What do you think are the most valuable skills required to be successful in a maritime career field?
Now this is mainly from a deck perspective..
• A thorough understanding of meteorology. Specifically where it relates to vessel weather routing, 500 millibar and surface weather pattern analysis, heavy weather maneuvering and tropical storm avoidance.
• A thorough understanding of collision avoidance maneuvering and ARPA (Automated Radar Plotting Aid) radar equipment. Being able to interpret ARPA information particularly in heavy traffic is critical.
• A basic understanding of maritime labor relations, maritime labor contracts, and the history of the maritime labor movement. We are constantly dealing with crew contractual issues. A good fundamental understanding of contracts and the history of how they evolved helps in those dealings.
• A basic knowledge of ships business. Be familiar with Safety Management Systems (SMS) and the requirements of regulatory bodies (port state authorities, classification societies, etc.) This is especially important where it involves pollution regulations.
So that’s just a few of the things right off the top of my head.. Hope that helps answer your question.
The linked video documentary clips are pretty good (maybe a little overly dramatic in places). Even though the OOCL ATLANTA is a foreign flag ship their operation is remarkably similar to what you would see on a U.S. flag containership.