18 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | January 2016
YOUR LETTERS
Why the Philippines is the place to go for revalidation P
On my last trip I was faced with a problem, in that my certificate is not due for revalidation until 2018, with a restriction that I can’t go on a ship after 2017 fitted with ECDIS. I work in the offshore industry on an AHTS in the Middle East as master and we were due to start a new contract with the vessel. Coming up under the ‘Manila Amendments’ everyone is going to have to revalidate their Sea Survival, do a Rescue Craft & Survival Craft course, Basic Fire Fighting & Fire Prevention Course, and an Advanced Fire Fighting Course. These I originally did when I did my Second Mate’s Certificate back in about 1980, although the title has changed slightly. As I have advanced through Mates & Master’s (through the old system) all of the original certificates were valid for life. Not any more. Our new charterers were wanting to see these certificates and would not accept me, so I was left with no option but to organise to take them. I was transferred to another vessel to finish my trip, which happened to be in drydock, so, while I was there I started to get things organised. First of all I had a couple of criteria to work to: I did not want to do the courses in the UK, so that I could use the time for my tax days. I also didn’t want to do them in the UK as most of the colleges have pre-set dates and are not flexible, and it would be cheaper to do the courses in the Far East especially as I had a load of Air Miles that I could use — 74,000 to be exact, with Kris Flyer. I got the relevant MSN from the MCA’s website and there were only two colleges outside the UK. One was IDESS in the Philippines and the other was in Trinidad. IDESS in Subic Bay came out on top, so I got some provisional arrangements. They told me when I wanted to go to let them know and they would work something in. I left things at that to see what date I would actually get home. IDESS is located at Subic Bay and the nearest airport is at Angeles (Clark Airport) which is about one hour’s drive from Subic. IDESS sent me a leaflet on logistics for transport, recommended hotels, etc. I also looked up the hotels on the internet. Some of them are what they call customer friendly — this means that you pay for the room and the price includes two breakfasts. This was ideal for me, as I wanted to take my girlfriend who lives in Singapore. When I got home I went to a local travel agent and gave them the details of where I wanted to go.
We looked for about an hour and really could not find what I wanted in the way of flights, so I gave Kris Flyer a phone and told them that I wanted to redeem my air miles. What was my best route? I got back in touch with the college and said I would like to go in November to do all four courses,
so could they give me some dates? Within five minutes they came back with provisional dates and asked me to confirm when I had my flights and if I wanted them to book my hotel for me. Shortly after Kris Flyer came back to me with possible dates, which I provisionally booked. IDESS then came back with dates and all fitted in well. I was to fly from the UK on 1 October, start college on 3 October for one week and then have a week off. Then do the two big courses, have a few days off and fly home on 28 October. I gave the flight details to IDESS and asked them to book taxis, etc, for me. My full airfare should have been £1,600, but with my air miles (I had to buy 10,000) the actual cost of the flights was £430. When I arrived at the airport I was picked up as arranged and taken to the hotel. As I was tired from my flight, I was glad that I gave myself a couple of days to get over the flight. Just near the hotel was a casino where they gave a good
exchange rate — I suppose the idea being that you would spend some of it in there, which I did to my profit. The next day was my first day at college which is literally in the jungle. The taxi picked me up on time. He had been given my schedule for the first week, so knew when and where to pick me up. We pulled in to the college and the first thing that you notice is how clean everywhere is. Some of the rooms here are for people staying on site and they also have rooms down at the seafront where we would be going later. In the canteen there are notices not to feed the monkeys — they wander through all day! When I enrolled, the thing that I liked here is that when you pay the college the bill includes not just the hotel, but also taxis to and from the airport and to and from college, so in effect you only pay once. After paying the bill, the nurse just checks your heart and blood pressure and as my ENG 1 was well in date that was it. All completed, it was off to the jetty which is only about three minutes’ drive, where there is more accommodation if you want to stay on site. The first course that I did was the sea survival, for which I was on my own. In the morning it was in the classroom. It is worth mentioning here that after each course there is an exam which is computer-based, multiple choice. The pass mark is 70% for all exams. All classes and exams are in English and if someone gets less than 70%, they are questioned by the examiner as some of the students have trouble with the language. One of the first things that you realise about the college is how professionally and efficiently it is run. The other students there doing the same as me were from Maersk and Carnival Cruises, to name a few. Safety is upmost at all times during the firefighting courses, with at least two nurses in attendance and sometimes a doctor. All the instructors are professional firefighters, so they are also medically qualified. There is plenty to do in Subic, as there is an excellent safari park which I visited, pictured above — and, yes, it is a real one! There is Ocean World which is well worth a visit or opposite the hotel you can hire a boat, jet ski and paragliding. I would certainly recommend it to anyone to go there. TIM BARKER mem no 156558
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Working up to Woolly Hat Week Society’s woolly hat recruitment A stall, which tours UK knitting and stitchPictured above is the Sailors’
ing shows to sign up volunteers keen to create warm headgear for seafarers. Through events like these, the Society is building up to its annual Woolly Hat Week, which this year runs from 14-21 February and is sponsored by Lloyd’s Register.
‘We believe that seafarers are heroes who brave the cold and often dangerous seas to transport world trade, on which we all rely,’ said volunteer engagement coordinator Hannah Willard. ‘So this year, we are recognising the wonderful work of seafarers with our #HatHero campaign, sharing hat-wearing selfies on social media.’
To join in, just tweet #HatHero pictures to @SailorsSociety. Supporters will also be taking part in dress down days at work, organising their own fundraising events and of course knitting dozens of knitted hats for seafarers. g Find out more about the Sailors’ Society’s Woolly Hat Week 2016 at: www.sailors-society.org.
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