Stena Immaculate Mariners Rise to the Occasion
“I poked my head up and was able to see a vessel coming straight at us,” Griffin said. “Straight at me and my tank. All I could see was something big and blue heading toward us. I immediately knew, it’s not going to miss us. It was going fast. I was front and center when it allided between the seven port and six port cargo tanks. There was a great big loud crunching noise. That was followed by a whole lot of fire.”
If the 3rd Mate was on the deck “sniffing tanks”, who were on the bridge keeping anchor watch?
May be
may be sniffing sth else .
" two officers forward " and some other tale telling signs . They should be advised to STF up for God’s sake .
Speech is like silver while silence is like gold.
We have this golden rule in train couches written on windows : do not stick your head while underway.
I have seen on facebook many selfincriminating pictures but this
text is the best thing I have seen so far.
Also 130 clicks and only two hearts says it all. Not all like what they have read.
Added.
It is not my business but for their sake and other reasons this thread should be removed together with the article.
GetMogCaptain Crew
STOS- Specially Trained Ordinary Seaman. You take part of the RFPNW assessments and you can work on deck but not on the bridge. Once you get the rest of your seatime you would finish the assessments and then you can become a Watchstander.
Not familiar with the designation, but found this
This is not unheard of, the off watch mate being out on deck helping the C/M. Very normal for a tanker to carry two thirds also, or who knows what watch schedule they were standing.
I mean, if the Chief Mate and the 3rd mate are sniffing tanks, they got to sniff the forward tanks as well.
This all sounds like very normal tanker operations.
That’s only partially correct. STOS are bridge watchstanders. On larger ocean vessels, the Certificate of Inspection can specify that up to two (watchstanding) ABs can be replaced with STOS. STOS is not defined in the CFR, but Part B of Volume III of the Marine Safety Manual has copious references to an STOS being an OS trained in “lookout procedures.” If the vessel is operating where STCW is required, it is an OS who holds RFPNW. It is not new, I sailed on a vessel in 1981 whose COI allowed 2 STOS to substitute for ABs.
I don’t know how usual it is to carry 2 x 3rd mates on tankers of the type and size of the Stena Immaculate in normal operation and trade.
If in coastal trade, with short sea voyages between port call I can see this being the case, but she was not in that kind of trade.
I would assume that while anchored on an open anchorages normal sea watches would be maintained and the the 3rd mate would be doing the 8-12 watch.
I haven’t seen a crew list, so don’t know how many mates there were. (??)
PS> 23 crew sounds like what you would normally have on a tanker of this size and type in normal international trade.
Thanks! I’d never heard of STOS. I copied a post I found here from GetMo.
Yours noted. Thx.
Can You pls sent me a photo or pdf of "watch keeping/standing arrangements " on your US flag tanker???
Or if You are not on a tanker then may be there is somebody here from tankers who can provide same.
I had many different arrangements . On roro, conro the chmate was doing cargo work/plans hence there were 2x 2nds+ 3rd or 2x3rd + 2nd. With several loading ports in tight coastal rotation it made sense.
On ocean passage the junior officers pressed master to make ch.mate busy so they could do their other duties w/o extra unpaid OT .
On other ocasions there was master + c/o + 2 mates, or master + c/o + mate. All of above on dry ships .
Typical watch at sea ( nightime ) was OOW + rating forming part of a navigational watch and holding appropriate certification demonstrating the competence to perform the navigation function at the support level, as specified in column 1 of table A-ll/4 of STCW convention.
However such rating could not keep the watch substituting OOW as it is unlawful .
Since US standards are surely higher then STCW( minimum) then my question is:
can STOS keep navigational watch on the bridge in lieu of certified OOW .??
With these TSP tankers it’s a tossup whether or not they carry an extra 3rd mate, but certainly not unheard of. What would be unheard of, is a Crowley crew leaving the bridge unattended. Those nerds call me and ask for a 2mile CPA in open ocean, and generally the most safety conscious, rule following outfit I’ve worked with. At worst, it would be the Captain on the bridge while the 3rd mate goes to lend the Chief mate a hand, but I’m still willing to bet they had two thirds. If they weren’t they would be getting ready to go on 6x6 or 12x12 ahead of the loading operations.
This article paints a fuzzy picture, because it is written by SIU, the union representing the Unlicensed, so naturally it’s telling the story of how brave and heroic the unlicensed are, talking only to the unlicensed. I doubt the STOS was standing anchor watch, but what is more likely, was sent to the bridge to fetch a log book, possibly the tank entry log, given they were tank diving. Notice how he has already departed the bridge with a logbook when the collision happened.
I’m not at work currently, but what’s pretty standard is A Master, Dayworking C/M, a 2nd mate, and two thirds. the 2nd and 3rds do 8 hours on the bridge in either a 4x8 or European schedule, and 4 hours doing their auxiliary duties. C/M is either doing cargo plans, tank washing, or directing deck maintenance. These MSC charters love tank washing between loads, so the C/M can stay plenty busy. The 2nd mate does normal 2nd mate things, and the two thirds split everything else or assist as directed.
I’ve been on tankers that ran with only 1 3rd, and no one had a good time, unless arrival was in a small two hour window, everyone was over hours, and you’re generally going to be on 6x6 or 12x12 while the C/M is washing, or in port.
Oh come on, seriously? Another Mate.
I’ve spent decades working on various types of tankers, yet somehow, I must have missed the “normal tanker operations known as sniffing the tanks (checking 02 levels)”
Could you clarify what exactly this entails? Is it strictly about monitoring the atmosphere in an inerted tank, or does it specifically refer to gas testing before tank entry procedures? More importantly, is this an officially defined term within an SMS, with a clearly documented procedure and execution steps? Or is it more of an informal expression used for general atmosphere monitoring?
Oh come on, seriously?
Yes.
Yeah it’s a shorthand for using something like a Altair 5x or Qrae to check the levels in a tank prior to tank entry. No one is actually sniffing with their nose. Just a long ass hose and a very expensive gadget that is a pain in the ass to calibrate.
Likely in this case because the crew would need to go down and dry the tanks prior to load, presumably having washed on the way there.
“Sniffing” is just the American slang word for enclosed space atmospheric gas measurement.
It’s extremely common on U.S. flag vessels (and a good chunk of the foreign tankers I’ve been on).
Outside of ATB’s, I can’t think of a single U.S.-flag tank vessel that doesn’t carry two 3/M’s and one 2/M as the watchstanders, while allowing the C/M to float/daywork. To get even more specific, that’s the standard on every Crowley tanker I’ve ever been on.
Every officer is also, generally, expected to do four hours on deck as well, so it’s not at all unusual that there were two off-watch officers on deck sniffing tanks (presumably the C/M along with one of the off-watch mates).
The watches are generally structured with the junior 3/M standing the 8x12, the senior 3/M the 12x4 and the 2/M the 4x8.
