In total, I have hired Filipino crew to
work aboard my vessel about 12 man-years.
Isn't nearly all training and certification extremely flawed? It is generally conducted during the day. Tests are on paper and taken while sitting in an exam room on shore. Whereas, I personally needed crew that could operate in the middle of the night surrounded by big ships sailing past
Singapore when the visibility suddenly drops to near zero. Even the US
Navy simply can't provide this level of training as they have clearly demonstrated crashing into a clearly marked reef and a slow moving freighter with
AIS and lights on a clear evening.
The basic problem I have found is new crew lacked the confidence to believe
navigation lights and to make a sudden course change on their own.
I had to personally train even the most highly qualified Filipino crew
member. Despite attending a four year maritime university and obtaining a captain's certificate, I still had to sit with him his first few nights and explain if you only see .....then it means...but if you see....then it means. Doesn't everyone still have fears and tend to forget paper training when finally aboard a vessel in the middle of the night?
I had an Italian
captain aboard my vessel who owned his own sailboat back in
Italy. But it appears he never operated at night. He frantically woke me up at 5 am. Yes there was a white light directly ahead. Yes it was big. However, given I was a bit more experienced I was able to calmly ask him do you see any red or green? Teasingly, I asked him about how many
boat lengths is this vessel in front of us? He went to the front of the vessel looked long and hard and replied: "Three boat lengths we are about to hit it!"
To which I inquired: "What is the name of the vessel?" Boy can I really be a smart ass.
He screamed back at me: "How the heck do I know the name of the vessel? We have to change course."
This was not the first time a frantic crew
member woke me up when Venus was visible in the morning sky. However, it was the first time Venus happened to be dead ahead.
The Philippines actually has a large training ship where crew get hands on practical training. However, this only can train a relatively few crew who tend to become crew members aboard the many many ferries that operate between islands.
What really benefit any new crew member is many many yachties like myself that have the time to sit aboard our vessels at night and ask them questions.