BACKGROUND
Part of a Yacht Management Company’s responsibility is to have in place the means to respond to any hazards, accidents and emergency situations on board its fleet of vessels 24/7 365 days a year. As part of this responsibility companies are required to appoint a Designated Person Ashore [DPA] as well as a shorebased Emergency Response Team [ERT]. .
The DPA’s role is to ensure the safe operation of each vessel and provides a link between the company and the persons on board the vessel, whilst the Emergency Response Team’s role is to maintain the highest level of readiness and respond to any vessel in need of assistance.
Each company is required to develop an Emergency Response Plan which contains a selection of procedures and checklists for the Emergency Response Team to follow during any emergency situation. In addition, the manual contains emergency contact details and technical drawings for each vessel.
To ensure the Emergency Response Team are always ready to respond they are required to carry out periodical in-house training and emergency response exercises with their fleet. The purpose of this training is to prepare, exercise and evaluate both the emergency response team ashore and the on board response team’s real time reactions during a simulated emergency situation. By carrying out annual emergency response training Rosemont help improve the vessel preparedness should any actual emergency situation occur. .
THE BENEFITS OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE TRAINING & DRILLS
Maritime regulations dictate that all vessels are required to carry out periodical drills for scenarios such as an on board fire, abandon ship or a man-overboard, however all too often these drills are performed with minimal crew and are ineffectual.
The main objectives of emergency response training and drills is twofold; primarily to test well-established procedures and plans and secondly to test the crew’s response and ability to perform effectively during non-routine operations. Research shows that repetitive actions through training assists individuals to be able to control their stress levels. In the case of an actual incident, the brain will dictate the movements and actions to be taken based on stored memory from effective training.
The emergency response training should not only build one’s confidence and develop crew competencies, but it should also improve morale and communications between on board personnel.
THE TEAM .
Many of the eight strong Rosemont Emergency Response Team, come from the operational side of the business and have first-hand knowledge of working on board yachts as captain’s, engineers and officers.
The remaining team consists of lawyers, yacht managers and technical managers who contribute a broad range of skills to complement the team.
The Emergency Response Team operate the response centre from the Monaco office. With a high-tech communications system and dedicated response offices the team are well equipped to deal with any on board incident.
When the unexpected happens, the Rosemont fleet can rest assured that the Emergency Response Team are on standby ready to support and advise the captain and crew and give them the confidence to make correct decisions.
Look out for next month’s newsletter where we you can follow a real life training exercise with the Emergency Response Team, part two of this three part article.
For more information on the Rosemont Yacht Management Team please contact;
Shelley Dowie
safety@rosemont-yacht.com