Those who operate the ships have a hate/love relation with Skagway. It is a nice place to call at and easy accessible for all guests but not always that easy for docking a ship. Today was one of those days. Overcast, rainy and about 25 knots of following wind funneling up the Lynn Canal.
The Veendam was scheduled to dock at the Rail Road Dock all the way forward with the Dawn Princess behind us. The latter one we overtook while entering the southern part of Lynn Canal, just below Haines. When docked at the Railroad dock the ship is in the shelter from southerly winds but while approaching, the winds buffets off the mountain range with ever changing and unpredictable angles. So the approach looks a bit as that one of a drunken sailor navigating towards the entrance door of the pub. The wind pushes one way, and the captain corrects the ship the other way.
Apart from the wind there was also a current coming from the inlet to the West of Skagway and its direction changes constantly in the bay and is even less predictable. Thus I made my approach slowly and watched intently where wind and current where pushing the Veendam to. By the time the ship was half up the pier it came in the shelter of the mountain and then it was just a matter of adjusting for the current which changed from a set off the pier to one towards the pier while moving forward to our position.
In the meantime the chief officer was keeping an eagle eye on his sailors to make sure that no line was thrown ashore before 0600 otherwise he would have to pay extra overtime for the linesmen. By 06.15 we were happily docked with the bulb about 50 feet away from the rocks at the end of the dock and the gangway hooked in. The Dawn Princess came alongside behind us about 20 minutes later as they use the same linesmen as we do. Therefore she was scheduled for first line at 06.30
The weather remained very un-settled during the day with intermittent periods of rain and it continued to blow from the south side of the Lynn Canal. While the guests where ashore, the ships crew went through a General Drill which comprised of a fire drill and an abandoned ship drill. Today we had a simulated fire in a passenger area. Accommodation fires are, apart from engine room fires, the greatest worry on cruise ships and we rehearse scenarios for it on a regular basis. To be successful in fighting a fire you need basically two things. One; your teams have to be on the scene quickly so that the fire can not spread and secondly; control the smoke so that it does not affect the rest of the ship.
As soon as a fire is reported somewhere, all the fire screen doors are closed to contain everything in one area. Then the fire squads will approach from behind the nearest door and move forward step by step towards the “hotspot”. While a hose handler team moves forward, there is a second team behind them for backup and a third group who checks each cabin in the closed off area. The success of the fire squad relies on its timely arrival. As soon as the fire alarm has been raised, the team has about 5 minutes to dress up and to get going towards the scene. Ideally we want to have the attack teams in position within 8 minutes after the alarm was raised and from them they advance within 10 minutes towards the fire. By the time they arrive at the scene, the first responders, those are people who close doors and clear areas, have rigged up fire hoses so that the fire team is not delayed by having to do this.
When we simulate these fires, we use a smoke machine that gives off dense white smoke and reduces the visibility to zero. It is the same sort of smoke, or dry ice, which is being used during a show in the theatre.
If fighting the fire would have been un-successful than you have to progress to abandon ship and that involves all the crew on board in one function or the other. That was what we rehearsed to this morning and apart from the weekly training drills, a full abandon ship drill is a monthly requirement. Unfortunately the weather did not make it very pleasant for the crew to stand on deck for 20 minutes, while undergoing Q&A, but Safety comes first.
By the time we left Skagway, the wind had increased to nearly 40 knots, so while going south again through Lynn Canal we had a relative wind on the bow of about 50 knots. Luckily the wind is supposed to die away so it should be better tomorrow in Glacier Bay. Maybe the wind will also blow the rain clouds away.
May 14, 2008 at 6:51 am
Capt., when you have the time please: Are your fire fighting squads composed primarily of Deck Dept. personnel (sailors and officers) or do they include crew from all the ship’s departments? How does one get selected? (do they volunteer? when someone transfers off ship, is there immediately a replacement for that body?) and where do they receive their specialized training? (I’ve heard of schools in Rotterdam, Den Helder and the Seattle area or is it all in-house?)
Thank you!
Copper
May 14, 2008 at 10:18 am
Captain Albert–thank you for the descriptions of your approach to Skagway and of the fire-fighting scenarios and training.
The weather at Skagway sounded similar to what we encountered there last May on the Zaandam–what a windy place!
Also, we were on the Statendam few years ago when she had a serious fire in the electical distribution area. We got to witness first hand the rapid fire fighting response by the crew, complete with soot-faced crew in full gear removing fire extinguishers in the passageways, and seeing smoke outside our cabin up on the Navigation deck. It was bit tense for a while, but the crew was able to keep the fire in-check. That experience made the muster drill take on a whole new meaning for us! Again, thank you!
May 14, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Goodevening captain.
I remember well the day that I was sailing onboard the Nieuw Amsterdam, when she had a fire in the crew accomodation, while sailing through glacier bay. It was a scary event, and the crew cannot be trained enough for situations like these. Thanks to everyone involved, your job, even the smalles one,is an important one in an emergency.
Ruud
May 14, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Meneer Lodder, u was onze Chief Housekeeper op Ryndam in APR 95 op een 10-daagse Southern Caribbean. Leuk om u hier te zien! Het allerbeste!
Copper