| Passage 1 Ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking. I have the pleasure in informing you that all safety equipment is in full working order. The bow and stern doors are closed and secured. The vessel is in all aspects ready for sea. Please listen carefully to the safety instructions which follow. In the unlikely event of emergency, please obey the orders given on the public address system. Passengers are requested to read all notes and leaflets concerning safety regulations. All regulations concerning the vessel’s routine have to be obeyed. Safety regulations do not permit passengers to enter the following spaces: --navigating room; --engine room; --maneuvering areas at the front and back end of the vessel; --cargo rooms and compartments; --service rooms; --all areas and spaces marked “crew only”; --all closed, sealed or roped off areas, spaces and rooms; --car decks when the vessel is at sea. Passage 2 International regulations require all passengers be assembled in a drill which has to take place within 24 hours of departure. A drill will be held to familiarize passengers with their assembly stations, with their life-saving equipment and with emergency procedures. All passengers must attend this drill. In case of emergency, seven short blasts and one prolonged blast will be given with the ship’s whistle and alarm system. Passengers will be taught how to act and behave in case of emergency. Passage 3 Always remember that fire is the greatest hazard aboard ship. Always act immediately if you detect fire or smell fumes or smoke. Always inform a member of the crew if you detect fire or smell fumes or smoke. Be careful to extinguish cigarettes completely. Put used cigarettes in a container provided. Never smoke in bed. Never smoke on deck except in areas labeled as smoking areas. Never throw a cigarette overboard. The use of naked light and open fire is strictly prohibited. Never use an electric iron in a cabin. If you need to iron something, use the ironing room on the third deck. The key may be collected at the information desk. Passage 4 Attention please! Attention please! This is your captain with an important announcement. I repeat, this is your captain with an important announcement. We have a minor flooding in the engine room. There is no immediate danger to our passengers or the ship and there is no reason to be alarmed. For safety reasons, we request all passengers to go to their assembly stations on deck and wait there for further instructions. Please follow the instructions given by the officers and crew. The damage control team is fighting the flooding. We also have radio contact with radio coast stations. As soon as I have further information, I will make another announcement. I ask you kindly to remain calm. There is no danger at this time. Passage 5 When the general emergency alarm is sounded, which consists of seven short blasts and one prolonged blast, all passengers have to go to their assembly station. Take your lifejackets and blankets with you. Lifejackets are stored in your cabins under your beds and at your assembly stations. You are encouraged to try on your lifejackets. All passengers must put on warm clothing; long trousers, long-sleeved shirts or jackets, strong shoes and head covering. All passengers with their lifejackets and blankets are requested to go to their assembly stations immediately. From your assembly stations you will be escorted to your lifeboats. All passengers are requested to carefully study the safety instructions behind their cabin doors. All passengers are requested to follow the escape routes shown. Do not use lifts. Passage 6 Last year there were 63 incidents at sea. This included 10 spills, 2 of which resulted in pollution. Fourteen vessels grounded and 6 vessels collided in bad weather conditions. There were 20 reports of personal injury. These injuries usually occurred because seamen did not take care with machinery or because they did not wear the correct type of protective clothing. Seven ships reported fires on board during the year: in 2 incidents, the fires started in the galley, in another 2 incidents, fires started when chemical containers exploded; and in 3 incidents, the fires occurred because of electrical faults. On 4 occasions vessels lost power because the crew did not follow correct procedures during maneuvering. There were accounts of cargo contamination: 1 cargo of grain suffered from heat damage, and in the other case, water leaked into the hold and damaged a cargo of fruit. Passage 7 This incident took place on board the MV Elga in January of this year. Some of our cargo of pipes broke loose on the deck when we were rounding the Cape of Good Hope in bad weather. There were high winds and visibility was very poor. At the time of the incident I was on watch on the bridge. The 2nd officer heard a loud banging noise and noticed the pipes were loose. I immediately informed the Captain who ordered a team to go on deck to tie and secure the pipes. The problem was caused by the severe movement of the vessel and some lashings breaking. The deck crews were able to lever the pipes into a secure position. We managed to lash the cargo down again sufficiently until the bad weather passed. There was very little we could do to ensure that this incident does not happen again. However, when bad weather is forecast, all lashings should be checked and, if necessary, extra lashings should be put in place. Passage 8 It is a common belief among members of the public that piracy belongs to an era in which swashbuckling pirates played cat and mouse with sailing ship laden with gold. That piracy is a thing of the past, however, is a myth. The main point I’d like to make is that armed robbery is still a real threat to the shipping industry. The international maritime bureau reported that in 1994 there were 92 serious attacks on ships. Two years later in 1996, this figure rocketed to 174, and in 1997 the figure continued to rise dramatically to 252. Almost to combat this crime were made during the early 1990s and consequently the number of attacks decreased significantly. This decrease was due to two main factors. IMO missions were sent to problem areas and pressure was also exerted on countries whose waters were known black spots for pirate attacks. Passage 9 Two types of compasses are used at sea, namely the gyrocompass and the magnetic compass. The gyrocompass is electrically driven and indicates the direction of the geographical or true north pole of the earth. When a gyrocompass has been started, some time must be allowed for it to settle down, and a ship’s gyrocompass should be started some hours before it is to be used. A gyrocompass may function correctly, but at the same time register a small, constant error known as gyro error. If the gyrocompass indicates a direction which is numerically larger than the true direction, the error is described as high, and conversely a numericall |
