Students had the opportunity to sail the high seas and take on marine emergency duties over the weekend — all in a simulation.
The Marine Institute alongside the Master Mariners of Canada held its 13th annual nautical skills competition, where 16 high school and 68 marine institute students formed teams to compete in the daunting task of subverting an emergency on the sea.
Through the nine simulated exercises, students were able to demonstrate their skills and learn more about working offshore.
“They’re doing some team exercises and competitions, having a lot of fun,” said Paul Brett, vice-president of Memorial University for the Fisheries and Marine Institute.
The competition is not part of their curriculum, but it does help develop skills in teamwork, ship manoeuvring, anchor handling, and search and rescue.
“They get to see how they can put those skills to work in what is a very highly competitive, but yet very fun set of exercises,” said Brett.
Brett described the competition as a “pipeline of talent,” as it shows off talent to industry partners and allows students to start building relationships with possible employers.
This is also the first year that engineering students have been included, said Eben March, who is a competition exercise lead and an organizer with Master Mariners.
“It’s great because now they have this whole team building with the engineers and the deck people,” said March, adding that’s what it would be like on a vessel in real life.
Even though there was a chance to win up to $1,000, March said it’s still a friendly competition.
“They’re getting to interact and see the fun part of going to sea,” he said. “[They’ll] see the fun part of working on a ship, making friends and all that kind of stuff.”
A fun learning experience
For former competitor and now exercise assistant Reagan Clements, the best part is getting to experience leadership. He said that usually, students aboard vessels for work terms are only cadets, but in the simulators, they get to take charge.
“People are counting on you. You get to delegate,” said Clements. “I had a great time.”
After completing school, Clements went on to work on offshore vessels similar to the ones simulated at the competition.
Second time competitor James Hawco says he also enjoyed being able to learn how to do things without the pressure of the real world.
“This is a good time for us to learn about what we could do, what our abilities are and how to potentially save something or manage something in the offshore world if something were to go wrong,” said Hawco.
And even though the competition is only a bit of fun, competitor Morgan Hackett said teams like to take it seriously.
“You know you’re in a simulation, so it’s not all real, but you just feel so into the moment,” said Hackett.
Hackett first did the competition as a high school student, which she said made her excited to start school at the Marine institute.
“I don’t like school at all, but it made me excited to come to school,” she said. “People are so open about doing whatever they want [and] they’re actually liking what they’re doing. So that was exciting.”
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