Maritime awards announced
Capt Nick Sloane, who has led major international salvage operations, honoured in SA
THE past week carried two pieces of good news. The first related to the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia that grounded and capsized on the island of Giglio off Italy in January 2012, and was refloated in July 2014 after a marathon salvage project and towed to Genoa for scrapping.
At the time, the salvage team’s leader, Captain Nick Sloane, was awarded the Cavaliere del Lavoro della Repubblica Italiana, one of Italy’s knighthoods, for his outstanding achievements associated with the highly complex and multi-faceted operation to refloat the vessel.
Shortly afterwards, he received the Deutscher Meerenspreis at a ceremony in Kiel. Yet, despite the remarkable salvage success receiving international acclaim, the South African government has omitted the name of this real-life local hero from the list of awardees of National Orders.
Because of government’s disinterest, it was fitting that, at the International Salvage Union Convention in Cape Town last week, Captain Sloane’s remarkable career was recognised by the maritime industry when Captain Rob Whitehead, president of the Society for Master Mariners of South Africa, presented him with the society’s gold medal.
“Captain Sloane,” said Whitehead at the function, “has brought the highest honour to our profession...”
By measure of their applause at the announcement, the assembled gathering – salvage specialists from across the world – agreed, continuing to marvel at Captain Sloane’s leadership of the complex salvage operation that required intricate calculations relating to the projected stability of the raised vessel; that included an understanding of the marine ecosystem of the waters off Giglio; that needed decisive leadership of an international team to achieve the ultimate success, and required attention to umpteen other aspects of this operation. Few could have done that – but Nick Sloane did!
Add to that achievement a list of other salvage projects he has tackled.
He led teams to salvage logs from the bulker Kiperosa, wrecked near East London; from a Karachi sandbank, his team raised the halves of the fractured and partially-sunken laden tanker Tasman Spirit; he led the salvage of containers from a stranded containership in the Azores; he refloated an Iranian containership from an Arabian Gulf island; and days before the medal award, he had managed to separate two ships that had collided off Corsica.
There are many other operations, each contributing to the remarkably successful salvage career of this man whose acclaimed achievements make him a role model for youngsters wishing to enter maritime careers, but who, sadly, the South African government ignores!
The second piece of good news came as I was concluding my talk on Union-Castle last Sunday afternoon. A message from my colleague in Dubai informed me that Simon’s Town School’s Lawhill Maritime Centre had won the prestigious Seatrade Award for maritime education. Lawhill also won this award in 2012.
The school’s maritime education programme has produced master mariners (several of whom have gained command), and several senior marine engineers (a former Lawhill student will probably achieve her chief engineer’s certificate early next year), while other young people have advanced through a variety of shore-based maritime careers – and even through medical studies. The expansion of the local maritime industry, potentially a large employer, depends entirely on the involvement of competent, knowledgeable and industrious people – with oomph and vision.
Since the harbours remain off limits to youngsters, with no observation areas from which they can watch ships pass or work cargo, properly formulated maritime education programmes in carefully selected schools are the only way to engender maritime interest in future seafarers or shipping executives.
Shipping is a unique, global 24/7 industry with special jargon, procedures and work ethic that prospective employees must understand. Besides the maritime and other subjects that Lawhill students take, discipline, positive work ethic and initiative are emphasised as hallmarks for success in the shipping industry.
With those attributes, wannabe shipping folks could follow in Captain Sloane’s wake.