The “next generation” of aspiring NWT sailors recently received some valuable training in North Vancouver.
Capt. Dennis Kean, program coordinator at the Western Arctic Marine Training Centre (WAMTC), and one of the organizers of the excursion, is hopeful it will help the group take their studies to the next level.
“That’s to be seen now when I get them back in the classroom here [in Hay River],” he said with a laugh when asked how the training will benefit students.
“They’re the next generation. I’m finished with [sailing] myself. I spent a lifetime at sea. All I can do now is pass on the knowledge I gained, and I hire instructors to do the same thing, to share their knowledge and experience with the next generation.”
There were eight students on the three-week trip to North Vancouver, all of whom are enrolled in the college’s Bridge Watch Rating North course. Several members of the group had never been outside the NWT before.
The trip itself saw the students undertake their marine emergency duties (MED) training, a component of the larger course. The MED training was broken into “three parts,” according to Kean.
“Marine advanced firefighting is the first part,” he said. “They do that at the Justice Institute of British Columbia [in Maple Ridge].
“The second part is basic safety, and the third part is the lifesaving appliances and rescue boats [component]. Those two parts are done at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in North Vancouver.”
Upon completing the training regimen, the students all received three Transport Canada-issued certificates.
When the trip concluded, they headed back to the NWT for a hard-earned week off.
They’re set to return to the classroom on March 16.
“They’re going to be plunging into the next six weeks [of the Bridge Watch Rating North program],” Kean said. “There will be some simulator training. We’re trying to line up an instructor to do the helmsman [training]. We’re just going to continue to expand their knowledge base of everything ship-related — the bits and pieces of a ship, from the forward back through to the stern.
“They have to know everything about the anchoring, the mooring, the maintenance upkeep and being part of the bridge management team, as well as lookout and wheelman, if required.”
There will be many employment possibilities for the eight students who visited North Vancouver once their course is done — due in large part to the ever-present need for trained sailors in Canada.
“The Canadian Coast Guard is looking for every one of them, to begin with,” Kean said when asked about employment opportunities. Marine Transportation [Services] here in the Northwest Territories needs people. B.C. Ferries is looking for people. Upper Lakes Shipping Company – all the shipping companies – may have a shortage of certified seamen. It’s critical for shipping companies to be able to find and keep certified people.
“Either they have the required number of people on board [these vessels], or they can’t go,” he added. “That’s where [WAMTC is] fitting in now in the industry: talking to the industry and offering our people to them.
“There’s quite a bit of excitement in that.”