A Junior Engineer when new to ship is surrounded by doubts, confusion, and fear. When new to ship, it is very normal for any marine engineering professional to make mistakes. For this reason, senior engineers in the engine room keep themselves a bit lenient and give the fresher space and time to absorb and learn things. However, a junior engineer shouldn’t expect unlimited time to learn and grasp things. After the very first month, or probably after 15 days, the new engineer would be expected to carry out his or her duties independently without making mistakes.
It is therefore important that a junior engineer, though officially on a training period should know and learn as fast he or she can. The faster the engineer grasps and learns things; the better would be the future learning process. In this article we bring you the top 13 things that a Junior engineer should do when new to a ship.
Top 13 Things a Junior Engineer Should Do As Soon As Possible When New to a Ship
1. Ship Familiarisation
Familiarise yourself with the ship as soon as possible. Don’t have a mindset that you are going to be there on the ship for several months and thus have ample of time to do so later. The sooner you familiarize with the ship, the better and easier it would be for you.
2. Know the Escape Routes Thoroughly
While familiarizing yourself with the ship, make sure you remember ship’s emergency escape routes and doors like the back of your hand. This is the first lesson of safety on ship, especially for newcrew members.
3. Know the location of Muster Stations
Find and remember the way and location of muster stations. You don’t want yourself you get lost during an emergency or a drill.
4. Should know who the DPA is
Junior engineer should find out who the designated person ashore (DPA) of the ship is. This is important according to the International Safety Management Code (ISM).
5. Segregation of garbage
Junior Engineer should know what garbage to throw in which designated coloured garbage box. This would be the same for all the ships and thus would be helpful for him throughout his sailing life.
6. Company rules and policies
In order to save himself and the ship from any trouble, the junior engineer should know the company rules and policies thoroughly. This would give him a clear idea as to what he can do and what he cannot when on ship.
7. How to Use Emergency Equipments
Personal safety comes first for any crew member new to the ship. Junior engineer should learn how to use emergency equipments such as emergency generator, life saving appliances, fire fightingappliances etc. along with their locations.
8. Learn About Various Alarms
Learn about identifying various alarms such as Co2 alarm, general alarm, engine room alarm, and fire alarm, along with actions to take in case of such situations.
9. Launching of Life Boat
It is imperative that everyone on ship knows how to launch a life boat. A junior engineer should know how to launch and operate a life boat, along with the procedure to start the life boat’s engine.
10. Know SOPEP
Know about the sopep locker and what all things are present in it.
11. Know the Automation in the Control Room
Know how to operate the basic operations and equipments in the engine room’s control room.
12. Learn About Manuals
Find out what all manuals are available in the engine room and where are they located.
13. Familiarize with Engine Room and Engine Room Workshop
This is where you would be spending most of your time on ship. Know each and every corner of these places.
