I want to be a Captain
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On 4-7-2015, an event “I want to be a captain!” was held by the district councilor Derek Hung along with the Mariner’s Club. The event guided us through less known information about being a captain and provided information regarding sea navigation.
This event provided me with details that I have not known before – Never had I known that the hull markings of a ship has a special use, for instance one of them is used to indicate the total displacement of a ship, which is crucial for calculating the total displacement of a ship.
Furthermore, the event allowed us into one of the restricted areas of Hong Kong –Green Island. This island is usually inaccessible, with a lonely lighthouse. We were granted access to that too- and I was actually surprised that a lighthouse’s signal is not very bright from a close distance – In fact, it is only about as bright as that of a light bulb. However, with certain mirror reflection angles, it provides much needed light for navigating.
This event not only gave me a lot more information about seamanship, but also information regarding the local waters of Hong Kong. With the diminishing interest and manpower in the shipping industry, this event has given me some insight into being a captain as a lifelong career, and is certainly one of the most valuable experiences I’ve ever had.
(Reflection by Howard Law)
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Before I participated in this event, I wasn’t very interested in jobs to do with the maritime industry. I didn’t even know who or what a ship captain was or the nature of the job.
In this event, they hired a pilot, who has trained seafarers with special local knowledge, to guide us. He was nice to us during the whole event and also taught us a lot of knowledge about the maritime industry and even gave us hints for being seafarers in HK.
After this event, I have learnt more about the maritime industry, such as docking and ship repair work in the Hong Kong harbour, the function of different types of ships in the maritime industry and even the risks of being seafarers when handling chemicals or oil products.
Besides learning a lot in this event, I also enjoyed it and the part I felt most interested in is having the chance to watch and know how the ships are docked and repaired in Hong Kong because it is interesting to watch so many people work together to repair a huge ship; and it isn’t easy to have a chance to watch the docking and repairing of a ship.
I enjoyed this event and I would like to join a similar event again to investigate and learn more about the maritime industry if I have a chance!
(Reflection by Hugh Fung)