To review here: the question came up what possible reason would the captain have to leave the mate alone in the wheelhouse in that area? In my experience it is the case that in some maritime sectors the mate is expected to be able to handle the watch on his own without the captain’s assistance.
I didn’t intend to imply that I knew for certain that that was the case here.
From the earlier post it sounds like the captain was getting ready to head to the wheelhouse, just missed the ETA by a bit. I think we all agree that there are sectors of he industry, particularly short sea, where the officers are left on their own to navigate some fairly tricky areas. I can get comfortable enough with an officers abilities to trust them in most situations without being present, but choke points and high traffic areas are places I want to be present on the bridge. Not conning, just on the bridge monitoring the situation.
And in the case of Seymour, that’s not the only spot. On tugs at least, if you hit Seymour at slack, you’re going to hit Race/Current pass at near max, and Blackney with a bit of current running as well. Point being-you need to manage your own rest, and being up for all three might not be the best option. Traffic and weather are considerations as well. Generally the first mates have it down(the one I have now has run it more than I have), the second mates are learning. I generally get up, but sometimes don’t depending on expected traffic, how well the barge is behaving,and if we’re going through with a bit of current or at slack
I would agree with @DamnYankee though being an engineer my views are limited. As it was his first assignment as captain I think he would be overly cautious until comfortable with those under him. Unfortunately he didn’t quite make it in time.
When I was mate on a AHTS doing 6 on 6 off with the master I had a pilotage exemption for the port and you just did what had to be done in your watch. That was then and now with DP the rules specify two officers on the bridge so the manning is the same as deep sea ship.
Yeah five minutes sooner and he’d probably have been chewing on the mates finer points while making a stiff correction to starboard and carrying on to safety and then contacting the office for a replacement.
On many AHT/AHTS and other types of Offshore vessels it is now normal that the Master and Ch.Mate do 6/6 watches and each handle whatever task called for,
For DP operation that is of course dependent to both having full DPO licence, which is now common.
The bad old days when the Masters were usually the only one handling the boat while anchor handling, or making tow and the Ch.Eng. usually being the only winch operator, sometimes pulling 24-36 hr. stints is something of the past. At least I hope that it is. (If this still applies in the GoM I don’t know)
In the case on the larger modern boats working internationally, there are two officers on watch and the norm is that the Master/Ch.Mate is on the sticks and in charge, while the 2nd Mate operate the winch.
When on DP this may change, were the 2nd Mate sits at the DP panel, while the Master/Ch. Mate is preoccupied with other things, like communication and administration etc.(At least my experience as a 3rd party observer)
That’s the same way I look at things.
On the round-the-world run I’ll often have new second and third mates. If I have a port call at Port Kalang and Singapore I’ll be up most of the day with agents and port officials. So the 12 hr run between the two ports I’d like to get a chance to put my feet up for a bit.
That means I have the to get the mates up to speed. Most of them have no or little experience handling the ship in heavy traffic or restricted spaces I start before the sea buoy leaving ports on the East Coast, give them the conn and watch them make the turn. For some mates it’s the first time they’ve done a turn except mid-ocean.
Then I have the Med, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf to get them up to speed.
At pay-off after a 90 day trip usually the second and third mates are ready to handle about anything.
@Hogsnort has hit on the key point with the notion of the captain giving the mate a check ride for specific areas where the navigation is more difficult.
The company has, in effect, implicitly given the captain the authority to informally grant pilotage to the mates at his discretion.
So in areas where no formal pilotage is required it is up to the captain to decide whether or not the mate has sufficient skills and experience to navigate specific areas.
In principle this informal system is no different than a formal system endorsed by government authorities.
The various arguments; what if something happens; the mate couldn’t possibly be qualified due to current or whatever are no more relevant under the informal system of pilotage than the formal one.
I haven’t done it for a while but I used to find that Singapore then Port Klang a very busy time indeed followed by India then repeat. Horsbough light never looked so good, the next port Ulsan and a few days of peace and quiet.