Although these stories are not representative
of the regular day-to-day activities of a
yacht manager, these are true stories that
we at Watermark Yacht Consulting have managed
successfully.
#1 - “I’ve Taken Over Command
of The Vessel”
Several years ago, before the advent of the
modern 24/7 direct global access to emergency
room physicians, we received a call from the
1st Mate on a yacht voyaging from Viareggio,
Italy to Hong Kong, China, via the Suez Canal,
the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. While
they were many miles off Sri Lanka, we received
a call from the vessel via the SatCom, with
the opening line from the 1st Mate announcing: “I’ve
taken over command of the vessel.” Fortunately,
very quickly he went on to explain that the
captain was having a medical emergency. We
contacted a physician and via that same global
conference call, determined that a kidney
stone was the likely diagnosis and that further
emergency medical attention was required. The
management team mobilized its emergency response
plan and found a medical facility, then, guided
the vessel into this “war risk exclusion” zone,
advising the owner, the insurance underwriters,
and the captain’s wife while managing
this emergency. The captain was eventually
flown to Hong Kong for surgery from which
he fully recovered. The vessel made
it safely to Hong Kong and the owner went
on to commend the management team for their
successful crisis management.
#2 - Drugs on Board
The senior management received anonymous
phone calls that the crew of one of the yachts
were using drugs and keeping them on board. Michael
Reardon and a private security agent were
dispatched to the scene in St. Maarten. Upon
arriving, the captain was approached and quickly
dismissed as a potential participant in the
illicit actions. The crew were kept
on board and subjected to a simple process
of individual questioning. They were
clearly briefed on what was happening, they
were also given the questions they were going
to be asked regarding the allegations of drug
use and possession. The crew were also
warned that if they did not appear forthright,
honest and cooperative another level of questioning
would be initiated with the assistance of
a polygraph machine. The first round
of questioning revealed the need to move on
to the polygraph testing. The two day
investigation proved successful in uncovering
an unfortunate chain of events, starting with
one crew member with a serious drug problem
whose watershed lead to “recreational” drug
use, escalating to several crew being involved
and in possession of illegal drugs on board. The
situation was remedied with terminations and
full, written crew consent to regular, random
drug testing. In the end a busy charter
season and an owner’s trip was salvaged
with many lessons learned by everyone involved.
#3 - Medical Emergency Three Days From
Nowhere
While 3 days from port during a Pacific transit
from the West Coast of the US to French
Polynesia, a 3,550 NM voyage calculated
to take 12 days, a plastic gauge exploded
in the face of a crewmember in the engine
room. By
now, (2003) a refined remote emergency
medical response, utilizing MedLink and
our management team expedited the emergency
evacuation of the crewmember to Hawaii for
treatment. The
accident, although shocking for those directly
involved on board, was handled with orchestrated
teamwork, allowing doctors to give the
best possible care remotely and then evacuating
the victim as soon as possible. Sadly
the crewman lost his eye, but the crisis
was handle so well that after a long recuperation
and fitting of a prosthetic eye, the crewman
rejoined the yacht fully qualified to return
to work as a licensed engineer.
Since we
can handle the emergencies with the skill
and readiness demonstrated above, you can
be assured that the day-to-day operations
of your yacht will run smoothly and efficiently. |
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