Descending from the Star

By Engine Cadet Melvin Tabangay / Photos by Captain Luisito Cantona
 

“There is no harm in hoping for the best as long as you are prepared for the worst”.

– Stephen King

It was a fair second Sunday of November in Houston. Bow Star was anchored in the Houston fairway anchorage, and the crew deemed it a nice day to learn about the Milan Descender.

Milan Descender is an evacuation device that allows a person wearing a full arrest harness or Petzl pitagor harness to connect the rope to the frontal attachments via a carabiner, so he can descend from a higher position to a lower one on his own. It is very useful in emergencies that require self-evacuation.

Captain Luisito Cantona presented the Milan Descender to the Bow Star crew, and explained its purpose and usage. The provisions require the installation and onboard arrangement of the equipment to be used in conjunction with the life raft on the ship’s bow were also discussed.

After the discussions and risk assessment, the officers and crew were divided into groups. The groups played key roles in the simulation of search and rescue operations, with five willing participants to use the Milan Descender.

The life boat and the MOB (man overboard) rescue boat were launched simultaneously afterwards, followed by the five crewmembers' descent using the Milan Descender. They were later picked up by the MOB rescue boat team led by the Captain.

The simulation turned out to be successful, as every one of us knew our duties and understood the operation of the equipment used during the exercise. 

More importantly, we learned how to nurture our sense of situational awareness. Through training and preparations for emergency situations, we were able to identify all the possibilities and come up with solutions, allowing us to respond appropriately when the crisis came. The training empowered us to face even tougher situations in real life.