I will like to shed some light on the ferry and cargo service connecting st vincent and the Grenadines locally and regionally to countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, st Lucia, and Barbados which we trade cargo Weekly.
Let me first Begin on Congratulating the Bequia Express Ferries on the newest addition of the m/v Express 2 and m/v Express 5 ferries to the fleet to bring their total amount of ferries owned to 5.
As we all may know, the ferry and cargo service is Essential to us as a Nation on a whole for connecting us from the mainland St vincent to the Grenadine islands that we own.
We can clearly see that over the last 5 years the amount of passengers and Vehicles travelling on our ferries from kingstown,St vincent to the Grenadines has vastly increased.
We must now pay even more close attention to the Safety of the Passengers and crew onboard as Safety must be the top priority at sea.
Over the last decade we have witnessed some of our vessels expierencing Mechanical Failure at sea to the more serious issue of losing our Very own beloved Gem star to Fire and this is as of Great concern to the Traveling public for their safety. As the business increase, Safety must increase and we as the traveling public has the right to feel safe while on our journey and for that to take place, the Maritime laws must take a stronger Effect on these Ferry/Cargo companies as soon as possible.
International Maritime law Requires that each crew member working on a vessell must be trained properly in each possible aspect of maritime training that could help him/her face the troubles out at sea. These trainings are put Forward in the STCW 95 which i will outline below in exactly what this training ceritifies you with.
1. A STCW 95 training starts with personal safety and social responsibility course (PSSR) which deals with the most basic aspects of personal safety of a seafarer on the ship and moves on to survival techniques. Both these aspects are absolutely necessary for a person on a ship under harsh conditions at sea.
2. Elementary first aid training which is essential for augmenting chances of survival on a ship during emergency conditions. In situations of trouble, first aid is something that comes most handy and STCW training makes sure every seafarer out on the sea is well trained to look into it.
3. Besides these, the other courses includes effective shipboard communication, preventing marine pollution, compliance with emergency procedures, Fire Fighting Training and abandonment training.
A standard training like this ensures that every crew member aboard has the required level of training which will make him an asset in time of need, rather than a liability.
To the General public using these Essential service be not afraid to Question your safety for it is the companies Priority to Protect us As passengers and Crew for we know not when Emergency and Failure may strike.
Concerned Citizen
2 Comments
What really is your point sir/madam? Is this being done to raise a political point? People gas been ferried to and from the island in a regular basis for years with little or no incident at all so, why now. If you’re an expert in that field, where’s your name?
The STCW 95 is no long accepted by IMO. STCW 10 AND ISPS SECURITY AWARENESS is the new basic training and there are other training have to done base on the tonnage of the vessel. We can talk about training of seafarers and it is right heading but we have to look at where the training being done. All seafarers have to leave st. Vincent to do any maritime training and that is not cheap, so we should be talking about maritime training school in St. Vincent.