe pain, I realised the severity of the situation straight away. We are having a baby on board! I highlighted the urgency to the Master and requested an ambulance as soon as possible. The lady managed to move to the back seats on her own and within 5 minutes, though it felt like hours, a French ambulance was on deck and took the lady inside. Just two minutes later, the baby was born! I was MEGA not prepared for this on board and it’s not something I recall being taught in all the medical courses I’ve attended!

For anyone interested in this kind of career, I’d say that my several years sailing as a qualified Deck Officer, and time spent as a marine operations manager, really helped me to gain the knowledge and skill set from both sides of the table. This helps to ensure the level of training I give is relevant to the crew attending. So gain as much seagoing experience as possible during your career, understand the legislation and information sharing processes that exist. A good understanding of the STCW Code and MNTB guidelines would really help too. 

In order to stay up to date, I carry out Continual Professional Development training, both individually and as part of the MSA team. We regularly complete planned drills in a variety of scenarios - from someone with a major injury in the pool, to a fall inside the fire training centre. It’s really practical training and helps us to look at all aspects of the situation - how would you get someone injured in a life raft to the side and to safety? How do we make the area safe for responders and rescuers? Where is the nearest medical kit? Who should take on what role in an emergency? How do you debrief staff afterwards? Training in a real environment, or as close to real as you can get, can really make a difference in an emergency situation. 

Which brings me nicely to Beyond Compliance, a phrase I’ve developed over the last few years. We all know it’s mandatory for vessels to sail with crew that are fully certified in their specific duties, but I’m a passionate advocate for ‘Beyond Compliance’ - further investing in the crew through training. 

Did you know that on average, 90% of a company’s training budget is allocated to just 10% of the crew? Yet we know that investing time and effort into training crew will improve morale, retention, confidence and a feeling of being valued by their employer.