First Day Of Signing On

12 October 2017 - It was my first time experienced to be on board as a crew member on a vessel. During the first time I step onto the gangway, all kind of feelings hit me, nervous, excited, sad and sort of other feelings too. I overthink how it going to be onboard and away from families for few months. My first vessel was MV Omni Stella which is an AHTS Vessel. What is AHTS? AHTS stands for Anchor Handling Tug and Supply. This vessel is the vessel which supports the offshore installation. The first thing onboard, I was briefed by the Master of the vessel and meet my officers which my Chief Officer and 2nd Officer. My Chief was from the batch of DNS02 and my 2nd Officer was from batch DNS01. So both are my seniors in ALAM.

I was assigned by the Master to do deck work for 2 months. During my deck works, im not allowed by the Master and Chief Officer to do cargo operation due to dangerous and company requirements. So i required to learn the moorings, splicing and some other things too. I also required to work under the hot sun by chipping and paint at the deck side.

During the last month onboard, I've been assigned to learn all the paper works and duties as on officer onboard. It was very pain and restless. Honestly, i was completely zero when onbaord. And please dont follow my footsteps. My advice, please bring all the notes that u studied in ALAM as a references for you guys.