Talking points

A troublesome travelling companion

12 August 2007, FS Provence is sailing in the Gulf of Mexico, with a cargo loaded in Huston and Port Arthur (Texas). During this time, in the Atlantic, a tropical depression, N° 4, is getting ready and heading towards the Caribbean.

Everyone on board follows the evolution of this phenomenon and we rapidly inform Fouquet Sacop and the charterers, ‘Société Anonyme de Raffinage des Antilles’ of what is happening.
The storm should hit the Martinique around the 17th and this is exactly the day we are due to arrive.

We follow our route and on the morning of the 14th, conform to the instructions we received, we anchor off Fort de France. In the meantime, the storm has increased and is heading west, which gives its first target as the Martinique.

An hour after our arrival we receive a phone call to dock rapidly and unload.

15th August, is very dull, tropical waves (which have nothing to do with what we hear on the radio beguine, zouk etc). Now the storm has a name : DEAN.

16th we set to leave, which route should we take, lets ask DEAN, west at full speed, south and carefully or north and take a bet. Dean isn’t sure and hesitates.

We decide to leave quickly but Dean is as quick and on the morning of 17th causes large scale damage in the Martinique, the roads are flooded. He heads towards us at 21 knots.

Full speed ahead Captain.

We have all had this sort of travelling companion one day either on the train or the plane, someone who pushes you around and takes up all the space, who is noisy …

We head southwards, sightseeing towards the Dutch West Indies (an old friend of FS Provence and part of the crew (Aruba, Curacao).

On the 18th or rather in the middle of the night, we head westwards, parallel to Dean but 200 miles away. During this time Dean becomes stronger (we however are getting weary!!).

Every day we watch to see if he has changed routes and abandoned us but he seems to like us and wants to follow us to the end of our trip, like a troublesome travelling companion.

In the offices of Fouquet Sacop, there is the same animation, the weather situation is consulted each day and sent to the ship, phone calls are made to get the latest update on the situation and all messages from the vessel are eagerly read, until Dean leaves the area for the northern part of the Caribbean.

Pascal LAGUIONIE,
Master FS PROVENCE

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Evacuation on FS SARA

A cadet fell 3 meters from a ladder in the funnel of the ship. He was unconscious with a large bruise on his head and paralysis of the legs. The vessel medical team analysed the situation and the Captain decided to evacuate the cadet. A medical team (SNSM) arrived on board and the patient was carried down in a stretcher onto the manifold platform for a helicopter evacuation.

This ‘scenario’ was chosen to carry out a safety exercise with the crew and the SNSM team following a request from the medical maritime emergency team from St Nazaire hospital. The main reason for this type of exercise is to train the doctors on duty for an emergency onboard a merchant ship with her particular specificities, risk of accident and difficulty of access to certain parts of the vessel.



This operation was a success and allowed the doctors and seamen to be better prepared for this type of situation. Ronan JUHEL Master FS SARA

Ronan JUHEL, Master FS SARA
Alain Piette, Safety Officer